“””You have not passed this way before... Joshua 3:1-6

Israel was finally ready to cross the Jordan, and enter the promised land They were told to follow the ark of the covenant at a distance, “for you have not passed this way before.” They had the promise that if they were obedient to Him, God would lead and protect them! Men need to trust in and follow God, if they do not... (Proverbs 10:23, 14:16, 15:21)

Proverbs 10:23; 14:16; 15:21 (10:23), “To do evil is like sport to a fool, But a man of understanding has wisdom.” (14:16), “A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self- confident.” (15:21), “Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment, But a man of understanding walks uprightly.”

Thomas’ and the Lord Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” (John 14:5-7)

You have not passed this way before... Salvation from Your Sins –Isaiah 55:8-11; Acts 8:30-39 (Read)

Isaiah 55:8-11 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

You have not passed this way before... Salvation from Your Sins –Isaiah 55:8-11; Acts 8:30-39 (Read) Getting Married –Matthew 19:4-5; Hebrews 13:4

Matthew 19:4-5 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” God joins the two who “have not passed this way before.” Trust God, not men, to lead you in life’s journey of marriage.

Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Note: Men have falsely defined modern “marriage”, and often have false notions regarding what marriage should be! (MDR, Homosexuality, Feminism)

You have not passed this way before... Salvation from Your Sins –Isaiah 55:8-11; Acts 8:30-39 (Read) Getting Married –Matthew 19:4-5; Hebrews 13:4 Having and Rearing Children –Psalm 127:3-5; Heb. 12:9-11; Prov. 22:6

Psalm 127:3-5 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate. Children are a blessing, not an inconvenience (i.e. – Abortion, Infanticide)

Hebrews 12:9-11 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Note: It is God who determines “the way he should go”, not man (cf. Proverbs 14:12) “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”

You have not passed this way before... Salvation from Your Sins –Isaiah 55:8-11; Acts 8:30-39 (Read) Getting Married –Matthew 19:4-5; Hebrews 13:4 Having and Rearing Children –Psalm 127:3-5; Heb. 12:9-11; Prov. 22:6 Death –Hebrews 9:27-28; 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Hebrews 9:27-28 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. Though death and judgment will come to all men, none of us have “passed this way before.”

2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Conclusi on Many are the ways we have not yet passed. We have assurance that God will safely lead us through them all.