Standing Stones
Pastor Jason West
September 8, 2024
I. We Are a
People
(Romans 1:21)
Deuteronomy 8:11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God …”
II. God Helps Us to Remember
Joshua 4:1-3 “When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, “Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.”
A. A Memorial to Thinking
(Psalm 78:1-7; 79:13; 89:1; 102:18; Exodus 12:26-27; Joshua 4:8)
Joshua 4:6-7 “that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”
B. A Memorial to God’s
Joshua 4:9 “And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.”
C. A Memorial to
(Joshua 4:12-14)
Joshua 4:10-11 “For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste. And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people.”
D. A Memorial to the
Joshua 4:15-18 “And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.’ So Joshua commanded the priests, ‘Come up out of the Jordan.’ And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.”
1. God is Always On
Joshua 4:19 “The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.
Exodus 12:3 “Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household”
2. A Place Called
Joshua 4:20 “And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal.”
E. A Memorial to the
1. So Your
Joshua 4:21-22 “And he said to the people of Israel, ‘When your children ask their fathers in times to come, “What do these stones mean?” then you shall let your children know, “Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.”
a. It Starts With
(Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
b. Be
(Deuteronomy 6:7a)
c. Use
(Deuteronomy 6:7b-9)
• In Your
• In Your
• In Your Contact With Other People
2. So
Joshua 4:23-24 “For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
3. So
(1 Peter 2:5)
Joshua 4:24 “ … that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
Matthew 3:9 “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”