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welcome to everyone we have one brief announcement before we begin and that is that Johnny and Leah anchor are expecting a second child so congratulations to Johnny and Leah I don't see them presently but that's a good thing children are a gift from God so we praise the Lord for that well for our call to worship this evening you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 84 Psalm 84 beginning in verse 1 to the chief musician on an instrument of Gath a psalm of the sons of Korah how lovely is your tabernacle o Lord of Hosts my soul longs yes even faints for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself or she may lay her young even your altars Oh Lord of Hosts my king and my god blessed are those who dwell in your house they will still be praising you say law blessed is the man whose strength is in you whose heart is set on pilgrimage as they pass through the valley of baka they make it a spring the rain also covers it with pools they go from strength to strength each one appears before God in Zion the Lord God of hosts hear my prayer give ear o God of Jacob say law Oh God behold our shield and look upon the face of your anointed for a day in your courts is better than a thousand I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my god than dwell in the tents of wickedness for the Lord God is a Sun and shield the Lord will give grace and glory no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly o Lord of hosts blessed is the man who trusts in you Amen well please turn in your Trinity Psalter to Psalm 146 Psalm 146 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] let us pray our gracious God and our holy father we praise you for the Sabbath day it is a joy to gather in the house of God Most High truly it's a better thing than to dwell in the tents of wickedness we ask that you would be glorified tonight as we worship we pray that the father would be exalted as we come through the son by the power of the Holy Spirit that God Most High would be all in all in this place we acknowledge your majesty and your glory your infinite splendor your wonders and creation and Providence and chiefly even the wonders of redemption how we thank you for so great a salvation how we thank you that you sent your son into this world sinners to save and how we praise you that you've included us and that blessed lot we thank you so very much for every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus and God as we worship tonight as we sing praises as we pray as we look to Holy Scripture we would ask that our hearts would be drawn out and love and worship and adoration to our great triune God we ask that you would look with favor upon this congregation we ask that you would deal with us in mercy and with kindness and with grace we acknowledge your goodness and we acknowledge the fact that you have not dealt with us according to our sins nor rewarded US according to our transgressions but as far as the east is from the west so you have removed our iniquities and even now Lord God we are mindful of our remaining corruption so we confess our sins we confess our transgressions and our lack of conformity unto your law we know as we look into that holy holy law of God revealed to us so clearly in Scripture we see your your being we see your goodness we see your majesty we see our own waywardness and our own transgression so we confess that sin now asking for forgiveness and we ask for cleansing in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as the psalmist said pardon my iniquity O Lord for it is great what a great God that the the greatness of our sins becomes an argument for your mercy toward us we ask as well Lord God that you would look with favor upon those in our myths that are still in their sins those who attend worship with us every Sabbath day we pray that through the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit you would bring them forth call them effectually out of darkness in the marvelous light that they may proclaim with us the praises and the excellencies of Jesus Christ our Lord we ask that you had bless those in our midst who are suffering with physical trials we remember Don Neufeld in the hospital we just commit our brother to you into the word of your Grace and ask that you not hold him she would strengthen him father that she would cause these things that are that are affecting him so adversely to be dealt with in the hospital setting we know ultimately these are means God we know that doctors and in surgeries and medicines are all under the hand of the sovereign God so we bring our brother in to your care and pray that you would look with favor upon him we also rejoice with Johnny and Leah tonight we pray for for this little one in the womb we pray for others in our midst who are pregnant for Chloe and for Nicole for Melissa we just ask God in heaven that you would look with favor upon these mothers and upon these little babies in the womb certainly children are a gift from Yahweh Most High and grant us grace his parents and his grandparents and as adults in this congregation to set a godly example for these little ones and to constantly and earnestly point them unto the Lord Jesus Christ help us to be a prayerful people on behalf of our our young ones and God may you in their in their youth bring them to the Lord Jesus Christ may they heed the counsel of the preacher who said remember your Creator in your youth and may it never be the case that they would enter into this that the sorts of sins and transgressions that that characterize the adult life of many of us we ask as well for the governing authorities in this country while we do praise You Father for the liberties we enjoy we see increasingly a state that is that enmity with the truth of God's Holy Word and we pray for the in high places that you would put the fear of God in their hearts caused them to kiss the son lest he be angry and they perish in his way when his wrath is kindled but a little and God if they would not be converted if they are ultimately strangers to the covenants of promise we pray nevertheless that you would restrain them and keep them from engaging in the sorts of wickedness that then unfortunately have been somewhat commonplace in our generation god scripture says woe to those who call evil good and good evil and such is the case with abortion and euthanasia and sodomy we see these instances of yours if you are having given over the society and we would cry out with the profit in your wrath remember mercy continue with us in this time of worship bless our brother Mike as he brings the word to us help us to have open hearts to receive with Thanksgiving your word and may it affect us for good and may you continually conform us unto the image of your beloved son the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his most blessed name Amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnal to number 223 hymn number 223 again we'll stand as we sing our praises to God [Music] you can't turn to the book at Daniel for our scripture reading this evening Daniel chapter 10 Daniel chapter 10 beginning in verse 1 in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel his name was called Belshazzar the message was true but the appointed time was long and he understood the message and had understanding of the vision in those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks I ain't no Pleasant food no meat or wine came into my mouth nor did i anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled now on the 24th day of the first month as I was by the side of the great river that is the Tigris I lifted my eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen whose waist was girded with gold of oofos his body was like Beryl his face like the appearance of lightening his eyes like torches of fire his arms and feet like burnished bronze and Colour and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude and I daniel alone saw the vision for the men who were with me did not see the vision but a great terror fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision and no strength remained in me where my vigor was turned to frailty in me and I retained no strength yet I heard the sound of his words and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face with my face to the ground suddenly a hand touched me which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands and he said to me Oh Daniel man greatly beloved understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright for I have now been sent to you while he was speaking this word to me I stood trembling then he said to me do not fear Daniel we're from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God your words were heard and I abhi I've come because of your words but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days and behold Michael one of the chief Prince's came to help me for I have been left alone there with the kings of Persia now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days for the vision refers to many days yet to come when he had spoken such words to me I turned my face toward the ground it became speechless and suddenly one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips then I opened my mouth and spoke saying to him who stood before me my lord because of the vision my sorrows have overwhelmed me and I have retained no strength or how can this servant of my lord talk with you my lord as for me no strength remains in me now nor is any breath left in me then again the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me and he said o man greatly beloved fear not peace be to you be strong yes be strong so when he spoke to me I was strengthened and said let my lord speak for you have strengthened me then he said do you know why I have come to you and now I must return to fight with the Prince of Persia and when I have gone forth indeed the Prince of Greece will come but I will tell you what is noted in the scripture of truth no one upholds me against these except Michael your Prince also in the first year of Darius the Mede even I stood up to confirm and strengthen him amen will let us pray our Father we thank you for the scripture of truth we thank you that your word has been given to us God caused us to love it caused us to desire it caused us to hunger and thirst after its blessed message of redemption through Christ Jesus the Lord we thank you that you've not left us in this darkened world alone thank you for the provision of Scripture thank you for the comforter the Holy Spirit one just like the Lord Jesus Christ who has come to make sure that we are not or finn's in this world we pray tonight that the Holy Spirit would guide our thoughts and our understanding toward the meaning of Scripture that you would cause your word to find its mark in our hearts that you would indeed deal graciously with us there is no greater blessing on this side of heaven and to receive the word of the Living God we pray for the Bible study on Tuesday night in south surrey god bless and prosper that work we pray that many from the community would be reached many would come and he would hear the truth as it is in Jesus and many would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior we do pray for the establishment of a faithful confessional local church and that part of the the world and we pray that your gospel would go forth in that in that area we ask that you would just do this for your glory do this for the Advancement of the king kingdom of God Most High as we're taught in the Lord's Prayer to pray your kingdom would come yes the kingdom and the final final age but as well the kingdom of grace here and now may you bless the preaching of your word and may you cause many to come unto you through the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his most blessed name amen well for our final him before the preaching of fitting him dealing with the reception of the Word of God you can turn to number 631 631 again we'll stand as we sing together [Music] well good evening you can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Joshua chapter 22 Joshua chapter 22 we're gonna look at verses 10 through 30 for this evening this evening Joshua chapter 22 will begin reading at verse 10 and when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan the children of Reuben the children of GAD than the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan a great impressive altar now the children of Israel heard someone say behold the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan in the region of the Jordan on the children of Israel side and when the children of Israel heard of it the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them then the children of Israel sent phineas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben to the children of GAD and to the half tribe of Manasseh into the land of Gilead and with him ten rulers one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel then they came to the children of Reuben to the children of GAD and to the half tribe of Manasseh to the land of Gilead and they spoke with them saying thus says the whole congregation of the Lord what treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel to turn away this day from the from following the Lord and that you have built for yourselves an altar that you might rebel this day against the Lord is the iniquity of peor not enough for us from which we are not which we are not cleansed till this day although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord well that you must turn away this day from following the Lord and it shall be if you rebelled today against the Lord that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel nevertheless if the land of your possession is unclean then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord where the Lord's Tabernacle stands and take possession among us but do not rebel against the Lord nor rebel against us by building yourselves an altar beside the altar of besides the altar of the Lord our God did not a kin the son of Zahra commit a trespass in the accursed thing and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel and that man did not perish alone in his iniquity but then the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the half tribe of manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel the Lord God of gods the Lord God of gods he knows and let Israel itself know if it is in rebellion or if in treachery against the Lord do not save us this day if we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings or if to offer peace offerings on it let the Lord Himself require an account but in fact we have done it for fear for a reason saying in time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants saying what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel for the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us you children of Reuben and children of God you have no part in the Lord so your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord therefore we said let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice but that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us that we may perform the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come you have no part in the Lord therefore we said that it will be when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come that we may say here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices but it is a witness between you and us far be it from us that we should repel against the Lord and turn from following the Lord this day to build an altar for burnt offerings for grain offerings or for sacrifices besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before his tabernacle now in Phineas the priests and the rulers of the congregation the heads of the divisions of Israel who are with him heard that the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the children of Manasseh spoke it pleased them then Phineas the son of Eleazar the he said to the children of Reuben the children of GAD and to the children of Manasseh this day we perceived that the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery treachery against the Lord now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord and Phineas the son of Eleazar are the priests and the rulers returned the children from the children of Reuben and the children of GAD from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan to the children of Israel and brought back word to them so the thing pleased the children of Israel and the children of Israel blessed God they spoke no more of going against them in battle to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and GAD dwelt the children of Reuben and the children of GAD called the altar witness for it is a witness between us that the Lord is God well let us pray o Great God Almighty we thank you that you are the lord of heaven and earth we thank you O God that you have set up your house both in the Old Covenant and the new we thank you O God that you have raised up your church that Christ our King is the head of the church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it but we thank you O God that you've revealed to us how you wish to be worshipped for it is your house and help us to understand more more how you desire to be worshiped may we focus all the more on your word what your word says O God may we sing your word may we pray your word may we preach your word may we partake of your word in the Lord's Supper O God may we meditate on it day and night may this be the focus of our worship when we remove any idols of our self with respect to worship and seek to come to your house to prota to worship you in the ways that you see fit and you desire for you are the true and the Living God but we thank you O God that you've revealed to us how to worship you but not only that how to how to respond to other worship O God respond to those who have conflict with one another even with respect to worship we pray O God that you would give us a sense of unity as brothers and sisters in Christ even in our worship we know that we are sinful we know that we do not respond always appropriately to your worship we do not always act in you United together for the cause of the truth of God but ourselves well up often we pray that you'd forgive us for this wash us to cleanse us and the blood of Christ that we might be united in Christ our King that we might be united in the gospel then we might ever give praises unto you for you are the Creator you are the sustainer and you are the Redeemer Oh God and you deserve all glory and honor for to you through you are all things and to you be the glory for ever and ever amen we pray that you would be pleased in the name of Christ amen well the theme of Joshua is found for us in Joshua chapter 21 verses 43 through 45 it's always helpful when the biblical writers give us their purpose for writing and if you notice what the writer says in verse 43 of chapter 1 he said so the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which he had sworn to give to their fathers and they took possession of it and dwelt in it the Lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers and not a man of all their enemies stood against them the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel all came to pass that's the main thrust and focus of Joshua is Yahweh's faithfulness Yahweh's faithfulness especially to Abraham Isaac and Jacob he's finally given given the people the land and if we think about the book of Joshua it's broken down as it's as it hovers around that idea of the land Davis has four main headings that I think are helpful the people enter the land at the beginning of Joshua they take the land and after they take the land they divide the land and then here we are we're in that section on retaining the land you see the first three sections are all about Yahweh's faithfulness to his people but here in Joshua Joshua 22 through 24 is the application section perhaps we could say how will Israel faithful in serving Yahweh after his graciousness to them but there's one major problem with respect to this that's called the Jordan River if you remember numbers 32 the the tribes of Reuben GAD and a half tribe of manasseh saw that the land of Gilead on the eastern side of the Jordan was more favorable for them and if you remember Moses offered get as willing to give it to them as their inheritance on some conditions they must join their brothers in the conquest of the land and so Joshua point comes to them in Joshua 1 and they agree and join in the battle in taking the land and then Joshua 22 verses 1 through 9 the brothers returned to their portion after the land has been taken but nonetheless how will the people of God be united in worship with this giant Jordan River that's the thing we need to think through how will these people be together and so as we look at this theme of unity we're looking at unity four-ship faithfulness as we look at this theme we look at it under three main headings first of all we will look at the perception of apostasy in verses 10 through 20 secondly we will look at the perception of disunity in verses 21 through 29 and lastly we will look at the perception of God's presence verses 30 through 34 so apostasy disunity and God's presence so let's first look at the perception of apostasy in verses 10 through 20 so notice what happens they build this altar in verse 10 and when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan a great and impressive altar they built this one before they cross over in the land it is still in the land of Canaan it's not in the land of Gilead perhaps it reminds us of Joshua for when they set up a memorial at Gilgal that's possible but nonetheless before they cross over the land has been conquered and before they cross over they set up this altar of impressive size one that can be seen from afar and so the children of Israel the Western tribes get wind of this notice verse 11 now the children of Israel heard someone say behold the children of God the children of Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan in the region of the Jordan on the children of Israel side so word got where they got wind of this they got word of this that this there the eastern tribes had built this giant altar and notice what their response is in verse 12 and when the children of Israel heard of it the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them seems little hasty doesn't it it's just an altar as Davis says in his commentary what can an altar altar what does this mean what does this look like why are they crying out for war right away why are they're grabbing their swords and their bows I will be explained for us in a moment so they they they sound the battle cry in verse 12 and then in verses 13 through 15 they send delegates delegates to deal with them then the children of Israel sent phineas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben to the children of GAD and the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and with him ten rulers one ruler eats from the chief house of every tribe of Israel and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel and they came and they speak to their brothers on the eastern side now Phineas is a very interesting character this is phineas the son of Eleazar the grandson of Aaron this isn't it's Phineas the son of Eli because he's not born yet the Phineas the son of Eli but nonetheless it's Phineas the son of Eleazar the grandson of Aaron and they instance Joshua is not mentioned I think there's an important point for that but we'll get to Phineas in a moment because he pops up in history in some interesting times in the life of Israel and so they gathered these arms they gather these delegates they go and engage in diplomacy before they engage in warfare and notice what they say in verse 16 we see the reason for why they grab their swords and bows thus says the whole congregation of the Lord what treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord and that you have built an altar for yourselves that you might rebel this day against the Lord they perceive this altar as a sign of apostasy they perceive this altar as a rival to that of Shiloh if you remember back to Deuteronomy chapter 12 on the plains of Moab when Moses is describing the proper place of worship God speaks of a place that he shall choose in verses 10 through 14 but when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit and gives you rest from all your enemies roundabout so that you dwell in safety then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make his name abide there you shall bring all that I command you your burnt offerings your sacrifices your ties the leaves of offerings of your hand and all of you all of your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God you and your sons and your daughters male servants female servants and the Levite who's within your gates since he has no portion nor inheritance with you and even further in verse 13 take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see but in the place which the Lord God chooses in a lot of ways they're crying out against what we call the regulative principle of worship in the Old Covenant these try they see this altar as one that rivals that of Shiloh so much so that they say they're breaking worship with the Lord they're rebelling against the Lord God Almighty and worship brothers and sisters is that a central focus throughout all of Scripture think about the fall of mankind man desired to worship himself instead of the true and the Living God all the Old Testament is laden with the idea of worship when we think of the book of kings how does the writer describe the Kings whether they either good or evil and how does he qualify that they either smashed the Asch tourists and the bales or they did it in all centers around the worship of the true and the Living God worship is central to the Bible so they see this as a place which is a rival to that of shiloh matthew henry says it was no strange innuendo from the building of an altar to infer intention to offer sacrifice upon it and that might introduce idolatry and end in total apostasy from the faith and worship of the god of israel so great a matter might this fire Kindle God is jealous for his own institutions and therefore we should be so too and afraid of everything that looks like or leads to idolatry it's a bit of a hasty accusation but I think it's warranted based on Deuteronomy 12 what is an altar meant to be what does it signify it's a place where the people of God were to offer their sacrifices and so they see this altar as one that rivaled the rightful place of worship and what's interesting too is not only are they responding or right based on Deuteronomy 12 but notice they don't go right into battle guns-a-blazing they don't go right into battle shooting all the Reuben nights and the gadites and the half tribes of a NASA they're not hasty in their assumption about what this altar meant which is why they send Phineas and the delegates for diplomacy and so we've seen an application of Deuteronomy 12 but I think we see an application of Deuteronomy chapter 13 as well if you remember Deuteronomy chapter 13 that's the I guess the descending or ascending order of apostasy you know if a prophet comes and he speaks the truth you need to are sorry speaks falsehood does not speak the truth you must deal with him because there's the possibility that your loved ones might be taken astray and that's the second person or people to deal with perhaps your loved ones your brother or your sister is taken by what is said taken by false things and then you have to deal with them I don't know why I still remember that the application you can't got your wife during pillow talk from when Pastor Butler taught on that you know you can't it's not meant to be that type of thing there's due diligence and due process but nonetheless if you don't deal with the Prophet you're gonna have some family members perhaps just being taken by the Prophet but if you don't deal with your family members in whole cities will be taken to apostasy and this is the the the final straw if you will in chapter 13 verses 12 to the end of chapter 13 if you hear someone in one of your cities which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in saying corrupt men have gone out from among you and entice the inhabitants of their cities saying let us go and serve other gods which you have not known notice verse 14 then you shall inquire search out and ask diligently if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword utterly destroying it all that is in it in its land and its livestock with the edge of the sword so when in cities arose an apostasy there meant to go and make sure that that was actually true that's why it's called the perception of apostasy in a lot of ways so it's an application of Deuteronomy 13 that's an appropriate response to the perceived a pasta see perhaps it's even the idea in that you can sense some of their concern and that we've just been given the land are we turning away already in verse 16 but what's interesting is that Phineas and the delegates recall two episodes in Israel's history one that includes the priest Phineas and this is found in numbers chapter 25 numbers chapter 25 the people are committing harlotry with the people of Moab and notice what happens in verse 5 verse 6 and indeed one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting you see in verse 3 it says Israel was joined to bale of peor and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel and then in verse six one of the children of Israel brings this Midianite into the camp in an arouses anger rouses the wrath of God and notice who comes onto the scene in verse 7 now when phineas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest saw it he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through the man of Israel and the women through her body so the plague was stopped among the children of Israel and those who died in the plague were 24,000 you see apostasy is no laughing matter apostasy idolatry is a serious thing to think about and you can even see the severity in which God judged the people in verse 9 those who died in the plague were among twenty-four thousand if it weren't for Phineas there could have been more I notice what God does for Phineas in verse 10 of numbers 25 then the Lord spoke to Moses saying phineas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest has turned back my wrath from the children of Israel because he was zealous with my zeal among among them so that I did not consume the children of Israel in my zeal therefore say behold I give to him my covenant of peace and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel the psalmist records him favorable in Psalm 106 it recalls this episode as well at verse 28 they join themselves also to bale of peor and eight sacrifices made to the dead thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds and the plague broke out among them but then Phineas stood up and intervened and the plague was stopped and that was accounted to him for righteousness to all generations forever more you see brothers and sisters Phineas is a type of Christ you see fit Christ is the one who makes atonement for his people Christ is the one who has zeal for God's worship Christ is the one who makes an everlasting atonement for his people he is that everlasting priest after the order of Melchizedek the one who died on behalf of his people that we might have everlasting life turning away the wrath of God from his people and the thing with Phineas the significance of a Phineas is whenever he pops up in Scripture it is tied to the worship of God Almighty in 25 they are worshipping idols here in Joshua chapter 22 it is the perception that there is a rival place of worship a rival place where idolatry could be engaged in and who do you call you call Phineas in a lot of ways he's the Special Forces the one who pops up in these times of potential apostasy he has zeal for the worship of the Lord he makes atonement for the people and he is the one who is needed in this time and so they grabbed Phineas and they go and deal with them and they even recall that iniquity that is still plaguing them that is tied to Phineas but not only do they refer to this episode of Bayeux of peor but they refer to akin Joshua chapter 7 the very language even so in verse 20 he says did not akin the son of Zahra come in a trespass in the accursed thing and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel and that man did not perish alone in his iniquity even in the language of verse 16 what treachery is this that you have committed that's found in Joshua chapter seven verse one the people have just conquered the first city of Jericho and one brother couldn't keep his hands off the loot and notice what the the author records for us in chapter 7 verse 1 but the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed thing for a kin the son of Carmy the son of zabi the son of Zahra of the tribe of Judah took of the accursed thing so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel that word their committed a trespass is that same word to act unfaithfully to disobey the very words of God Almighty and disobedience to God Almighty brings about his anger in both of these episodes and so these guys so they're coming to say hey base because we're all part of Israel because Israel is the one that God made his covenant with when one sins we all sin and bring the wrath of God upon us this is not what they say in verse 18 but that you must turn or that you but you must turn away this day from following the Lord and it shall be if you rebel against the Lord that tomorrow he shall be angry with the whole congregation of Israel verse 20 and that man did not perish alone in his iniquity serious things to deal with in both instances with akin and the the episode numbers 25 death was required and so a lot of ways these brothers are trying to a lot of ways atone to stamp out the apostasy in Israel but notice what they propose in verse 19 if the land of your possession is unclean then cross over to the land of the of the Lord where the Lord's Tabernacle stands and take possession among us but do not rebel against the Lord do not rebel against us by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord your God there's plenty of lands come into the West that we might dwell together that's the proposed solution so what we see here I think even in this perception of apostasy is how we worship the right manner of worship in a lot of ways the Reagan of principle is well and good in Joshua chapter 22 and they're seeking to preserve right worship of God you see don't we who hold to the regulative principle that is what's commanded in Scripture what's set forth for us in Scripture by God Almighty is what we seek to do in church what is the preacher was the teacher supposed to engage in what is the church's role in all centers around the Word of God that's why we sing the word that's why we preach the word that's why we Pro proclaim the word that's why we partake of the word in the Lord's Supper those are the things God has set forth and how he wishes to be worshipped it is his house it's not a place for us to have our own self-expression our own place where we can shred on our guitars to show how good we are it's the right place to come and worship God the regular principle still applies to us this day it's not saying we can't engage in certain things outside of the Lord's Day but nonetheless on the Lord's Day when we come what are we supposed to be doing the Word of God that is the focus so we see here even how we're supposed to worship according to what God commands in his word so we've seen this perception of apostasy let us look secondly at the perception of disunity in verses 21 through 29 thankfully Phineas and the delegates engaged in diplomacy first because we see the response of our the brothers the children of Reuben the children of God notice what they say verse 22 the Lord God of gods the Lord God of gods he knows and let Israel itself know if it is in rebellion or if in treachery against the Lord do not save us this day if we have built an altar ourselves built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord or if to offer on a burnt offerings or grain offerings or to offer peace offerings on it let the Lord Himself require an account what they're saying is we did not mean it to be the way that way we did not want it to be that way if that is the case bring a curse upon us they're calling a curse upon themselves should they actually be engaged in apostasy in idolatry have the Lord deal with them dislike take us out if you will do not save us this day because that's not that what they wanted it wasn't meant to be for sacrifices and we see them the purpose of what it was even this in Phatak confession the Lord God of gods the Lord God of gods this is who we worship this is the one we want to have communion with this is the one we want to be a part of it is the God of heaven and earth not the gods of the Moabites through the ammonites but the Lord God of Israel who has just conquered the enemies of his people in Joshua he is our portion and so we see them the purpose of these all of of this alter in verse 23 sorry first 24 but in fact we have done it for fear for a reason saying in time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants saying what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel for the Lord God has made the Jordan a border between us you and us you children of Reuben and children of God you have no part in the law so your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord therefore we said let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice where that may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us that we might perform the services to the Lord they wanted it so that their descendants wouldn't stop or that they their sentence wouldn't stop fearing the Lord that they would continue worshiping God because the Jordan is such a massive barrier that it's easy for the the Western tried to say to the eastern tribes you have no portion I think Davis is right he says for here is worthy worry and proper anxiety to care about whether one seed will be faithful to God and to take all necessary measures to ensure that it might be so easy sometimes we're all very much now focused we sometimes don't always have a view of the future one thing I really appreciate about dr. Rena Han when he gave his presentation on the seminary on why they're there they're starting this Reformed Baptist stand-alone seminary in Texas he asked the question who will pastor your grandchildren isn't that why there go that's part of the reason they want this seminary to raise up men to preach to people in the future it is a is a worthy worry improper anxiety hoping that our descendants might fear the Lord and certainly one way to do that is that proper teaching might be available to them obviously we don't know their heart the Lord is the one who works but nonetheless we do desire that proper teaching would be set up in place so they have this worry worthy they worry that they're not be part of the people of God they'll be worried that they'll be excluded unjustly so they set up this replica of the altar they say in verse 27 they don't want to be excluded from the service of the Lord they want to be part of the offerings they want to be part of the peace offerings that the descendants might not say to ours you have you are descendants and time to come you have no part in the Lord therefore verse 28 we said that it will be when they say to this to us or to our generations in time to come we may say here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices but that it might be a witness between us they desire to be part of the children of God and they set up this altar as a way as a replica as a witness not as a place to worship upon but as a sign that they were part of the worship of God that they could go to the place God set forth Shiloh the place where they could come and offer their burnt offerings that they were still part of that and the Jordan made it difficult to do that this is why they set up this replica for that purpose that they might be part of that they may say it again almost for good measure far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn from following the Lord this day to build an altar for burnt offerings for grain offerings for sacrifices besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before his tabernacle he almost kind of sensed the frustration no that's not what we want that's not what we meant in almost someone comes to them unjustly accuses them of something that's not what we met at all you can see that in their mind in their hearts that they wanted to be part of the people of God and that's that if emphatic and they want to be part of worship to God so when we looked at the perception of apostasy we see how we worship but here in the perception of disunity we see who participates in worship it really is the people of God and we're united together in the worship of our [Music] the reality is perhaps even here we see in Joshua 22 examples of Matthew 5 and 18 don't we we see brothers who perceive a sin they go to their brother say hey are you sitting it seems like you're sinning I'm dealing with that they're dealing with and they say that's not what we meant at all that they might be reconciled together sometimes it's hard for us even in the New Covenant to engage in proper confrontation to actually follow Matthew 5 in Matthew 18 unity is hard brothers and sisters that's why Paul talks about it in Ephesians 4 because it is difficult because we are sinful even with respect to Matthew 5 and 18 we're supposed to go to someone if we've offended them but don't we say instead well if they feel offended they'll come to me or perhaps if we've been offended by someone we said well if they've offended me they need to come and reconcile and both Matthew 5 and 18 both parties are going to one another kind of like in Joshua 22 but that doesn't change the fact that it is difficult that's why Paul has to say that in Ephesians 4 that we might be united together dwelling with one another in unity because it is difficult because we are sinful sometimes we don't like other people sometimes people don't like us that even happens with the people of God sometimes sometimes the people of God just drive us nuts sometimes we drive the people of God nuts and we let those petty things sometimes even get in the way we have that rival altar if you will of our self we have so much pride in ourselves that we cannot be lowly towards our brothers and sisters we may have disagreements we may not like one another sometimes I'm hope we love one another for the most part we may not like one another but we can still love one another but nonetheless we are united together in our worship I know and look at what Paul says in Chapter four of Ephesians I therefore prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called with all lowliness and gentleness with long-suffering bearing with one another in love endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace that's hard isn't it lowliness and gentleness long-suffering bearing with one another in love nonetheless we are called to strive in unity and we are united together overall in Christ we are united together by the fact those who have been called out of a darkness share the same faith in Jesus Christ and that day when we all raised from the dead because of Christ's work we will all together sing praises to God Almighty we are united in our worship so we've seen the perception of apostasy we've seen the perception of disunity let us look thirdly and finally at the perception of God's presence in verses 30 through 34 it is a favorable response now when Phineas the priests and the rulers of the congregation the heads of the divisions of Israel who are with him heard the words that the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the children of Manasseh spoke it pleased them then Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the children of Manasseh this day we perceive that the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of Israel they believe what the eastern tribes have said and they trust what they say is true and they see it as a favourable thing they don't assume that they're wrong they just say hey this is what they said this is what it is but notice especially 31 this day we perceive that the Lord is among us see what's interesting throughout this text Yahweh doesn't speak Yahweh is mentioned with respect to his people but unless we see even in the ordinary things God is still working and he can see these brothers and so these brothers are working together according to the Word of God that they might dwell together in unity and God Almighty is among them in those ordinary things so when we dwell together in unity you may not have all the the razzle-dazzle but nonetheless we are still united together and that's a sign that God is working among us and with us sometimes it's not always the extraordinary things that show that God is with us but the ordinary things in life like when brothers confess their sins to one another and they ask for forgiveness and repent and are united together when we're coming together in a time of unity and peace praise God for that for it is worth his work among us is not any work within us I love one quote that I saw from agustin it was to the effect of anything that good is good within me it is from you O Lord all the rest is my fault so even when we are united together it is the Lord God Almighty it has nothing to do with us when we are worshiping a right is the Lord God working in us revealing to us his word convicting to us his word that we might actually adhere to his word that's God Almighty working for he is the true in the Living God he is the one who works he is the one who works in the hearts of people the Lord is among us and this Calvin says this highlights God's great grace for by the words we know Jehovah is among us they intimate that God was propitious to them and had taken care of their safety it is the grace that these brothers are dwelling in unity and so they named me so they they so they see that as good Phineas and the delegate returned to the people of Israel they see it as good as well they praise God they spoke no more of going against them in battle to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and gadget' dwelt but then notice verse 34 they named the altar they named it the altar of witness and they give the reason for it for it is a witness between us that the Lord is God this even explains to us how it's meant to be used this altar it's not meant to be a place of superstition perhaps someone later on would walk along and say here's an altar maybe I can offer sacrifices if this how this name is meant to highlight that's a witness between the two the the the the two both sides of the Jordan that they are part of the people of God so they can share in that Old Testament confession here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one the Lord is God and both the Reuben nights the gadites and the half tribes of Manasseh can confess that with all the other tribes as well that's why they set this up that they might confess that the Lord is God Almighty and do not we confess brothers and sisters that Christ is Lord do we not confess that he is king and reign supreme do we not confess that he is the one who is head of his church who builds his church that we might adhere to what he says concerning his church when we come to worship are we not confessing the Lord God of heaven and earth are we not confessing that he is the true and the Living God he is our Redeemer he is our object of worship the Lord is among us it is a witness between us that the Lord is God uniting the people together because of God now this is a positive time in Israel's history I think it contrasts well with a very negative time in Israel's history I think judges chapter 20 is that comparison finneus is mentioned again here but not for a good reason if you remember judges 20 it's after that heinous crime when that concubine is ravaged at divya by the people by the people of israel it shows that israel had degraded so far that they look like sodom and gomorrah and there's this threat of civil war there's this sniff of civil war and phineas is mentioned once again he's the reason he is mentioned in judges 20 is to show how far the people have degraded themselves verse 27 so the children of israel inquired of the Lord now the ark this is even in brackets the Ark of the Covenant of God was there in those days and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron stood before it in those days is that don't we see how aggressive idolatry really is how quickly and how fast people can fall if we don't worship the true in the Living God if we don't have God Almighty working among us if God did not hold us and strengthen us and guide us how quickly we would fall into great sins and I think the foil shows us that it's the positive aspect in Joshua 22 but quickly they degrade in false worship according to judges 20 if phineas is mentioned there for that purpose to show that the people fell very very quickly because you see retaining the land is all about it's all tied to the worship of God and the people often committed adultery against their God often worshipped gods who weren't their gods often broke that covenant which is why we need Christ born of a woman born under the law that he might redeem those who are under the law he is the one who worshipped faithfully his God he is the one who offered himself up in win as a sacrifice to his God on our behalf we need this Christ so we've seen how we're supposed to worship we've seen who worships but I think here we see the object of our worship the one we are supposed to come and honor why do we come to church brothers and sisters it is to protest to praise God Almighty it is to hear about him concerning who he is concerning his great grace concerning his great works amongst his people now there is certainly times of refreshment that we do have here certainly there are times we have fellowship with one another but what unites us ultimately together it is God the object of our worship not ourselves this is why we need the gospel of free and sovereign grace because of perverted worship this is why we go out and preach the Gospels cuz people don't worship the true and the Living God they have this perverted idea of who God is or what God is in themselves and other things and things that are made with hands things that you can smash and drop and smack and nothing happens things you can hold in your hands we need the gospel we need Christ he is the true object of our worship we need God as Henry says Christ is the alter who sanctifies and gives his spirit who bears witness that his people are the children of God we worship Him as children of God for he is the creator even if he didn't save us worship is do unto Him for he is the true in the Living God but he sustains us through stirs different difficult circumstances trials he's with us should we not praise Him and give an honor for those things in the ordinary things of life even so he is the Redeemer as well we have so many things to worship God for yet sometimes when we pray the prayer hallowed be your name sometimes perhaps if you're like me your mind can draw a blank little bit sometimes we forget the greatness of our God sometimes we forget the things that he has done but nonetheless we should must come to him and worship Him through Jesus Christ because of Christ the king he is the right object of worship so then in conclusion brothers and sisters we see here in Joshua 22 verses 10 through 34 that the Israelites in this moment do demonstrate unity in worship to their God as a response to his faithfulness how are we supposed to respond to his faithfulness to us it's through honoring and praising and glorifying the God of heaven and earth for he is the one who deserve glory and honor to him and through him are all things to him be the glory and Dominion for ever and ever amen this is the true and the Living God and so the overarching arching application brothers and sisters serve Yahweh seek it to do His commandments because he saved you seek to worship Him according to his word because he's called you out of darkness into light to believe on Christ for those that do not know Christ look to Christ look to the Jesus Christ look to the gospel believe on the gospel and you shall find everlasting life for this God is the true and the Living God and in him you shall find everlasting peace that you might join with the saints of God and join with this People of God and singing praises to him well let us pray brothers and sisters Lord God Almighty we thank you that you are the true in the Living God we thank you that you are the one who creates all things we thank you that you're the one who remembers your people works with your people even in the ordinary things of life father God even amongst the unbelievers you preserve them you give them good gifts we know God that your day is coming and we thank you God for those that you have caused to believe on Christ Jesus that that day has been averted because of Christ for those that do not know Christ Oh God we pray that you would call them out of darkness that they might believe on him if I never lasting hope we pray O God that we would give you the right honor and worship that is do unto you for you are the God of heaven and earth you are one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 you're the one who deserves to be praised for your creator sustainer Redeemer you're the one who is omnipotent omniscient the one who does not change who is immutable the one who is infinite Oh God there are so many things that we could think of but we always seem to forget we thank you for your mercy we thank you that you are patient with us we think that you are a loving God that you are loved we pray O God that we would worship you we would respond or rightly according to your great salvation that we might under those words Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me that we might seek to live in a way that is honoring and pleasing to you help us by your spirit to do this help us by your spirit to sing your praises Oh God for you are the true and the Living God and we pray that you would be glorified in all things the name of Christ amen well we will close the brief time of meditation then you're dismissed you