Qualities of a Leader & a Man of God

You know, I've been reading a biography about Harry S. Truman by David McCullough, and I enjoy reading about his life. I've had the book for some time, and it's a fairly thick book, and I did not relish beginning it because, you know, I knew it was going to be a long process to go through it, but I really have enjoyed it. I think I'm on about 120, page 120 of it. You know, many of our presidents have had very interesting lives, and they've had great and wonderful qualities. You may not necessarily agree with their politics, but they've had interesting lives. And they have, for the most part, built good qualities of character.

And Harry S. Truman was a simple man from Grandview, Missouri, and I suppose what made me want to read about his life a little bit more is because when I was a little boy, I was in the fourth grade, I moved to Independence, Missouri, and they had all of the fourth graders gather in his new library in the auditorium. And they asked young boys and girls if they had any questions.

And like a fool, I raised my hand. I had a question. And, of course, he, because it was the president, he, well, of course, he wasn't president at that particular time, but because he had such a high profile as a former president, they had camera crews there. So, you know, here I asked this question, and you got somebody with a microphone in your face, and they put lights all around you, and the movie cameras scared me half to death. In fact, it's a wonder I could ask a question at all. But when it came my turn, they asked me, and I said, I was wondering how many terms that our president served.

And, you know, I felt stupid for asking it. I should have known how many terms Harry S. Truman had served. And so anyway, that was the question I asked. And I sort of had that connection, though, with him through the years. And I remember when I was growing up, also they would show little vignettes on the news about, you know, as Mr. Truman got older and older, his wife would go and walk around the neighborhood in independence.

He lived in a home there not far from the school I went to, by the way. And he would walk around the neighborhood. You know, the world has changed a great good deal since that time. I don't think a former president would even feel safe walking by himself out around.

But as I recall, he didn't have anybody with him. He probably had them somewhere watching him, but, you know, he would just walk around the neighborhood. Because it's where his wife was from, by the way. His wife was from that area. But Truman was a quite remarkable man. He was a late bloomer, as they call them very often. He was a farmer. He worked with his father, you know, on the farm, up until his father's death.

And after his dad died, his dad was John Truman. He remained on the farm. Prior to that, he thought he might go into banking, worked as a young boy into banking. And, but, you know, upon his father's death, he remained, again, on the farm in Grandview. They had a fairly large-sized farm there.

And it was in, when he was 33 years of age, by the way, that, you know, the call came by Woodrow Wilson for the war that was going on in Europe, and he joined the military. You know, he had been involved in the Army Guard in Missouri, by the way, but he went into the military when he was 33 years of age, way past the time when a lot of people even think about going into the military. And by the way, by that time, he wasn't married either.

And, you know, when he came back from the war, World War I, he worked in a habitashri, in a tailor shop, in a shirt shop, selling suits. That's what he did. And I'm not sure when he married. I haven't gotten to that point in the book as yet. But I found it remarkable that here is this man that had such a pivotal role in World War I.

I mean, in World War II, I should say. As the President of the United States, he impacted, in other words, that generation in such a way that he was a late bloomer in his life. He just wouldn't expect it to happen. And yet he did. And so maybe this book is sort of dedicated to you and me if we feel like we're late bloomers. I think we are going to be all late bloomers, aren't we?

Because we're going to be kings in the future. It's going to be long after we're 33. I can promise you that if you stay with it. But you know, I remember as a boy enjoying reading about people like Harry Truman. I think I've mentioned to you before about people like Albert Schweitzer and others. They were leaders in whatever field it was that they were involved in. My interest was more in science, but I did enjoy again reading biographies about great people.

In the Bible there are many impressive leaders that are mentioned in the Bible. Of course, we could look at the example of Noah. Noah was quite an impressive leader. Abraham, a striking individual. Moses, of course, stands out in the Bible. David, others we could go through. We could have a whole list, in fact, showing the panorama of the Bible when it comes to leadership. But one impressive figure in the Bible that stands out also, very much so, is a man called Joshua.

Joshua in the Bible. And in the book of Joshua is a statement which says a lot about this man, Joshua. You might want to read it later. I'm going to just quote it to you, but it's Joshua 24, verse 31. I think you'll understand what I mean when I read it. But it says, in Israel, speaking of Joshua, in Israel, serve the Lord, serve the Eternal all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Eternal that he had done for Israel. And so here was a whole nation, brethren, that of course had grown large as a result of being in Egypt to two and a half or so million, and probably multiplied more than that even in the days of Joshua, that held to, you know, a relationship with God throughout the entire lifespan of Joshua. And not only that, but the elders that basically knew Joshua and knew the works that God had done. You know, to me, it's amazing. Joshua's leadership, in other words, had great influence over an entire generation.

To me, that's remarkable. You tell me, brethren, has there been a leader in the world that has ever done that? An entire generation, impacted by the leadership of one man, impacted that way.

Naturally, much of it was due, I think it's certainly a given, due to God's great works, but Joshua's leadership cannot be negated. His example, his powerful example, cannot be negated. You know, God had promised Joshua that he would always be with him. And, you know, he believed him. He believed what God said. Let's go over to Joshua chapter 1. Joshua chapter 1, over here. And notice what, in fact, God said to Joshua. And, you know, think about this, brethren, God says the same thing to you and me, but do we believe it? Do we believe what God says?

Oftentimes, that's the problem. We don't believe God in what he says. But Joshua 1 in verse 5, here God says to Joshua, No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

In other words, no man is going to be standing in defiance of you.

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. What a promise. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inherited land, which I swore to your fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. And this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth.

This book of the law shall not cease to be a part of your mentality, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do it according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you, be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. So Joshua, by the way, believed God and what God had said here. And Joshua, as a result of the fact he believed God and he met with success in him and what he did and all that he did, Joshua therefore stands before us, brethren, as an example of what it takes to be a great leader and also, I think, in a very big way, what it takes to be a role model for us today. He's a role model, brethren, for us. We don't look at people that, you know, we can follow their example and expect the same results he is one of those people. You know, we can look at what Joshua did, how he lived, and what he was as a person. He's a role model. And what I like to say, brethren, he's a role model of what a man or a woman of God needs to be. You know, think about that, brethren. If I were to say of you that you are a man or a woman of God, it says a lot, doesn't it? He's a man of God.

God said of Moses, by the way, the man of God. But you and I, of course, or we can be an a man or a woman of God, people of God. So, brethren, in the remainder of the sermon, what qualities of leadership did Joshua have? You know, and also, what were his qualities as a role model for us to be men and women of God? What were his qualities? Because we need those qualities. Now, very often when we talk about leadership, and I've talked about, you know, leadership a couple of times, you know, the last couple of months, talked about leadership and families, and I don't know, I hope some don't sort of turn off and say, well, I don't want to be a leader.

Why do I don't want to be a leader? Why do I want leadership qualities? I'm not going to be a leader. You're not going to get me up there in front of anybody.

You know, if you said something about that, I'd be running to the near swamp, you know, somebody might say, and maybe they turn off and they don't want to listen. Well, why do you and I want leadership qualities? Well, the reason is, brethren, we're being called now for the purpose of ruling with Christ. And you know what? God is not calling anybody for any other purpose.

And we're being called to be taught so that we can be teachers in the world tomorrow, and also to rule with Christ. And so, brethren, it's imperative that we have qualities of leadership, because we're going to rule in the future. We're going to have kingdoms that we're going to rule over as God's people. You know, how many cities might be entailed? We don't know. Some might have provinces. Some might be over places the size of states. Who knows how God will divide it out in the future. But we have to be able to have those qualities in his brethren. God cannot, you know, create, as Mr. Armstrong said many, many times, he can't create character by instant fiat. He can't snap it into existence. And so, that character has to be in us. At least, that character needs to be in us. And you know what? God can give us the knowledge to do what it is that he wants us to do, whatever it might be. But we have to have the character inside of us. And then, God, of course, can put that character into a vessel that will last forever and be in his service forever. Also, a leader, brethren, isn't always someone who's up front in a meeting. You know, a leader is not someone that is doing the speaking services. A leader is not always somebody that's coordinating, you know, a women's club. And by that, I'm not saying that someone is not a leader by doing those things. I'm just saying that the leadership I'm talking about doesn't always relate to that kind of thing. So, a leader must lead in their everyday life as an example.

Let me give an example of what I'm talking about, brethren. Many of you remember Gerry Martin, Doug Bonasart, and some of the others who have gone Mary Hale, and others that have died, you know, that Hal Green, of course, was another one that served immensely. If Hal was alive, he would be, of course, serving right now. He would be helping right now. And, of course, he waits in the grave, waiting till the time of the resurrection, along with all the other saints. But Gerry Martin, as far as I know, never, you know, conducted a meeting. Maybe she did. I don't never ever doing it. She was not heading up different responsibilities, but she nonetheless was a leader in the Oakland church. At least I considered her a leader in the Oakland church.

And yet, you know, even though she didn't, again, have maybe a leadership role, you know, in areas where we might look upon somebody as being a leader, she was a leader in my mind, a leader among women. A lot of women looked to her because of her attitude. And a lot of men and women looked to others when they're in the church because, in fact, of their attitude, their converted attitudes.

You know, others in the congregation have filled that kind of role, too. I don't want to embarrass people by, you know, singling them out. And frankly, I don't want to take your reward, either, for what you're doing because God is praising you for what you do. And he knows that what you do is invaluable to the church, is important to the church. So I'm talking about leadership that is not always the leadership that's up front. In fact, I think people can be a more powerful force sometimes as examples in the congregation among the flock than those that maybe are sometimes up front. Interestingly, though, the qualities which made Joshua stand out in the panoply of great leaders in the Bible are those which any man or woman can have. Anybody can have these qualities. And the qualities he had were those which all of us, whether we're young or old, male or female, should aspire to have and to develop. All of us should want and desire this. You, you know, young people, you need these qualities in your life. You need these qualities that Joshua had. Joshua was, of course, not the only one that had these qualities. But we need the qualities he had, rather, if we're going to rule with Christ. The first thing I think that is very noteworthy about Joshua, when you look at his life, is Joshua was a man of great humility.

You know, one thing I think we need to be aware of, brethren, is of this fact, if we're easily offended, it is a sign that we do not have great humility. You know, sometimes we, we, you know, find that we can be offended by something. And the reason is, you know, is because we are not humble the way we should be. And quite frankly, the reason we are offended is because we have not humbled ourselves enough before God. The mark of any great leader, and you can, again, read even the biographies of men and women in the history of mankind for the last 6,000 years or so. And, you know, every one of them will contain the fact that great people, usually, are people that have humility. And one thing that Joshua shows in his life, brethren, is he was willing to serve, he was willing to serve others. He served Moses for 40 years.

He was a faithful servant of Moses for 40 years. You know, how many people do you know that do anything for 40 years? There aren't very many, are there? A number of years ago, I was talking to my dentist down in Alabama, so quite a number of years ago, and he asked me what I did. And I forget at the time how many years I'd been in the ministry. But, you know, and I mentioned how that I'd been a ministry, he said, how long you been? And I said, when I was ordained in such and such year, and he was astounded? And of course, that was many years ago. And my wife and I were working on the 40, well, we're 40 years now, you know. Well, I'm sorry, it's this June or July is 40 years, so. But I thought, amazing, why are you so, you know, excited? I've been a pastor minister for that length of time. I guess he hadn't met anybody that had done that for a long time. But Exodus 24 in verse 13, let's notice this about Joshua. Again, he was a man of humility, brethren. And we can be men and women of humility. And, you know, if we ever say, you know, I used to have a problem of not being humble, but now I don't have it anymore. You know, guess what? You've lost it. As soon as you think you've obtained humility, you've lost it. But in Exodus chapter 24 verse 13, it says, so Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain. And actually, I think in the King James it says his minister. You know, it says his assistant here in the New King James. I think in the King James it says minister of Moses. So he was Moses' minister. And, you know, there can be no greater compliment, brethren, than to be called a servant of God. And that's what his role was, to be a servant of God. Moses was a servant of God, and Joshua was a servant of Moses, and in thus way he was serving God too. Over in Exodus 33, just a little ways from where you are there, this is stated a couple of times in the book of Exodus, but in Exodus 33 and verse 11, notice here, it says, and so the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend, and he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of none, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. And, you know, so here, you know, Joshua was right there with him. But notice it says his servant Joshua here. His servant, his minister. And so Joshua was the servant to Moses. And, you know, great leaders, brethren, in order to learn to lead, they learn by serving others. That's how they learn.

You know, sometimes young people have a foible. I know I had it when I was younger as well, but it's like, you know, the first job, you go apply for that first job, and they, you know, you say, I'd like to be the vice president of the company. Or the president, maybe later. I'm not quite ready for being president, but maybe vice presidents begin with, and then when I get the ropes, I'll be president of the company. And then they hand you a broom. Say, okay, Mr. Vice President, you start working wherever it might be, you know. I know when I first started working, you know, some of the jobs I did for your information, young people, it is, I mean, as a teenager, I mentioned to you, I hauled hay. That was, and of course, that's a dirty job that you can have. Later, I also worked with chickens, and we vaccinated chickens, and so all day long, I vaccinated chickens.

Now, you don't know what it's like to vaccinate a chicken. You know what you have to do to vaccinate a chicken? And this is what you have to, I want to remind you, you have to look at this all day long when you vaccinate chickens. You've got to turn them upside down, and you know, you've got to spread those feathers out, and you know, and I'll put it in the pint way, you're looking at the back end or the south end of the posterior all day long. That's where you vaccinate chickens, at least the vaccinations I was doing. And so, you know, that, of course, very humble job.

I wasn't proud of it. I'm surprised I've been even telling you this, you know. Then you'll know how cultured I have been. Of course, besides the fact, you're in a chicken house, and at night, we would, you know, get these chickens and put them in coops. And you know what happens when you have all these chickens and people that are rustling to pick these chickens up by their legs and put them in coops? There's a lot of dust that goes up in the air in a chicken house. And guess what's in that dust? That's what you breathe in all night long. So that's how I began my, you know, auspicious career, young people. You know, not as vice president, but, of course, I've never been a vice president for that matter, but, you know, in terms of company or anything like that. But, you know, oftentimes the problem, again, is humility. But if we are to be leaders anywhere, at any time, in any way, we have to learn to serve other people.

And oftentimes, like Joshua, he had to serve a man like Moses to learn how to be a leader, to be shown how to do it. Because, brethren, leading is serving. Leading is serving. Joshua 3. Let's notice in Joshua chapter 3 what God said, you know, over here to Joshua, Joshua chapter 3, and down in verse 7. You know, here we see God was going to use Joshua very powerfully. We read what it was said in chapter 1. But in verse 7, And the LORD said to Joshua, This day I will begin to magnify you, or exalt you, as it says here in the New King James, in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And so when God looked at this humble man, Joshua, who would submit himself and did submit himself to Moses for 40 years, and would submit himself to God, God magnified him.

And God exalted him in the eyes of Israel. And the reason was because he was humble, because he was willing to serve. One thing a leader cannot do, by the way, a leader cannot let leadership go to his head. Can't let it go through its head.

You know, one of the reasons that mankind cannot, by the way, resolve the problem in the Middle East. Here's the truth of the matter, brethren. The reason that mankind cannot resolve the problem of the crisis in the Middle East is there are not doors big enough for people to walk through, because their heads are out here. All of their heads. I'm talking about all of those who are leaders. Their heads are so big, you can't get any, you know, that many people in one room.

And certainly around one table, because the vanity reigns supreme. But in the case of Joshua, Joshua was a man who, you know, was humble before God. Over here in chapter 5, chapter 5, you know, in verse, down in verse 13, it says, it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, and lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? And so he said, No, but as the commander of the army of the Eternal, I am now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped him, said to him, What does my Lord say to his servant? Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take your sandals off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. So this was none other than the one who became Jesus Christ, by the way, here. But you notice about Joshua, you know, he was a very brave individual when he stood before this into this being. But when he knew that it was God, he was on his face.

That was the kind of attitude that he had of who he was dealing with. When he knew who was standing before him, brethren, he immediately bowed down before God. You know, do we have that kind of sense, brethren, as God's people? No. Do we understand what Joshua understood here?

Sometimes I don't think we do. Sometimes I think we see things too narrowly. We don't see, in fact, things from the broad perspective that God wants us to see. But this was in the mind, the heart of Joshua to be a man of humility, humble before his God. You know, if you and I can be humble before God, we won't have any trouble being humble before one another. We will never have that problem. But if we do, rather than have a problem of being humble before one another, you know what it shows? We're not humble before God. We don't humble ourselves before God, because when a man truly humbles himself before God, he has no trouble humbling himself before all men. Because the true humble person, brethren, looks upon others as being more important than themselves. I mean, you can read that in Philippians 2. But another thing about Joshua, brethren, he was a person who had faith and he trusted God. You see, these are not, you know, great, you know, tremendous ideas that are about leadership, that only a select few can have, but what you and I can have. He's the person who had faith and believed and trusted in God. I won't go to Numbers 13, but over in Numbers 13 in verses 25 through 28 and Numbers 14 in verse 6 through 9, remember there were 12 spies that went into the land of Canaan, and 10 of them came back with a bad report.

They told what the people were like, talked about how they were giants in the land. They were grasshoppers in the sight of these, you know, men. And the attitude was, we can't defeat these people.

But Joshua and Caleb trusted God's promise that that land was going to be given to them. You see, for the 10 who brought back a bad report about the area, what made it bad is not that they said they were big people, that these were giants, but that what made it bad is they did not believe God could help them defeat them. But Caleb and Joshua did. And Joshua, as well as Caleb, stand out as those that had faith and trusted in God. The others did not have faith in what God had said. I don't know, maybe God was too nebulous to them. God was not real to them. Let's go to chapter 6 in verse 1. You know, here was a case where Jericho was securely shut up, as it says, because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho into your hand. It's king and the mighty men of Valor, and you shall march around the city all you men of war, and you shall go around the city once, then you shall do six days, or this you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark. But the seventh, it says, they you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It'll come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram's horn. And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout, and then the wall of the city will fall flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him. And then Joshua, the son of none, called the priest and said to them, You know, take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of ram's horn before the ark. And they proceeded to do exactly what God told him to do. I mean, look in the Bible, brethren. How many leaders do that? To do what God says. You know, in a war, by the way, if somebody came to you and gave you that strategy for bringing down the city, what would you think about? Don't think you'd believe a widget. But Joshua, because God had said that to him, believed God. And so he had faith, and he trusted in God. And God, of course, brought down Jericho just as he promised. And it wasn't because of the great armaments of Israel. It wasn't those things, brethren. It was because that God did it for them. Of course, afterwards they had to go in and take the city as God and instruct them to do. But few men are willing to do what Joshua did. You know, Joshua's success in the Promised Land would only be ensured, by the way, if he relied on God. You know, we don't like to hear that word only, do we? Or if? We don't like to hear that. It's like God says to Israel, I won't lay any of the diseases of Egypt on you if you will diligently obey me. If you will diligently seek me. You see, what we want is all the blessings without any ifs, ands, or buts.

You know, don't ask me to obey you, God. Don't ask me to do what you commanded me to do. But here's a man, Joshua, that did what God said, and lo and behold, voila! It turns out, just as exactly God said. Well, brethren, if we started thinking along that line, maybe, just maybe, brethren, we might see in the church more healings. Just maybe we might see more miracles in the church, if we believed. If we truly believed as God's people. But I know we're human, brethren, and we sometimes don't have that confidence. But, you know, where does that kind of faith, though, and trust come from in a man like Joshua? Where does it come from? Once again, it's not a great mystery. Once again, it's not a great mystery. Very, very simple, actually. He just believed God.

See, there was nothing else required. Just believe God, and you'll have all the faith that you need.

And you know where you find out about believing God? I won't go to it. Romans 10 and verse 17. Here it says, So then faith comes where by hearing? So Joshua heard what God said, and he had faith in hearing by the Word of God. I mean, there's no better thing than to hear it from, directly from, the lips of God, as he did. But, brethren, we got just something good enough right here. The Bible, if we believed it. Do we believe it, brethren?

To lead, brethren, we must learn to believe and trust God, and not in ourselves. Don't trust in yourself. Trust in God. Rely upon God, and you'll be a leader. I know I don't do that enough. I need to grow, personally, in faith. I don't want to stand up here and act like I'm a paragon of perfection when it comes to faith, or humility, or any of these things, brethren. I work on these things just like you do, in my own personal life. My wife and I are grappling with these same things. All of the elders of the church, in fact, all those are grappling with the same issues of trusting God, relying upon God, having faith in God. Another thing about Joshua, brethren, that caused him to be a great leader and is a role model for us, brethren, he made prayer a priority. Remember after the defeat of Ai? That God had brought them into the Promised Land, and they were going to go, and they were going to first attack Ai, the town of Ai. And you remember how that they were defeated by the men of Ai, and Israel had to turn tail and run? Let's go over here to Joshua 7, and down verse 6 here. It says, then Joshua tore his clothes, this is after their defeat, at Ai, and it says, and fell to the earth on his face before the Ark of Eternal until evening.

And so he turned to God after this, brethren, this terrible defeat.

He and the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan, that all delivers in the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? O, that we had been contented while on the other side of Jordan. O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will you do for your great name? And so the Eternal said to Joshua, Get up! Why do you lie like the hell in your face?

Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant, which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the cursed things, and have both stolen and deceived, and they have also put it among their own stuff.

And I think in this particular case, by the way, Joshua learned a very big lesson, as we can too. Remember, Achan sinned here, and as a result, Israel suffered. So one man's sin can impact a whole group.

Apparently, Achan, particularly his sin, had impacted not only him, but the whole group, the whole nation. And one thing Israel had to get straight, by the way, in this particular case, was they had to rely on God, and they could not be like the nations that they were going to displace. They had to be different. They had to be very different than those which, in fact, that they were to displace. You know, over in Joshua 10, by the way, I'll just tell you the story here. After the sin of Achan, and after being able, by the way, to address the problems of Israel, Israel then began, once again, to meet with great success. And so much so that the cities, the nations around, trembled because of Israel. They were fearful of Israel. And there was the city of Gibeon, which was a major city, by the way, that came and made peace with Israel. And in the process of time, what happened is the other kingdoms around plotted against Israel and Gibeon, and they attacked Gibeon. And, you know, what happens is Gibeon then appealed to Israel, and Israel, of course, came to the aid of Gibeon. And this is the famous incident, by the way, where Joshua prayed and the sun stood still.

Now, talk about prayer. What a prayer, isn't it? The day stood still. Time stood still, as it were. And Israel prevailed and won against these kingdoms that, you know, had risen up against them. But that's in Joshua 10, and you want to read that story. I will take the time to go through it at this particular time. But through his prayer, I think it's just incredible, God made the sun stand still. And God can do a lot of things, brethren, for us, if we learn to pray and make prayer a priority. If you're sick, brethren, who do you go through to first, the medicine cabinet?

Or do you ask God's help?

Do you go to a doctor, or do you first ask God to intervene? Do you at least get anointed for it?

You know, in fact, it's an emergency situation.

You know, when you're conscious, you know, you call the church, you have somebody call the church so you can be anointed.

Then, you know, certainly you can be on the way, maybe, to emergency room, if it's an emergency room situation. God can intervene. But do we make prayer a priority?

As God's people? Because that's what it takes to be a leader, brethren.

That's what it takes to be an example, a role model, a man of woman of God, to make priority prayer in our lives.

Another thing, brethren, about Joshua that made him a leader and a role model for men and women of God is he placed God first in all things.

He put God first in all things. Let's go to Joshua 8 over here. And so, by the way, in chapter 8, you have the fall of Ai over here.

Read the first verses about that.

But in verse 8, let's notice here what it says. And it will be, you know, God is talking to Joshua, When you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire, according to the commandment of the Eternal, you shall do. You see, I have commanded you. And Joshua therefore sent them out, and they went to lie in ambush and stayed between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai. But Joshua lodged that night among the people. And then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, and he and the elders of Israel, before the people of Ai. So here's a military operation that's going on. Brethren here, in all the people of the war were with him, went up and drew near, and they came before the city, verse 11, and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley lay between them and Ai.

And so this valley was between them, as we see here.

And so here you've got a military campaign going on in this situation. So it's a very busy, very busy situation with regard to war, certainly. But notice here, going on, down in verse 30 here, and in verse 30 it has this incredible account here. Here all this military thing is going on. Now Joshua built an altar to the eternal God of Israel in Mount Ebal. Remember the story? I did a Bible study on the subject of Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. There's a blessing and a cursing here.

And so he built this altar to the eternal God of Israel on Mount Ebal. And as Moses, the servant of the eternal, had commanded the children of Israel, as was written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones over which no man had welded an iron tool, and they offered on it burnt offerings to the eternal and sacrificed peace offerings. And there in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote out on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. This must have taken a lot of time to do that. And then all Israel, where their elders and officials and judges stood on either side, it says that the Ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the Ark of the covenant of the Eternal, the stranger as well, who was born among them, half of them, it says in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal. So all of this is going on, brethren, they're in the midst of a military campaign. And not only, brethren, are they here doing this. Meanwhile, by the way, the armies are gathering. They're getting ready to make war against Israel. And so all this time that Joshua here is doing this altar, and he's doing these offerings to God, these sacrifices to God, and they're writing down the law of Moses, and they're they're, you know, standing on the either side of, you know, the mountains, Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, the armies are readying themselves to come against Israel. You read that, and by the way, in chapter 9. But the point of the matter, brethren, is this, is that he put God first, no matter what. He put God first. Let's go over to chapter 24 over here.

Of course, we could spend a lot of time talking about all those things, but I don't think it would serve that much purpose. But again, to further show how he was a very patient man, putting God first. Brethren, do we put God first? Always in our lives?

Do we enjoy the Sabbath, or do we endure the Sabbath?

Do we look at the sun as though it lingers in the sky, waiting for it to set? Do we enjoy opportunity to fellowship, to hear the words of God? In Joshua 24 in verse 14 and 15, we're just going to touch on two verses here. Joshua is a very old man. He's about ready to die. He realizes that. He's talking to the elders of Israel and the people. He says, Now therefore fear the Eternal. He told them, Serve him in sincerity and in truth. And put away the gods which your Father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Eternal. Serve God. And if it seems evil to you to serve the Eternal, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods which your Father served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But here's this famous, famous statement, brethren, that Joshua makes that rings for time and memorial, brethren. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Eternal. We will serve the Eternal.

He put God ahead of all else, brethren, in front of everything.

And he cared not what others might do or think. But he said, Ask for us, we're going to serve God. We're going to serve the Eternal. And through his strong stand, brethren, through his strong stand, he influenced an entire generation. As long as those people were alive, they never forgot the things that Joshua did. They never forgot the things that God did also for Israel. I wonder, in fact, if our legacy is going to last that long.

Will your legacy, brethren, last in your own family, for that matter? That depends, doesn't it? What kind of leader are we? Are we influencing? Are we impacting? Example can be mighty forceful. It really can. Not only impact what our young people do now, but what they will do in the future. Let's go to Ecclesiastes 12. A very wise man, a long time ago, God imparted to him wisdom. He wanted wisdom to rule over Israel. And God gave him wisdom, in fact, that made him the wisest man among physical, mortal men, with the exception of Jesus Christ. And he made a lot of mistakes, probably, because of that brilliance that God gave to him. But here, in Ecclesiastes 12, in verse 12, notice it says, this is after he talked about all the problems that then he, of course, is saying in his life, he's saying, everything's futile in this life. And so he came to this conclusion, you know, at the end of everything. In verse 12, it says, further, my son, be admonished by these of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weirsome to the flesh. Indeed, that's true, isn't it? There are so many books you can read. There are so many opinions that are in the world.

But notice verse 13. Solomon says, let us hear, though, the conclusion of a whole matter.

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all. This is man's all. Fear God and keep his commandments, for God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Darby Bible, by the way, reads this way, for this is the whole of man. This is what we are. Fear God and keep his commandments. Fear God and keep his commandments. The message is very simple here, really. This is the life of Joshua. It was an open book and very simple to see his leadership qualities. This message from here, Solomon, is equally simple. Honor and respect God. Fear God. That's what that means, of course, to fear God. Believe that he is. Revere him and pay him tribute and homage for who he is.

And know God rewards those who diligently seek him.

And keep his commandments. Love God with all your heart and your soul and your mind, as Bible tells us to do, and love your neighbor as yourself, as Jesus himself said, in the book of Matthew.

Brethren, if we have these qualities, if we are men and women of humility, if we're people that have faith and trust in God, if we are making prayer a priority in our lives, if we're putting God first, if we have these qualities then, brethren, as men and women of God, we'll be having the right stuff in our lives to make us able tools in the hands of Almighty God in the world tomorrow. Joshua had the right stuff. You know, we can look back through history, all of the leaders, like I say, the panorama of leaders throughout history, men and women, they had the right stuff. And these marvelous qualities, brethren, made Joshua a powerful leader, the person who could be called a man of God. As God's people, brethren, all of us should aspire to have these same qualities and to be called men and women of God.