Back to Joshua chapter 10, please. Been thinking the biggest part
of the last week or so about the sun standing still. Until Joshua finished his work,
the S-U-N sun stood still. What a miraculous thing. But
even more so, the sun, S-O-N, stood still when he heard a sinner
cry out. Bartimaeus had heard something,
and now the Lord heard him. He heard him because he cried
out for mercy. The cry of a mercy beggar always
gets the Lord's attention. Saving sinners was his work.
The work's finished, the results are not yet all done every morning
when the sun comes up, S-U-N, the sun still has an elect sinner
to save. If it wasn't so, the sun wouldn't
come up. And every morning as I watch the sun, I somewhat can't
help but to think about that. Well, the Lord's still saving
sinners. He's still gonna show mercy another day. This is the
day the Lord's made. And both of these things are
amazing miracles. However, please understand the
sun, the S-U-N, pictures and typifies the sun, S-O-N. The sun is compared to the sun. The sun standing still for Joshua
to finish his work and the sun standing still to give sight
to a blind sinner are but one in the same, really. in the purpose
of God, and that's to finish the work that Christ came to
do. God's judgment and wrath and
God's love and mercy, both are revealed by what you think of
Christ. That's why that is the most serious question that could
ever be asked. What do you think of Jesus Christ? Those who sincerely cry for mercy
on the roadside of Jericho, the roadside of sin, will soon hear,
Jesus is standing still and he's commanding you to be called. And that is what this whole book
is about, from Genesis to the Revelation. Jesus Christ came
in the world to save sinners. I never grow tired of hearing
about it, the sinner that I am. It's all I want to hear. And
every believer believes himself to be the chief. Look at verse
15, and Joshua returned and all Israel with him unto the camp
of Gilgal. But these five kings fled and
hid themselves in a cave at Machedaw, and it was told Joshua, saying,
the five kings are found hid in a cave at Machedaw. And Joshua
said, roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave and set
men by it for to keep them. Puffed up with pride in their
alliances, arrogant, cocky, seemingly brave, these five kings of the
Amorites stood with their combined armies to take the city of Gibeon. Can't you just see them? Five
against one, that's pretty good odds, unless you're going up
against the God of the Bible. Then it doesn't matter how many,
because God is an unbeatable foe. The five kings stood with
vengeance in their hearts, determining to massacre. And I'm telling
you, that's what was in their hearts. They were determined
to massacre those who had joined themselves with God's people.
And people don't much care about what you believe until you tell
them that they cannot save themselves. And then they become very angry
and arrogant and take sides against you. There's no different in our Lord's
day with the Pharisees and the scribes and the elders and the
chief priest and Herod and Pilate and all the other Jews, like
self-proclaimed kings, kings of their own kingdom, they arrogantly
opposed the Lord's anointed, like the five kings did against
Gibeon. but it too was to no avail. Why?
Because it was by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of
God that Jesus Christ died on Calvary's cross. And why? To
save sinners from their sin. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians,
which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. All who stand against the covenant
people of God, that's what this is about. All who stand against
the covenant people of God are going to have to deal with their
Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is their advocate with the
father. He is their representative and
their federal head. He is their righteousness before
the holy justice of God. He's everything that they need
and everything that God requires. What do you think of Jesus Christ? What futility, what uselessness
in fighting against the God of eternity. These five kings would
certainly fail and would certainly fall because Joshua had made
a covenant with the Gibeonites. We should find such comfort in
that, because that's what I am. I'm a Gibeonite, I'm a Gentile,
I'm a liar and a deceit, but that's the kind of people that
God saves. Aren't you glad? Either speaking, earthly speaking,
excuse me, whether a king or a pauper, it doesn't matter.
We cannot hide or run from God. God will always find you out. Neither is there any creature
that's not manifest in his sight, but all things, all things are
naked and open unto this God with whom we have to do. Will
you be found trusting in a self-imagined righteousness of your own, or
will you be found in the perfect righteousness of Christ? That's
the question. whether shooting hailstones from
heaven or stopping the sun in its tracks, all things are at
God's disposal and He'll always, always, always accomplish His
will and His purpose in everything, everything. If you trust the
God of the Bible, dear friend, He cannot and He will not fail. The problem is not with his ability. The problem is with our inability
to believe. Verse 15, again, and Joshua returned
and all Israel with him. Here we have another miracle
of grace. It's just that simple. Not one of Israel was lost, not
a single one. All Israel returned with Joshua. We so quickly read over these
blessings What a spiritual lesson this is for us. All Israel returned
with him. You know, when the 36 men of
Ai died in that first battle, when Israel went without the
Lord, that's what they did. The scripture is very specifically,
very specifically mentions the exact number, 36 men. The Holy Spirit doesn't say over
30 or somewhere under or less than 40. God's word says 36 specifically. You see, God is very specific. Equally important, when the passage
here says that all Israel returned, it means that every single one
of them returned, all of them. Not one was lost, not one was
killed, not one was destroyed. God didn't make a bad shot. When he was with accurate precision,
was knocking the enemy off their horses with rocks from heaven,
not one of God's people were struck, injured, or lost. Perfect accuracy. With God, 36
means 36, and with God, all means all, and none means none. Now
you can't take that too far. The Lord Jesus said in John chapter
six, verse 37, you know the verse well. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. and him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. All of them, all of them that
come will be saved. With religion, all usually means
the whole world. With God, all means all and he
has made all of his people willing in the day of his sovereign power. That's the only way any of us
believe. We're willing to bow to Christ only because God made
us willing, otherwise we would not come that we might have life,
John 5.40. And Christ added, this is the
Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing, I should lose none, but should
raise it up again at the last day. All means all and none means
none. Second Peter 3.9, the Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,
but is long-suffering to usward. Who's usward? His covenant people.
Not willing that any of them should perish, but that all of
them should come to repentance. That's not a reference to the
whole world. That's a reference to all that the Father gave the
Lord Jesus Christ. All that believe on Him, all
that trust in Him, all that look to Him for their perfect righteousness. Not all the world, all the elect.
All that Christ died for. John 17, two, while I was with
them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou
gavest me, I've kept, and none of them is lost but the son of
perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. None means
none. When the scriptures say there's
none that doeth good, none means none. When God says there's none
righteous, no, not one, none means none, not a single one. When the scriptures declare there's
none that understand, there's none that seeketh after God,
that means that they are all gone out of the way. All means
all, none means none. And this is where our comfort
lies. The believer finds rest and comfort
when God reveals to them that the work has been perfectly accomplished
and finished. There's nothing for us to do
to save ourselves. Aren't you glad? Because there's
nothing we can do to save ourselves. There's nothing that we can provide
that God will accept. So we like the Gibeonites make
a covenant to serve him. And he promises to protect us.
And he promises to save us. And he promises to keep us. We trust in Christ and we rest
in his work alone. I don't have, I'm here to tell
you, I don't have any confidence whatsoever in myself, absolutely
none. But I have all confidence in
the Lord, my Lord and Savior. Joshua will return and all Israel
with him. And don't miss those two little
words with him. Without Him, you will not return. You will
not be kept. Our eternal security, oh, don't
you love to say that? Eternal security is by being
with Him. It's by Him, through Him, in
Him, with Him that we are made holy and just and forever righteous. But not so with everyone. Verse
16, but these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave
at Makeda. Now, I cannot help but to read
that verse and ask myself this question. What if those five
kings had asked Joshua for forgiveness? And it was told Joshua, verse
17, saying, the five kings are found hid in a cave at Makeda.
And Joshua said, roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave and
send men by it for to keep them. The five kings escaped the hail
stones. They escaped the sword of the
Israelites only to be reserved to a more humiliating death. Isn't that something? Sometimes
God spares wicked men for a season and for a reason. When he does
utterly destroy them, God's power is further displayed and his
glory is further revealed. You take Pharaoh, that's what
Paul was talking about. Pharaoh, he survived all 10 of
the plagues upon the land of Egypt that he might be a greater
and a more notable memorial of God's wrath and power. For the
scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. That's exactly
what God did. The Lord knoweth how to reserve
the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. That's what Peter
said. In verse 19, Joshua says, and stay ye not. but pursue after
your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them, suffering them not to
enter into their cities, for the Lord your God hath delivered
them into your hand. Now that's why, that's why we
pursue, that's why we continue, that's why we're not weary in
well-doing. God has already, past tense,
hath delivered them into your hand. whether it's a king or a house
builder. Until the day we lay this corrupt
flesh in the grave, our battle continues. And no man goes to
battle, to war, or even builds a house without counting the
cost. You don't need to provide anything. Good news and a good
thing because we don't have anything to provide. We have nothing.
We are nothing and we can do nothing. Christ has provided
everything that we need. Everything. Everything. Oh, I
just love to think about that. Nothing for me to do but rest. Be sober. Be vigilant because
your adversary the devil is a roaring lion walking about seeking whom
he may debaier. The thief cometh not but to steal
and to kill and to destroy. And Christ said, I'm come that
you might have the life and that you might have it, what, more
abundantly. What's Joshua's message to his
troop? The work's finished. It's finished. For the Lord your God hath delivered
them into your hands. It's finished. You just gotta
do it. You just gotta do it. It's finished.
It's as good as done. You've just got to do it. And
we can only do it through Joshua, our Lord. May we never forget
that. The Lord, our God has delivered our enemies into our hand. And
that's our comfort. And that's where we find rest.
You know, we live in a day in a world where everybody's going
to heaven. No one goes through the funeral homes anymore that
are not now home with Jesus. Just read the obituaries. Most
every single one of them say, on such and such a date, so-and-so
went home to be with their Lord. I had an uncle, he was a prisoner
of war. He was a rough and a tough man,
lived a hard life. And when he died, the obituary
read that he went home to be with his Lord. Don't matter how they lived,
what they believed, or what they've done, because everyone anymore
has done good enough to deserve heaven, and that's where they'll
all be according to them. But I read of a time in this
book, a time coming when men and women
will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account
Everyone may receive the things done in their body according
to what they had done, whether it be good or bad. And to many
who say, Lord, Lord, haven't we? Christ will call all their
works iniquity and he'll profess that he never knew them and he'll
demand them to depart. And great, Christ said, is their
fall. But we don't hear much about
that anymore. Because everything's hunky-dory. Everything's all
right. Jesus loves everybody. Christ died for everybody. Everything's
gonna be okay. Is it? They didn't build their
house upon Christ the rock. If there's no hope for those
who work righteousness, there'll be no hope for those who work
unrighteousness. I can assure you of that. There's
great, great consequence to fighting for the right of your own righteousness. And that's what men and women
are doing. And they hate the very righteousness that God himself
has provided for them. You can call it what you want
to, but that's what it is. What an insult that is to God.
God became a man. God did. He was born of a woman. God was. He came to seek and
to save the undeserving loss. He came into the world to save
sinners. He was hated without a cause. He never sinned. He
always did good and perfect. And yet he died the death of
the most horrific criminal. He was beaten beyond recognition
of a man. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
To provide perfect righteousness for the unworthy he was. And
then we say, well, I'm not gonna have that man rule over me. And
I'm going to go about and establish my own righteousness. And I'm
not going to submit unto the righteousness of God. Oh, but
dear sinner, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. So going about to establish your
own righteousness, you're professing that you don't believe that Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness, and you will perish. You know, it's only when one
lays down any hope, any hope of doing right, are doing what
God might accept, because it's got to be perfect. Only then, when they put all
their trust in the only one who was right and good, only then
will they begin to rejoice in knowing that all they have to
do is rest. And that will be That'll be what
we must do. God must enable us to worship
the one who provided redemption for us with no distractions. We don't have any distractions
because our work's done. Without distractions, a sinner
could truly rest. Can you rest when the lawn has
to be mowed and the laundry has to be done, lady? No, but when
your work's finished, you can, and it is. But to those who will
not, this is what happens. That's what these verses are
teaching us. Verse 20, and it came to pass
when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of
slaying them with a very great slaughter till they were consumed,
nothing left. that the rest, which remained
of them, entered in defense cities. And when Joshua and the children
of Israel disposed and made an end of these five nations, we're
told that it was a very great slaughter. Can you imagine? I've
heard folks who know nothing of the true holiness of God say
things like, well, you know, the Bible, especially the Old
Testament, is a bloody book. They say that with contempt because
most have been taught that God changed somewhere between the
Old Testament and the New Testament. I had a man ask me one time about
that. He said, in the Old Testament, God killed everybody. And in
the New Testament, he loves everybody. What made God change? I said,
God hasn't changed. God's a holy God. He's the same
yesterday and today and forever. Why, if He changed, He'd cease
to be God. Honestly, this is one of the
problems with religion today. Harling preachers have failed
to tell people that God is holy. They've tried to teach people
that God loves everybody and that He wouldn't by any means
send you to hell. They don't tell folks that a
holy God is angry with unholy, wretched sinners every single
day. They fail to tell people that
God hates sin, that He hates idolatry, and that He's going
to deal harshly with both in judgment. After all, they want
men and women to keep coming and keep giving. We don't want
to ruffle any feathers. We don't want to cause anybody
to be depressed. Men want to try to forget that
there's such a thing as divine wrath. The realization of God's
holiness and desire for righteousness makes them uneasy. So they endeavor
to banish the thoughts of God's wrath and anger and condemnation
and holiness and judgment in their minds. Oh, I don't wanna
think about that. Let's think about a good thing. Well, you can't, unless you're
in Christ, and you've got plenty good to think about. But without
Christ, you don't have anything good to think about. There is
nothing good. But folks think if they can believe
solely on God's love, they will not think on His wrath. If they
can somehow manufacture some goodness, some righteousness
of their own, God has no reason to be angry with them. But it's a great insult for a
sinner to choose their so-called righteousness over the very righteousness
that God has provided for them, is it not? Shame, shame, shame. Besides that, all our righteousness
is self-righteousness. The scripture calls it filthy
rags. Isaiah wrote, but we are all an unclean thing, and all
our righteousnesses, and that's plural there, because we think
we got a bunch of them, And he says, all of them that you think
to be are filthy as filthy rags and we do fade as a leaf and
our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. And that
term filthy rags means menstrual cloth. That's what it means.
Look it up in your concordance. To offer God our filthy rags,
or to take the rags used to bind up the putrefying sores that
have not been mollified, that hadn't been doctored with ointment,
and to offer them to God as a covering for sin. Would you accept such
an offering? What makes us think that God
will? And then you got these scratching
ears preachers who come along and tell folks that the New Testament
God is not like the Old Testament God. No, he's sweeter, he's more
forgiving, he's more loving, he's more patient. No, he's not
changed. He's holy, still holy, always
holy. And he will by no means clear
the guilty and the soul that sins, it shall die. But the soul
that is perfect and righteous and holy and just, he cannot,
his justice will not permit him to punish that one. And that's
why Jesus Christ must be our everything. He's the only one
that could provide that for us. God's compassion, forgiveness,
long-suffering, patience, mercy, and grace first must take back
seat to His holiness. If you're not in Christ, God
is none of those things. His compassion, His mercy, grace,
forgiveness, and all His glorious attributes are in Christ. Outside
of Christ, there's nothing but judgment, wrath, condemnation,
and eternal ruin. Oh, preacher, you're gonna depress
somebody. God's wrath is clearly revealed
in the scriptures. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not, the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him, John 3.36. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Romans
1 18. Let no man deceive you with vain
words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience. Ephesians 5 6. In these and in
other passages, too numerous for us to look at tonight because
of time, we see the certainty of God's divine wrath. You know,
there's a necessity for God's wrath. Wrath is one of God's
divine perfections. If God did not punish evildoers,
he'd be a party to evildoing. For God to compromise with wickedness,
he would be condoning sin. Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound, the scripture says, with a resounding God forbid. Don't use that excuse to continue
in your sin. Be careful what you blame on
God. God's wrath is not something that's inactive and inoperative
either. God hadn't changed from the Old
Testament to the New. He's the same God. During Old
Testament times, God's wrath was openly displayed against
the evildoers. God's wrath was recorded on the
pages of Holy Scripture in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
as God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven. God's wrath was
shown on the Egyptians in the 10 plagues and in the destruction
of the firstborn and the armies at the Red Sea, and God was behind
it all. And here we see God's wrath and
destroying the Canaanites for the nation of Israel and the
covenant Gibeonites as they possessed the land that God had given them. Joshua fought for the Gibeonites
just as he fought for himself. Why? Because they were now his
people. The Amorites, the people of Canaan
were idolaters. They were a nation that hated
God. Oh, they was afraid of him, but they hated him. They served
false gods. If you serve a false god, the
true God's gonna deal with you harshly in judgment. And we make
false gods out of everything, everything. You don't have to
be worshiping a tree stump or a golden statue or Buddha or
anything else. We got plenty of them, we sure
do, and they're of our own making. My, but what's going to be said
of the wrath of God to come? To what shall we compare it?
How indescribable and awful must be the unrestrained and holy
wrath of a sovereign God, one who is almighty. How much
sore punishment suppose ye shall be thought worthy of those who
have trodden underfoot the Son of God? and hath counted the
blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing
and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace. Don't you think
hell will be a little hotter? What can we compare the wrath
of one who made the heavens and the earth by the word of his
power? God said, let there be light
and there was light. What wrath is produced by one
who spoke it and it was done, who commanded and it stood fast? What must the wrath of Him be
like who shaketh the earth out of its place, and maketh the
pillars thereof to tremble? That's the God of the Bible.
Don't hear much about Him anymore. Somebody may be offended. What
must the wrath of the Almighty God be like who rebukes the sea,
and maketh it dry, and removeth the mountains out of their places,
and overturneth them in His anger? My, my. What must the wrath of
him be whose majesty is so terrible that no fallen man can live in
the sight of it? How holy is the God who in whose
presence the very seraphims veil their faces? Scripture speaks of God's wrath
as waxing hot. It declares great is the wrath
of the Lord. It makes mention of the fierceness
and the wrath of Almighty God in Revelation 19, and it refers
to God's wrath coming upon sinners to the uttermost. Oh, I want
to be saved to the uttermost, but I don't want to feel the
wrath of God to the uttermost. Do you? Everything about God
is sovereign. His power is omnipotent. His
wisdom is past finding out. His love is unsearchable. His
grace is unfathomable. His holiness is unapproachable.
And like all his other perfections and attributes, God's wrath is
incomparable, incomprehensible. It's infinite. It's never ending. It'll be the wrath of the Almighty. And what will the wrath of the
Almighty be like when it comes upon sinners to the uttermost?
I don't want to know. I don't want you to know. I don't
want anybody to know. As we've seen in this chapter
of Joshua 10, what power of resistance will poor, frail creatures of
the dust have enduring the full weight of God's wrath and judgment? Well, it cannot be resisted. It'll overwhelm them, it'll utterly
consume them, as verse 20 tells us. It'll sink them into the lowest
depths of hopeless despair. And that's what it is, hopeless
despair. It'd be intolerable and unbearable.
But how were the Gibeonites excluded from the rest that the Canaanites
experienced? They joined themselves with God.
They joined themselves with His people. They entered into a covenant
with Joshua. Aren't you glad that you entered
into a covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ? But those that haven't will experience
the terrible and great and horrible wrath of the Almighty. No, it's not pleasant to talk
about, but it's true. May God enable us to warn men
and women to flee from the wrath of God, which is to come. But
may God enable them to believe it. Because we don't have the
effectual power to reveal it to anybody, only he can. But
these warnings will never cause a sinner to come to Christ. It
may scare men and women into a profession of believing. But
it's the goodness of God that leads men and women to repentance. It may cause a sinner to walk
an aisle. It may cause a sinner to join the church. It may cause
them to stop doing wicked things. And it may cause them to start
doing religious things. But it's all the same to God.
It won't save you. So what hope do any of us have?
We have one hope, one hope. The hope of glory is Christ in
us. That Christ, our glorious Joshua,
has defeated all our enemies, our enemies of sin, all gone. He hath delivered them. He hath
already delivered us from sin. And he did so by the sacrifice
of himself. Have you ever heard such good
news? And if God in his sovereign power is pleased to cause the
sun to stand still, the S-U-N, to stand still for Joshua to
finish his work, then you can better believe that God is sovereign
enough to cause Christ to stand still for old blind Bartimaeus
And it's all for the same purpose. Thou shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sin. May God be pleased
to make it so for Christ's sake, for our good and for God's glory.