Josh 12:1, Now these are the kings of the land whom the sons of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the valley of the Arnon as far as Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east…. 
	This morning’s reading catalogs all the kings and territories that were conquered under both Moses and Joshua as they were leading the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. In Moses’ case, it was the trans-Jordan lands before actually entering the Land of Promise that were given to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh. These tribes of Israel chose to remain opposite the Promised Land. However, they did join their brothers in the conquest of the land that was the inheritance of all the Tribes of Israel. 
	We read an extensive list of 31 kings and kingdoms that were conquered by the Lord through His Chosen Nation. As we know, these were peoples far more numerous and stronger than the Tribes of Israel. However, the victory was assured because it was the Lord Who was fighting for His Chosen Ones. 
This is the key of our focus this morning. The Lord was not hindered by any number of earthly kings or kingdoms. He swept them all away before His people as the dust is stirred up and swept away by the wind. 
The question before us is this - since God proved Himself in so Omnipotently working against such a vast number of powerful kings and nations for the benefit of His people, why do we still tremble at the things that we hear in the news these days? There should be a sense of knowing that whatever powers mankind may have, it matters not in the plan and the purpose of God. He is the One Who rules and overrules in the course of the history that is contained in this realm which He created. We need to know that He uses time, as seen in history, to fulfill His glorious outcome - past, present, and forever.
	As we look around at the Lord’s chosen placement of us here at this time, there is such unsettledness within our world today. We are seeing all kinds of the outworking of the fallen nature of humanity that is being promoted as good and necessary and to be tolerated. The utter absurdity of human folly is being put forth as wise and to be emulated. Governments are promoting all manner of things which serve to undermine and to camouflage the trueness and the certainty of abiding by the precepts of the Holiness of God. It is all such a twisted and ludicrous preponderance of wickedness and evil that causes absolute despair and despondency and chaotic confusion to those who cannot see the Hand of the Lord in His Supreme control. 
We need to know, without any doubt and with utmost fealty unto the Lord, that He reigns on high. Every scheme and plot of this age is absolutely thwarted by the overruling power the Most High and Holy Lord God Almighty. His Sovereignty is the assurance of all who call upon His name and who know Him as both Savior and Lord.
	We want to deal with this for a bit in order to highlight that pledge of the Lord, in His Word, that we can cling to and count on when everything else around us seems to be crumbling. There is the solid and eternal bedrock of Biblical reality detailed precisely in the Bible, which far transcends all the lies and smoke and mirrors and deceit of this age.
	We begin with the promise from the Lord to His people concerning their habitation of the Promised Land. This would take place because He was the One going before them. We have this initially detailed for us in Deut 7:24, as Moses was encouraging the people as to what was going to happen as they entered the Promised Land.
	Deut 7:24, And He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you shall make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 
Here is the direct guarantee that the Lord would overpower all those kings who opposed the Israelites to their utter destruction. No man would be able to stand against the Hand of the Lord going forth on the behalf of His plan to give the land of Promise to the tribes of Israel. 
In this truth, what fear is there to be of any man when we are being lead forward by the Lord of Hosts? He is the One Who is delivering on the surety that no man – no matter how powerful he might be in this realm, will be able to stand against us as we are walking in obedience to the Lord God Almighty.
	In Deut 9:1-5, if you would please open to it, we have the continued encouragement to the people to know that the Lord was going before them. They were not going into the land by themselves or for their own purposes. They were fulfilling the plan of God against the corruptness of the vile and defiled Canaanite peoples. Israel would be the benefactor of what the Lord was doing through their obedience, so they did not need to fear or tremble. They only had to honor the Lord and His commands. Therefore their confidence was to be anchored in the Lord God and His mighty hand and none of their own. He was making the victory sure and absolute for the sake of His glory in His promise given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
	Deut 9:1-5, "Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities fortified to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said,' Who can stand before the sons of Anak?' "Know therefore today that it is the Lord your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord has spoken to you. Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, 'Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 
   	Again hear the call of Moses, in Deut 11:22-25, for the people to honor and to obey the Lord. That commitment will be evidenced in the manner in which the Lord will drive out all those nations greater and mightier than they. This underpinning is packed with the surety of the pledge of God throughout. It is absolutely declared that the people of God have nothing to fear from the powers that lay before them, or us. This is because nothing can stand in the way of the Lord fulfilling His Word to those who love and honor and obey Him.
	Deut 11:22-25, For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you, to do it, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him; then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours; your border shall be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea. There shall no man be able to stand before you; the Lord your God shall lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you. 
This promise was reinforced to Joshua after the death of Moses in Josh 1:5+6. Along with it is the specified and detailed promise that is ours from God. There is no doubt that we are to be strong and courageous in Christ, no matter how powerful the forces arrayed against us may seem to be. They cannot defeat the Lord Who goes before us!
Josh 1:5+6, No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 
      	This was continually reiterated for the nation in order to bolster their resolve to honor and to obey the Lord. He proved Himself over and over and over again in the every aspect of His faithfulness unto them. 
Consider what we are told in Josh 23:6-11, if you would please turn to it. The Lord made it extremely clear how the people of God are to absolutely avoid the entanglements of this age. We are to cling to the Lord through all the storms and gales of this life in order to see His Hand of deliverance in His every victory!
	Josh 23:6-11, Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, in order that you may not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them. But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. For the Lord has driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you. So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God. 
	The next passages that we will highlight, in order to take to heart the manifold mercies and victorious nature of God, are found in the Psalms. The Psalmist encourages the readers of Scripture, as in Ps 9:1-8, with the detailed operation of how the Lord proves Himself over and over and over again. This is especially in the ruling and overruling of the plans of the nations which try to stand against Him. No matter how this world will twist and squirm and try to turn sin and depravity into something that is tolerated and even proffered as good and natural, God will always have the final word! His judgment will be sure and true and righteous over all the governments and the every manipulation of humanity! 
	Ps 9:1-8, I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Thy wonders. I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High. When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish before Thee. For Thou hast maintained my just cause; Thou dost sit on the throne judging righteously. Thou hast rebuked the nations; Thou hast destroyed the wicked; Thou hast blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And Thou hast uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished. But the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. 
  	Then, in Ps 136:15-22, the Psalmist recounts just how fully the Lord has ruled and overruled in the history of His Chosen Nation. This is because God is always true to Himself. He is forever righteous and faithful altogether. That which He has planned will always come to pass, against any stubborn and futile scheme of man, no matter how much we may think of it as impossible. God’s lovingkindness is everlasting!
	Ps 136:15-22, But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; To Him who smote great kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And slew mighty kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting: Sihon, king of the Amorites, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And Og, king of Bashan, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And gave their land as a heritage, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, Even a heritage to Israel His servant, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
    	The prophet Isaiah, in Isa 54:17, assuages any fear that we may have of the power of mankind in these days. We are living in times when man has the most destructive weapons that could ever be imagined. There are pandemics sweeping through nation after nation. There is social upheaval and international terrorism on a scale never before evidenced. 
Yet, despite all the turmoil and strife and utter decay of social order, the Word of God stands still the stronger and still the surer and most definitely still infused by the Omnipotence and the Omniscience of God. Therefore we have no fear or terror of whatever scheme of mankind may exist! Our trust is not in man or in governments or in anything other than the Lord God Almighty!
	Isa 54:17, "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me," declares the Lord. 
	We are further encouraged in this truth by Our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, in John 14:27. We have no real basis for fear at the works of the hands of mankind. Rather, there is to be in evidence within all of us that trust in the Lord which manifests true peace at all times, no matter what is happening! We trust the Lord! In that complete conviction, our minds and hearts and souls are at peace in Jesus Christ!
	John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.  
	In this light, we have the full encouragement of the Word of God as ordained through the Apostle Paul in Rom 8:33-39. When we know that this is the core reality of what is now true in Jesus Christ, when we are concretely set in the fact that we belong to God with all His Omnipotence and His Grace and His Mercy and His Faithfulness and His Love enveloping every fiber of our being, now and throughout eternity, then we can face anything that this age throws at us! What is the worst thing that man can do to us? The threat of physical death to us is the promise of being with Christ in His glory! 
	Rom 8:33-39, Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen!
    	Again, hear the full essence of what is the course of our walk on this earth as the new creation that we are in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul lays it out so succinctly in 1 Cor 15:54-58. Please turn to it. 
1 Cor 15:54-58, But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory. "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. 
	We close this morning’s revealed heart of God’s love and care and keeping and His showering of peace and joy in Jesus Christ liberally upon us with the verity of Phil 4:6+7. It is this Word from the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, that should well up within us the glorious response of utmost gratitude that we do not have to worry about anything at any time! God has it all well in hand!
	Phil 4:6+7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So be it! Amen!

	This morning’s benediction is Ps 71:22. I will also praise Thee with a harp, Even Thy truth, O my God; To Thee I will sing praises with the lyre, O Thou Holy One of Israel. Amen.