Jos 3:11 - 4:3

1) There is a river each of us must cross before we can enter the promised land. It is your past life. The sins you committed before you became a Christian.

The eastern religions simply ignore the past life and tell you to improve yourself. But they don't tell you what to do with your past life and your conscience. You're supposed to whitewash your past life by improving yourself.

Christianity is the only religion which offers forgiveness for your past life.

But before you can experience the fullness of the new life in Canaan you must first cross this river. And in that riverbed there are stones - things you did years ago which you kept quiet for years. Maybe you married in the meantime and even your wife knows nothing about it. Keeping quiet will not remove it. The stone stays there at the bottom of your heart. Before you can cross over to the promised land these stones must be exposed to the light of God.

Even if you think these stones are passive in your heart, they are influencing you. It's like radioactive material. They influence your judgement and the decisions you make.
Radioactive substances do not seem to affect you visibly, but even a tiny bit as big as a matchstick can kill you.

That's how sin is. When you do it you do not realise that it affects you. It might even seem pleasant. But it is burning into your soul and destroying you.
Sin can kill even if you leave it at the bottom of your heart.

They put these radioactive substances into big lead boxes and drop them in the deepest places of the sea and hope that nobody will get into contact with it. For even a thousand years from now it can still kill.

But there is only one Man who can deal with this radioactive substance, sin, and that is Jesus Christ.

There are the sins of omission - the good God expected from us which we failed to do.

The story is told of two friends who were in the army hospital from wounds obtained during the American Civil war. The one had the privilege of having his bed next to the window. Each day he would rise on his elbow for about 30min, look through the window and tell his friend about the beautiful things he see outside - a beautiful park where children play, the sea in the distance and the crashing waves on the rocks, etc. Eventually he couldn't wait for that 30min per day when his friend would rise on his elbow and describe all the beautiful things he saw. He thoroughly enjoyed that time. But then jealousy started to creep into his heart, "why can't I have the bed next to the window and see all these beautiful things for myself." At first he pushed the thought away but it kept on coming back and he indulged in thinking these thoughts. One night his friend started to have a severe cough. He could sense how his friend was groping in the dark for the bell to call the nurse. But he couldn't reach the bell, because he was choking on his own spittle. In stead of reaching for the bell himself to call the nurse and help his friend, he simply did nothing. The jealousy had crept so deeply into his heart that it became a hatred in him towards his friend. Eventually it grew quiet in the room. His friend had died. The next morning the nurses found him dead and so they wheeled his bed out of the room. They did not suspect any foul play. They barely had pushed his friend out when he asked the nurse to put his bed next to the window. As soon as the nurse left the room he raised himself onto his elbow to see the beautiful scenery, and there he saw it - next to the window was the brick wall of the next building, no park or sea or anything else. His friend had told him all the stories to keep him cheerful.

He became the murderer of his friend, because he did nothing when God expected him to help his friend.

2) It may be dangerous to take these stones out if you don't do it as God instructed Israel to do it. They did it in the presence of God. God told Joshua to send out His ark first.

If you try to take these stones out in your own way, old emotions might arise and become fresh again. Lust might burn afresh and instead of getting cleaner you defile yourself further.
Unless you take these things out in the presence of God it will hurt you further.

When you take these stones out in the presence of God you will be so aware of the presence of God that you will be protected. In the light of God these sins will lose their charm.

3) We need boldness to enter into the Promised Land. This boldness comes from a clean conscience. There are enemies in the Promised Land who will resist you and unless you have a clean conscience you will slip and fall.

As father in the house you're supposed to be the priest in the house. Your children should be able to look at you and get courage. They should see that you have overcome sin and live a victorious life which they can follow.

When Israel fought against Ai they failed, because there was one man who sinned in their midst.

Similarly our sins separate us from God and make Him seem far away, and we will be weak.

Once God had delivered you from your sins and removed the stones from your heart, these stones become witnesses to what God had done in your life. God saved your from the sins that once had power over you.

Abraham felt the sense of duty to invite the strangers and was blessed. Mary and the others felt the way of duty to go and anoint Christ and so they became the first witnesses of His resurrection. Jonathan went the way of duty when he took the Philistine outpost when his nation was losing a battle.

But there is the prime Man who did it all alone, Jesus Christ. He had the sense of duty to save man from his sins. He stood all alone in the river and withstood the floods of hell. He was not swept aside but stood His ground so that you and I could pass over on dry ground. Till this day He is standing there still for those burdened by sins to pass over.

With Him we can take on the unknown future.