Trinity Reformed Baptist Church

In Joshua 10:1–11, we witness a powerful demonstration of God's sovereignty, faithfulness, and judgment. When five Amorite kings unite to attack Gibeon, Joshua responds to the Gibeonites' desperate appeal for help, honoring Israel's covenant despite the deception through which it was established. God reassures Joshua, commanding him not to fear and promising victory. Joshua marches through the night, but the resulting triumph belongs entirely to the Lord. God confounds the enemy and sends devastating hailstones, demonstrating that victory comes not through human strength but through divine intervention. This account teaches believers the importance of keeping their promises, trusting God's Word, and depending upon His power rather than their own abilities. Just as God sustained Israel in battle, He sustains Christians in their continuing struggle against sin through His Word and the Holy Spirit. The destruction of the Amorites also reveals God's righteous judgment against persistent rebellion and foreshadows the final judgment awaiting mankind. Joshua 10:1-11

This study examines God's sovereign providence throughout church history, emphasizing the Protestant Reformation, the Great Awakening, and the struggle for religious liberty in colonial America. Beginning with Acts 17, the lesson establishes that God governs nations, appoints their boundaries, and directs history according to His purposes. The Protestant Reformation restored Scripture's authority over church doctrine, challenging both Roman Catholic traditions and political interference in religious affairs. The Great Awakening of the eighteenth century, through preachers such as George Whitefield, John Wesley, and Gilbert Tennent, emphasized genuine conversion through the preaching of God's Word rather than mere church membership or baptism. This movement helped establish Baptist influence throughout the American colonies. Baptists faced persecution for rejecting governmental authority over the church. Their conviction that Jesus Christ alone is the church's head became foundational to their defense of religious liberty and opposition to state-controlled religion. The lesson also examines Georgia's founding under James Oglethorpe in 1732, correcting the misconception that its earliest settlers were transported prisoners. Georgia was established primarily for economic, military, and political purposes, while also reflecting the influence of the Church of England. Ultimately, this historical study reminds believers that Christ governs His church through Scripture, not political institutions. God's providence has preserved His people across generations, demonstrating His faithfulness in advancing the gospel despite persecution, human opposition, and changing governments.

• Brother Dustin Wright connected trust with waiting for God's promises. God will swallow up death and wipe away tears (Isaiah 25:8). Though this promise is not yet fulfilled, it is certain. • Christian hope is not wishful thinking. It is confidence based on God's unfailing Word and His sustaining power throughout history. Since God's promises are trustworthy, believers can wait humbly and confidently. • The desire expressed in Isaiah 26:8–9 is for God Himself: "Your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul." Brother Dustin taught that the deepest satisfaction is knowing God and living so that others see His glory. • He connected this desire with Jesus' prayer, "Hallowed be Your name" (Matthew 6). To hallow God's name is to revere, honor, and glorify Him. Jesus perfectly honored the Father in all He said, thought, and did, and modeled a life aimed at the Father's will. • Brother Dustin warned that desiring anything more than God is covetousness and idolatry. Christians are to desire God supremely while still carrying out everyday responsibilities.

1. Covenant obedience takes priority over military victory; heeding God's Word is more crucial than fighting God's war. 2. Right worship—according to God's prescription—is the immediate and proper response to God's saving grace. 3. Joshua obeyed the Mosaic covenant precisely: building an altar of uncut stones, offering prescribed sacrifices, and adhering to Levitical order. 4. Old covenant sacrifices were types pointing to the necessity of a broken and contrite heart, ultimately fulfilled in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 5. Joshua's public inscription and reading of the Law models kingly leadership; Christ is the true and perfect King who fulfills the Law. 6. The Church must prioritize the biblically commanded means of grace (Word, sacraments, ordered worship) over cultural activism, performance, and spectacle to remain faithful.

1. God always has a fulfilled purpose. o Even if we cannot see it or time it, God's purposes are complete in Himself; nothing in God is unfulfilled. o Illustration: a three-year-old facing "Andre the Giant"—our defiance against God's immensity is futile. • God always has a fulfilled plan. o God is providential over means and ends. He does not merely intend; He effectively accomplishes. • God always has a fulfilled promise. o Example: Ai's destruction evidences God's promises fulfilled. o If God fulfilled judgments and promises in the past (Jericho, Ai, Sodom, Gomorrah, Babylonian captivity, AD 70), He will certainly fulfill the promised final defeat of evil and the setting right of all things through Jesus.

Pastor Brandon began by highlighting the theme from the book of Hebrews: a "more excellent ministry" with "better promises." The author of Hebrews introduces the New Covenant not as a disconnected, new invention, but as a fulfillment of promises found right in the Old Testament, specifically from the prophet Jeremiah. • Connecting Old and New: It is a mistake to completely divide the Old and New Testaments, as if the New Covenant has no connection to what came before. God's plan for the New Covenant is an eternal one, worked out through time and revealed to Israel long ago. • Understanding "New": It is also a mistake to see no distinction between the Old and New Covenants. The New Covenant is not merely the Old Covenant restated. It is genuinely "new" in its final revelation and fulfillment in the person and work of Christ, even as it is connected to God's ancient promises. • The Role of Christ: The book of Hebrews points directly to Jesus Christ as the one in whom this revelation and fulfillment are worked out.