May God be with us and bless
us together this evening and we'll turn to the chapter we
read, the book of Joshua chapter 3. And we'll read verse 13 and
the first few words of 14. Joshua chapter 3 verse 13 and
the opening words of 14. And it shall come to pass As
soon as the souls 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, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut
off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall
stand upon a heap. And it came to pass. Why, no doubt, we know the context
of this chapter, of these events. Children of Israel had been delivered
from Egypt. God had brought them out. The
time of the Passover brought them through the Red Sea and
had brought them through a long journey, 40-plus years, and had
looked after them had guided them, had been with them in all
of their journeys and all of their wanderings and now they
have finally reached the shores of Jordan. They've finally come
to the banks. They've finally come to the last
barrier to the Promised Land. It is there before them, they
can see it the other side. But there is this barrier. This one great thing that separates
them, final hurdle as it were, to reach the land that had been
promised them for hundreds of years. And that they had held
that promise, they had pleaded that promise, they had clung
to that promise, and God had been, as it were, revealing it
and leading them in it. And here they are, right on the
edge of the land. right on the banks of Jordan. How were they to cross it? How
were they to come across this great barrier, this great problem
as it may have appeared to them? How were they to reach that final
stage, the promised land of Canaan that God had prepared for them?
How were they to cross this Jordan? You know, in God's hand and in
God's providence, they were always going to come here. Of course, because of their disobedience
and because of their sin, they wandered for 40 years. God, as
it were, kept them out until the generation had passed on.
And they wandered in difficulties and had many trials and hardships
in the wilderness for 40 years. But they were always going to,
in the end, come to the banks of Jordan. It was God's purpose. It was God's will. It was God's
promise that they would be there. And they would stand there and
see the land. And it promised that they would come to the other
side. They were always going to be there. And you and I, have something
that we will all inevitably come to. We have something that, however
the journey might be, however we might walk, whatever might
come into our life, be it blessing, be it hardship, be it persecution,
be it temptation, whatever it might be that we walk through
in the wilderness, we are all heading inevitably to the banks
of Jordan. We will be brought there. What
are these banks of Jordan? Well, of course, we are all inevitably
heading to the day of our death. To the day when we will stand
on the edge, as it were, of this world. And we will have an eternity
before us. And in between will be a barrier.
In between will be a river. In between will be death itself,
which parts this world and eternity to come. And we may think that
we have a life to live and we have many years to walk, and
we may. and we have many things to pass
through and we put it from our mind and we put it from our thoughts
and I'm sure there were times for children of Israel when they
were not thinking about Canaan perhaps, when they had other
things on their minds but they were still inevitably going to
come there and they were always heading there. And we are all
heading to the banks of Jordan. As we thought about this morning,
when we pass through the waters, I will be with thee. And again,
that word when is so important. Even more important, you could
say, in our considerations this morning, because here is an inevitability.
When we pass through the waters, we will pass through them. Of
course, unless the Lord returns before we come to Jordan. Well, this evening I want to
consider are we like the children of Israel today? Can we identify with them in
their walk and in their passing through Jordan? Will we join
with them? What is our path? What is our
end? Are we like these children of
Israel? And how did they start on their
journey? How does a believer start on
their journey? Well, their journey started with
the Passover and then with passing through the Red Sea. It started
with deliverance, with being brought out of persecution, out
of bondage and darkness, as it were, and slavery in Egypt. It started with being brought
out. How do we ever start? Do we have
a beginning like that? Can we trace ourselves back to,
as it were, the time when we came to Passover, when we came
to the Red Sea? Can we trace our time back when
we came and first knew a time of deliverance, a time of life,
a time of freedom? Can we record that time of calling? Now they, as they stood on the
banks, of course, not literally, because not all of them that
were on the banks of Jordan were at the Red Sea, many had died
in the wilderness, but in the picture, as they stood on the
banks of the Jordan, they could look back and say, as a people,
we were delivered. There was a day of, or night
rather, of Passover. There was a day that we passed
through the Red Sea. It did occur to us. We were delivered
through it. There was a certainty there.
They looked back to that day of deliverance. Can we look back
and see a time of deliverance? We have a time when there was
the Passover. We have a time when the blood
of Christ, we believe, through His grace was applied to us.
There is a time when We believe that, as it were, the angel passed
over and we were safe, sheltering in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
came to know him, we came to see that for ourselves, the application
of the blood, the death and sufferings of Christ. It's a time of conversion,
a time of renewal, a time of life. And we go back to the Passover. Can we go back to the Red Sea
and say, I remember a time of deliverance, a time when I was
brought by faith out of bondage and into liberty, out of Egypt,
a time when the Lord brought me out of my sins and the bondage
that I was held in because of them and the claim that they
had on me and led me to death and led me to hell. And the Lord
delivered me from that and gave me hope in his name. gave me
hope that I was freed from the inevitability of hell. He hoped
that by his grace I was brought freedom in the Lord. You look
back and see a Passover and a Red Sea. Join with them, these children
of Israel, and remember the day of deliverance. Remember the
day of freedom. Remember the day when you stood
amazed by God's grace. The children of Israel didn't
deserve anything. They were His covenant people, His chosen people
in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But they hadn't earned His favour,
His love, His compassion. They hadn't earned their deliverance.
They hadn't done their penance in Egypt and therefore now they
were free. God looked upon them. He looked upon His promise and
He brought them out because of grace. And we say, I believe
I was brought there but by grace alone. because God came, because
God looked, because God spoke, because God brought me out and
I acknowledge it was all of his grace and nothing of me. There
was a day of deliverance and that day you started a pilgrimage. And perhaps you're looking back
in your minds this evening, many years, many years you traced
your beginnings, many years the Lord first touched your heart
and has been a pilgrimage to walk. There's been a wilderness
to come through. Can we join with the children
of Israel and come through the Red Sea and come to a journey?
Come to a pilgrimage through the wilderness? And you can say
it's felt like a wilderness at times. It's felt hard at times. It's felt difficult at times,
as they found. It's been hot. It's been weary.
It's been opposition. There's been hardship. It's been
a wilderness in this world. It's not been my home. It's not
been my place of safety. It's not been a place where I'm
comfortable and happy. I long for something better,
something more glorious. It's been a wilderness for me,
but I've walked my pilgrimage through it like they did. I've
come through it. And you can trace your walk and
your life And like them, as they stood on the banks, you can say,
we've known many blessings. I've known many blessings. The
Lord has come in wonderful ways. And I've especially known wonderful
spiritual blessings. I've known when the Lord has
drawn near. I've known when the Lord has provided with what I've
needed. He's lifted up my soul. And I've known as he fed the
children of Israel with manna every day, so he has fed my soul
every day from his word, from his presence. As the water followed
them and refreshed them, so I have known his refreshing from the
rock Christ Jesus. I've known many wonderful blessings
and God has been with me. Can you say that? You say God
has been good. And I've walked a pilgrimage,
maybe it's been for many years, maybe it's not been for many
years at all. I don't know. You say, the Lord has been good.
Many wonderful blessings. And you can join with them and
you can look back and say, there's been many answered prayers. Times
of desperate need, times of distress, times of impossibility, and I've
lifted it up and in wonder and amazement, I've stood as he's
answered those prayers and done wondrous things. And I've not
expected an answer, and I've not expected his help, and yet
there he is, there is his hand, there is his amazing providence,
there is his goodness towards me, and my prayers have been
answered. I've seen them in the wondrous things, the glorious
things, in the grand things, I've seen them in the little,
everyday, mundane things in life. As well, he's answered my prayers.
He's been with me through my pilgrimage. And you may join
with these people at the banks of Jordan. You say, though there's
been many blessings and many answers, much thanksgiving to
offer to God today. I've much to mourn. I've much
to be sad about. Because like them, there's also
been times of rebellion. There's also been times of disobedience. There's also been times of sin.
I've had my times when I've fallen into idol worship. I've had your
times when you've been murmuring and complaining about the way.
Times when you've wondered where God was. There's been sin and
rebellion. There's been much to mourn and
there's been much to learn. learn about myself, learn about
God, learn about who I am and what he is and what he's done.
I've had to learn hard and bitter lessons, I've had to learn them
time and time again and I wonder if we know them now. Can you
join with these children of Israel? Say there's been a time of deliverance,
Passover and Red Sea. And however long or short it
may be, maybe we're only weeks in the way or 50, 60, 70 years,
I'm walking in a pilgrimage, I'm walking in a journey through
a wilderness. God has been my help. And I can
join with David. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me. And it has followed me all the
days of my life. And there is goodness and mercy.
And whenever you look back, there they are. They've been in your
path and the Lord has been there with you. You join with these people tonight. Now do you think you're coming
near Jordan? They'd been through the journey
and here is Jordan. And it must be crossed. It must
be passed. You may say, I have my Jordan
in front of me. And let us all remember that
none of us know when Jordan will come. None of us know when we
shall be called to leave this earth. For the children of Israel
here, they were told that they would pass over in three days. In three days the Lord would
guide them over. Joshua says, we read in chapter
1 verse 11, Joshua says, pass through the host, command the
people saying, prepare you victuals for within three days you shall
pass over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the
Lord your God giveth you to possess it. And you know, it could be
three days for any one of us. Within three days. They have Jordan before us and
we all have it also before us. And we may see it as a great
enemy, a great barrier, a great problem. Death is an enemy. Death is not natural. Man was
not created to die. We were created to live eternally
in sinless perfection. We're not made to die. Sin is
an enemy. Death is an enemy. It's a result
of the curse and we fear it. It's only natural to fear it,
but there it is. Maybe we feel that the land that
we know is the other side, because he's delivered us and promised
us a land because he's led us safely through a pilgrimage through
a wilderness and he's led us to a land. But yet it seems so
distant. It seems so far off and there's
an enemy in front of us. Jordan is there. And it's an unknown way. It's
a way that we've not been before. Of course it is. It's a way that
none of us have been and we fear it. We fear how we shall stand. Joshua says to them, ye have
not passed this way heretofore. You've not come this way before.
You've not been through Jordan, you've not been into Canaan before.
This is new. This is a new path and it's the
case for all of us. There it is, the great enemy,
what might seem impossible in front of us. You read through the Pilgrim's
Progress when you come to the last few pages and you read of
Christian and hopeful as they come to the banks of the river.
We read that they are stunned by the river. They are stunned
by it. They are taken aback. They are stopped in their tracks
as they saw that there was a river that they must come through.
How were they to get to the other side, the gates, the city that
they could see? How were they to come through
this great difficulty, this great problem? And the angel says to
them, you must go through. You must go through or you cannot
see the gate. You must go through. Well, we
know that they do and the trouble and the thoughts in their minds
that they do, but they safely come through that river. You
must go through or you cannot come to the gate. There it is
in front of us. Well, here was an impossibility
for these people. The river was in a time of flood. It was a great problem for them. It was a time of flood, a time
when the river was exceptionally large. There was no way that
they could wade their way through or try and find a shallow spot
or a narrow spot. No way that they could try and
work their own way through this river that was in flood. It must
be dried up. It's the only way they could
go. It's the only way they could come through. Of course here
we're reminded of the enormity of death. We mustn't play it
down, we mustn't think that we can just think for the best or
think that it's unnatural to fear. Of course, as human beings
we fear and it's enormous, an enormous thing in flood. It tells
us there's no safety in ourselves, doesn't it? We can't, as it were,
find a place which is narrow or find a shallow bit We can't come through in our
own strength. We can't get safely to that land in our own ability. Or thinking that we are strong
enough. There it is before us. We are coming near it. Maybe
in three days. Maybe in three days. How are we to cross? How am I? How are you? to cross
this Jordan, because we must go through it. We must go through
it. There's no way round it, there's
no way over it. We must go through this water. How are we to cross? Well, how
were they to cross? How were they to cross this Jordan? They commanded the people saying,
when ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the
priests, the Levites, bearing it, then ye shall remove from
your place and go after it. If there should be a space between
you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure, come not near
unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go. For
ye have not passed this way heretofore. How were they to cross? Following
the Ark. Following the Ark. They had not been that way before.
They couldn't go with their own knowledge and their own strength
and their own ability. They could only go as following
the Ark. And the way through would only
be made when the feet of the priests who carried the Ark touched
the edge of the water then there would be a way made. In our text
we read the Lord saying to Pastor, souls at 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, that the waters of Jordan shall
be cut off, for the waters that come down from above shall stand
upon an heap. It was as they who carried the
ark then came to Jordan, their feet went into the edge of the
river, then the way was made, and the children of Israel followed
behind the ark. That was how they were to go,
and that was the only way that they could go. They couldn't
run in front, they couldn't make their own way through, only by
following the ark. What does that teach us today?
As we have Jordan in front of all of us, how are we to come
through this river? Following Christ. following Christ. The Ark is a type of Christ.
In many ways, Chittimwood is humanity, overlaid with gold,
his deity. Inside was kept the law, righteous
and holy as he was. On the top is the mercy seat,
the place where God and man intercede, where God and man speaks rather,
through the intercession of the blood of the sacrifice. The Ark
is a type of Christ. And we follow him to the edge
of Jordan. His people follow him through
Jordan. And as it were, as he goes before,
then through him, as it were, we could say, as he touches the
waters with the soles of his feet before us, so the way is
made to cross. What do we mean by this in the
picture that we have before us? Well, they went before into the
river. Christ has gone before into the
river. Christ has tasted Jordan himself. Christ has tasted death himself. And his people follow through
death because he has gone through for them. He has made a way. He has died in their place. He has suffered what they deserve. And then death is no longer the
end and the entrance into punishment and into hell, but because He
has been before and He has endured the punishment we deserve, death
is then, as it were, a parting of the waves away into glory
itself, because He has gone before. His feet have entered the River
Jordan. And we can say with the Apostle,
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we look to Him and Him alone
who has gained the victory and that He has entered in before.
He has died that His people might live. How are you to walk through
this Jordan? Keep your eyes on Christ. Remember
that He has been before. Remember that He has died that
we might live. Remember that He knows the way. Ye have not known this way heretofore. He has known the way. He knows
what it is to expire. He knows what it is to yield
His Spirit to His Father. He has passed this way. You keep
your eyes on Him. As we walk through and as we
come to the end, in His timing, we follow our Lord Jesus Christ. He's tasted death for His people,
but He's done more than tasting death. He's conquered death for
His people. When this corruptible shall have
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death
is swallowed up in victory. He's not just gone before as
an example or someone to encourage us. He's gone before that death
might be swallowed up in victory. It might be destroyed. It might
be utterly taken out of the way because he is victorious, because
he has risen again. And no, death no longer holds
him. And death no more holds his people,
those who trust in him and believe in him. Death is swallowed up in victory. Follow the Ark. He has gone before. He has suffered as a substitute,
bearing the sins of his church on their behalf, dying in the
place of his people. The Ark has gone before. That
is the only way of safety across this river. That is the only
way of safety through death. And then it is no more the ends
as it were and the end to fall into hell. Hell is destroyed
for his people. There is no second death for
his church. It suffered the experience of hell itself for them. We must die if the Lord does
not return. It's the effect of the curse. Our bodies are dying the moment
we're born. But to think that the second
death, eternal death, hell itself is destroyed for his people,
is swallowed up in victory. Now there is a way through because
Christ has gone before. Our Saviour has already gone
in, and we, by His grace, follow on, following Him, looking to
Him, trusting Him alone, His sacrifice, His death, and receive
the blessings, as it were, of the waters passing away through
Jordan. We follow the Ark. How else are
we to cross, following the Ark, but also trusting in a merciful
and a gracious God? trusting in an almighty and a
powerful God. Who else could stop the flow
of the water? Who else could bring an end,
as it were, of the flowing of Jordan so that it could pass
through? Only an almighty, only a great God could do that. Able
to stop the waters. An amazing miracle. Who else
can lead us safely home but a great, a merciful, an almighty God?
We look and we trust in Him who is faithful in keeping His promises.
As He has said, He will not allow the water to overflow His people.
He will not allow the fire to kindle upon them. He will not
lose them and will eternally have them safely with Him. An almighty God, merciful God,
Christ Himself. This is where we look. This is
how we pass through. as soon as the souls of the feet
of the priests that bear the Ark of the Lord shall rest on
the waters, the wards of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters
that come down from above, they shall stand upon an heap. That is how we're to cross. Will we be safe? Will we be safe? Is it really enough for the souls
of the priests carrying an Ark? Is that really going to part
the waters? Is that really possible? And it came to pass. It happened. The promise was
fulfilled and we can read it and it's repeated a number of
times. They passed through on dry ground and safely came over
the other side. All the Israelites passed over
on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. They all passed over. None were
left. Not one drowned. Not one was left behind. Not
one stumbled and was left. They all passed over, clean over
Jordan. Will we be safe looking to one
man, the Lord Jesus Christ? Will we be safe looking to what
He has done and trusting and pleading Him alone? Is there
any possibility that we can pass through death to glory by looking
to Him, all will pass clean over Jordan
and His people will all pass clean into glory. There is no
doubt. There is no doubt that we trust
in the faithful promise of God when the Lord Jesus Christ said,
Father, I will that them who now has given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory. I will it. It will be. It's a holy God's perfect will
to have his people in glory. They will all pass clean over
Jordan. It is sure and certain as it
was for them. Strange as it may have appeared. And as the world
would have looked on, they would have laughed and mocked them.
And the world look on and they may say, either don't worry about
Jordan, don't worry about death, and if you do, what on earth
is a man called Jesus going to do to help you? Oh, they came
safely over, whatever the world might have said. And His people
must come safely over. Is Jordan in front of you? Is
Jordan in front of us? You look to the Lord. All were
passed clean over Jordan. We will be safe. What is the
other side? What is the other side of this
Jordan? Well, it's the fulfilment of a promise. A promise made
hundreds of years earlier to their forefathers. A promise
that they would one day come to a land of their own, flowing
with milk and honey. A land that God had provided
for them. A land that God would bless them
in. It was a fulfilment of a promise. And eventually, I know here,
to begin with, there's a time of taking the land, occupying
the land, defeating the enemies. But eventually, it'd be a place
of peace, at least for a season. A place where God would be with
them. A place where they could worship freely. A place where
they could establish the temple in Jerusalem. A place that God
had given them the promised land. No longer in the wilderness.
No longer in bondage in Egypt. Their own land. That's what met
them on the other side. What meets us, the other side
of Jordan? What meets us? I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will
dwell with them. They shall be his people. and
God himself shall be with them and shall be their God, and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no
more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be
any more pain, for the former things are passed away. Here we have before us what the
Lord has prepared for his people on the other side of Jordan.
He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in
the midst of the street of it, and on the other side of the
river there, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manna
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month. The leaves of the
tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall be no
more curse. The throne of God and of the
Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him, and
they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads,
and there shall be no night there. They need no candle, neither
light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they
shall reign for ever and ever. Here's a pic, a little glimpse,
a little glimpse of glory with so much we don't know, but here's
a glimpse. of what is prepared for the Lord's
people on the other side of Jordan. They shall see His face. There shall be no curse. Sin,
death, suffering and pain will be utterly done away with. No
curse and they shall see His face as He is. That's glory. That's what His people have longed
for ever since they passed through the night of Passover. Ever since
they by faith knew the application of His precious blood, they have
longed to see His face. And they've walked through a
long, long wilderness to get there. And through His merits,
they shall reach the Him we ring in rapture and surprise. And they shall see His face. when they came the other side
of Jordan. Joshua commanded that 12 men
should collect stones from the riverbed and they would be put
in a heap the other side of Jordan for the reason that if the children
of future generations came and they said, what do these stones
mean? Why is there a heap being put here? What does it mean?
that these stones stand here, they could say, well these stones
tell us that we came through, our forefathers came through
this Jordan. These little stones that you
see, my child, they were once on the bed of the river. It's
a testimony that once the river was made dry and we collected
these stones and we put them here to remind us and to answer
your questions, that's what these stones mean. In a sense, that
place where the stones was laid became a place of worship in
one sense, a place of thanksgiving, a place of remembering what God
had done, that he had brought them through. It brought them
safely to the land. What is heaven? but a place of
worship, a place to glorify God for what He has done, as it were
to stand with the stones erected and say, the Lord Himself brought
me through the Red Sea, the Lord Himself brought me through Jordan,
He brought me through salvation, He brought me through death,
and He brought me home. And here I stand, and His people
shall stand in amazement, in wonder, and in worship, and shall
sing, Thou art worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof,
for Thou art slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood. out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and
priests and we shall reign on the earth." And he heard a loud
voice saying, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power
and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing. a place of worship and I believe
the Lord's people should look back in a sense, I know it'll
be sinless and it'll be so very different from what we know in
this world, but they shall look back and they shall say, there
was the night of Passover, there was the day of the Red Sea, there
was a wilderness, there was disappointments and hardship, but now there is
the safety through Jordan and here I am and here are my stones.
God has brought me here, safely here, all through Christ, from
beginning to end. You see, it's all Christ. You
trace it through the Passover, Christ. The water, Christ. The manna, Christ. And the coming
through, following the ark, Christ. It's all Him, from beginning
to end. And He shall be the glory. The Lamb is all the glory in
Emmanuel's land. What did we consider this morning?
see it in this slightly different light. When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee. Now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob. And he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not. For I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. You have come
through the Red Sea. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. What a promise to hold on to
as we come to the end. What a promise to plead with
Almighty God that thou hast said, when we pass through the waters,
I shall be with us. There is a land of pure delight,
we sing, where saints' immortal reign in finite day excludes
the night and pleasures banish pain. There everlasting spring
abides and never withering flowers. Death, like a narrow sea, divides
this heavenly land from ours. Oh, could we make our doubts
remove these gloomy doubts that rise and see the Canaan that
we love, with gumber-clouded eyes, could we but climb where
Moses stood and view the landscape o'er, nor Jordan's stream, nor
death's cold flood should fright us from the shore. I shall be
with thee. And it came to pass. Amen.