Passing the Baton

Well, in track, a relay race is unlike any other. Relay race is not comprised of individual competitors, but a series of several runners. Each of those runners will run a certain distance in the race, and then transfer responsibility for the next leg of the race to the next runner. That transfer from one runner to the next is accomplished with the passing of a baton. And as that baton is passed from one runner to the next, it signals the transfer of the race from one runner to the next runner. So each runner passes the baton to the next runner in the race. It is the most critical part of the race. A failure at the passing of the baton can cause the race to be lost. That's happened a number of times, most recently in just the Olympics that just occurred a few weeks ago, some of you will remember the women's 4x100 relay team from the United States that was almost disqualified from the race they were favored to win gold in because of this event. Watch what happened. I'm frustrated, it was about a drive now off out. Now look at this contact, you can feel it on the Brazilian. Nothing you can do about that. Ladies were just qualified from that qualifying heat, but after review the judges said that the US runner had been interfered with by a runner from Brazil who crossed over into Hurlain, they gave them another chance to qualify on time which they did and ended up winning the gold medal. But could easily have been disqualified from the race. You saw that their effort came to a grinding halt when the baton was not passed correctly. You know the Bible says that the Christian life and ministry is like a race. A number of times Paul especially uses the idea of a race to explain and describe and illustrate what living the Christian life is like and what ministry is like, but it is not an individual race. The Christian life and ministry is a relay race. We all give way to others at some point in our lives who will take the baton and run the next leg of the race. Very on the work of God. That is true of pastors, it is true of missionaries, it is true of professors, it is true of deacons, Bible fellowship teachers, it is true of any leaders of any ministry and any church there comes a time and a point where you pass the baton onto someone else. And that person assumes leadership and begins to lead in the next phase of the race. That is also true for all of us in any job we may have or in any part of our lives, a phase of our lives or position we may hold in some organization in our lives. Maybe you find yourself in that position today. Maybe you find yourself in the position today where God is shaping you to step into a new responsibility to receive the baton and run on the next part of the race. Or maybe in your life God is moving you out to something new to something different in your life, a new phase of life or your ministry where you are actually handing the baton to someone else. Regardless of which one it is, God has clear instruction in His Word as to how that passing of the baton should take place. Every leader will eventually be replaced. George Washington was replaced, Pity Poor John Adams, he had a tough time replacing the first president of the United States, but he did an admirable job. Abraham Lincoln was replaced, DL Moody was replaced, Billy Graham has been replaced, and Moses was replaced. On Sunday mornings we have been journeying through the life of Moses for those of you who have not been with us. We are nearing the end of that particular study. And we come to Numbers chapter 27 today where we find that Moses is ready to hand the baton to Joshua. He is ready to transition the leadership of the nation of Israel to a new leader. And Numbers 27 describes that process of preparing to pass the baton to the man that God has prepared. And we have a lot we can learn from this story about where we are as a church right now. I think it is providential. I think it is an evidence of God's perfect timing that in this series of messages, the 19th message in this series, in this particular series of messages, this should occur at this particular time. Just shows me once again that God is in control of the timing of us coming to this passage at this particular time of transition in our own church. I believe that God gives us here a model for successfully passing the baton, for successfully making transition in leadership and in ministry to new leadership. In fact, what we have here in this passage is four ingredients of successfully passing the baton on to new leadership. This as many of you who have been here a while, at least two months, would know in July in our quarterly business meeting, which doesn't get really well attended, you just never know what you are going to miss when you miss a business meeting. You got to miss me announcing my retirement of all things. Wow, you don't want to miss that. But anyway, for those of you who are not here, that is what happened. And so I am going to be retiring in the next two years, probably about two years from now, it is the summer of 2018. And so we have been working the Beacon's and I for the past two years on a transition plan. In that plan, we have tried to model it after plans that we see in the Bible, including this one. We've talked about the transfer of leadership from Moses to Joshua, Christ to the disciples, Paul to Timothy and others in the Bible like that. And so there are clear models for us. And as we come to this passage in the story of Moses, it is a beautiful and timely opportunity for us to see how this is supposed to be done. This is a great model for us. Four ingredients, as I said, the first one is acceptance. The first part of any transition plan is that current leadership needs to recognize when it is time to step aside. That is exactly what God tells Moses in verses 12 through 14 of Numbers 27. Moses, it is time for you to step aside. You need to accept that. You need to understand that. Look at verse 12. Then the Lord said to Moses, go up this mountain in the Abberine range and see the land I have given the Israelites. Do you have seen it? You too will be gathered to your people as your brother Aaron was for when the community rebelled at the waters in the desert of Zinn, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes. These were the waters of Meribah Qadesh in the desert of Zinn. Now that is the passage we saw last week where Moses disqualified himself really from leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land. So God has already told him you will not lead them into the land. What we see now is how God designs an orderly transition to new leadership. And the first part of that, the first ingredient in that is for Moses to recognize when it is time to step aside. If you missed that business meeting, have not read the statement that we have that I made that day on our website. I would encourage you to read it. I gave five clear reasons why I am convinced God has given me the understanding that this is the particular phase of my life where I need to transition out of this position of leadership here at Johnston Chapel. No reason for that morally or dissatisfaction with the ministry here. Nobody is telling me that I need to go. Probably a lot of folks thinking that, but not saying it at least, thankfully. And so there is nobody pushing me. I just came to this conclusion before God that there are several reasons having to do with age and ability to continue to provide good leadership that are good reasons. So I accept that. I recognize that. And what God is telling Moses is a great confirmation to me. He tells him to accept this, first of all, by saying this is a time to look ahead. He says, go up to this mountain in the Auburn range and see the land I have given the Israelites. God is telling Moses, I want you to see the future. You are not going to enter the land. You are not going to lead my people into the land, but I want you to see where they are going to live. I want you to see where they are going to be. Moses, this is a time for you to look ahead. Or any leader of any ministry or in any vocation, really, you may bring people or group or organization to a certain point and even help them look to the future. But you may not be a part of that future. And what God is telling Moses is you need to understand that and accept that. I want you to see what the people are going to experience. You're not going to be able to be a part of that. But I want you to see. I want you to look ahead and see it. What I'm going to do and then he says to him, Moses not only is it a time to look ahead and also a time to move on. In verse 13, as we read earlier, he says, after you've seen the land, you're going to be gathered to your people. Now, that is an Old Testament expression that's used probably about a dozen times in the Old Testament for death. Moses, you're going to die. Now I'm hoping that's not my next step as I transition out. I mean, at some point it will be for all of us, but I don't think I don't want to draw that application today. I'm going to draw that application from this text. But what he is saying to Moses is there is a time to move on. You're going to see the land, Moses, and then you will transition out of leadership. You're going to die. You know, there are some people who feel like this is cruel of God to do this to Moses. He's not going to get to go into the land. He's not going to get to lead the people. But God takes him up to see it. Isn't that kind of cruel? Isn't that kind of like saying to some young man, take one last look at that young lady because tomorrow she's marrying someone else? They kind of like that. I mean, it sounds like that. It almost sounds like God's dangling a t-bone in front of a dog and saying, doesn't this look great? You see this? You can't have it. You know, it almost sounds that way, but God really isn't being cruel to Moses. It is already clear to Moses. He's already been told that his leadership ends very close to this point. So go on through the book of Deuteronomy, which is basically his last words to the nation of Israel. But his time is up and it's time for him to move on. He's not being cruel. He's showing him his faithfulness. You're not going to be able to lead my people forever, but I want to give you a glimpse of what it's going to be like. So God demonstrates his faithfulness in showing him the land that he has promised and he will definitely lead the people into. Moses, you get to see this. You get to see what the fulfillment of my promise looks like. So Moses, it's a time to look ahead, but it's a time to move on. And Moses also, it is a time to accept that. Accept God's will. And Moses does accept God's will. Look at what his very next statement is in verse 15. Moses said to the Lord, may the Lord, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community. So unselfishly with no jealousy or self-pity, Moses knows, accepts now that it is God's will for him to look ahead, then move on. And he says, okay, God, it's time for someone else. It's time for the next person. And I'm praying that you will appoint, you who know the spirits of all men, you will appoint the next person. You see, Moses knew that a right kind of leader would be needed. The Canaanites are wicked. The Canaanites are powerful. So they need a good military leader, but they also need a man of integrity and character. And he prays for that next person. Unselfishly, he prays that God will appoint that man. So he's ready to move on. He recognizes. It's time for him to step aside. It's time for new leadership. This is the step of acceptance. And that's the first ingredient of a successful passing of the baton. A successful transition plan begins with the acceptance on the part of the leader in place now and the people to accept this is the time. And so it's time for you to move on. And it's time for new leadership to come. Acceptance. But then the second ingredient that we find in this story is the ingredient of allowance. And what I mean by that is not God handing Moses a few shackles. And here's your allowance. What I mean by that is that we allow God to choose the successor. Allow God to choose your successor. Notice if you will, Moses' submission to God in that, in the verse we just read in verse 15. Moses said to the Lord, notice he's praying, may the Lord the God of the spirits of all mankind appoint a man over this community. This is Moses' submission to what God has revealed to him about the fact that it's time for you to step aside, Moses. Now Moses prays that God will appoint the next person. So this is the step of allowance. Allow God to choose the successor. Moses prays. And that's what we have been doing and what I urge you today that all of you do. I mentioned on July 17th when I announced that I would be retiring in a couple of years. I announced that actually the deconsent I have been working on a transition plan for a couple of years. I think that there was time was creeping up, age was advancing and not wanting to just hang on and hang on and hang on and eventually do damage to the church. We decided, I decided and presented to the decons, we needed a set of time. So we began planning and praying. And we did a lot of planning over the last couple years. We planned what the transition process would look like. We rooted it in what the word of God teaches about transitions. And then we prayed and sought God's face about what it would look like. When it would take place, the steps that would go into leading us up to that point and then would carry us through it. We talked about what my role would be in the search process, what the role of the associate pastors would be in the search process. We talked about would I have any role in the church after retirement or what should my place be and where should I be and those kinds of things so that we can we can plan and pray about the smoothest transition possible. But I will assure you this in every one of those meetings over the last couple of years, we paused in our discussions of that process and we prayed. Every decon in here could tell you, yes, we prayed in every meeting, we prayed for God's wisdom to establish the right process and for God's direction in choosing the right person. And we continue to do that. I've been praying about that every day of my life for the last two years and I am convinced that God is working both in the one who's stepping aside and preparing one to come. I'm confident of that. Although none of us knows yet who that will be. God is working. I'm convinced. We must be in prayer and I challenge you if you've not already started to do it that you would pray every day, allow God to choose the next person. Moses didn't initially say to God. He didn't, the first thing he said to him was not, okay, Lord, I recognize this time from each step aside here. I know who you ought to choose. Usually when we react that way, we're thinking of someone that's just like us. And God may want someone entirely different in personality, in a new fresh vision for the church, someone who is different, someone who will approach things differently. That may be what God is wanting. And so that's why we need to leave the choice up to him and allow him to choose the successor. I love the way Moses says it. Say the Lord, the God of the spirits of all mankind. You see what he's saying there is God. I know you know what's on the inside of every person alive. You know the heart, the spirit, the makeup, the integrity, the character of every person. So only you know who is right, who is the right fit for this position, Lord. And so that's the reason we leave it up to you and we trust you to guide us to choose the right person. Remember what happened when Israel wanted a king? Now that was never God's intention for them. God allowed them to have a king. And the first king that was chosen with God's permission was Saul. In Samuel anointed Saul to be the king. And he looked like on the outside like the right guy, the best guy for the job. He was the Bible says head and shoulders above everybody else in Israel. He was a warrior. I mean, he was tall, dark and handsome. Just the right guy. He was a disaster. He began humbly following the Lord, but very quickly asserted his own will into the picture, began to disobey the Lord in some key areas of leadership and became a disaster for the nation of Israel. And so God said you're done. And I've chosen a new leader. He told Samuel I've chosen a new leader after my own heart. And you remember he told him to go down to Bethlehem and go to Jesse's house and it would be one of Jesse's sons that would be anointed and appointed by God to be the new leader. You remember what happened in that story? You can read it in 1 Samuel 13. How Samuel went down to Jesse's house and the first of Jesse's sons that he saw was a man named Eliab. And Eliab was tall, dark and handsome. And he just looked like the right guy. Man, this guy will inspire leadership, inspire people to follow him. And God said no, he is not the one. Why? You remember what God said? Because man looks on the outward appearance. But God looks at what? The heart. God's looking at what's on the inside. And so Samuel goes through all six sons who are present of Jesse's sons and God says no to all of them. And so Samuel's looking around saying, have I missed something here? And he says to Jesse, you got any other boys? And when you got a bunch of kids, you start forgetting some of them. And so Jesse says, oh, yeah, there's one guy. One more is the youngest. He's out there tending the sheet. David's his name. Bring him in. And he was the one that God had chosen. You see, he was a man after God's own heart. God describes him that way. And God looked on the inside and chose him. So that's the reason why it's so important that we don't just look at Eliab or Saul and say, wow, it's got to be the person. We've got to be in prayer. We need to be asking God. God you choose the successor. Guide us in this process that we have prayed over and planned so carefully, trusting you to guide us. Use that process to show us who the right person is. Be praying. Please, I ask you to covenant to pray daily that God will lead us to the right person. Allow God to choose your successor. But I like what God says or what Moses prays in his prayer as he's asking God to appoint the next guy. He says in verse 16, may the Lord the God of the spirits of all mankind appoint a man over this community. But then notice his request, Moses' request in verse seven, it continues on this way. Let's go out and come in before them. That's an expression that is often used in the Old Testament of military leadership. To go out and come in. That's language that's used of kings going out to war and then coming back in after the battle and the nation going out to war coming back in after the battle. So that's kind of a military leadership term. Jesus knows that whoever the next leader is has to be a military leader to be able to conquer the land. That was not Moses' strong suit. But the next leader needs to be someone who can lead them in military conquests of the land. But then notice what he says next. That's not the entire package. I'm praying for someone to go out and come in before them. And also one who will lead them out and bring them in so the Lord's people will not be like sheep without a shepherd. So not only is he a courageous military leader, he can go out and come in, but he can also lead the people to go out and come in so that they won't be like sheep without a shepherd. In other words, God, I'm praying for a shepherd, someone who has a shepherd's heart. Someone who loves people. Moses is not praying for a research specialist or a slick CEO or an organizational genius. He's praying for primarily one who has military capabilities, but one who will shepherd the people. One who will be a people lover and a people carrier. Is that even a word, carrier? One who cares for people. You know what I mean? There are lots of things involved in being a senior pastor, a lot of things that happen behind the scene, a lot of things that happen in an office. When you're in a church of this large, you have to give up some of the shepherding duties. I don't mean this in any way to disparage this church. I love this church. This is a church I grew up in. I love this church. But I still dream about the church I passed in Indiana. That was the purest shepherding I'd ever done. It was a small church. 60 people when I went there, 150 when I left, but it was always a small church. And so I shepherded the whole flock. I visited everybody in the hospital. I did all the funerals, all the weddings, did all the shepherding and care for the people. And I loved it. And I did that for the first nine years I was here, but then we were growing so much. We needed help and thank God brought along Pastor Jim. And he's been such a tremendous extension of my ministry and helped to me in providing that shepherding care. But whoever is the senior pastor here needs to be more than just an organizer and a manager of the staff and a leader of the deacons and other committees and someone who puts out fires all over the place. He's got to be more than that. He's got to be a shepherd who loves people, who cares about people. He may not do all of the shepherding, but he's got to have a shepherd's heart. He's got to love and care for people. More important than anything else, our people needs. And he's got to have that heart that people needs your primary, a heart for people in a servant spirit. That's what Moses knew was the need for the people of Israel and it's the need for God's people as well. So allow God to choose your successor as the second ingredient in a smooth transition to new leadership. But there's a third and each of these kind of progress. There's a third ingredient or staff and that is the ingredient of appointment. Trust God to a point, the right person. This is so beautifully described in Moses' case in verse 18. So the Lord sent Moses, take Joshua, son of none. Now that doesn't mean he didn't have any parents. I know some people read that, don't recognize the spelling and think he didn't have any parents. His father's name was none in you in. Actually, if you're a good Hebrew, you'd say it in noon. Take Joshua, son of noon. A man in whom is the spirit and lay your hands on him. A appointment. A point him, Moses. Trust God to a point, the right person. And Moses is going to be a part of that process. God tells him to take leadership and responsibility in leading the nation to that right person. And that should be a part of the process. As long as the senior pastor is still here, he needs to provide leadership in the process. Although God is the one to choose the next leader, the senior pastor needs to provide leadership in that process. So Moses prayed, Lord, you appoint a man. And the Lord answers that prayer. Take Joshua, son of none. A man in whom is the spirit and lay your hand on him. What I find fascinating about this is that God has already chosen Joshua. So he was a man chosen by God, Moses prays, and God has not been having ringing his hands biting his fingernails saying, who's going to follow Moses? Well, who will ever be able to take over Moses' place? God's already got to figure it out. In fact, he already had Joshua chosen. He had chosen Joshua before the foundation of the world. Back in eternity, God knew through who the next leader was going to be. No hand ringing with God, no problem with God. He already has the man chosen. In fact, he's been training him for years. Joshua didn't know that. I don't think Moses recognized that. But God's already been training him and preparing him. He was chosen by God. So when we pray and leave the decision with him, we can trust him to specifically point us to the right person. And in this case, and in just about every other case, in fact, every other case, I'm aware of a transitional succession in the Bible. That's the way God works. When God's people seek him and pray, and the leadership seeks him and prays, God puts his finger on a specific person. God didn't say, okay, Moses, take these five names and do the best you can with him, you make the decision. No, God said, here's the person. Here's the person. It's Joshua. And that's the way it seems to me God usually leads. We will not follow a process where we will put before you five or six people at one time for you to choose that becomes a popularity contest. And I've seen it be terribly damaging to churches where people say, I didn't get my guy. So I'm leaving. It just creates all kinds of discord. Pray with us that as a leadership team, we will do justice and do the right thing in doing a thorough search. That's why we're not ready to recommend anybody yet. That we will do a thorough search, do our homework, ask for God's leading as we evaluate people and that God will put his finger on that person and say, this is the one. Please pray. That way. It seems to be the way biblically God operates. And so God was choosing him. He had already chosen. Here was a man chosen by God, but he was also a man prepared by God. You see, Moses has already prayed. We need someone who will be a good military leader who will have the heart of a shepherd. And so there are two people that already seem to be qualified to fit that profile. There are two people who have the vision and the wisdom to see what God can do in giving them this land, in helping them to conquer the land. You know where I'm headed, don't you? Two guys are already qualified. They're mentioned back in Numbers chapter 14. They were two of the twelve spies. And they were the two spies that came back and gave a good report. And in spite of the obstacles, had the vision and the courage to say, we can take this land. God has given it to us. They were men of character, men of fate, men of courage, Caleb and Joshua. They're described in Numbers 1430 when God is saying to Moses and Aaron about the twelve spies, not one of you will enter the land. I swore with uplifted hand to make your home except Caleb, son of Jaffuna and Joshua, son of none. Those two men seem to be qualified. So why not Caleb? Or why did God not just throw them both out and say, okay, let the nation vote and choose? Why didn't you do that? Why did you say, here's the man. It's Joshua. Because back in Numbers chapter 11 and verse 28, Joshua, son of none who had been Moses aid since youth. God had been preparing him. God had been training him. This was a man who was prepared by God. He had been serving alongside Moses for years. Since he was a young man, he had been mentored by Moses. He had seen up close what leadership was like in the nation of Israel. That's the best kind of training. I don't think Joshua knew he was being prepared by God. I don't think Moses knew he was preparing that young man. But God knew he was a man chosen by God and a man prepared by God. But most of all, he was a man equipped by God. I love what verse 18 says. Take Joshua son of none. A man in whom is the spirit and lay your hand on him. Now most of you probably have a translation like mine that has the word spirit with a small S. But you probably also have a footnote as my Bible does that says, or it can be understood spirit with a capital S, meaning holy spirit. So which is it? Well, it's difficult to tell from the original language because the Hebrew word Ruaq which is the word for spirit can mean the human spirit. It can mean the Holy Spirit. It can even mean the wind or breath. It's all the same word in the Hebrew. And so sometimes it's difficult to know whether the writer is talking about the human spirit or the Holy Spirit. If he's talking about the human spirit here, then obviously he's talking about a man in whom is the right spirit to lead the people. A spirit of courage, a spirit of vision, spirit of faith, the right character. If he's talking about the Holy Spirit and I believe he is, I think he's talking about the Holy Spirit, a man in whom is the Holy Spirit, then he's talking about here is a man who lives under the control of the spirit. Who is, if you want to use New Testament terms, filled with the spirit or full of the spirit. And how do you know that? You know it by the fruit of the spirit. There are two kinds of the filling of the spirit in the Bible. One of them is a sudden coming on the spirit to give power to do a particular task. The other is that normal, progressive filling of the spirit, control of the spirit like Paul says, be filled with the spirit. You're not fulfilled a loss to the flesh. And that filling is demonstrated by character qualities. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Those nine character qualities are described in Galatians 5 as being the fruit or the evidence that the Holy Spirit is in control or that you're walking in the spirit. As Paul says, they're in Galatians 5. So what I believe is being said here is that here is a man who has the equipping of God by virtue of the power of the spirit, the leading of the spirit, the character qualities, the evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in this man's life. He demonstrates the fruit of the spirit. So when we trust God to appoint the right person, we need to be praying for the man who is chosen by God, who has been prepared by God and who is equipped by God in his character. That's what God told Moses to look for. That's great kind of person to look for in a senior pastor, appointment. But there's one final ingredient. And it's affirmation. I love what happens next because this is where it actually becomes public to the people of Israel. And the principle here is do all you can to support the new person. And God tells Moses what to do in order to show before the whole nation of Israel his support for the new leader, Joshua. There are three things he tells him to do. And I want you to know right now I'm preaching to myself, okay? But would you listen in please? Because this is really for all of us as to how we should get behind the new leader. The first thing is identification. You see it there in verse 18. So the Lord said to Moses, take Joshua son of none, a man in whom is the spirit. And here it is. And lay your hand on him. The laying of hands on someone was a means of showing approval of that person to occupy that role to carry out that ministry and to identify them publicly. That's why this is going to be done in verse 19. It will be done before the whole congregation of Israel. So laying on of hands basically is a sign of approval but also a sign of identification with and identification of the two leaders together but also identification of the new leader for the nation. And by the way, those concepts are always true in the laying on of hands in the scriptures. This practice carries over into the New Testament where for instance in Acts chapter 6 there are men chosen among the church to serve in the church in what possibly would later become the office of a deacon. Certainly it's the same kind of leadership or serving position. And the apostles laid their hands on them. First of all to show their approval but also to identify them before the congregation, the believers that these were the people got chosen. Same thing is true evidently of pastors because Paul speaks of Timothy being ushered into the pastoral ministry with the laying on of the hands of the elders, other spiritual leaders. And so laying on of hands seems to be the same thing in the New Testament. And you know what, even in the sacrificial system in the Old Testament when a person brought a lamb to be offered for the blood to be offered on the author to cover their sins, you know what the first thing that offerer did with that lamb laid their hands on the lamb. And so, in the end, I identified that lamb as the innocent victim that would take their place. This lamb will take my place. And so I identify with this lamb in the sense that symbolically my sins are transferred to him, and he takes my place of punishment. So the laying on of hands is kind of that side of approval and identification that this person is to take my place. That's exactly what it means here. With Joshua, it's what it means in the New Testament. When you're appointing new leaders, it's what it means today as well. So to identify a person publicly as being the approved choice of God after prayer and then to publicly identify with them as God's choice, that's an important step. And I promise you that when God does lead us and you affirm by your own vote who that person will be, then we will begin working toward ways that we can publicly identify and transfer that leadership. But then secondly, there's recognition. Not only identification, but recognition. Look at verse 19, have him stand before Elie, the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. There's to be a public commissioning of this person. Now typically when it comes to a pastoral transfer of leadership in our day, typically the way that's done is through what's called an installation service where the new leader is formally publicly in front of the whole congregation installed into that position of leadership. That's kind of the way it's called today. But really it is a public commissioning of that person, challenging of that person, recognizing of that person. And what I think the Bible is telling us is to look for ways to publicly show we support that person. A commissioning service, an installation service, whatever you want to call it, is a way to publicly say as a congregation, we support you. You, our new leader, our new pastor, we support you and follow you in your leadership. That's something we will need, need to do and want to do. So identification, recognition and then notice this interesting step of affirmation and that is delegation, delegation. Look at what God tells Moses to do in verses 20 and 21. Give him some of your authority. So the whole Israelite community will obey him. He is to stand before Elijah the priest who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the earring before the Lord. At his command, he and the entire community, Israelites will go out and at his command they will come in. Now the process of discerning God's will, God told the people that it would happen with Joshua by using the earring. The earring was one of two stones that were in the breastplate of the high priest. Two stones by which the high priest would determine what the will of God was. In some way, in a way that is not described in Scripture, God would indicate a yes or no answer to questions. If you want to see the best use of it, read the life of David. When he's running from Saul, he constantly asks the Lord and even afterwards with military campaigns, he'll ask the Lord to show through the high priest, should I go into battle? And through the use of those two stones, either a yes or no answer would be given. Exactly how it worked, we don't know. But that's the way of finding out leadership. Finding out God's will in leadership. And Moses says Joshua will be given that kind of leadership responsibility. But what he's saying here, you see what God is telling him is that I want you to transfer some of your authority to him and give him some responsibility so that there is a gradual smooth transfer of ministry to the new guy, to Joshua. Now this is going to happen before Moses dies. Before Moses passes off the scene. Moses still has the whole book of Deuteronomy to go. And Deuteronomy basically is one long speech, a little bit more at the end of it. But it's his last words to the nation. Moses is not going to die right now. He's still got a little time. And during that time, he's to gradually transfer responsibility and authority to Joshua. I love what Ray Gain says in his commentary, new international, and of the application commentary on numbers. He says this. He says Moses shares leadership while he is still alive in order to ensure a smooth transition when he dies. And when I read that, I was looking at this passage, I thought, thank you, Lord. That is exactly what we're trying to do. And it was so confirming to me that over the past two years, as we have prayed and worked through planning a smooth process of transition, it really doesn't look like this. And I think, Lord, you were in this. You were leading and guiding us. And this is how we need to pursue it. There needs to be some delegation of responsibility before I write off into the sunset and fall over the cliff or whatever. There needs to be some trans-smooth transfer of responsibility before I pass off the scene. That's exactly what God told Moses to do with Joshua. And that's why we have given a two-year window to do a search process. Hopefully have someone here in time to work with me for about a year in a smooth, gradual transition of responsibility and authority to the new leader. You know, that's exactly what Jimmy Jones did 26 years ago. When I came to Johnston Chapel, I'd grown up in this church as a kid. And for that reason, this church has a huge place in my heart. But I went away to Bible college and into other ministries for 17 years and was gone long enough for people to forget some things so that I could come back. And when I came back, preacher Jimmy had devised this transition plan. I came back in June of 1990. Jimmy did not retire until January 1st of 91. So he was here six months. And we worked together during that process. And he was so wise in how he approached it. He never told me he was following this pattern, but he must have been because he had me preaching every Sunday night. During those six months, he took several revival meetings that fall and had me fill the pulpit for him on Sunday morning. And during that six months, I visited most of the church families. I didn't get to all of them in that six month time period, but was able to visit most of the church families and get to know people and begin to be involved in ministry. Three months into that transition, Jimmy completely moved out of his office and had me move in. And it was just such a gradual, wise transfer and delegation that by the time January 1st of 1991 happened. It was like nothing drastic had taken place. It was a smooth transition. That's what we're trying to do again. Not to just mimic that, but to follow that biblical pattern of delegation of responsibility. And you know what Moses did exactly what God said? And he did it joyfully versus 22 and 23. No indication. He did exactly what God told him to do. No indication of jealousy or bitterness or envy or anything like that. And he was so self-spirit at all. I think he wrapped his hand or put his arm around Joshua with a broad smile in his face and said, you are the man. He may have even said with all the bittering and complaining, I've heard over the past 40 years, you can have it. I don't think he said that. But he did say, I believe you are the man. You're the man. And you are God's man to lead us into the future and with joy, he transitioned that leadership. I believe there's a wonderful pattern for us here. And we've come to it at just the right time. So my challenge to you is this, would you join the pastors and deacons in praying daily that God will direct us and show us, put his finger on just the right person, a man chosen by God, a man prepared by God, a man who is the right person. And then equipped by God. And then when we have come to that conclusion through prayer and seeking his face and doing all due diligence to carry out a proper search, when we come to that conclusion and present that person to you, let's rally around that person, identify with them, recognize them and delegate responsibility to them in a smooth transition. Let's do exactly what this model teaches us. And I believe God will bless it. God always blesses his word. And we follow his pattern. He always blesses that. Now maybe this message today has a more specific application to you. Maybe you're on the verge of thinking, you know, I need to transition out of a particular job or ministry that I've been doing and you're ready to hand the baton to the next person. This passage will show you how to do that gracefully. Or maybe God is stirring your heart that you're being prepared and equipped and designed for some ministry that has been stirring in your heart and growing in your heart or some other phase of your life or job or whatever it may be. And you're ready to take the baton. This will also show you how to do it right. Now God will lead in that process. Either case, I draw great comfort in knowing this. God is sovereign and He knows what He is doing. He is in control and friend, He's already. He's known since the beginning of time and before who the next leader is here. And let's just pray He will guide us to that right person. He's in control. He knows what He's doing. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the assurance of your word and the direction of your word. I pray, Father, that we will with unhazitating obedience, be willing to follow your leading, your guiding us each step of the way. In this process of a search, we are trusting you as Moses prayed to appoint the right person and to give us wisdom in following your lead in knowing who that person is and then help us to rally around that person with joy and with the affirmation and the sense of identification that shows approval of your leading. Thank you, Father. And I pray that you will guide us every step of the way. In Jesus' name, we pray.