Viola Solid Rock Assembly
Stacking Stones
all year long we have focused on hearing from God and not only hearing but acting on what he's speaking. Right? And one of the things that I notice as I read scripture is that many times when God spoke to people the response was they sacrificed. All right? He spoke to Abraham and Abraham sacrificed by leaving everything that he knew to follow after God, not knowing where he was going. And throughout scripture we see that God speaks to them and immediately they build an altar and they began to sacrifice. And so I started thinking about this and the other thing that they tended to do was they used stones as a memorial of what God had spoke to them or or this is the spot that God spoke to me. And this is the spot that God did something in my life. And over the next few weeks we're going to look at and we're going to start looking at some of these situations where God spoke and they stacked stones looking at as a memorial. And we're going to look at those places in scripture. And when I started thinking about the stacking stones in the memorial and what you know showing what God has done I started thinking about Joshua chapter 4 and it tells the story of them they're getting ready to cross the Jordan and what happens as they cross and Joshua chapter 4 beginning in verse 1 it says when all the people had crossed the Jordan the Lord said to Joshua now choose twelve men one from each tribe and tell them take twelve stones from the very place where the priest are standing in the middle of the Jordan and carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight. So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen one from each tribe of Israel and he told them go into the middle of the Jordan in front of the ark of the Lord your God and each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder twelve stones in all one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel and we will use these stones to build a memorial in the future when your children ask what do these stones mean then you can tell them they remind us that the Jordan River stop flowing when the ark of the Lord's covenant went across and these stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever and so they went on and it tells more and they go get to Gilgal and that's where they camp for the night and it says in verse 20 of chapter 4 it says it was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River. Now when I think about stacking stones this is the first scripture that comes to mind because of the impact the punch this is the memorial this is stacking the stones this is why we did it we did this so that the generations after us will remember that the Jordan dried up this is why we did this is why we're doing what we do where we're doing verse six of chapter four says we will use these stones to build a memorial in the future your children will ask you what do these stones mean what do they mean what do they stand for why why is that pile of rocks there and they remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the ark touched it the Jordan stood up in the middle of flood stage the water was well out of its banks but the moment that the priest who carried the ark stepped into the water the water began to recede they stepped in and the water began to go back like some of your hairline started receding right and the further they got in to the water the more the water went back until it was standing until it was standing up you know there's a lot of theories about what happened there's some theories that a giant hole in the ground opened up and all the water went back into it but that doesn't make sense because it wouldn't have flowed back north it stood up and they stood there on dryland and everyone walked across and that one person got wet sock in the whole crowd and the 12 while while the 12 are kept he tells 12 people to go get stones and they're gonna carry them where they're going to and they had to put the rocks on their shoulders they weren't small little pebbles they were giant rocks but while they're doing that while they're carrying these rocks out of the river Joshua is standing in the middle right in front of the guys who are holding the art and he's building a pile of himself verse nine of chapter four says Joshua also set up another pile of 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River at the place where the priests had carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing and they are there to this day in the middle of the Jordan River this guy is stacking stones he's stacking stones of faithfulness he's stacking stones of of promises fulfilled he's stacking stones of obedience in the middle of the river when everyone else has crossed here's Joshua still standing there stacking stones verse 21 says chapter four then Joshua said to the Israelites in the future your children will ask what do these stones mean and when you can tell them this is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground for the Lord your God dried it up the river before your very eyes and he kept it dry he kept it dry until we were all across just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we are all crossed over there he did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord's hand is powerful and so you might fear the Lord your God forever they're stacking stones stones these guys were stacking stones to show God's faithfulness they were stacking stones to show how faithful God is Deuteronomy 32 4 says he is the rock his deeds are perfect everything he does is just and fair he is a faithful God who does no Rome how just and upright he is they got the stone of faithfulness because they know they can lean into God and he'll be there they got the stone of faithfulness because every time they called on his name he answered and so they stacked a stone and they said he is faithful he is faithful God has been faithful in this house have you stacked your stone of faithfulness have you stacked your stone of faithfulness this morning he's been faithful in this house they're stacking stones of deliverance in Psalms 50 15 it says and call on me in the day of trouble I will deliver you and you will honor me there have been days that we've been in need and God's delivered us right there's been times that in our lives that we needed God's deliverance and we needed God's freedom and we needed God to show up and here they are stacking stones of deliverance because God is faithful to deliver them they said they laid the groundwork with faithfulness and then they stack the stone of deliverance they were stacking stones of where he's brought them from and verse chapter 5 verse 9 it says the Lord said to Joshua today I've rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt so that the place has been called Gilgal to this day they were slaves in Egypt and God has brought them out he delivered them from the shame of slavery he rolled away the reproach they're stacking stones of where God's brought where is God brought you from see a lot of times in our lives we walk and and we get to a point in our lives though in our walk with God that we sometimes forget where we once were and so then it makes us look down our nose at other people I can't believe they act that way well they're sinners what do you expect why can't believe they did that well you know you used to do the same thing he rolled it away he said I'm free where what slavery were re-in that God set us free from what addiction bound us what what thing could we not shake and God rolled it away in our lives they were stacking stones they were stacking stones of promise promises fulfilled Joshua 23 14 says soon I will die going the way of everything on earth deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true not a single not a single one not a single one has failed not a single promise everyone has come to pass none of them have failed and the ones that haven't happened yet won't fail because he's faithful to answer it not a single promise they've come to pass why are these stones here because God is faithful to answer his promises he's faithful to answer his promises Hebrews thirteen eight says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever if he was faithful then he's faithful now if he answered promises then the answers promises now and none of them failed so that means none of the ones that he's still making will fail they will come to pass they will come to pass he's stacking stones promises fulfilled if he was faithful then he's going to be faithful now they were stacking stones of all the miracles he provided think about think about from the moment they left Egypt the promises and the miracles that he provided them just the absolute miracles they get to the Red Sea and they're crying out to God and God says what do you what are you whining about what are you whining about Moses lift up your staff and they walk right over to the sea and he lifts up his staff and it says a great wind came in blue and it split the water not that one side all the water went to one way or the other no it split it and it says that the there was walls they walk through and wall on this side and a wall on this side and I said this if I don't know a few weeks ago I talked about this but dolphins the script there's there's a book that's called the priest the Jewish priests and it talks about when they were walking through this dolphins were jumping back and forth across this wall and that some of them died and later in scripture when they're talking about making the tabernacle the tent it says to use dolphin skins for part of it where they don't get dolphin skins they already had them because the dolphins that died they carried out with them it's pretty crazy I didn't know if I believed it I did a little bit more research and there's like 47 different kinds of dolphins in the Red Sea they walked over on dry ground Moses raised his hand it says in Exodus 14 21 Moses raised his hand over the sea and the Lord opened the path through the water with a strong east wind and the wind blew all night turning the seabed into dry land so the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground with walls of water on each side I think about I think about when they were standing and and they're complaining about what we're gonna eat and it is verse chapter 16 verse 12 it said I heard the Israelites complain we got no meat we got no bread and so tell them in the evening they will have meat to eat and in the morning you will have bread you the bread you want all of it that you want then you will know that I'm the Lord your God and that evening a vast number of quail flew in and covered the camp and the next morning the area around the camp was wet would do when the do evaporated a flaky substance as fine as a frost blanket on the ground and the Israelites were puzzled when they saw it what is it they ask each other and they had no idea what it was and Moses told them it is the food the Lord has given you to eat that's the first time the quail came the second time the quail came and they got so deep and so covered in quail that they got sick eating quail and so there the manna is there and the quail is there the meat was there the bread was there they that's a miracle the whole time manna is a miracle the entire time they're in the wilderness you know with that you know when the manna stopped when they when they not just when they crossed it happened right after this when they were stacking up that memorial in Gilgal it says the next morning they woke up and ate the fruits of the land that's when the manna stopped why was the memorial there's heck so we can remember what God has done in our lives I think about the water coming out of a rock in Exodus 16 verse 6 says I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai strike the water rock and water will come gushing out and then the people will be able to drink so Moses struck the walk rock as he was told and water gushed out as the elders looked on it's a miracle I never got water out of a rock never did I might have got a smashed finger but not a water but he got it's God setting up miracle after miracle after miracle even in the wilderness even when the people of Israel were were were complaining and doing wrong God still showed up and did miracles amidst another time snakes had had got in the camp and they were biting people people were dying and God says in in numbers 21 verse 8 says then the Lord told him Moses make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole and all who are bitten will live if they simply look at it all they had to do was look at it and they're better but you know what happened is guys refused to look at the snake on the pole and they died all they had to do was look at it I'm not looking at that dude you just got bit you got hours all you got to do is look at the pole all you got to do is look not doing it not going to look at it and it goes on and and we see this this pole go throughout history and they ended up having to destroy it because people started worshiping it but in John chapter 3 we see the pole and the snake again it says and as Moses lifted up as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness so the Son of Man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have an eternal life all they had to do was look at the snake and they would live right the pole the pole would snake all they had to do was look at it and live and all we have to do is turn to Jesus and we have a promise of eternal life yet we still have people who refuse to look at Christ why do you stack rocks because I was bitten by snake and I looked at that pole that I told Moses to make and I lived why do I stack rocks because I turned to Jesus and he saved my life because when I had no hope and I had nowhere to turn and I had nowhere else to go and it looked it looked desolate I turned and looked at Christ and he gave me eternal life the stones they stacked are the same stones we should be stacking he is faithful time and time again he's shown up Hebrews 10 23 says let us hold tight without wavering that to the hope we are we affirm for God can be trusted to keep his promise where has he been faithful in your life what promise has he fulfilled what promises are you waiting on what are you waiting on what are you waiting for him to move in your life what situation have you not turned over to him what are you waiting on what has he delivered you from what miracle has he performed in your life what promise did he fulfill in your life what promise are you still waiting on knowing knowing that he answers all of his promises that not one will fail are you stacking stones as a memorial for your children and grandchildren look at and say this is why I do what I do because God is faithful because this is where I was at and this is what God did and I want people to remember I want people to know because God did something miraculous in my life I want people to know that's why we share our testimony that's why we share our testimony what do you need to set up as a memorial what is it that God did in your life that you don't want to forget there's some things I don't want to forget there's some things that he's done that I want to go back to because he's delivered me from those things there's some places that I don't want to have to go back through what stones are you stacking are you leaning in to God Lord I just thank you right now let's hear a one that would just stand your feet Lord I just thank you right now I thank you for moving in this house God I thank you for for creating moments and in time and moments in our lives that you speak to us Lord I thank you for for speaking and us listening and Lord I thank you for those moments that you speak and that we that we act and Lord I pray that as we react to what you're saying that we begin to build that monument God that we begin to stack stones stack stones spiritually that we say we know that God is faithful because he's done this we know that God is able because he's shown up in this moment we know that God is able to heal because he's healed my life and we put a little bit more change we stack a little bit more stones we put a little bit more change in our pocket because we know that you're able God and when things get hard and things get rough and things seem hopeless we can look back and say God is faithful I don't have to worry when we begin to stress we can look back and say God is faithful and in this moment in time he's gonna be faithful just as he was before he's met my needs once he'll meet my need again we stack stones we stack stones God I have a stone that says you're faithful and when I get worried about how we're gonna pay the bills or how we're gonna do things I look to you because you've shown up time and time and time again in my life I know that you're faithful in that area when you asked me to do hard things God I'm able to say yes because I have a stone that says you are faithful in that area before and if I'm obedient you'll be faithful again maybe you're hearing you need God to move in a situation in your life maybe there's an area that you need God to show up in you need God to move and you say I don't have that stone I'm feeling a little hopeless today I need God to show up in this situation in the circumstance I want to invite you to come maybe you're sick and body and you need God to heal you I want to ask you to come I want to pray with you I want to believe because I know because I've seen stones and people are healed maybe you need deliverance this morning maybe you're struggling with something and you need God to deliver you I want to pray with you I want to leave with you I want to invite you to come because I know I have a stone that says God delivered me so I know he can deliver you maybe you're struggling financially I want to invite you to come I want to pray with you because I have a stone that says God is faithful to show up that he's my provider because he's done it in my life I want to believe with you maybe you got fears and anxiety about a situation in your life and you need God to move and you need God to show up and help you with that I want to invite you to come because I have a stone that says he's faithful if you feel it to come and pray around the soldier I encourage you to do so if you feel it to come and pray for the ones that are here I encourage you to move [BLANK_AUDIO]