I invite your attention back
to Joshua chapter 6, verses 1 and 2. I find myself, of late, as
I'm reading the scriptures, thinking more and more and appreciating
more and more the absolutes of God, those things that are set
forth for our understanding that we might not fear, but be in
comfort and peace in this world of woe. What is before us in
this passage is A Done Deal, that's the title of my message,
A Done Deal. Now I know if you spend any time in church, you're
familiar with the story of Joshua and the sacking of Jericho. I remember well in my youth in
the sunbeams at Antioch Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, singing
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls come tumbling down. Having heard this story from
the time I was young, And having endured several homilies and
sermons on the subject, I look back and I cannot recall ever
hearing anything about Christ and his church from this passage
of scripture or from the story of Joshua. I don't remember hearing
anything about the salvation by grace and the power of God
applied to the context which we have here. But there's a whole
bunch of gospel in this passage of scripture and in the whole
story. of the battle of Jericho, which
really wasn't a battle because as one man said, Israel marched
around Jericho seven times with horns and pie tins, banging on
pie tins, and the walls came tumbling down. This text relates to several
things that I've read to you. It relates to the church. with the gospel. It relates to
the manner of the victory of the church. It relates to the
destruction of Babylon and the end, the exaltation of Christ
and the glory of God and salvation of his elect by his sovereign
will and power and grace. And I want us to consider these
two verses in this chapter. In these few words, we find the
introductory synopsis of the whole story of the Battle of
Jericho. The one speaking to Joshua is
none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. If you'll notice in verse
two, it's capital L-O-R-D, uppercase all the way across, that's Jehovah
Jesus. That's who's speaking to Joshua
here. The Lord Jesus is the Lord or
the captain of the Lord of hosts. That's how he's described in
chapter five in verse 15. He's called in Exodus 15, a man
of war. He's the conqueror who has declared that the battle
is his and that he will be doing the fighting in the war. You
remember many years ago in our study in Deuteronomy, we found
that principle said over and over again. Well, it started
when our Lord said to his people in Exodus chapter 14. Exodus chapter 14 and verse 14. He said, the Lord shall fight
for you. the Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your
peace. And so the Lord says to Joshua,
the Lord said to Joshua, see, I have given unto thine hand
Jericho. Now the battle has not taken place. They haven't marched around the
city. The scheme set up for marching around the city has not been
revealed to Joshua yet. But he says, I have given into
thy hand Jericho and the king thereof and the mighty men of
Baal. I have given it to you. He's
the one that does the Bible and he does so because he is the
Jehovah Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And as always
the case, the promise is sure and is absolute because the one
who promises cannot lie and the one who promises cannot fail.
Scripture says, for all the promises of God in him that is in Christ
are yes and amen, or so be it, unto the glory of God by us. Now, we'll consider these two
verses in reverse order this morning. We'll look at verse
two before we look at verse one, because I want us to observe
the wisdom of God in ordering all things according to his purpose
and his grace. You see, the outcome of the engagement
was never in question. before the battle is fought.
He says, I've given you Jericho and I've given you the kings
and I've given in your hand the men of war. One of the reasons
that the believer is at peace in this world is that he knows
how it all will end. The promise has already been
given to us by God. Now I marvel at how many who
profess to know Christ, even those who profess to preach Him,
live lives of fear and anguish and worry and anger and doubt. Why would you doubt? You have
the promise from the one who can't break his promise and the
one who cannot lie. What he has promised, he is able
to perform. Scripture says, faithful is he
who calleth you. Who will also do it? Who will
also do it? That does not mean that troubles
and trials don't attend our way. If you're a child of God, you're
born into a troublesome world and your life will be a life
of troubles. Man that is born of a woman is a few days and
full of troubles, saith the scripture. The Lord has promised that his
children have everything they need. Everything they need and
more. But that will come with what
he said would be tribulations and trials in their sojourn here.
This is our life. Life as we know it. See, there
is a war that will be engaged in. Every war there are casualties.
You can count on that. And sometimes we are casualties.
It says, and Paul said to Timothy, for unto you it is given in behalf
of Christ not only to believe on Christ, but also to suffer
for his name's sake. That's given. That's what's given
to you, to believe on Christ and to suffer for his name's
sake. Now these manifold trials come on purpose and they do us
good, though they may not feel good. We'll not enter into glory
on flowery beds of ease. You can count on that. We are
indeed, as the old hymn said, prone to wonder. Lord, I feel
it. I wonder, and when we wonder,
we got to be brought back to where we need to be. And trials
and tribulations come our way as chastisement, which is loving
discipline, to put us back on track, to fix our hearts and
minds on Jesus Christ, and they always work that way. That's
their design, that's their intent, and that's their final product. The Lord is weaning us from this
world, and He will wean us. How will He do it? The life that
we live. The life that we live. I can't
tell you how many times Laverne said to me, we were talking,
she said, the Lord's weaning me. The Lord's weaning me from
this world, this thing is just not, there's hardly any joy left
in this world. And that's the case for many
people, and as you get older, and the pains and aches of age
come along and sickness and worry and things like that, all those
things, they will begin to say to you, isn't heaven more of
a pleasing thought? Isn't the concept of being without
sin and without troubles and without worry a pleasing thought? Well, that's the promise you
have. That's the promise you have. Our Lord comes here to
Joshua and assures that victory is already His. He's not fought
the battle, but the victory's already won. The script has already
been written. The actors have all taken their
place on stage and hit their mark. The final act is already
accomplished. The Lord says to Joshua, see? See? See? He's showing him what
is going to happen. He's showing what is already
his. David said this, I had fainted unless I had believed to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of living. I had fainted
unless I believed to see The goodness of the Lord. The words
of the Lord are more than just to look or to view or to observe.
He tells Joshua to see. And that word means to perceive
and understand. He says, what I'm saying to you,
you need to understand, you need to perceive. Though the battle
lies yet in the future, the result is already in the past. Think
about that. There's a battle to be fought.
But the victory's already won in the past. It's already taken
care of. That's the language of the wisest man who ever wrote
in the Bible, except for the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was
writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Solomon was
an Ecclesiastes. And I still wonder and love this
passage of Scripture because it's a great help to me as I
face this world, as you face this world. He said in verse
15 of Ecclesiastes 3, that which hath been, is now. And that which is to
be has already been. And God required that which is
past. What used to be is now. What's already past is now. And
what's supposed to happen in the future has already happened.
That's the language of God. God lives in eternity. We live
in time. Our Lord does not tell Joshua
to look at what he's about to do. Though he is about to do
some great things. He tells Joshua to see what he
has done. Look and see what the Lord has
done. That's why we're given this book. That's why we're given
faith to believe the gospel according to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and
verse 12. We're given faith to believe the gospel so we can
understand what the Lord has freely given us in Jesus Christ. What the Lord has done for us.
This is what the essential gospel is. The essence. of the gospel,
of what it is to preach the gospel, is to tell men what God has done.
I can't tell you what's going to happen in the future. I know
that many things are set forth in the scripture that are going
to take place, but I don't see anything that would inhibit the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at this very moment. I don't
see any part of history of the Bible saying otherwise. But I
don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, if there'll be a tomorrow,
I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen in the next 15
minutes. Nobody does. And so I don't spend a whole
lot of time telling you about future events. Because the Bible
is about what God has done. The Gospel is about what God
has done. What God has done. What Christ has accomplished
in His work on Calvary Street. Any reference to the future events
is but a rehearsal of what God has purpose and therefore already
accomplished because He has put His hand to it and none can turn
Him back. It's as simple as that. It's already big. We're already
in heavenly places in the Lord Jesus Christ. We've already ascended
on high to sit with the Master in His presence. The Lord said, see, I have given into thy hand, into
thy hand, Though these things are yet to be experimentally
realized and the battle yet lies before us, the Lord says, see. He didn't say, see what I will
do. He didn't say what I will give,
but what I have given into your hand. He has given because all
things are His to give and He has given us all things in Jesus
Christ. Spared not his only son, but
freely gave him up for us all, and how shall he not with Jesus
Christ give us all things? Paul said to the Corinthian church,
all things are yours, and you are Christ, and Christ is God.
Give it all into your hands. He says to see, see, not look,
to see. If you're gonna see it, it's
already done. It's already there. See. All things are yours. I don't
know about you, but I thrive on absolutes. I do. In absolutes,
there's no if, ands, or buts, no mitigating circumstances,
no unseen traps, snares, potholes, or pitfalls. Only things that
must be. That must be. Because they have
already been. See. Can you see? The Lord says to you, see. See what He's put into your hand. You may look, but you can only
see what already is. You can only see what already
is. We may assuredly take this to
heart as a word to the church of the Lord God. But this is
primarily a picture of God the Father declaring to His Son that
He's given Him all things. That was the promise to Christ.
In Psalm 110, when David was privy to a conversation between
God the Father and God the Son, the Lord said, rule thou in the
midst of thine enemies. I've given the heathen thine
heritage. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. In John chapter 3 and verse 35,
John the Baptist said of the Lord Jesus Christ, God loves
his son and he's put all things in his hand. Old Scott Richardson
used to say, God's put all his eggs in one basket and that basket
is the Lord Jesus Christ and if you have him, you have all
things. Remember that the things that the Lord has given unto
Joshua's hands are for the realization of the promise that he's made.
He put it in your hands. This is the assurance given to
the heavenly surety of the Lord Jesus Christ. The accomplishment
of His mission was already in His hand. He was the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. There are people who want to
argue about eternal justification or eternal salvation, and I understand
fully their argument that no man has an understanding, or
no man has a right to think that he's a child of God until he
believes. So that's why the scripture talks about being justified by
faith, being justified on the cross, but there is a sense in
which men are eternally justified. If you are God's child, or if
you are an inhabitant of this universe, your job is already
set. And how you're going to end that
job is already set. It's already taken care of. This
is the assurance given. Forget any notion that Christ
came into this world to make the promise of possibility or
make the promise available. He didn't do that. Before he
split the atmosphere here, he stepped out of glory into this
world. Everyone and everything that is involved with the absolute
success of his grand work of salvation, and everybody is,
had been given into his hand. Victory was not his gain. Victory was his display. It was his display. Our Lord
lists three things that have been given into Joshua's hands.
Jericho, the city, the king of that city, and the mighty men
of valor. Now they're getting ready to
go to the war. These things are important, aren't they? What does Joshua have in his
hand? The king? the city, and the soldiers,
the mighty men of valor. And Jericho is representative
of that world that is at enmity with God throughout scripture.
The enemies of God have been given to the hands of Christ.
Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies was the promise to him.
I have given thee heathen for thine inheritance in Psalms chapter
two. All these things belong to the Lord. They all belong
to the Lord. All men do exactly what they're
supposed to do in order to bring about what God has ordained to
be done. That's the way it works. That's
the way it works. He has authority over all flesh.
He said that in a prayer to his father. Thou hast given me authority
over all flesh. that I might give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given me." That's why he rules the
world. He rules the world to save his people. He rules the
world to give eternal life to those that God has given him
in the grand doctrine of election and predestination. First of
all, he says, I'm going to give you the king. The king. That's a ruler. That's a ruler. Someone who has reign over us. Now I know we feel like we're
free people and we can just do what we want to but we've never
been without someone reigning over us. Sin hath reigned unto
death. So sin is our sovereign. We can't
control it. We're born into sin and sin rules
our life. Death hath reigned death is reign
scripture says in Romans chapter five death is reign scripture
says satan is the prince of power of the air and men are subject
to him according to Ephesians chapter two he takes men in his
own will he's called a sovereign and a king and a strong man in
the scriptures the king is in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ
in his hand I've given you the King. The mighty men represent
the hierarchy of religion, the religion of works and justification
and righteousness, Pharisees and rulers of the Jews. These
held sway over men for advantage, for their own advantage, keeping
men and women in check with threat of judgment, fear of censure,
and promise of reward, and all by unlawful use of the law. But
they did it, men of valor. The mighty men of valor were
given in the hand of Joshua. They were given in the hand of
Jesus Christ. They went against him on every corner when he came
into this world. The Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the Essenes, all those, the scribes, all of them were against the
Lord Jesus Christ. What was kind of comical among
them, if you want to look at the irony of their religion,
they all said they believed exactly the same thing. But when the
Pharisees got a hit, the Sadducees loved it. And the Sadducees got
bumped around. The Pharisees loved it. Yet they
loved each other, but they liked to see each other beat up. They
liked to see each other beat up. But all of them belonged
to God. Our Lord said to them, they said, you're disciples of
Eden on the Sabbath. He said, I'm the Lord of the Sabbath.
I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. When Pilate accused him and said,
you said, people have said that you're the King of the Jews.
He said, well, you're saying it too. You're saying it too. He rules
men. They were given into his hands.
Simply stated the entire outfit. The whole shooting match. And
my daddy always say the whole compound push. The whole compound
push that compromise the enemies of God. Where are they this hour? Are they running willy-nilly
without any direction? No. They're in the hands of the
mediator. They're in the hands of the Maitre
and under his authority, they've been given into his hands. Before the first salvo was ever
loosed in Jericho, the battle was already won. This affectionately
made the enemies of Christ into tools and pawns of the King of
Kings. You'll fulfill your job. in God's economy of this universe
there is zero unemployment everybody's employed everybody's
got a job everybody's going to do their job and they're going
to do one or two things in the end they're going to glorify
God in His grace or glorify God in His wrath but you're going
to do your job you're going to do your job it's not in man to
direct his steps the Lord said not in man to direct his steps
Men may cry, that makes me a puppet, I don't care what men say. I'm
glad God's pulling the strings. He said, can I not do what I
will with my own? Can I not do what I will? Of
course he can. See, see this Joshua, see I have given into
thy hands Jericho the city and the king thereof and the mighty
men of valor. David said, I fainted unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. And he said, what of the mutability of men? Men change,
Lord, don't they? Men change. Can their evil wills
and cruel imaginations of their hearts be controlled to the point
where they follow a designated course and arrive at a predestinated
end? You betcha! God in man did direct his steps.
The Lord is in charge of all of that. What if they change
their mind and go a different route? We change our minds all
the time and take different routes all the time. We're always on
the same road. Don't realize we're all on exactly the same
road as we always have been. They will go a thousand ways
while going one way. The mighty Mississippi River
sometimes goes west, sometimes goes east, and I've heard in
a couple places it actually goes north. Where does it always end
up? Gulf of Mexico. Why? Because
that's the road it's on. That's the course it takes. The
Lord has not only prepared His Son for the task, and prepared
the people for the task, He has likewise prepared the enemy for
the task. It says that in verse 1, Now
Jericho was straightly shut up. Straightly shut up. The marginal
reason, they did shut up and was shut up. They shut up their
city and they didn't realize that they was shut up by God.
They did what God had ordained them to do. They walled in the
city. Everybody came inside. Nobody came in. Nobody went out.
They were all scared to death of what was going to happen.
The word straightly and shut up, they're actually the same
word. The only difference being the tense of the verb used. They
both mean to be enclosed fully without any route of escape.
All of a sudden this city is walled in. They think we're safe.
They're walled in because they're going to be destroyed. They're
walled in because those walls are going to fall down and crush
them. There's only going to be one elect in that whole city
and her name is Rahab and she was a harlot. And the thing she
did was lie for God. Tell a lie for God. No, I didn't
see no spies up here. And hang down a crimson cord
so they could find her house. That cord was a picture of the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What's beautiful about Rahab,
she was in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ, you know. great-great-grandmother or something
like that. Rahab was. How is she described throughout
scripture, not only in the Old Testament, but every reference
to her in the New Testament. Rahab, the harlot. Well, she can't be a harlot no
more. She's a saint. Yes, she is. But she's a saint
who's a harlot. And that pictures every one of
us. What did God tell old Hosea? a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Go marry yourself a harlot. That's what we are. We're saints,
harlots. Whore saints. Whore saints. This is the Lord's work. They're
shut up by their own hand, they say. But they're shut up by God and
they don't know it. Though they willingly shut their own gates
and barred their doors, they are acting as those who are acted
upon. They are summoned to dinner, and they are the main course,
already prepared to be consumed." This was the promise that Caleb
gave to the people. He said, we go into the promised
land. Joshua's getting ready to go into the promised land. Caleb said, we go into the promised
land. The ten spies who lied said, no, these people are too
big forces, too big a deal, we can't go. Joshua said, we'll
have them for dinner. They'll be our lunch. They're not a problem. God has promised that we'd take
this land. Let's get up and go. Of course, we know that Israel
abided in unbelief and didn't take the dread. And everybody
above 20 years old that came out of Egypt died in the wilderness
and their carcasses rotted there. Jericho's done. They haven't
marched yet. The walls haven't fallen down
yet. But Jericho's done deal. Why? Because God has given it
into the hand of Joshua. The walls erected for protection
proved but a prison from which they could not escape. None went
out and none came in. Our Lord said in Revelation,
Let him that is righteous be righteous still, let him that
is unjust and filthy be filthy still. That's how it works. None went out. or came in. The
reason for this is clear. It's simple. Oh, to believe God. They are straightly shut up because
of the children of Israel. Because of God's people. This
world is shut up. Enclosed. Fenced in. Corralled. Handled. Gathered. Moved. Manipulated. Directed for one
reason. Because of the children of Israel.
The reason this world lasts today, and we may all have our views
on what's going to keep it going or not, but I'm telling you,
the reason the world lasts today, exists today, is because there's
still some of God's elect who haven't been called into the
fold. When that's done, it's done. It's done. When the last one
of God's children is brought home, this thing is over with.
And this is why the world is. Why does the world exist in the
chaos and messiness? Because of the children of Israel. Because of you. Because of you. However, there's a greater meaning
than that of reacting out of fear. They felt fear, there's
no doubt about that. The reaction of Jericho and building
these walls was because they knew that God was coming in and
doom was impending. or because means turned along
with the concept of being prepared. God has turned them to this fear
and prepared them for destruction. They were shut up because they
were being prepared to be demolished by the children of God, by God's
hand. They are like Haman of old, the
gallows he prepared for his enemies is actually his dangling destiny.
Jericho was hoisted on its own petard. They are shut up on behalf
of the children of God. Our Lord said of Hopnes and Phineas,
see Phineas, don't mess with them because I'm going to kill
them. Don't do anything to them because I'm going to kill them.
In 1 Samuel 2.25, I'm going to kill them. You mean God's got
a plan like that? God's got a plan exactly like that. Listen to what this says. Imagine
this, Joshua. Children of Israel stand out
looking at this great city of Jericho. They're looking at it
and the Lord shows up. He says, now Jericho was straightly
shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out and
none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, see, see, I have given
into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty
men of valor." The mighty men of valor. The die is cast. The fix is in. It's a done deal. Do you believe God? Do you believe
God? The salvation of God's elect
is a sure thing. The elect's realization of the
promise is already done. It's absolute because the enemy
has been shut up and they have been given into the hands of
Christ. Nothing can touch you except that which God allows
for your good and for his glory. No weapon, scripture says, formed
against thee shall prosper. No weapon formed against thee
shall prosper. We all need to be like Alfred
A. Newman. Mad Magazine. What? Me worry. God's in control
of these things. He's put it all in the hands
of Christ. And the promise is yours. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name.