Adrian Rogers: How to Arrive at Our Destination Without a Map [#2329]

welcome to love worth fighting with Pastor teacher and author Adrian Rogers reaching out with God's love bringing people to Christ touching lives around the world and helping you find the answers you need today join us as we prepare to open God's Word and discover how your life can be changed forever by his great love worth finding find in God's Word Joshua chapter 3 Joshua chapter 3 there's a story of an old boat that was in the sea a dark and stormy night it's always a dark and stormy night with these stories and this the boat was chugging along and the waves were very rough and the passenger on board was somewhat worried and he knew it was an old boat and he went to the captain he said captain are we safe the captain said well let's put it this way said this is a leaky creaky old boat and we're in very stormy weather so we may sink and he said I'll tell you something else the boilers on this old boat are very weak and may explode at any moment and so he said we may go down or we may go up but at any rate we're going on now what about this new year well friend we may go down or we may go up Jesus may come in this coming year we may go up but whether we go down or whether we go up friend we're going on only I mean we're going on the new year is coming and what I want to give to you this morning from the Word of God is a formula to reach your destination without a map how to reach your destination without a map now the story that we're going to study today comes from the old and God is leading the children of Israel they've come out of the land of Egypt and they're going into their promised land now their promised land was a land of opportunity but it was also a land of mystery as we're going to see Joshua says to them you've not come this way before this is a brand-new day you've never been here before you are launching out in both both into opportunity and a mystery well you say what does that have to do with me well the Bible says concerning those wilderness wanderings of God's ancient people so long ago all of these things happen to them for examples to us so we can take this Old Testament history and just shout our way all the way through it because there are incredible lessons in these Old Testament stories now Israel was going into the great unknown again they were going into their promised land a land of opportunity but as we're going to see also a land of mystery and besides all of that between them and that land there was a river of difficulty now you're going into a land of opportunity you are going into a land of mystery and there are rivers of difficulty you got all that now let's see if we can learn some lessons as to how to arrive at our destination without a map Joshua 3 beginning in verse 3 and they commanded the people saying when you see underscore this phrase now the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priests and the Levites bearing it then you shall remove from your place and go after it and there shall be a space between unit about two thousand cubits by measure by the way that would be about a half a mile come not near unto it that is to the ark now watch this here's the key that ye may know the way by which ye must go for ye have not passed this way heretofore Bacchus it's all new there's a brand new day there's a brand new way and it's a land of mystery and keep your eye on the ark and don't move till the ark moves now what is this Ark I said underscore that phrase the Ark of the Covenant of your Lord it was a piece of furniture that later on had a central place in the Holy of Holies in the temple the Ark was just about the size of this pulpit it was about 2 feet by 2 feet about 4 feet a little piece of furniture inside were the commandments of God Aaron's rod that budded a little bit of manna on top was a slab of solid gold on one side was the figurine of an angel a cherub on the other side of this was a figurine of a cherub with the wings spread out over his particular place and that was called the mercy seat and the high priest would come and sprinkle blood upon that slab of gold to make atonement for the full of sins of the people and the Shekinah glory of God just hovered right there now what is all that about what does that speak to Adrienne about what does that tell you well that art in the Old Testament was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ it symbolized the life of God the holiness of God the righteousness of God the presence of God the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ all of that pictures Jesus Jesus is the Ark of the Covenant understand that if you don't understand that you miss it all that is a picture a prophecy a type and illustration of Jesus in the Old Testament now keep all of that in mind and we're going to talk to you about how to arrive at your destination without a map now this is going to be a new day but there's something that has changed what has changed go back to Joshua 3 verses 3 and 4 and they commanded the people saying when you see the Ark of the the view of the Lord your God and the priests and the Levites bearing it then you shall remove from your place and go after that is when the ark moves you move and there should be a space between you and it about two thousand cubits by measure come not near unto it that you may know the way by which you must go for you've not passed this way before now what's all of this about well what had changed was this up until this time the ark had been in the midst it had been in the camp and when they moved the ark moved but now here's a new day they're going into a new land they're coming out of the wilderness no longer is the ark going to go with them they're going to go with the ark there's a difference now the ark is out in front he says take the ark from your midst put it out here in the front keep your eye on it and don't move until it moves that's going to be the way of victory that's going to be the way you're going to be guided now when they were in the wilderness they were not living in victory but as we're going to see the ark is about to lead them into victory are you ready to come out of the wilderness and into your promised land are you ready to cross over a river of difficulty into your promised land where you're going to have to move with the ark what is the difference in some Christians how does some Christians live in victory and other Christians not do you think that God plays favorites do you think God says any meenie miney mo I'm going to give you victory and none for you what is the difference I'll tell you the difference all Christians have the Lord Jesus Christ if you don't have Jesus you're not a Christian the Holy Spirit is in all of us but not all Christians are totally following the Lord Jesus Christ they have him in the midst but he's not out in front leading when Jesus is Lord and leader when he's out in front and you follow him that is what makes the difference the difference friend is not in possession it is in position now you have the Lord the question is are you following him is he leading you is he out front of you is he guiding you into this land of opportunity the new year this land of mystery the new year through rivers of difficulty the Jordan that separates the wilderness from the promised land now I'm just setting the stage I want to give you three things to do now folks if you want to arrive at the destination God has for you and believe me has one for you for every mother's child of you God has a plan for as many peoples are in this room individual plans he makes no two snowflakes alike he has a plan directly distinctly for you now with all of this in mind the ark representing the Lord Jesus Christ a treasure chest of blessing and God's a set it out there in the midst and when it moves move with it Matt give you three principles say yes yes okay thank you here's three things that you can do to arrive at your destination without a map number one let Jesus guide you with his presence let Jesus guide you with his presence now notice what he says and they commanded the people saying when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priests and the Levites bearing it that is they carried it on the shoulders then you shall remove from your place and go after it yet there shall be a space between you knit about two thousand cubits by major I measure come not near unto it that you may know the way by which he must go for you've not passed this way heretofore what an invention what an Advent they've never been there there's a promised land they've not seen it and he says you are going into unexplored territory now why don't you need a map well God's will for you is not a road map but a relationship the important thing for you is not to know what the future holds the important thing for you is to keep your eye on the Lord Jesus Christ I have a good neighbor across the street and they we were talking about Christmas lights and their house is so beautifully decorated and they were telling us about a particular house and and he said now you need to go here and he begins to explain it to me and it got kind of convoluted John said wait a minute pastor just let me get in my car and and I'll take you there I said sounds like good deal to me so he got in his car and took me the only thing I had to worry about I didn't have to worry about a street name a direction north south east or west all the other thing concerned me was his taillights just his taillights oh and he moved I moved they said just just keep your eye on me and he took me right to where I needed to go now this is what he's talking about right now when the ark moves you go after it let him guide you with his presence now let me say three things about that number one you don't have to know when say when you don't have to know when listen he says when the ark moves then go after it verse 3 when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priests and the Levites bearing it then you shall remove from your place and go after it in plain English don't move to the ark movies with God timing is far more important than time have you ever gotten impatient with the Lord wondering why God doesn't move sooner you know you can do the right thing in the wrong time Moses was to deliver the children of Israel and he couldn't wait on God and he got out there ahead of time tried to be a missionary ended up being a murderer I killed an Egyptian spent 40 years on the backside of the desert going around in circles because he could not wait on God he moved before God move Abraham the same thing Abraham was promised a son Moses was promised he was going to deliver the children visu couldn't wait on God hmm Abraham promised a son couldn't wait on God so he had fiscal sexual relations with his wife's maid Hagar and brought forth a son Ishmael and today the whole world is still in turmoil because Abraham could not wait on God and the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Isaac or at war today and Abraham just thought he would hurry God up a little bit made a mess out of it let me tell you about Jesus Jesus was never in a hurry and Jesus was never late and the end of his ministry said I finished the work thou gavest me to do now a lot of people I'm sure we're impatient with Jesus they won't know Jesus why aren't you in a bigger rush than him I mean after all Jesus spent 30 years in a carpenter's shop hey if you're the Messiah why are you wasting 30 years you know what he said they didn't ask him that direct question but it's implied he said my hours not yet come Maya's not yet come he's waiting on God when Lazarus was in the tomb Mary Martha said Jesus come help Lazarus is sick before it was in the tomb Lazarus is saying Jesus just delayed and waited the Lazarus was dead and then he came and raised him at first they were pouting secondly they were praising because bringing Lazarus back to life was greater that had Jesus come and touched him in healing what I'm trying to say is listen to me folks let the Lord Jesus guide you with his presence you don't have to know when number two you don't have to know aware he says look in verse 4 for you've not passed this way heretofore friend you don't have to know what God has planned for you this coming here you don't have to know where you're going to end up the only thing you have to do is to keep your eyes on the arc in the matter of fact I'm so glad God doesn't tell me the future that would take the mystery out of it it would take the romance out of it it would take them a sneak out of it it would take the joy out of it isn't God merciful that we don't know the future you see look we don't have to know when just when the arc moves you move we don't have to know where you've not come this way before so I just keep your eye on me because you've never been this and you don't have to know why you don't have to know why why is God's question how is your answer God you don't have to understand listen the Bible says in verse 5 tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you i what is a wonder wonder something you don't understand you see we don't live by explanations we live by promises if you have one God to explain things to you have you ever argued with God said Lord tell me why well number one you couldn't understand if he told you because he said my ways are not your ways my thoughts are not your thoughts number two if he did tell you to say now Lord here's a better way you could do that you try to explain it to God and try to bend God's will to fit your will in my life the only way I've known the plan of God is not to look into the future but to look over my shoulder and just say hitherto had the Lord led me when I was a team God called me to preach how did God call me to preach oh that's the last thing I thought I would ever do be a preacher I had no notion that God would want me to preach the gospel but when I got saved I had a dear pastor who said God has a plan for about his life I tell you I wasn't the smartest thing to move but I did have enough sense to say this to the Lord Lord whatever you want me to do I want to do it whatever you want me to do I want to do it somehow the German got in my mind my heart that he might want me to preach and then that conviction got stronger and stronger and I was at Ridgecrest North Carolina or Baptists assembly 18 in high school and a man preached about God's will life he said God's probably calling some of you to preach I don't remember much about the sermon but I do remember the invitation him wherever he leads I'll go wherever he leads I'll go and I said Lord I know you want me to do this and I stepped out and I never looked back on it from that time as a high school boy God wanted me to preach I had a girl that I wanted to marry that girl was there that retreat with me as she's my grade school sweetheart and Joyce and I got married and we didn't know we had no idea about Bellevue Baptist Church or Memphis Tennessee or anything like that a love worth finding but we knew the Lord and at our wedding we kneel together and prayed and had a solace to sing oh Jesus we promised to serve thee to the end be thou forever nearest our master and our friend we will we will not fear the battle if thou art by our side nor wonder wander from the pathway if thou will be our guide and Joyce and I have seen God guide us God brought us here to the Bellevue Baptist Church we were at Merritt Island Florida one of the greatest churches in America a loving people a dear fellowship they loved us and we loved them but the Ark of the Covenant just seemed to be moving over here and Jesus pointed to Memphis and we wanted to argue with the Lord but we said Lord whatever you want but when we left Merritt Island Merritt Island there on the coast of Florida we drove over the bridge and look back and Joyce and I cried like babies leaving our church our people that we loved but all of my life I've been able by God's grace and I don't say it self-serving ly or bragging ly but thankfully and gratefully that you don't have to know when you don't have to know where you don't have to know why just keep your eye on the Ark and whenever it moves just move man Lee Beesley says success is just finding out where God is moving and just joining let's all just get in on what God is doing that is success now what I'm trying to say is first of all let Jesus guide you with his presence the one thing I want you my dear precious people to be certain of this coming year is that Jesus is a reality for you just as I did not want to lose the headlights of my neighbor are the taillights of my neighbor I just want to keep that in sight so I would arrive you just make certain that Jesus is real to you I'm not talking about the Jesus that Adrienne preaches the Jesus that you know is what I'm talking about now I want you to make certain just make that your resolute resolution this year that Jesus Christ will be real to me and He will guide me he will guide me with his presence when the ark move zhamuhe here's the second thing all right now listen not only let Jesus I guide you with his presence but let Jesus gladden you with his promises with his promises now look in verse 3 and they commanded the people saying when you see here's the phrase the Ark of the Covenant the Covenant what is a covenant a covenant is a sacred contract a covenant is a binding agreement a covenant is an unfailing promise God had made a covenant with his ancient people and God has made a covenant with me and with you several things I want you to see about the covenant the promises of God first of all therefore all saints look in verse 7 look in verse 7 and the Lord said unto Joshua this day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel that they may know that as I was with Moses listen to this so I will be with thee now the promises are for All Saints now now Joshua I made some promises to Moses but that just is good for you as I was with Moses I'll be with you now what's the point the promise did not die with Moses Moses was dead and the promises in the Bible did not die with the Bible Saints do you know what some of us think we think they were different than we but the Bible says he Elijah was a man white passions as we are somehow we think they breathe different air somehow we think that God was more powerful or something in that day than in this day friend the promises are for All Saints one man picked up his wife Bible and saw that she had underlined a lot of passages but didn't seem to be putting them into practice she was using them more as slogans that his promises do you do that man said his wife why do you call it shopping you never buy anything you know women do what the cold windy shop she said what do you call it fishing you never catch anything I just sort of window-shop through the Bible you ever wind a shop through the Bible oh isn't that a lot of precious Peru that's a lovely one listen friend these promises are for you they're for All Saints and they're for all seasons as I was with Moses I'll be with you and two thousand years has not eroded the promises away and don't you let them keep you from a promise and therefore all situations now here's the interesting thing Moses had failed now is Joshua going to say because Moses failed and Moses died on Mount Nebo and Moses didn't get delete the children of Israel in then I guess I'm gonna have to fail to know if there are others who do not believe the promises of God that's no reason that you should not print listen let him guide you with this promises there for All Saints therefore all seasons therefore all situations the main thing again what you have to do is to understand that he's made a promise to you a covenant well you say that was the covenant disre yes he's given us a new covenant a new covenant in his blood which the book of Hebrews says is a better covenant and listen to Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 listen to it we're to be looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith just as they were looking to the Ark we are to be looking to the Lord Jesus Christ now notice not looking at Jesus looking on to Jesus what does it mean to look unto someone to look unto Jesus well suppose mark here is a very wealthy man and suppose are you oh and suppose I'm a beggar and I've got some real problems and I say mark I'm in serious difficulty and mark says pastor look to me I'll take care of it look to me he doesn't mean look at me he means depend upon me that's what the Bible means when says looking unto Jesus doesn't mean looking at Jesus it means depending upon the Lord Jesus Christ it is a word that means to look away from everything else fao looking away from these two guys and looking to this man it means turning away from one thing to look at another that's the way I am to live with my covenant keeping God now the devil will try to keep you this coming year from looking to everything else but the promises of God some look at Satan they trying to find a demon under every bush and they all terrified Satan will come to either terrify or tantalize us be Jesus conscious not looking at circumstances you look at circumstances you're going to go down Simon Peter got out of the boat to walk on water and he was doing just fine as long as he was what looking to Jesus but then he looked at those mountainous waves and when he saw the waves they were boisterous he took his eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and put his eyes on circumstances and he began to see don't look at other Saints has somebody disappointed you not yet well just wait and the best of people will disappoint you the Bible says I think about the middle verse in the Bible it's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man listen don't put your confidence in any man well didn't Paul say you follow me as I follow Christ he wasn't saying follow me he said like I follow Christ you follow Christ that's what he meant you follow me as I follow Christ you follow Christ you are to follow the Lord Jesus Christ don't look at other people and don't even look at your look you know how dirty the devil is the devil will say yes sure you're you you're justified and saved and kept by faith but your faith is so weak you haven't got good faith and that'll sometimes mess you up I've learned how to use that against the devil the devil says to me Adrian your faith is no good I said well so what I'm not putting faith in faith I'm putting faith in Jesus who cares about my faith in Jesus wonderful he didn't know what he didn't know how to handle and friend listen don't look at your look look to Jesus he is your Ark as you go into this new year listen let him guide you with his presence let him gladden you with his promise he said I will never leave you nor forsake you look to Jesus the author and the finisher of your faith what a wonderful thing that is now here's a third thing I want you to do and let Jesus not only guide you with his presence not only let him glad you with his promise but let the Lord Jesus guard you with his power notice beginning in verse 7 and the Lord said unto Joshua this day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel that they may know that as I was with Moses so I will be with thee thou shalt command the priests that they bear the Ark of the Covenant saying when ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan now Jordan is that River that separated them from the land of promise ye shall stand still in Jordan and Joshua said unto the children of Israel come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God and Joshua said hereby shall ye know now watch this that the Living God oh I love that phrase the Living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the hittites and the perizzites and the girgashites and the amorite and the jebusites you expect them to say in the termites and behold the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth pass it over before you and the Jordan you know why we don't obey the Lord sometimes because we don't trust and you know why we don't trust it's different we do not know how great our God is knowledge of God equals trust and trust equals obedience and obedience equals blessing now let's just tear this verse apart a little bit and look at it and find out who who are the god of our great power is notice he's the Lord God in Joshua 3 9 he speaks and hear the words of the Lord your God is he your Lord this coming year is he your sovereign are you are you willing to follow him you see listen he is the Lord your God and if he commands you to cross Jordan it's his business to take Jordan out of the way that was a good place for an amen but it fell flat now listen let me say to you get ready if he commands you to cross some Jordan he will command that Jordan to get out of the way good now he is the Lord I mean he's the one who created Jordan he's the one who created you and don't parade the commands of God plus the pass the judgment bar of your understanding is whether or not it's possible and I with God all things are possible he's the Lord God he is the Living God look in verse 10 and Joshua said hereby show you know that the Living God is among you he is totally sufficient he's not dead he is not sick and every demand upon you is a demand upon the God who lives in you I'm telling you that God is alive and well and living in you if you are saved I read somewhere there 14.7 pounds of pressure on every square inch of your body add that up and it means that there tons of weight to the pressing down upon you right now tongues why aren't you crushed because you have pressure on the inside that keeps you from being crushed now there's enormous pressure from this world but thank God we have Jesus on the inside we have the Lord Jesus he is the Living God and he lives in us and not only is he the Lord God not only is he the Living God but he is the liberating God now here here's the point watch this beginning verse 11 now behold the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into Jordan now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel out of every man a tribe now watch this don't miss it and it should come to pass as soon as the soles of the feet of the priest that bear the Ark of the Lord the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of Jordan that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above and they shall stand up in a heap all right here's Joshua hey says look I'm the Lord God I'm the Living God I'm the liberating God you keep your eye on the ark priest take that art and go into the River Jordan as soon as the feet of those priests touch that River Jordan something happened the waters begin to back up and they backed up and this chapter tells us they backed up all the way to the city of Adam I don't think that is put there by happenstance all the way back to the city of Adam just piling up in a heap and here these priests as soon as they begin to obey the waters don't stop until they obey but when they get in the water sit back up and they come in here with the Ark of the Covenant right in the middle of Jordan do you know why Jordan means the word Jordan means descent the word Dan Jordan means judgment it is descent into judgment the River Jordan is the river of death flowing down to the Dead Sea now the Ark of the Covenant comes into the river of death and stops and the waters stop all the way back to Adam and the children of Israel just come on through come on through friend Jesus entered the chilly waters of the river of death and is our victory and he stopped death all the way back to Adam and Adam all died but in Christ all will be made alive to let the people of God go through and there is our Lord there is our cross there's our Savior there is the Ark of the Covenant there is our mighty God the Lord God the Living God the liberating God to let the people of God go through what a mighty God we serve what a mighty God we serve all the way my Saviour leaves me what have I to ask beside can I doubt his tender mercies who through life has been my guide heavenly peace divine his comfort here by faith in him to dwell and I know what heir before me Jesus do with all things well this coming year you let the Lord Jesus Christ guide you with his presence let him gladden you with his promises let him guard you with his power because he is a mighty God you don't have to know when you don't have to know where you don't have to know why if you know Jesus just know Jesus do you know him don't enter a new year without him don't even leave home without him let's bow our heads in prayer heads are bowed eyes are closed if you're not saved you can get saved right now I have wonderful news God wants to save you he's not willing that any should perish the Bible says who several will may come that has your name on it and no one here this morning so bad you can't be saved I don't care what you've done and nobody here is so good that you need not be saved I don't care how self-righteous you are but the Bible says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved would you pray a prayer like this o God I am a sinner and I'm lost and I need to be saved I want to be saved Jesus you died to save me you promised to save me come into my heart forgive my sin cleanse me Lord Jesus take control of my life begin now to make me the person you want me to be save me Lord Jesus did you ask him then pray this way thank you for doing it I receive it by faith and that settles it you're now my Lord my Savior and my god and I'm going into a new year following you trusting your promise and living by your power amen maybe we pray that God has blessed you as you've watched this message if you'd like additional copies or information about other resources write to us at love worth 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Keywords: how, to, arrive, at, our, destination, without, map, celebrating, the, victory, Adrian, Rogers, Dr, Pastor, Teacher, Teaching, Preacher, Preaching, Evangelist, Prophet, Prophecy, Truth, Praise, Faith, Worship, Gospel, Grace, Word, Minister, Ministry, Ministries, Love, Worth, Finding, God, Jehovah, Jesus, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Yahweh, Messiah, Saviour, Savior, Lord, Holy, Spirit, King, Lamb, Ghost, Bible, Bellevue, Baptist, Church, Saved, Salvation, Sermon, Fellowship, Trinity, Priest, Missionary, Revival, Lost, Sin, Satan, Backslide, Help, Forgiveness

Id: Ud2oqWwS4Vg

Length: 39min 4sec (2344 seconds)

Published: Sat May 14 2016