Sometimes we think about, since
faith, we know faith is the gift of God, we think of it sort of
as a tangible thing that God gives to you. But really, faith
is God overwhelming that new heart that He's given with the
sight of Christ. And you just can't help but believe.
I hope we see that. Let's begin reading in verse
7. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify
thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I
was with Moses, so I will be with thee. Joshua is a type of
Christ here. His name means Savior. As you
know, Moses couldn't take him into Israel. Joshua has to. The
law can't take us into glory. Only Christ can do that. Christ
alone fulfilled the law. Christ alone is the righteousness
of His people. And His righteousness is imputed
to us by God's grace through faith apart from any works we
do. Christ alone brings the elect of God into God's presence. And
He gets all the glory for doing this. Now that's what we're about
to see in this text. As we read here, I want you to
focus your attention on the ark. On the ark. of the covenant.
Now the first point I have for you here is God magnifies Christ
in the heart of His child by showing us what Christ accomplished
on behalf of His people. God magnifies Christ in our hearts
by showing us what Christ accomplished for His people. Alright, now
focus on the ark. Verse 8, And thou shalt command
the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, he's
speaking to Joshua here, You shall command the priests that
bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When you are come to
the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in Jordan."
Picture Christ willingly going to give Himself to be made sin
for His people, to be nailed to the cursed tree, Him still
going there, standing still. without fear, without just being
still in his heart, resolved, had his face set like a flint
to do this. Alright, verse 9, And Joshua
said unto the children of Israel, Joshua said this to the children
of Israel, Come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God. You get the picture here? God
spoke it to Joshua. God speaks to Christ. Now Christ
is speaking to the children. He says, Come hither. He gathers
his people. And now he says, Now hear the
words of the Lord your God. Now listen to this. And Joshua
said, Hereby, hereby shall you know that the living God is among
you, and that he will, without fail, drive out from before you
the Canaanites, and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites
and the Gergesites and the Amorites and the Jebusites. Hereby is
how you're going to know God is with you and that God's going
to drive out all your enemies. I want to know how I'm going
to know that, don't you? I want to know how I can be assured
of that. Now, let's set some things up here. The Jordan River,
this is where they're at, the Jordan River. It represents our
death, our trespasses and sins. Now these enemy nations represent
all our enemies that separated us from our God. The Jordan River
is separating where they're standing. The Jordan River is between them
and the promised land of God. It's separating them from that
land. God brought them here at this
time of the year, and it's not just the normal level of water.
Like I said to you, it's flooded all over. And they're standing
there before this mighty, roaring, raging river. Now do you see
the picture? God says of us, brethren, your
iniquities, your overflowing river of sin, your overflowing
river of death, your iniquities have separated between you and
your God. Our enemies are too many, they're
too mighty for us. How then is a helpless sinner,
how is a helpless sinner going to cross the overflowing river
of sin and death and defeat all our enemies and come in to the
presence of holy God and have communion with Him? How is that
going to happen? Here's how it's going to happen.
Verse 10 says, The living God is among you. The living God
is among you, and He will, without fail, drive out before you all
your enemies. How so? Here's how. Verse 11. This is how you're
going to know that He's with you and that He will, without
fail, drive out your enemies. Behold. Verse 11. Behold, the
ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over
before you into Jordan. That's how you're going to know.
That's how you're going to know. Christ is pictured here in the
ark. Just put Christ in the place of the ark with the word ark.
Here's how you know God is with you and here's how you know He's
going to drive out your enemies without fail. Because Christ
has gone before you into that overflowing river of death. That's
how you're going to know. Christ put away all the sin of
God's elect and defeated all our enemies by enduring the cross
in place of His people. Christ took our flesh, Christ
took our sin, Christ took our punishment, Christ took our death,
and He stood still in the river of death till it was dried up. Now let's see it pictured here.
Verse 13. Now we're going to have to do some skipping around
for you to see all this, but we're going to cover just about
every verse. Stay with me. Joshua 3.13, And it shall come
to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that
bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall
rest in the waters of Jordan, as soon as their feet bearing
that ark rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan
shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, from
upstream. and they shall stand upon a heap,
upon a mound. And it came to pass, it always
does when God says it will, it came to pass when the people
were moved from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests
bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people, they're going
out before the people, that picture is Christ going before His people,
and as they that bear the Ark were coming to Jordan, And the
feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim
of the water, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of
harvest. When they stepped in the brim
of that water, the waters which came down from above stood and
rose up upon a heap very far." That means very far upstream. A comma really should go here.
Very far upstream and from would be better interpreted at. These
waters stood up very far upstream at the city of David. That's
20 miles upriver. 20 miles upriver. That is beside
Zaretan. That's another city, Zaretan.
These cities were about 12 miles apart. They weren't like side
by side. They were 12 miles apart. They
were beside each other on the same latitude. Alright, the city
called Adam was on the east side, the wilderness side of the Jordan
River, and Zaretan was on the west bank. Now those waters that
came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, that's
the Dead Sea where Solomon Gamara used to be. Those waters that
were coming down that way, they felled and were cut off. So what
you have here is a dry channel about 20 miles wide for the children
of Israel to cross. This is what Habakkuk said, Was
the Lord displeased against the rivers? Was Thine anger against
the rivers? Was Thy wrath against the sea
that Thou didst ride upon Thy horses and Thy chariots of salvation? Thou wentest forth for the salvation
of Thy people, even for salvation with Thine anointing. That's
what's being pictured here. How wise and how powerful is
our God? Look at this now. This is why
I couldn't just cut anything out. This is good stuff. He brings them to this place
where there was a city called David. Right here. This is where they're going to
cross. And by this priest bearing the ark and stepping into that
river of death, the waters as far back upstream as the city
of David were cut off. You remember in Daniel 9.24,
it says that Christ would finish the transgression. He would finish
the transgression and make an end of sins. While all his people
were represented in that first man, Adam. and all the elect
of God that God gave to Christ before the world was made, they
were all represented in that first man, Adam. And by Adam's
one transgression, the transgression, by the transgression, that one
transgression, death flowed like an overflowing river, generation
after generation after generation, and drowned all of God's elect
in the flood of sin and death, every one of them. but by Christ
the last Adam stepping into that river of death in place of his
people. He made an end of the transgression
for his people all the way back upstream to our first representative
Adam. All the way back up there. He
undid what got us in the mess we're in. That's what he did. Now look at Joshua 4 verse 10. For the priests which bear the
ark stood in the midst of Jordan until everything was finished
that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people according
to all that Moses commanded Joshua. Christ remained on the cross
until everything was finished that the Lord, God the Father,
commanded him to do. and until everything was finished
that Moses commanded him. That is, until everything was
finished that the law commanded of him. Christ hung on Calvary's
tree with the sin of his people upon him. And he bore the wrath
of infinite justice in place of his people until everything
God commanded and everything the law commanded were totally
finished. It was done. And when Christ
finished the work and was buried, His body was buried. When He
finished the work and His body was buried, right then the fleshly
sinful man of His elect, of every one of them, the sinful body,
fleshly body of all of His elect, died and was buried so that our
body of sin is destroyed. Look at Romans chapter 6. Romans
chapter 6. And I'm going to read you, I
normally read full verses. I'm going to read half a verse
today because I want you to get this. Romans 6 verse 6. Look, begin with the word, our.
You see that, the word, our? Oh, you are. Our old man is crucified
with Him that the body of sin might be destroyed. Look at Romans
7, look at verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren, Ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. Look at verse
6. But now we are delivered from
the law, that being dead wherein we were held. It gets better. It gets even better. Alright,
back at our text now. Go back to Joshua 3. When Christ was raised from the
dead, Every elect child of God passed over the river of death
in Him and entered into God's presence in the promised land
in our risen Redeemer. When He was raised from the dead,
every elect child of God passed over the river of death and entered
into God's presence in the promised land in Christ, our risen Redeemer. Now look at our text, Joshua
3.16. And look at the very end of Joshua 3.16. We read everything
up to this very last part here after the words cut off. He stepped
in and the waters were cut off. And it says, And the people passed
over right against Jericho. Now look at verse 17. And the
priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood
firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan. Christ stood in the
midst of our death. And all the Israelites passed
over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean
over Jordan. Now drop down to Joshua 4 verse
11. And it came to pass, when all
the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord
passed over, not till they were all passed over, the ark of the
Lord passed over, and the priests in the presence of the people
The ark passed over, the priest passed over in the presence of
the people. The ark and the people passed
over together at the end there. Verse 15. And the Lord spake
unto Joshua, saying... Now look at that. The Lord spake
unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bear the ark
of the testimony that they come up out of Jordan. Now you know
they represent Christ. These priests holding the ark
represent Christ. The Lord commanded Christ and
said, command the priests, command... The Lord spoke to Christ and
said, command Christ to come out of the grave. That's the
picture here. Joshua therefore commanded the
priests saying, come ye up out of Jordan. So you see, the Lord
commanded and Joshua commanded. Both God the Father's command
and Christ the Son's own command, by both of them, Christ our high
priest arose out of the death out of the grave. God the Father
raised Him and He raised Himself out of the grave. And when Christ
arose to the right hand of the Father, all of His elect arose
in Him. Look over Colossians 2. Colossians
2. And look at verse 12. Alright, again, I'm going to
read just a portion of something here now. Alright, look here. Begin with
a word. Let's read the whole thing. Buried with him in baptism.
That's what the picture is here. Buried with him. Wherein also
ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God who hath raised him from the dead. Now I got a question
for you. I want you to think about this
now. Alright, once they passed over that river, one of those
verses in our text says that the waters went right back to
flowing, just like they were before he stood in the water,
before the priest stood in the water. Alright, once they were
passed over that river, that river began flowing again, that
picture of this sin raging and flowing, it went to flowing again.
But was that flowing river a threat to them once they had gone on
over to the other side and they no longer had that river between
them and the Promised Land? Did they even care anymore? Did
that have any reason to cause them any fear or any trouble
whatsoever? None at all. None at all. Now
look at Romans 6 again. I should have told you to hold
your place there. Believer, sin and death has no more dominion
over you because we're risen with Christ to the other side. None. Alright, look at Romans
6 and look at verse 9. Knowing that Christ, being raised
from the dead, dieth no more, Death hath no more dominion over
him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once. That's all. How many times do
you die? Once. And he did it. He died
unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Alright, go back to our text.
How can I be sure? I've got to have some more proof
of this. How can I be sure of this? Alright, notice back here
in Joshua chapter 4 and look at verse 9. Joshua 4 verse 9. picture of Christ, he set up
12 stones in the midst of Jordan in the place where the feet of
the priests which bear the ark of the covenant stood and they
are there to this day. Some people think this is the
exact spot where Christ went to be baptized of John the Baptist. and where God spoke from heaven
and glorified him when the dove came down and said, this is my
son. And some of the commentaries say that this is where John the
Baptist was standing when he told the Pharisees God could
of these stones raise up children unto himself and he was pointing
to these stones. I don't know if that's true or
not, but anyway, picture of Christ here. He set these stones in
the midst of Jordan and here comes the flood over it. All
right, now look down at verse 20. He had commanded them to take
up some stones. We're going to look at this here
in a minute too. To take some stones out of Jordan. And now
those 12 stones which they took out of Jordan did Joshua pitch
in Gilgal. So, you got 12 stones laying
buried in the river of death where they are to this day. Colossians
3.3 says, For ye are dead. And then you got 12 stones set
on the other side of Jordan because Colossians 3.3 says, And your
life is hid with Christ in God. You get the picture? Your old
man is buried out of sight in the river of death. Gone. But
your new man is hid with Christ in God. Right now, believer,
in the mind and in the all-seeing eye of God, your old man of sin
is dead and it's gone, while your new man has eternal life
with the Father. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. This is where we are. Christ
said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Believer, listen to this. When
we come to that last Jordan that we have to cross, we have to
cross a bunch of Jordans. All these trials, all these swelling
of these Jordans that we can't cross, that they're too big for
us, that Christ continually delivers us from just like He did at the
cross. When we get to that last one
and we close our eyes, we're not going to die. That's what He said. When we
close our eyes, we're going to open our eyes and we're going
to be there in body, soul, and spirit with all the saints. You say, well, what about our
body going to the grave? When you close your eyes in death,
you ain't going to worry about that. You're just going to close your
eyes in death and open your eyes, and every saint's going to be
there. When Abel closed his eyes, when Cain killed him, and he
opened them, he was with every saint Christ saved all at one
time. There they all were. You say,
I don't understand that. Well, we're finite. We can't
understand eternal things. But that's how it is. That's
how it is. All right. Now, can it get any
better than that? Yeah, it gets better. It gets even better than
that. Now look at this. Once on the other side, look
at Joshua 4 verse 19. Once on the other side, it says,
And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the
first month and encamped in Gilgal in the east border of Jericho. Now, the 10th day of the first
month, this is what this means. God said they were going to wander
in that wilderness for 40 years. This is, according to the best
writers I could find, five days shy of 40 years. And if it's
how it normally is, the five days shy is probably the result
of a miscalculation by a man. Because it was probably 40 years
to the day. It was probably 40 years to the
day. Because God said that's how long it would be. God's fulfilling
everything right on time, exactly how He said it would. And nobody's
turning Him. Nobody's thwarting His purpose.
Alright, now watch this. This is what I want you to see.
They encamped in Gilgal. It means a rolling away. Look at Joshua 5 verse 9. And the Lord said unto Joshua,
He said this to Joshua, picture Christ, picture of God the Father
saying this to Christ, Jesus, God the Son. He said, This day
have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore
the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. It means
a rolling away. When God raised Christ, And when
He raised His people in Christ, Christ had taken our sin. He
had taken the sin of His people. And so when He raised Him, He
rolled away the reproach of our sin off of Christ. He rolled
it away. And likewise, when He rolled
away the reproach off of Christ, the reproach of all our trespasses
along with the law which was against us, it's all rolled away. Every bit of it. Look back at
Colossians 2. I should have told you to stay
there too. Colossians 2. And look at verse 13. Colossians
2 verse 13. And you being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God came in the season
of His love. and He quickened you together
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. That means He
rolled off of you all the reproach of that bondage of sin and death
in Egypt, in that cursed land. And then look, blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary
to us, that is the law, and took it out of the way, He rolled
it off and nailing it to His cross. Believer, look at Hebrews
10, verse 16 now. Everything that was against us
is rolled away. The reproach is taken out of
the way. Everything. Look at Hebrews 10,
verse 16. Hebrews 10, verse 16. This is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, saith the Lord. After Christ
finished His work, this is what He does for His people, I will
put my laws into their hearts, in their minds will I write them,
and their sins and iniquities, the reproach of Egypt, the reproach
of all the curse of Adam, of all our sin, of all our law breaking,
of all our rebellion, their reproach will I remember no more. I'll remember it no more. Now
wherever remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin. Are you trying to make up for
that sin that just keeps bothering you and those sins that keep
bothering you and you just say, I got to do something to make
up for it. God said there's no more offering. I don't remember
them. The reproach has been rolled
off. We're camped out in Gilgal, Eric. The reproach is rolled
off. Look at Romans 8 verse 1. Romans 8. Verse 1, There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus... That means I've been born again,
regenerated, made a new creature in Christ. The law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death. I'm free. I'm free. Look back
now at Hebrews 9 and verse 28. Hebrews 9, 28. Or I can just
read this to you, but I want you to see it. Hebrews 9, 28.
I said, now you noticed our text, it said, He said this to Christ.
He said it to Joshua. I've rolled off the reproach
of Egypt off of you. Now look at Hebrews 9, 28. So
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them
that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. Why? Because all of it's been
rolled off. The scapegoat has taken it into
the wilderness and it's buried and it's gone and it is no more
and it can't be found. It's as far as the east is from
the west. It's casted into the depths of the sea and God remembers
it no more. It's gone. He's rolled off the
reproach. Alright, let's go back to Joshua
chapter 4. Now do you remember at the beginning
why God said He was doing all this in our sight? The purpose
for which He was doing all this? Go back to Joshua 4 verse 14. He said, Today, Joshua, I'm going
to magnify you in the sight of the people. Now look here at
verse 14. Joshua 4 verse 14. On that day, The Lord magnified Joshua in
the sight of all Israel, and they feared him as they feared
Moses all the days of his life. Now, beholding Christ crucified
in our room instead, when God brings you to see him, but crucified
in our room instead, accomplishing complete redemption for us, taking
the law out of the way, nailing it to His cross so that there's
no sin, there's no transgression, there's nothing that His people
can do to ever be removed out of God's delight anymore. Just
the same as Christ there at His right hand can't be anything
but just perfect in God's sight, right there by His side. That's
so of His people. That's so of His people. And
because that's so, brethren, God, giving us that sight of
Christ, puts the fear, good fear, the good fear, into our hearts,
pictured here by this new fear of Joshua. And what he does is,
this new godly reverence for Christ replaces that legal fear
that we once had toward the law, pictured in Moses. You see that? Before, We were trying to do
something to get in God's grace, to get in God's favor, to get
God to accept us. Trying to do something legal,
legal, fearful, all the time fearful. But when God shows you
this that Christ has accomplished, that He has finished in the totality
of it, where it's done, the law is satisfied, it's fulfilled,
we've perfected it in Christ, by Christ, not by us, by Him,
not by what we've done. Then when you see that now, you
fear Him, you reverence Him. You've not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear. It's not that. No, no. This is
that fear, that reverence, you've received the spirit of adoption
whereby we cry, Have a Father. Can you just imagine an orphan
who has never had a father never had a mother, never had anybody
to love him whatsoever, was orphaned, cast out into the field, left
in his blood, just left, and somebody comes along, and adopts
that child and takes that child and raises that child and loves
that child and clothes that child and gives that child a roof over
their head. Can you imagine what the difference
would be from being in these foster homes and being out there
where you're treated like you You never were really loved.
It was just a cold obedience that you had to render to those
that had the rule over you and there was no affection and no
heart reverence there and nothing. It was just a form of love. That's all it was, a form of
obedience. Going from that to where you've got everything given
to you. and they love you, and your heart's
overflowing with love for them. That's the difference between
being in vain, false, free will, works religion, putting on a
show, and being in Christ, and doing what you're doing because
you love Him for what He's done for you. Alright, now secondly,
and this is my last point, I just have two points. God sanctifies
us to use us for the holy use of declaring this gospel to others
for the calling out of his lost sheep in this earth. The whole
reason he does this and causes us to start following Christ
is for the calling out of his sheep. Alright, Joshua 4 verse
1. And it came to pass, when all
the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake
unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people,
out of every tribe of man, and command ye them, saying, Take
you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where
the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and you shall
carry them over with you. and leave them in the lodging
place where you shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the
twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel out
of every tribe a man, and they did as he commanded. God commanded
twelve men be called, so Joshua did it. God commands and Christ
accomplishes what He commands. That's the picture here. God
commands in Christ Jesus, God the Son, accomplishes what the
Father's pleasure is. Now these 12 men, you notice,
were called out of the people, out of every tribe. Verse 5 says,
according to the number of the tribes of Israel. You know what
that signifies? That signifies that each elect
child whom Christ redeemed shall be called to life and sanctified
out of the people into Christ. There wasn't a one of them left. Now these twelve men, they gathered
twelve stones from the river of death from the place where
the priest's feet stood firm, where Christ stood. Christ called
twelve apostles, and by them, by Him speaking to them, they
stood firm in the gospel. And Christ called out more of
His elect out of the river of death, through His blood where
He stood, and continues unto this day calling and building
up His lively stones out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and people
on earth. You see, He sanctified them for
this use. And now He's showing us how He
calls out His people through this gospel, like He did us.
They left twelve stones in the lodging place when they got to
the other side. They left 12 stones in the lodging
place. Christ has left us in his church, which is our lodging
place, but just for the night. They left them in the lodging
place just that night when they camped out there. We're in the
lodging place, but this ain't where we're going to stay. Not
right here, not in the earth. It's just for the night that
we're here until Christ returns. And these 12 men were men, verse
4 said, whom Joshua had prepared. You see, every blood-bought,
spirit-born child of God is a child that Christ has prepared. He's
prepared him. Now, what was the purpose of
these stones? What was the purpose of these
stones? Believer, what's our purpose? Your living stones,
that's what the Scripture says, that's what they pictured. They
pictured us, the living stones, called out of the river of death.
and carried to the other side through the gospel. What is it
that these stones were called for? Look at chapter 4 verse
6. That this may be a sign among
you. Chapter 4 verse 6 says that this may be a sign among
you. And in verse 7 it says, And those
stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever.
Now listen, believer, as living stones that have been dug out
of the river of death by Christ through His witnesses, through
the gospel, we are living stones And we're a sign. That's what
we are. We're a sign of God's marvelous
grace. We're a sign of the miracle of
His grace. And we're for a memorial to the
children of Israel, to those that have been called and to
those of God's elect whom Christ shall yet call. to remind them
of what God does. Do you see? You realize, believer,
that without us doing anything, without us saying anything, without
us doing all this stuff that worldly religion is doing, just
the fact that you are a believer is a standing witness of Christ,
just by the fact that you believe on Christ. That's a miracle. That's a miracle. That's a sign
of God's grace. That's a memorial to God's amazing
sovereign grace to work in His child and make you believe on
Him. Now what are we to declare as
witnesses though? We are to declare something.
What are we to declare? Look at Joshua 4.22. Then you
shall let your children know. He said, when they ask you, what
are these signs? What are these memorials? In
other words, when our children say, why do you come into this
place to worship? Step on some toes, some could
say I come in here to sleep. Why do you come into this place?
I come in here to be a sign, to be a memorial of what God
has done, what God has done by His grace. Then you shall let your children
know, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land, for the Lord your
God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you until you were
passed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea,
which He dried up from before us until we were gone over."
This is our message. We only declare what God our
Savior has accomplished for His elect. You see, This is what
He says. What do you say to Him? Verse
22. We say, We came over this Jordan on dry land because the
Lord our God did it. Because He did it. Deuteronomy
3.24 says, O Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy
greatness and Thy mighty hand. For what God is there in heaven
or in earth that can do according to Thy works and according to
Thy might? That's our message. Well, we're
going to meet with enemies, aren't we? We'll meet with a lot of
enemies. You know, they got over there
and there was a whole lot of enemies over there. All those heights they
ran into once they got over there. What are they going to do about
that? Well, verse Joshua 4.13 tells us that they were a well-armed
army ready for warfare. About 40,000 prepared for war
passed over before the Lord under battle to the plains of Jericho.
They're ready to do battle. But you know 40,000 people was
a remnant compared to the number of enemies that they faced in
Canaan. They were a remnant. 40,000 people, that was nothing
compared to all those nations mightier than they were. That's
how it is with us. We're a remnant, armed around
all our enemies, but we're a remnant armed. We're a remnant prepared
for war, but the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're
mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. First city
they come to is Jericho. Man, it's a stronghold. It's
got walls all the way around it and there's no way anybody
could penetrate that stronghold, except for them walking around
it seven times and blowing a trumpet and the walls fell down. because
the gospel, this trumpet we're blowing, is mighty through God. He pulls the strongholds down.
When He shows you that view of Christ in your heart, when He
takes you from Shittim and brings you down to Jordan and makes
you sit there for three days and look at your sin and your
death, and then He shows you Christ stepped into that Jordan
and dried up that river, and you go across to Gilgal and find
that all the reproaches rolled off of you, All that defense
you had built up, all those bulwarks you had ready to shoot at the
preacher, and to shoot at daddy, and to shoot at mama, and to
tell them, I don't have nothing to do with that, I don't want
to go back there ever again. All of a sudden them strongholds
come down, and you're saying, what is happening here? I didn't
mean for this to happen. I believe in God. I didn't want
this to happen. I didn't want that. What happened?
God got a hold to you. God pulled the strongholds down. Brethren, the work He's already
finished for us is a guarantee to us that He shall make us victorious
against any enemy we face. That's how He started this. This
is how you're going to know that I'm with you. This is how you're
going to know that I will without fail drive away all your enemies. How? Look to the cross. He already did that. He gave
His only begotten Son who made sin for us and put away the transgression
and our sins. What other enemy? Is anything
but just the flick of a finger to Him? Huh? He said, if He spared
not His own Son, how shall He not with Him freely give us all
things? We're more than conquerors through
Him that love does. The rest is easy. The hard part's
done. He's already done that part.
Alright? This work He separated us unto
has a twofold end. This is my ending. It's for two
reasons. Look at Joshua 4.24. that all
the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that
it is mighty. We go forth preaching and you
know, not many people, not many people believe and sometimes
we like to lie, you know, saying, Lord, they're all gone and I'm
here left alone, nobody believes and he has to remind us, I have
preserved some elect to myself and I'm going to call them out.
But it doesn't matter if he calls them out when we're preaching
and we're bearing witness in this place or not. Because he
said, you're a saver of death unto death to some and a saver
of life unto life to others. It doesn't matter if it's just
death unto death. In the end, because of this gospel, all the
people of the earth are going to know the hand of the Lord
is mighty. All of them are. And some of
them are going to know it because he saved them. And maybe he'll
do it through our gospel. I hope so. He has. He has. All right. And this gospel...
Secondly, this gospel has a graciously... This gospel that has been graciously
entrusted to us as we go forth declaring this gospel. It's not
only for the benefit of others that he does it this way. It's
for our benefit, too. He says, verse 24, that ye might
fear the Lord your God forever. Just imagine this. Imagine that
you're going to fight a war. And the way you fight this war
is you eat bread. You eat bread. And as you eat
bread, you defeat all your enemies. All your enemies are overcome
by this bread. And at the same time, it's strengthening you
the whole time that you eat it. That's what the gospel is. We're
going forth with the gospel and Christ, our manna from heaven,
is conquering all our enemies, whether in grace or in judgment,
one of the two. And at the same time, we're just
eating the bread and being strengthened. This is how God sanctifies Christ
in the hearts of His people and makes Christ all unto us. I pray
He'll do that for somebody. I pray He'll do it for one of
His lost sheep. Wouldn't it be something? Wouldn't it be something? Did you notice this? The ark
came behind the last one that crossed over the Jordan. He went before them. Christ went
before us into the river of death, but it says that ark didn't come
up out of that river until the last one went across, and then
He went across with them. Was there any left back over
there in the wilderness? Was there any left over there on
that side of Jordan? Not a one of them. So it will
be in the end. Amen, brethren.