All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter 10. Joshua chapter 10, I'd like to
look at the first five verses. Joshua 10. Joshua leading the nation of
Israel has beheld the Lord's promise of victory. The Lord told him, I've given
these cities into your hand. He's seen the power and the word
of the Lord unfold before his eyes. He saw the walls of Jericho
fall. whenever the people circled the
city, as the Lord had told them. Trumpets were blown and they
shouted. Ai was given into the hand of
the people of Israel, just as the Lord said, and He's seen
Gibeon city that was greater, the scripture says, than Ai.
They came and sought a league of peace with Joshua and got
it. Joshua has truly seen the grace
of God. Brethren, the ways of the Lord
are not our ways. Our ways are not his ways. He
has mercy and compassion on whomsoever he will. and he willed to show
mercy to a city in Canaan. He allowed Gibeon to approach
Joshua and tell him really a lie. Joshua, the scripture says, sought
not the counsel of the Lord, but he gave his word concerning
a covenant of peace and the honor God showed them mercy. That's
his glory. That's what he told Moses. He
said, show me your glory. And he said, I'm gonna have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. You know, it's wonderful to behold
the hand of the Lord, to show mercy, to show mercy to a people
of God's choosing. I say this often, but I'm just
amazed. I look out and I see people here
that I've now seen over 20 years, and they're still here. By the
grace of God, we're here. God raised up a people, and he's
kept them. It's wonderful to see how the
Lord directs his sheep to seek for his mercy, to move on them
powerfully, to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. A bowing that is
because of salvation, not for salvation. We don't bow to the
Lord for salvation. We bow because God saved us,
called us by grace. He gives us life first, and then
we bow. But no sooner do we see the hand
of God show mercy to one of his own, and we then see man's resentment
because of it. The scripture says in Joshua
10, that first part of that first verse, now it came to pass when
Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, had heard how Joshua had taken
Ai. Now the things of this world
come about. It came to pass, that's what
it says. The things of this world come to pass as the Lord purposes. Almighty God has ordered these
things and we see them falling out. But there was a man, a king,
it says, Adonai Zedek. His name means my Lord is righteous. But here was a man had a name
that was good, had a good name. But obviously, he had that name
and name only because he didn't possess the heart of what his
name set forth. His actions were gonna show that
his name was not a reflection of his character, wasn't a reflection
of the inward work of grace. Because this is what happened,
continuing on right there. He said, when he heard, how Joshua
had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, as he had done
to Jericho, and her king had done to Ai, and her king, how
the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were
among them, that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a
great city, as one of the royal cities, because it was greater
than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty. Now here, here's
a, Here's a man that has beheld what God has done in destroying
these cities, and when he saw these cities destroyed, and actually
when he saw Gibeon, it was one of the royal cities, it actually
means a city with dominion. This was probably one of the
bigger of the cities in that area. a city that the scripture
says was greater than Ai, and all the men in that city were
mighty. Now they were, actually when
I looked up the wording there, they were bold, they were strong,
they were audacious, they were heroes. And men who behaved proudly. Whenever Adonai Zedek saw what
had happened to these two cities, Jericho and Ai, They were destroyed. But when he saw Gibeon come to
Joshua and submit himself to Joshua, willing to the point
to be servants, they feared greatly. Now, that fear, where did that
come from? Well, hold your place. Turn with
me to Deuteronomy 11. Deuteronomy 11. Verse 24, 25. Deuteronomy 11, verse 24 and
25. The Lord has told Moses, every place whereon
the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours. From the
wilderness, Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even
unto the uttermost sea shall be, shall your coast be. There
shall no man be able to stand before you, for the Lord your
God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all
the land that ye shall tread upon as he has said unto you. This is a marvelous thing. But man possesses, he's got a
conscience. And man having a conscience,
when he beholds or hears something of God's might, God's power. He's fearful, causes fear within. The Lord told him, he said, I'm
gonna put fear of you and those people that you're gonna come.
But it's not a fear of respect. We talk about the fear of the
Lord, beginning of wisdom, but it's a fear of God's power. It's a fear of what God has said
he's gonna do. Again, hold your place here.
Turn back to Joshua 2. You remember when Joshua sent
his spies into a place? He was gonna go and send some
spies to a place where there was a harlot
there. It was a place called Jericho,
and this is what the scripture says that these two spies had
done. They'd gone to this harlot's house, and she'd hidden the spies. Look in Joshua 2, verses 8 to
11. She's talking to these spies.
It says, Joshua 2, 8, and before they were laid down, she came
up unto them upon the roof, and she said unto the men, I know
that the Lord hath given you the land. and that your terror
has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land
faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord
dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out
of Egypt, and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites
that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, that was
two kings that all the nation of Israel wanted to do was just
pass by. They said, we're not gonna touch anything. We're gonna
leave your stuff alone. We just wanna know if we could
walk through your land. And they said, no. No, you can't. And so they came out to fight
with Israel. They started it. And Israel finished
it. And Rahab said, we heard about
that. what you did to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these
things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any
more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God,
he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath." So they were
fearful. They'd heard God had put a fear
in them. You remember when, turn over to Acts 24, Hold your place
there, and Joshua, turn over to Acts 24. Acts 24, there was
a man named Felix, and he had heard, excuse me, he had heard
of Paul, the apostle. He wanted to hear what he had
to say. And Acts 24, verse 22 to 25, when Felix heard these
things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them
and said, when Lysias, the chief captain, shall come down, I will
know the uttermost of your matter. And he commanded a centurion
to keep Paul and let him have liberty, and that he should forbid
none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. And after certain
days, when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, which was a Jewess,
he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ,
and as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, judgment to come. Felix trembled and answered,
go thy way for this time when I have a convenient season, I
will call for thee. He wanted to hear about this
fellow he'd heard so much about. Paul began to preach to him.
Didn't accuse him of anything. Didn't, you know, didn't reprimand
him. He just preached Christ. He told
him this is God I serve. Told him of righteousness and
judgment And Felix trembled. He heard there was a, there's
a, there's a fear. Men hear of judgment to come,
but fear in the natural man, that response of hearing of God's
judgment and righteousness, that fear apart from the regenerating
grace of God, power of God, will never move a rebellious sinner
to repentance. You know, people say, I preach
hellfire and brimstone. That ain't gonna do nothing. That will not, that is not the
message that God blesses. He blesses the message of the
glory of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there
was, there's a fear, there's a fear. So, hearing what had
happened back in Joshua 10, of what the Lord had done to Jericho
and Ai, that Gibeon had made peace with Israel, They were
even willing to submit themselves to Israel as servants. And just
reading about that city of Gibeon, it must have been a mighty city,
a big city. The men were mighty men and they
were respected. And when Adonai Zedek heard that
they had made peace with Israel and submitted themselves to them.
And he was fearful. He decided that after they had
done what they had done, he said, we're going to have to do something
about it. You know, I began to think of
that, that how the Lord had brought that city down and he caused
those men to submit themselves. And I began to think on that,
Weapons of our warfare, turn to 2 Corinthians 10 for a second. I'll tell you where my thought
process went with this. 2 Corinthians 10, four and five. 2 Corinthians 10, four and five.
Weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds. casting down imaginations in
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. Now this city, we're gonna see
in just a few minutes, the submission of Gibeon, that city, the submission,
the Lord did use Joshua to destroy Jericho and Ai. But the thing
that got Adonai Zedek is when he heard that Gibeon had submitted
to Joshua and to the Israelites. And that city, Gibeon, had submitted
themselves as their servants. That's what got him. That was
the key right there. That's what pushed him over.
And I began to think how mighty weapons of our warfare. They're
mighty to the pulling down. Now let me, let me, here again,
I'm gonna tell you where my thoughts went. I have people in my life,
you got people in your life. People that we've known, people
that we've grew up with. And you think, I tell you what,
I, you know, they're sitting under false religion and they'll,
they'll never, they'll never submit. You know, they, they're
so steeped in that in that religion, they ain't coming. They just,
we love them, but they, invite them to come. Invite them to
come. Pray for them. This city was
a mighty city. And God brought them down. And
I thought, who knows? The Lord may be pleased to save
them. You say, but they won't come. How do you know? You're
here. I'm here. I'm telling you. You're not looking at anybody
that was more of a rebel than me. I'm telling you, the Lord
is able. Invite them. If they die where
they are, they're going to hell. Invite them. Tell them to come.
Back in Joshua 10, Wherefore, Adonai Zedek, king of Israel,
I'm sorry, of Jerusalem, sent unto Hoham, king of Hebron, and
unto Piram, king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia, king of Lachish,
and unto Debor, king of Eglon, saying, Come up unto me, and
help me, that we may smite Gibeon, for it hath made peace with Joshua. and with the children of Israel. Now, not only was Adonai Zedek
unwilling to seek peace with Joshua, but he was determined
that these other cities weren't gonna do it either. I looked
on a map, and these cities were all within five to 10 miles apart. They were all, close. They were close. They had this
kind of a confederacy. They were all together. And that,
the falling or the giving over of Gibeon under the Israelites. And that was, like I said, that's
where the mighty men were. That was the one that was the
big one. And Ananias Zedek, he He saw that, he exhibited that
spirit of the Pharisees. Hold your place and turn to Matthew
23, when our Lord was, Matthew 23. Our Lord was talking to the
Pharisees. Matthew 23, verse 13. Our Lord said, but woe unto you
scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You shut up the kingdom of heaven
against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer
ye them that are entering to go in. So this king, Adonai Zedek,
he got these different kings, Hoham, king of Hebron. I looked up their names just
to see what their names meant. Hoham meant whom God impels or
whom God urges or forces. Hiram, king of Jarmuth, his name
means like a wild ass. Japhia, king of Lachish, it means
shining bright or sends out beams. Debar, king of Eglon, means sanctuary. These men, they had names, like
Adonai Zedek. They had names, but they were
names that had no significance to them as far as their heart
was concerned. And he got these fellas together and he said,
come up to me and let's get together and align ourselves against Gibeon
and smite it. What they wanted to do, because
Gibeon had entered into an alliance with peace, for peace, with Joshua
and children of Israel, he wanted to smite them. Let's get them,
let's go and Whip them. Now beloved, as I said a minute
ago, no sooner that a soul is made to submit unto the Lordship
of Christ, then the animosity of the world is stirred up to
persecute because God has shown mercy. because the Lord has shown
mercy. Now, I thought on that, and I
thought, you know, isn't it amazing? That's the hardness of our old
heart. We're all born with a heart like
this. Whenever God shows mercy, truly shows mercy to somebody,
and you're not one that God has shown mercy to, you're mad. You're mad because God has shown
Mercy. Turn back to John 15. I know
we're turning a lot. That's okay. That's good. We
need to see these things. John 15. John 15, verse 18 and
19. I want you to look at the, listen
to the exact words that our Lord has set forth. John 15, 18 and
19. If the world hate you, know that
it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, that
is, if you were of the world and it's this world's religion,
the world would love his own. But because you're not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you, hateth you. Why does the world hate God's
people? Because God who has the right show mercy and compassion to
whomsoever will because God has the right to choose one over
the other. He said, they hate you because
I've chosen you out of the world. These cities turned on Gibeon,
a neighboring city that they formerly considered to be one
of their own. These five kings, therefore,
verse five, of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king
of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king
of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went up, they and
all their host, and encamped before Gibeon and made war against
it. Now, again, you can turn to Matthew
chapter 10. These were not foreign cities. They had allied themselves together. They were cities just a few miles
apart. They knew each other. Oh, how
we see the truth concerning our Lord's words about the attitude,
even of those that are closest to us. Now, if you think this
is not so, Matthew 10, verse 32 to 39. Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men. Confess the truth of who he is. Confess the truth. Like I said,
not to say demons know that there is a Jesus Christ. They know
that. But I mean those that confess
him as the Lord. in whom all the elect were chosen. The Lord who came into this world
and laid down his life for the sheep. Our Lord that established the
righteousness that robes his people. I'm talking about the
Lord that has a people, a sheep, a remnant according to grace. Whosoever therefore, verse 32,
shall confess me before men. Him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my
Father which is in heaven. I want you to understand what
he just said. I'm talking about those that confess him as the
Lord that we preach here. I'm talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, sovereign God. distinguishing grace, sovereign
grace, electing grace, redeeming grace, regenerating grace, particular
redemption. He said, you confess me, I'll
confess you before my father. You deny me, I'm gonna deny you
before my father. Verse 34, think not that I'm
come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I'm come to set a man at variance against his
father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law, and a man's foe shall be they of
his own household. He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he that taketh
not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall
lose it, He that loses the life for my sake shall find it. I
entitled this message today, The High Cost of Free Grace. There's a price. Our Lord gave
his life and his people do too. There's a cost of following after
the Lord. Gibeon had made peace They came
and they were looking for mercy. Said they were liars. Yeah, I
know, me too. God was pleased to show mercy
to them. And they were hated by the others,
those that surrounded them. I thought about this little assembly
right here. I just got to thinking about Lake Ish and Jay Mooth. and all these other places that
surrounded. They were all pretty close. They all ganged up on
Gibeon. I can kind of relate that to
here. I can see that. People, I mean,
as long as you just, you know, you just want to go to church
of your choice, you're good. You're good. But these, these
fellows right here, these men, these mighty men, they've submitted
themselves unto the Lord. The Lord said, I didn't come
to send peace. Now, I will tell you this. The Lord is the Prince
of Peace. That's what scripture says. He's
made peace between God and his people by the blood of his cross.
And he gives peace in the conscience. He establishes peace among his
people. His people love each other. By
this shall all men know you're my disciples. How? You have love
one for another. That's how you know. God's people
love God's people. But His mercy, when shown to
the objects of His affection, His mercy and His grace, I'm
telling you according to His word, divides between those who
are His in covenant grace and those that are not. And there's
no ground for compromise, none. I told you about this little
place where a few of us had gone down a few years ago and It didn't last long. They said,
don't don't anymore. You guys come back. And there
was there was a split. But you know how big the split
was. One couple came out. One couple. They go to Gabe's,
a couple goes to Gabe's. Sweetest couple. I mean, they're
precious people. But a statement was made. after
all this went down. And here's what one of them said.
Now, all this stuff that we've been hearing that they were preaching,
it's not worth, it's not worth splitting the church over, so
we're not gonna fool with them anymore. There's no room for compromise,
none whatsoever. When it comes to the submission,
obedience unto the Lord, Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, he's
not looking to make enemies. I'm not looking to make enemies,
I really not. I'd like to be friends with as
many, I've got enough enemies as it is. I don't need to make
any more unnecessarily, but I'm telling you, if it comes to the
point, just like these fellas right here with Gibeon. The Lord
had given them a heart to submit, submit unto Joshua. And if it
becomes to the point to where we have to count the cost and
give up friendship in this world, it'll be a small loss, believe
me, to give up the friendship of this world to be the friends
of the Savior, to be one with Him. And I know that's hard to
grasp, but God's people will choose to be hated or rejected
even by those that are closest to them, rather than forsake
the Lord. You can't, you just can't do
it, no. If it comes down to where somebody
says, well, you're gonna have to make a decision between me
and them, between me and the Lord, I'm telling you what a
believer's gonna do. You back them up into a corner,
I promise you they gonna stay by Him, because God's gonna keep
them, you know. When these things come about,
We will cast ourselves upon the mercy of the Lord. Now, Lord
willing, I'm gonna stop right here, but I don't want to stop
until I just look. I want to at least read verse
six and make a comment or two, and then I'm gonna stop and Lord
willing, we'll pick up. Now, here's all these cities,
five cities, and they've, They've aligned themselves together and
they're mad. They're mad at Gibeon because
Gibeon has cast themselves upon the mercy of God. And it said
that when they came against him, it said in verse six, and the
men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal. saying, slack not thy hand from
my servants. Come up to us quickly and save
us and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites
that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. You know, now, in this world,
in this world, we're gonna have tribulation. 1 Peter 4, 1 Peter
4, verse 12 and 13. First Peter chapter four, verse 12 and 13. The scripture says, beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you. And it is, it is a fiery trial. I said a minute ago, we're not
looking for trouble. And when someone, when someone
despises you, despises the Lord that you love. And it's somebody
you love. Your friend, your family. I mean,
that's a fiery trial. That hurts. That hurts. But it's
the way that it is. Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial, which is to try as though some strange
thing happened to you, but rejoice. Rejoice. In as much as you're
partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be
revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. I'm telling
you there's a time coming when the pain and the suffering and
the trial of being rejected, hated for the Lord you love,
And it's the way it is. It's just the world and its false
religion is never, is never gonna love the God you love. God's
gonna have to give them a new heart. But it's hard. I got some in my family. And
this is the way it is. Rejoice, rejoice. Our Lord made
a statement and I'm gonna stop. Our Lord made a statement in
Matthew chapter five, in verse 10, he was preaching on the mount,
a sermon, and he said this, Matthew 5, 10, blessed are they which
are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. I made a statement a moment ago,
I said this, People are not going to persecute you if you want
to go to a man-centered, man-honoring religious assembly. They're not going to persecute
you for that. That's kind of respected, and
it's good for business, too, if you want to do that. The world's
not going to persecute you because of doing so-called good deeds
to be seen of men. I mean, if you want to go to
a you know, I don't have any problem whatsoever feeding somebody
if they're, but if you think that the good deeds that you're
doing because you do these things are gonna be respected of God
and the world will respect you if you wanna go have a soup kitchen,
but I'll tell you what you'll be persecuted for. Scripture
says, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'
sake. And to really understand this,
and I'll close right here, to really understand what that just
said, when you're persecuted for righteousness's sake, I got
this from Blue Letter Bible. Righteousness's sake, this is
what it is. That is persecuted because, and
here's the definition, the doctrine concerning the way in which man
attains the state of righteousness before God. When you're persecuted
for righteousness's sake, when men understand how Almighty God
establishes righteousness in his people, that's what they'll
persecute you for, because that's by the free grace, sovereign
grace of God. God Almighty saves men by grace. not of works, not of works of
righteousness that we've done, but according to His mercy, He
saved us. I pray that the Lord bless these words to our heart
for Christ's sake. Amen.