Sermon Notes
March 16, 2025
“Sin Has Consequences”
Series, “Better Together in Faith”
Joshua 5:1-15
John W. Montgomery, D.D.
Moses had died, and Joshua now stands as the leader of God’s chosen people. Joshua’s instructions from the Lord were to "arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel."
God instructed Joshua further and said, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you..." There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."
Joshua started out his journey toward the land of Canaan with God’s promise of protection and preservation.
As we saw in chapter 3, the Israelites camped out on the bank of the Jordan. After three days, being led by the priests and the ark of the covenant, the Jews miraculously crossed the swelling Jordan on dry ground.
In Joshua 4:19 we find ourselves venturing into unchartered territory. Never before have we been where we are today in terms of time. Like many who followed Joshua into Canaan, we’re not sure what lies ahead for us in the year 2025.
One day a 33-year-old man by the name of Larry Walters decided to see his neighborhood from a new perspective. So, he went down to the local army surplus store and bought forty-five used weather balloons.
That afternoon he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled used weather balloons. He took with him, something to drink, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.
Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky, smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport. Because he was too frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two hours, and forced the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon.
Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions:
"Were you scared? "Yes."
"Would you do it again? "No.
"Why did you do it?" "Because you can’t just sit there."
When it comes to the 2025, we can’t just sit there. A new year means a new journey. It means new opportunities, new possibilities, new adventures.
Having never passed this way before, the newest inhabitants of Canaan were not sure what to expect, but they too knew that they couldn’t just sit there. As I see it, there are three things which occur in Joshua 5 that need to occur in each of our lives if we are to navigate successfully in 2025.
1. Put Away the Curse, 5:2-3, 8-9
Vss.2-3 - “Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites. 2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.”
3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth”.
Vss.8-9 – “And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed. 9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So, the place has been called Gilgal to this day.”
Look again at the Lord’s words in verse 9, "…Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.”
What was the "reproach of Egypt?" Exodus 32:12 says, the "reproach of Egypt" had to do with the Israelites failure to inherit the Promised Land. Because of their rebellion against God, the Lord made them wonder around in the wilderness for forty years, and all the while, the Egyptians mocked them and ridiculed them.
But by crossing the Jordan and renewing the rite of circumcision, the Israelites were showing to their enemies that indeed God was back in the camp and they were back on track.
I don’t know what resolutions you made at the beginning of last year, but no doubt many of you made plans, and did so sincerely, to do some things differently in the year 2025.
Perhaps you set out this year with a new resolve to do some great things for God and to claim all that God had for you, only to be disappointed and defeated. You want this year to be different than the last, but like the Egyptians, the devil has come along and he’s mocked you and ridiculed you and convinced you that it’s no use.
Just because we’ve failed in the past doesn’t mean that there’s no hope for the future. Failure is not Falling Down; it’s not getting up!
Somebody asked Winston Churchill one time what most prepared him to lead Great Britain through World War II? Churchill replied, "It was the time I repeated a class in grade school." The questioner said, "You mean you flunked a grade?" Churchill said, "I never flunked in my life. I was given a second opportunity to get it right."
Jonas Salk attempted 200 unsuccessful vaccines for polio before he came up with one that worked. Somebody asked him one time, "How did it feel to fail 200 times trying to invent a vaccine for polio?" This was his response: "I never failed 200 times at anything in my life. My family taught me never to use that word. I simply discovered 200 ways how not to make a vaccine for polio."
God has given you and I a second chance to get it right. No doubt we now know more ways NOT TO live life than we did a year ago. We don’t have to make the same mistakes again. This year DOES NOT have to be a repeat of last year.
One more thing about putting away the curse and we’ll go on. Notice verse 3 again.
The "hill of the foreskins" was where the circumcision took place, and where they buried the flesh.
Do you think the Israelites ever went back and dug up those nasty things? NO! Do you think that at some point they got this overwhelming feeling to uncover that which had been cut away and disposed of? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Then why in the world would we want to go back into the archives of the year past and relive moments in time that have been long since forgotten by God?
The Psalmist says - "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
If we have confessed our sins – God has FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, FOREVER all our sins.
2. Prepare for Change, vss.10-12
“On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.”
We see from these verses that God doesn’t always do things the same way. There was a period of time when He miraculously fed the children of Israel with manna from heaven, but now things were going to change. They were going to have to grow their own food.
I’m sure that some of them had a hard time adjusting to the change, but then again, change is always hard.
Here’s an interesting bit of trivia for you. The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between rails) is four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.
Why such an odd number? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and American railroads were built by British expatriates.
Why did the English adopt that particular gauge? Because the people who built the pre-railroad tramways used that gauge.
They in turn were locked into that gauge because the people who built tramways used the same standards and tools, they had used for building wagons, which were set on a gauge of four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.
Why were wagons built to that scale? Because with any other size, the wheels did not match the old wheel ruts on the roads. Who built these old rutted roads?
The first long-distance highways in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been in use ever since. The ruts were first made by Roman war chariots. Four feet, eight-and-one-half inches was the width a chariot needed to be to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.
Maybe "that’s the way it’s always been" isn’t a great excuse for not changing what some people believe it to be.
The truth is, change is a part of life. There are some changes that take place in our lives that we like and some we don’t like. If you’re going to successfully navigate in life, you need to be ready for change. There may very well be some dramatic changes in your life in any number of areas this year.
1. Physically
2. Financially
3. Vocationally
And what is true of our life personally is also true when it comes to the life of our church.
We should not expect Cedar Creek to be the same church this year as it was last year. I don’t know about you, but I’m expecting the Lord to lead us into some fresh, creative ways of doing ministry. I’m hoping that He will change the way we relate to one another and to our community. I trust we will learn to live closer to the Lord, and in greater dependence on Him and in less dependence on the pattern that we’ve gotten used to.
Even though some change may challenge traditional thinking or contradict our personal preferences, as long as it complies with Biblical principles, it should not be considered something evil or villainous or from the pits of hell.
3. Present Yourself Before the Captain, vss. 3-15
“Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” 14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” 15 The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so
As we live our life each day, we should assure ourselves of the Lord’s Presence. It’s not a question of whether or not God’s on our side. The question is, "Are we on God’s side?" As long as we’re on God’s side, we have the promise of His presence.
If there is anyone I want at the helm of my ship, it’s the Lord. We should avail ourselves of the Lord’s Power. I love the Lord’s answer to Joshua’s question. He said, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”
The Lord stands ready, at His command, to go to war against the enemies that oppose us. You and I have available to us right now, the power to conquer every enemy that may confront us.
Is the Lord saying to you that today is the perfect time to make some decisions about:
1. Salvation.
2. Church Membership.
3. Full commitment of your life to the Lord.
Message Preached at
Cedar Creek Baptist Church
Jacksonville, Florida 32205
March 16, 2025
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Sermon Notes is a Ministry of the Cedar Creek Baptist Church,1372 Lane Avenue South, Jacksonville, Florida 32205 – Live Stream our Worship – YouTube@CedarCreekBaptistChurch