Lesson this morning will be in Joshua, Joshua chapter 21. Last week we looked at the last three verses of this chapter on the subject of being heirs of grace. Israel was now in the land of promise, reaping the promises of God and just no doubt reminiscing over how they got there and all that they've been through from the time that promise was given to their fathers till now, it says they possessed it. They possessed it. Heirs of grace.

Everything they had, everything they hoped to have, their children, I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but over and over the Holy Ghost inspires the prophets to highlight the promise of God in a certain child or in a certain marriage and their children. Being an heir of grace affects everything. It affects your children, it affects you. God's providence has aligned things through family trees and family relationships and so on. And so he gives us the genealogy of Christ in the New Testament. But over and over, the Holy Ghost inspires the prophets to highlight the promise of God in a certain child.

Actually, Israel. Israel. I don't know if you know this or not, but Israel is named after Jacob. That's where they got their name. They're made up of Jacob's children. And if you remember, the Lord told Jacob, he said, your name is Jacob. But he said, I'm going to call you Israel. You're no longer a heel grasper, somebody that wants to make deals and set up things and try to control them. But he said, now your name is going to be Israel, a prince. takes his name from his father Jacob. And he calls them, on occasion, sons of Jacob. Remember, the Lord said, he said, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Sons of Jacob. And these are the very ones that are now receiving their inheritance in Canaan. and now in possession of the promise.

Now, I think I need to establish something here before we go any further in our studies. There is a spiritual Israel and a natural Israel. Natural Israel is made up of the natural offspring of Abraham. Everybody in natural Israel, the Jews, if you remember, In the New Testament, they said, we be children of Abraham. What they meant by that was they could trace back their family tree all the way back to Abraham. He calls the prophets their fathers. And his bloodline is actually recorded in the genealogies and scripture. There is what the Apostle calls in Galatians 6.10, the Israel of God. The Israel of God, that's spiritual Israel.

Turn with me to Romans chapter 9. All through the epistle of Paul to the saints at Rome, he deals with natural and spiritual Israel. Natural Israel, that's who we're studying back here in their entry into Canaan, receiving the promises of God. They're a typical people. They were typical of Christ and his church. And if the children of God, the children of God and the work of God, they're all typical of these things. Nobody was more instrumental. And here's the thing. If all these promises are concerning Israel, then how do you explain this? Nobody was more instrumental in the death of Christ than Israel. The king wanted to let them go. The governor wanted to let them go. Did everything but beg the people to let them go. And if people wouldn't, they wouldn't. And those were Jews. Those were children of Jacob.

In Romans 9.3, Paul's talking about his kinsmen. He said, I have a burden for my kinsmen. He said, they have a zeal of God, but it's not according to knowledge. And he had a deep desire to see his kinsmen saved. He said, I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Verse three.

Verse four, who are Israelites? To whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God. The priesthood is what he's talking about there. Service to God and the promises. Everything, now hear me, everything God is doing in the earth, he's made clear he's doing it with and for Israel. Everything.

Fact is, Paul saw them, their equivalent over who baptized them and so on, and who was the preacher that was instrumental in their salvation. And he said, I'm glad I didn't baptize any of you. We're talking about spiritual Israel and natural Israel. And he's telling them that, to whom pertaineth the adoption. You go back and read about the children of God and this adoption that they have, verse four of Romans nine. It's Israelites to whom he's talking. He's not talking to Gentiles, he's not talking to the rest of the world, he's talking to his people.

Not only the adoption, But the glory and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises, whose are the fathers, verse 5, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came, who's over all blessed forever. We're talking about natural Jews. You can trace the genealogy of Christ all the way back. They're all children of Abraham.

But if you look at the history involved in the Jews and Christ, you're going to come up and ask this question. If you study the scriptures and look at the promises and look at all the things that he's foretold about Israel, you're going to be confused. What happened? Wasn't it Jews that wanted him crucified? Wasn't it the Jews that fought so hard against the apostles and the gospel they preached?

But Paul says here in verse six, not as though the word of God had taken none effect, although that's the way it seems. For they are not all Israel, the nation, which are of Israel the man. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

You remember Sarah and Abraham got together and they said, well, we're going to have to do something because we're getting a little age on us and everything's bearing on this child. We're going to have to do something. So she brought in her handmaid and they got together this little scheme and come up with Ishmael. God didn't recognize Ishmael. He promised a son, and a son he produced. She was barren. She couldn't produce, but she did. And this is a picture of spiritual Israel. It's a picture of the new birth. It's a picture of how God's sons are promised. And in his time, he'll come, and that son will appear. And you won't be able to figure out how he's going to do it. He's just going to do it. And when he does it, the situation is absolutely impossible.

That's because God convinces a man of sin. He takes away from him all his hope. He makes him a nothing. And then he does something. And all of a sudden, God has a son. You see the picture? And Paul's reasoning with him about this He said, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are their children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is verse 8.

Now listen to this. They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. I don't know how words could get any plainer than that. And we still wanna, every time we see that word Israel and talking about the Middle East and stuff, we still wanna talk about them being the children of God. And he says very clearly here, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

In Romans chapter two and verse 28, it says, he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God.

And then here's another one over in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 26. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And then he goes on to tell us that there's neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, there's no divisions in this thing in Christ. And then he sums it all up in verse 29 of Galatians 3 and he says, And if you be Christ, those given to him by the Father, if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

And then turn with me one more time over to Romans chapter 11. We need to really be clear on this thing of natural Israel and spiritual Israel. And I'm spending some time with you this morning building a foundation for what I'm going to teach in today's lesson. There is a natural Israel, and there's a spiritual Israel. There's a natural and spiritual inheritance. And there's a natural and spiritual revelation. And you can go on and on.

Let me show you that here in Romans chapter 11, verse 1. He said, I say then. Now, you need to back up just a little bit to find out what that then is all about. That's because they rejected Christ, rejected his gospel, rejected his ministers, and rejected the means of salvation. You back up there and look, and you'll see that in the last verses of chapter 10.

So then in chapter 1 of... Verse 1 of chapter 11, he said, I say then, hath God cast away his people? Is there no value in these people that God set apart? Has he just thrown them away? God forbid, Paul said, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham and the tribe of Benjamin. I'm a Jew.

And then he pulls out, now the Jews were very familiar with the Old Testament scriptures, and I fear that we're all just totally, I know when the Lord saved me, I was so ignorant of the Old Testament. Only thing I ever knew was things that Hollywood had put on screen about Samson or Moses crossing the Red Sea or something like that. Other than that, I was totally in the dark concerning the Old Testament. But these Jews weren't. They heard this Old Testament read and preached since they was old enough to sit in a chair.

And so he pulls out this thing from their past. And what he pulls out was Elijah. And you remember the story about the 400 prophets of Baal. Baal had become the big idol in Israel. And their king went along with it and his wife Jezebel. And basically Elijah, under the power of God, put them all to shame. He put them all to shame. He exposed them for what they were. That's what happens every time the gospels preach. Did you know that? It exposes their ignorance and their idolatry and their sin.

And boy, they got hot. And so do people when they hear the gospel. They get hot. They get mad. And so they chased him down, and he was down here hiding in a cave. And he said, Lord, he said, they've all forsaken you. They all, they went the way of idolatry. And he said, I'm left alone. Here I am. Just take me on home. I'm the only one left. You ever felt that way? I'm the only one left. Lord said, you're not the only one left. I've reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

Now watch this, verse 5, Romans 11. Even so, he said, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. A remnant of what? A remnant of believers in Israel, Jewish believers. There's a remnant. Right now, he said, right at this present time.

And if by grace, if it's an election of grace, then if by grace, then is it no more works. It's not something they earned. It's not something God looked down through the telescope of time and saw what they would or wouldn't do. It's not a work. Period. I'm going to tell you something. When God saves a sinner, he burns those words into his heart. You could no more convince him of works than a man in the moon. Not of works, lest any man should boast.

God's chosen to save a people in Christ. He made full provision for them in his son, Jesus Christ. And some are Jews, and the rest are of every nation, people, tribe under heaven. Isn't that what it says? A cross-section of all humanity, including the Jews. And I said all that to say this.

There was a tribe in Israel that was set apart for the ministry concerning everything that had to do with God and his people. They were called Levites. Now, Levites made up the Levitical priesthood. And there is an entire book of the Bible that you probably just read a few words in and closed the book, but it's called Leviticus. It's all about the Levites. It's all about the priesthood and their duties, what they were, who they are, what they did, and why you needed them.

The priesthood was a figure set apart by Christ as ministers. They ministered about the things of God. Isn't that what they did? He had a tabernacle. He had an altar. He had a laver. He had all these things. You remember our study on the tabernacle. Here's this tent, and then a big linen fence that went all the way around it. Nobody was inside that area except priests. If you had a sacrifice, you brought the lamb, but you didn't offer the lamb to God. You gave the lamb to the priest. He offered it to God.

And of this priesthood, the Holy Ghost reminds us often They had no inheritance. All through the book of Joshua we've been reading that. And the reason they didn't have an inheritance is because their portion, he said, is of the Lord. That's their portion. Their benefits were both spiritual and physical, yet in reality they possessed nothing. Didn't Paul tell us that he said the world is yours? He said the apostles are yours. These preachers are yours. You have everything, but you don't possess anything.

Here's a good picture of that over in Hebrews chapter 11. what we call the faith chapter. You can go through here and just see example after example after example of faith and how it works and so on. But in verse 9, talking about Abraham, it says, by faith he sojourned in a strange country. He was in Canaan, the very place that we're talking about this morning. He was in a strange country and he dwelt in tents. How come? Abraham was a Wealthy man. Did you know that? He was a rich man. Abraham could have built any kind of house he wanted, but he lived in a tent. Why? Well, he tells us here in verse 10. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. He wanted a dwelling place in God. That's what he wanted. He didn't want a house out in the desert. They had no physical inheritance because God was their portion.

And chapter 21 here in Joshua is a detailed account of the various tribes of Israel giving their physical inheritance to the ministers. It's not a subject I like to preach on because every time I teach on this, It seems to me like I'm trying to drum up support, and I'm not. If I had a million dollars, I wouldn't have a house any better than the one I live in right now. I have a decent income. I don't want for anything. I haven't wanted for anything since the Lord called me into the ministry. He has supplied everything I need.

But still, it bothers me when I try to teach on this. And that's what he's teaching here. He's showing us the support of Israel for the ministry. Well, both Israel and that ministry is typical of his church and the ministry in it today. At any rate, that's my burden, not yours. But there's a lesson here that needs teaching. And I'm the designated teacher, so we'll get back to it.

A pastor is titled in Ephesians chapter 4 as a pastor teacher. When you get into the pastoral epistles, Titus and 1 and 2 Timothy, you'll see the requirements for a pastor. And one of those requirements is that he be apt to teach. He has to be apt to teach. Can't get up here and just ramble on and on about Bible trivia and social graces and on and on it goes and tell stories that don't really have a meaning and just basically entertainers. They're pastor teachers.

Now listen to me. God is establishing in the Old Testament that he is the God of order and the God of means. In 2 Samuel chapter 14, verse 14, the Holy Ghost inspired that prophet to write these words. For we must die. And we are as water spilled out upon the ground which cannot be gathered up again.

talking about our spiritual state, our fallen condition, condemned in Adam, a death for which there is no escape, no reversal, no possibility of recovery. We're just like water spilled out on the ground. But now listen to this. Yet doth God devise means that his banished be not expelled from him. Does God need means? No. But he's ordained means. And he's going to establish an order. And in that order, he's going to show you something about his glory.

He said, God will have compassion on whom he will have compassion. He'll be merciful to whom he will be merciful. He'll be gracious to whom he will be gracious. But he's going to do it by the means that he has ordained. And you better let that sink in. I'm telling you, that's the most important lesson you'll ever learn, right there. God uses means. He don't leave men to sit around and dream up alternatives. He has an order. It's established. It's revealed. It's clear as a bell in the scriptures.

It's the purpose and will of God with his good intention to save sinners through the means of gospel preaching. He will and he has established local churches all over the world, all over the country, and appointed to them pastors, raised up in their midst evangelists. And from those pulpits, the gospel goes out into all the world. And through that gospel, he calls his elect.

Now, if you don't believe I'm telling you the truth, you look at 2 Thessalonians 2. He talks about the spirit of antichrist. That's false religion and how it just reigns among men. It just covers the globe, deceives men with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. What that means is They're doing a work of self-righteousness, and they think that work is commending them to God. They're trying to produce a righteousness. Isn't that what you read a while ago over there in Romans chapter 9? In chapter 10, both, he talks about it in Romans. He said they're going about to establish a righteousness. That's what men are doing, this antichrist. But then he comes along and Paul said, but I thank God for you, beloved. God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel.

Now that's how it works. And if you want to buy into that other malarkey, go ahead. But your soul's hanging in the balance. It's the purpose. and will of God with his good intentions, his good will, the good pleasure of his will to save sinners through the means of gospel preaching. And he does this, he establishes local churches wherever he will. I know folks think just because the Lord reveals the gospel to them, they go home and they go, we're going to form a church. You don't form a church. God designates a church in a certain place, and he forms it. My church, that's what he calls it. Not ours, his.

Listen to this. This is in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. After that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Paul said, let a man so account of us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In 1 Corinthians 3, 5, he said, we're ministers. Now watch this. By whom you believe. even as the Lord hath given to every man." What did he give? A minister by which you will believe. Every one of his elect.

There's not a situation, a circumstance, that's not in the providence of God concerning his elect, and he draws them in his providence, he draws them by his Spirit, and he creates the circumstance for them to hear. And I'm telling you, when his gospel falls on the ears of one of his children, they hear. They hear. You know, when 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul told the Thessalonians, he said, I know your election of God. How on earth would he know that? He has some special vision, some special talent to be able to discern men's hearts? No, that's not what he said. He said, I know your election of God because our gospel came not in word only, but it came in power, and it came in the Holy Ghost, and it came with much assurance. Assurance in what? In Christ and his sufficiency to save your soul.

There is an ordained ministry set apart by God for his elect. Now I'm going to ask you a question. What could Israel do without the priesthood concerning God? Nothing. Nothing. Not one thing. Everything they did had to go through the priesthood. Read it for yourself. First five books of Moses. And that was typical of what we are today. Not only were they taught this and commanded this, but they received harsh punishment when they ignored it.

You read in Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah the prophet loved King Uzziah. It's talking about when King Uzziah died. He said, I saw the Lord. Well, what's that all about? Well, King Uzziah was a very honorable, very wise king, and Paul loved him. He wrote, the scripture said it, Isaiah wrote everything that Uzziah did down in a book. He loved that man. He set him apart. Boy, if anybody's saved, it's Uzziah. Oh, so what did Uzziah do? What caused his death? He wanted to avoid the priesthood. He took it on himself to grab the incense. A hundred priests were out there telling him, don't do this. Don't do this. But he's the king, and he can do whatever he wants to. And that's what natural men think. I'm the boss. I'm the one in charge. I'll do whatever I want to do. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Uzziah grabbed that incense and started in that tabernacle, and God smote him with leprosy. His skin, immediately, his skin was falling off his face and hands. He was a leper. And he died outside the camp with the rest of the lepers. But he was king, yeah? And he was dead.

I'll give you another situation. David, they captured the ark. And through God's providence, they were able to get the Ark retrieved. You couldn't worship God without the Ark. The mercy seat went on top of the Ark of the Covenant. High priests went in and poured the blood on the mercy seat.

All right, they was going to move that Ark. When God designed that Ark, he put some big loops inside of it. And they had these big old poles. And these poles went through those loops. And the priest carried that ark. The priest did. One in the front, one in the back. They carried, for all reasonable purposes in our study this morning, they was carrying the Testament of God. And they picked it up and they moved it like that.

But David was in a hurry. And he said, load it on the wagon. So they did. And here they come back. Everybody's rejoicing and happy and thrilled to death. And here comes the ark. What happened? Wagon wheel went down the hole. The ark tipped. Uzzah reached up to steady the ark. He couldn't stand the thought of that ark falling to the ground. He reached up to steady that ark. God killed him dead as a wedge.

What can you do without the priesthood? Nothing. What can they do without God's direction and ordination? Nothing. Now I'm telling you, we wander around in ignorance concerning the ministry. The ministry is a serious matter. You can't do anything toward God apart from the ministry. And these stories about men being saved out on the lake and saved in their closet and saved with a vision and all this, that's malarkey is what that is. God saves men through the preaching of the gospel. He says it time and time again.

And here's a beautiful picture of it here. What could Israel do in Canaan? How are they going to have any rest in Canaan without the priesthood? But the priesthood don't have an inheritance. They don't get any cities. They don't get anything. The Lord's their portion. But they're in there fighting with them, and they're in there living amongst them. And Israel realizes the value of the ministry. And so what did they do? Well, every tribe, according to his inheritance, gave a portion of it to the Levites. And that was his cities and suburbs.

And thank God they weren't like our suburbs. These were fields and things that produced food and so on. And they gave it to them. How come? They needed them. They realized the value of the ministry, and they willingly, cheerfully departed with their inheritance. Well, how does that differ from today? It don't. Men and women work jobs. They work jobs. They do things. They grow crops. Everything else they did. So how does the ministry exist? Well, we tax them. It wasn't no tax. Well, we fine them. No, it wasn't no fine. How are they going to make it? God's going to lay it on the hearts of his people. He's going to make them to realize how valuable this ministry is. And they're just going to give it. You know, when they were building the ark, I can't help but think about this, they called for donations, what he called free will offerings. And do you know that Moses had to tell them that's enough? Once they had reached their goal, he said, that's enough. But they were still giving. Still giving.

Well, where'd they get what they gave? God gave it to them. You remember when they left Egypt? They went over there, and them people said, here, take my jewels. Take this. Take that. And gave it to them. And now they're giving it back. And that's how the ministry works. What God has given his people, they give to the ministry because they know the importance of it. They know what it means to them.

And I'll tell you something else. In doing this thing, here's the wisdom of God. The ministry now in close proximity, isn't it? It's right there. They don't have to drive 300 miles. It's right there. How do you know they're going to live there? Well, we gave them a house. And boy, what a blessing. What a blessing when God does this work, raises up a church, supports his ministers. What a blessing they are to that community.

Let me tell you something else. All these cities that they gave them, they were just old cities. They were Canaanite cities. Wasn't anything special. But when they gave them to the Levites, when Israel possessed them, gave them to the Levites, now they become cities of refuge. All six cities of refuge belong to the Levites. All six. And isn't that what a church is? We hold up Christ, your refuge.

And who would you like to hear your case? You remember our lesson on those cities of refuge. This man's running, he gets to the city, now he has to tell, he has to present his case before them. Huh? Yeah, you know what that, that's as men confessing their sin. I'm a sinner. I need a refuge. Come on in. This is the city of refuge. Come on in. Let me hear your case. Well, I'm a sinner. Well, I hope so, because it's the rarest thing in the world to find one.