Joshua chapter 24. You know, I woke up this morning thinking
about how it pleased the Lord to make you and I His people. It pleased the Lord to do so. There's only one reason that
the Lord chose a people, just one reason. Only one reason the
Lord will never forsake a people. The one reason is for His great
name's sake, because of His own glory. 1 Samuel 12, 22, for the
Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, because
it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people. His people. For
no reason outside of His own will, purpose, compassion, no
reason outside of His own pity and for the glory of His own
great namesake, God in the person of His Son came into the world
to save sinners that He determined and chose to save from the foundation
of the world. And the Scriptures put an emphasis
on when this occurred because God knew and God preordained
and God determined to save these sinners before the world was
ever made and before there was ever a sinner. When God chose
these sinners is so important. Because it immediately establishes
that the sinner, before they were born, before they had done
any good or evil, to merit life or to deserve hell, had nothing
to do with it. Nothing. It's all according to the will
and purpose of God. And God's Word, the Bible, declares
in no uncertain terms that the only way a fallen sinner can
be reconciled to God is if God himself comes, keeps his own
law, satisfies his own justice, sheds his own blood, and puts
away all the sin of his people. We don't get any credit for it.
We didn't do anything. And that's what we'll see again
tonight. We see it everywhere in the scriptures,
even in the 24th chapter of Joshua. God does everything. And I put
an emphasis on everything for his people in Christ. I put an
emphasis on those two words too. And again, I remind you of what
Paul said in Romans chapter 15, verse four. He said, for whatsoever
things were written aforetime, speaking of the Old Testament
scriptures, he said, were written for our learning. God, through
the word of God, teaches his people some things, and they
grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they were written for our learning that we, through patience
and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. What do these
Old Testament studies do for us? What do these things written
before time teach us? Well, patience. I need patience. Comfort. Oh, I need comfort. Don't you need comfort? I know
why you're here tonight. And hope. We all need hope. Christ then used the hope of
glory. That's the three things that we as sinners need most
desperately. Now, in verse 1 here of Joshua
24, in Joshua's last words to Israel, he reminds them of who
it was that delivered them. That's what preachers do. We
remind sinners of who it was that saved them and who it was
that gave them everything that they had. Do you know that everything
that you have, God gave to you? Well, preacher, you know I have.
I've worked hard for what I have. God gave you the health and the
good sense to work. It's all from Him. It all comes
from Him. He gave you the job. He gave
you the ability to do the job. That's what makes idolatry such
a horrific thing. When you think about it, it really
does. How can mankind ascribe mercy,
grace, forgiveness, and salvation to anyone but God? You can't
read this book and ascribe it to anyone else, much less an
idol. It's all of God. It's an evil
thing to ascribe God's glory. to anyone or anything else. That's
why the first two commandments of the Ten Commandments are,
thou shalt have no other gods before me, and thou shalt not
make unto thee any graven image. God will not share his glory
with another. I can describe the reason for
every chosen sinner Their salvation in just two words. You remember
that used to be a show, a contest, I can name that tune in one note
or two notes. It'd be hard to do it in one
note. I guess some did it in two, but I can describe the reason
for every chosen sinner's salvation in just two words. But God. But God, but God commended his
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. We plant and we water, Paul said. I plant Apollo's waters, but
God gives the increase. For if the inheritance be of
the law, it is no more of promise, but God. gave it to Abraham by
promise. And that's what we're seeing
the fruition of here in Joshua. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened, hath made us alive together with
Christ and by grace ye are saved. It's by grace that God does it.
Ephesians 2, 4, and 5. Okay, verse one again. And Joshua
gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the
elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and
for their officers. And they presented themselves
before God. And Joshua said unto all the
people, thus saith the Lord God of Israel. This is what God says. When preachers stand to preach,
they're not preaching what they say. They better not be. They
better be preaching what God says. God says, your fathers
dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time. In other words,
before the flood. Even Terah, the father of Abraham
and the father of Nacor. And they served other gods. Other gods beside the true God. They served strange gods, they're
called strange gods, which were no gods, they were idols. You
know, in Genesis chapter 12, verse one, it says, now the Lord
had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country and from thy
kindred and from thy father's house into a land that I shall
thee. You remember that, we looked at it. And he said, I'll make
of thee, speaking to Abraham, a great nation, and I'll bless
you. and I'll make your name great
and you shall be a blessing. Now that's God that said that.
God said, I'm going to make you a great nation. I'm going to
bless you. I'm going to make your name great.
I'm going to make you a blessing. And these words are the words
of the Lord Himself. And you know, the capitalization
of the title Lord, capital L-O-R-D, indicates more than just the
fact that He's God overall. The Lord is speaking here as
Jehovah God, the just God and Savior. He's, meaning that he
alone is alone the God of a particular, peculiar, and purchased people. Look at Isaiah, hold your place
here, look at Isaiah chapter 45 with me. You know these verses
very well, but look at this. In Isaiah chapter 45, verse 20, This is the Lord speaking. The
Lord says, assemble yourselves and come, draw near together,
ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that set
up the wood of their graven image and pray unto a God that cannot
say. Tell ye and bring them. Who's
them? Your idols. Bring your idols
near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this
from ancient times? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? Capital L-O-R-D. And there is
no God else beside me. A just God. and a savior, there
is none beside me." Now, what God is saying here is just this,
gather all your idols together, and the gods of your imagination,
that's all idols are. Whatever you wanted that idol
to be, that's what he was, just a god of your imagination. He
said, gather all your idols together and bring them before me and
let them take counsel together. Let them put their non-existent
minds to test and see if they can tell you who is in control
over all things. You see, the one who is over
all things is the one who has been since ancient times. He's
God, He's the creator. He's the one that spoke this
whole shooting match into existence. There's only one God and creator.
God says it over and over again here. And God says, it's me.
I'm the one God and there's no savior beside me. No God else
beside me. As far as a just God and a savior,
there's none beside me. Therefore, he went on to say
here, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth,
for I am God and there's none else. Simply meaning there's
no other way, no one else by whom you can be saved. See how
particular this is, how distinguishing it is. This is the Lord Jesus
speaking here in Isaiah chapter 45. So we see all through the
scriptures that it was God who initiated the deliverance of
Abraham from the idols of his fathers on the other side of
the flood and delivers all his people from the idols that they
conjure up in their own imagination. And Abraham was not only an idol
worshiper, friends, he was an idol maker. Making idols was
the family business. And I have no doubt that it was
big business, because it was a business in demand. It was
an art or a trade that was in demand. And in verse three here, back
in our text, We see that it's the Lord who says, and I took,
I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood,
and I led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied
his seed, and I gave him Isaac. God did it all, every bit of
it. It's God, the Lord Jesus, our just God and Savior who says,
I took, I multiplied, and I gave, because there's no God beside
me. If anybody's gonna give it, it's
gonna have to be me. I'm the only one who can. Now
here in Joshua chapter 24, the Lord reveals Himself as the God
of the covenant of grace, the covenant of promise, a new covenant
confirmed in His own blood. And hear me when I tell you the
success of salvation is that God has made an eternal covenant
with His Son for the salvation of His elect people. And He cannot
fail. So the salvation of God's people
is certain. God didn't make salvation possible.
I grow so tired of hearing that nonsense. Nothing is impossible with God.
All things are possible with Him. And the first thing we see in
this covenant of grace is that God took an idolatrous man and
made him a father of many nations and the father of the faithful.
Friends, Abraham was not a special man apart from sovereign distinction. He was a sinner just like you
and me. That's why we're never to put men upon a pedestal. Don't
do it. You'll get disappointed. That'll
let you down. The only person worthy to be
put upon a pedestal and worshiped and to receive all honor and
glory is the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. He's the only one.
Abraham was especially no different from any other man or woman that
lived before the flood. The thoughts of Abraham's heart,
just like yours and just like mine and just like every other
sinner's, is only evil continually. No doubt he had a prosperous
business, and Abraham had a beautiful wife. We find that out later
when the king of Egypt and the other king was so infatuated
by her beauty. Why, Abraham had a family that
loved him, and no doubt things were going well in the land of
Ur of Chaldees for Abraham. Why, you couldn't have dynamited
him out of the place. But God, but God. divinely intervened and called
him out. And his call, God's call, is
always effectual. Always effectual. I think about
those eight souls, Noah and his family, who were spared in the
ark of God, picturing the Lord Jesus Christ. They came out of
the other side of that flood and time revealed very quickly
that they were no different, no different than before the
flood. Noah's sons and their wives had children who had the
same fondness for sin as those that died in the flood. God miraculously
delivered Abraham's nephew Lot out of Sodom. And no sooner than
he did, Lot got drunk and his daughters, who God also delivered,
committed incest with him. But in spite of them, the Lord
showed them great grace and referred to Lot as a just man." How can
that be? In Christ. The only way. Because
of God's covenant with Christ before the world began. Boy, that gives me hope. That
gives me some comfort. Christ paid for Lot's sin as
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, just as He did
for all whom God gave Him to die for. And as much as it might
disappoint the proud, salvation has nothing to do with what you
did or what you do. And I'm so thankful for that.
Abraham was a sinner, an idolater, an idol maker. Abraham was happy
and content to keep right on being so. And so were you, and
so were I. But God says, I took Abraham. Seen the posters with Jesus knocking
on someone's heart door? No, sir. I took. I took. I knocked the door down. I divinely
intervened. I divinely interrupted in the
sinner's lot. God says, I took Abraham. That
doesn't mean that Abraham let him take him either. That means
that God took him. That word took means to fetch.
God fetched him. It means to lay hold of. God
laid hold of him. That word took means many things.
It means to seize. It means to receive. It means
to acquire. It means to buy. It means to
bring. It means to marry. It means to
take away. Abraham, the idolater, was apprehended
by grace. God in mercy and grace said,
arrest that sinner. He belongs to Christ. In verse 3, the Lord declares
to have led Abraham. Verse 3, I took your father Abraham
from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the
land of Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac. That word led means to guide,
to lead, to pilot. Sinners are not God's co-pilot. That's another bumper sticker.
I don't know who was thinking when they when they wrote it,
but he's not, sinners are not his copilot. Christ is our pilot,
yes. And he not only piloted the way
to life for us, but he himself is the way. No man comes to God,
tell me how, but by him. But God, this is the stone which
was set at nought of you builders, which has become the head of
the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby you must be saved. But Israel, representative of
God's church, continued to sin, and continued to worship the
idols of their fathers before the flood. And God's people today
know that there's absolutely nothing that we can do, there's
nothing within us that can make us savable. The law of God says
that we're guilty, and the justice of God says that we deserve the
wages of sin, which is death. Now what are we going to do with
that? We're going to trust in a covenant
that God made with his son that would be the stone that was the
head of the corner upon which the whole building, the whole
church is built. God made a promise, an oath,
an agreement according to the glory of his own great namesake
to give particular sinners an atonement, a payment for sin's
wages. Wouldn't I be crazy to say, no,
no, I want to try to pay that debt myself? Like Brother Darwin said one
time, it's like going to an art museum and looking at the masters
and pulling the crayon out of your pocket and say, I think
I'll improve on that a little bit. Can't do it. It's perfect. It's a perfect work. We can't
add anything to it. If we add something to it, we
make it imperfect. Jesus Christ is that propitiation,
that payment, that appeasing for sin. And Jesus Christ died
the just as the perfect one for the unjust, the wretched worms
that we are, that He might bring us to God. Christ does the bringing. No
other way to be brought. How does the Good Shepherd bring
home the sheep? He goes and He finds them and
He puts them on His shoulder and He carries them all the way
back to the Father. That's exactly how God saved
me. And that's why the Lord, speaking
of Himself here, speaking of Himself in the Scripture, said,
I am the way, no other way, the truth, no other truth and the
life, the meaning, the meaning only, only, the only way. No man cometh to the Father but
by Me. There is no other way to come
to the Father. None at all. No other way to
be saved. No other way to be reconciled
to God whom we have offended. No other way into the Kingdom
of God. Now if you're interested in getting into the Kingdom of
God, this is the only way. When the beloved apostle John
wrote, he that hath the Son of God hath life, and he that hath
not the Son of God hath not life, that word and in that text is
italicized. It was added, meaning the word
was just that, added. Now John's not talking about
two different things there. This is not two different thoughts,
two different statements. He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. One statement. No separation of thought or action
there. It's one or the other. You either
have the Son and you have life, or you don't have the Son and
you don't have life. That's just how singular God's
Gospel is. And according to the last part
of verse 3 here in Joshua 24, it was God who gave Abraham and
Sarah their son Isaac. You know, Ishmael was the son
of the flesh. You remember how Ishmael came about. Sarah got
her hand made to lay with Abraham and Ishmael was born. He was
birthed of the bond woman. Isaac was the son of promise.
Sarah 90 years old, her womb barren, Abraham 100 years old. Isaac was birthed of the free
woman. And in verse four, God says,
and I gave unto Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and I gave unto Esau
Mount Seir to possess it, but Jacob and his children went down
into Egypt. Now we read over these things,
we need to slow down and think about it. What God is saying
here is that he's the one who calls Jacob to go down to Egypt. He's the first cause of all things
and everything. It was God who did all the giving,
and all the giving was according to his determinant counsel and
foreknowledge, purpose, and power to save much people alive. You
know, the evil that comes against us, this is what Joseph told
his brother. He said, what you did to me, you meant for evil,
but God overruled it, and he meant it for good. And God does
that all the time when we don't even realize that he's doing
it. God's overruling things and he's causing what might seem
evil to us to work for our good. That's what Romans 8, 28 tells
us. This is a sovereign God we're
dealing with. In verse five, God says, I sent
Moses also and Aaron and I plagued Egypt. Who did? God did. according
to that which I did among them, and afterward I brought you out." Who did this? God did this. The
Lord Jesus Christ did this. As you read down through these
verses, you can see it over and over and over again from the
mouth of God Himself. I took, I led, I multiplied,
I gave. That's in verse 3 alone. I sent,
I plagued, I did, I brought. Verse 5. I covered. I have done. I destroyed. I would not hearken.
I delivered. I have given. God did. He does it all. The Lord said,
I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Joshua reminds Israel here of
the distinguishing qualities of God's election of grace. God
gave both sons. God gave Jacob and God gave Esau. God loved one of the sons and
God hated the other one. Well, that's pretty harsh. What would have been justice
would have been if God hated both of them. God determined this before they
were born. Why? So that this world might
know that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stand. Sinners are not saved by works, not saved by their
doing, but of Him, but of God, they call it. I find it interesting that God
says that He gave Esau Mount Seir here. Those who God left
to themselves are given the things of this world to enjoy. Let them
enjoy them. Ain't no reason to be upset because
somebody's got more of this world than you've got. You need to
be thankful for it. Really. But Jacob and his children went
down to Egypt. You know what? God sent them
there. Ultimately, they became slaves there, but it was necessary
for them to become slaves there. It was necessary that the Lord
send Jacob and Israel into slavery for the purpose of His grace. Do you think that 400 plus years
in slavery there in Egypt was enjoyable? The chastening of the Lord is
grievous. It has to be to teach us But if we endure chastening,
that's what God calls it. God deals with us as sons. For
what father that truly loves his son does not correct him
or teach him? The word chastening means to
humble. It's to teach humility. God's
gonna bring us down a few notches. God's gonna teach us that we're
not the boss. We're not large and in charge.
God is going to humble. God is going to chasten. He's
gonna bring down. God is going to subdue. God's
gonna have you make brick without straw for a while to teach you
who's in control. Well, you might say, well, Pharaoh
did that. No, God allowed Pharaoh to do
it. How you gonna make brick without
straw? We're gonna trust God. I have some friends that are
going through heavy trials right now, heavy trials, facing the
loss of loved ones. And you talk to them, the husband
wishes it could be him, not his wife, and the father wishes it
could be him and not his son. But God does everything for the
good of his people, everything. He works all things together
for good to them who love the Lord, to them who are the called
according to His purpose. Do you believe that? I do too,
brother, I do. By God's grace, I believe that. This comfort is found in knowing
that it's God who does these things. God is out to do His
people good. That's good news, isn't it? But
even better news is the glorious fact that God cannot fail. So if you are in Christ, everything
is good and everything always will be, regardless of the circumstances
around you, because God cannot fail. In verse five, God said, I sent
Moses also and Aaron. It's amazing how many times I've
read these verses and never saw these. And I'm convinced that
Scriptures unequivocally teach that God uses the means of preaching
to save them that believe. It's so clear. It's a faithful
saying, worthy of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, and God uses what the world calls the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Who can call on the
Lord in whom they have not believed? How can they believe in Christ
of whom they've not heard? Paul asked. How shall they hear
without a preacher? How shall they preach except
they be sent? That's what makes the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace so beautiful. It's with
those feet that they bring glad tidings of great joy. I love the observation that Tim
James made concerning the means of God's preachers. And you know,
God's preachers are the first ones to tell you, nothing special
about me, don't put me on a pedestal, don't make me any more than I
am. You know, but here's the distinction,
the Ethiopian eunuch, didn't ask to confess Christ and be
baptized until God sent Philip to him, until God sent him a
preacher. He said, what are you reading?
Philip said, what are you reading? He said, I don't have any man
to show me. Well, God sent you one. I'm him. And he began to
show him Christ in the Scriptures. He said, what hinders me from
being baptized? Nothing, if you believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, there's some water
right there. Cornelius, he didn't believe
and was not baptized until God sent him Simon Peter. The scales
did not fall off the eyes of Saul of Tarsus until God sent
Ananias to declare the gospel to him. Every one of God's elect will
have a preacher sent to them. Or God will send them to a preacher.
Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter how they cross
paths. They will cross paths. In verse
five, we also see that the Lord will plague the enemies of his
people. I've seen it time and time again,
somebody come against one of the Lord's anointed and the Lord
took care of it. The Lord take care of it. He'll plague the enemies of his
people. Our Lord's victory over death brought me out of the bondage
of sin. God plagued all his people's
enemies and they had to let his people go. That's what God did
in Egypt. Sent plague after plague. Look
down at verse nine here in Joshua 24. Then Balak, the son of Zippor, King of Moab arose and warred
against Israel and sin and called Balaam, you remember Balaam,
the son of Beor, to curse you? But look at this, verse 10, but
I would not hearken unto Balaam. Therefore he blessed you. He didn't curse you, he blessed
you. So I delivered you out of his
hand. I was behind it all. You remember
Balaam, don't you? He couldn't curse whom God had
blessed. Nobody can. If God has blessed
you, can't nobody curse you. If God be for you, who can be
against you? Do you remember the evil that Balaam did? He
instructed Balak to do business with Israel, and they wound up
intermarrying, and then Israel wound up worshiping their false
gods. You know, Satan is so subtle,
isn't he? As we recently saw, we're not to be unequally yoked
with unbelievers. What fellowship can righteousness
have with unrighteousness? None. What communion can light
have with darkness? Absolutely none. What conquered,
what harmony hath Christ with Belial? None. What agreement,
covenant has a believer with an infidel, an unbeliever? Can't
have any. Don't have the same God. Don't
have the same hope. God has promised that none of
His people will be deceived. If it were possible, even the
elect would be deceived, but it's not possible. God has promised. God's people
won't hearken to false teachers. God has given a special discernment
in, by, and through His Spirit so that His people hear the truth
and nothing but the truth. and a false prophet, they won't
follow. And verse 11 teaches us that
after we cross into the promised land, there are still enemies
to war against us. But when God's finished with
all our enemies, the only one saved, just like in Jericho,
was a harlot with her eyes on the scarlet cord. When it's all
said and done. In the matter of salvation, Christ
is the justifier of the believer. There's no room for boasting.
Paul said it's excluded. Does the law exclude it? No.
We can't keep the law. It doesn't exclude it, our boasting. If we could keep the law and
be saved that way, we'd boast about it. Does our works exclude
our boasting? No. There's none that do us good,
not a single one. There ain't nothing that we can
do that we can boast in. Our boasting is excluded by the
law of faith, by believing in Christ 100%. There's no reason
for us to boast in ourselves, but to boast in Him and Him alone.
And that's what giving glory to God is. That's what praise
and worship to God is, is boasting on Christ. Brother Rex, when he introduces
preachers down there in Danville, He always says right before they
come up, he says, come, brother, and brag on Christ. That's what
we do. We brag on Christ and what He's
done for sinners. We don't brag on what we've done.
My, my, that wouldn't take too long, would it? Boasting is excluded. When it
comes to our inheritance, look at verse 13, it says it all.
God says, and I have given you. That settles it right there,
I've given you. All of it, a land for which you
did not labor, and cities which you built not, and you dwell
in them. I've given you vineyards and
olive yards which you planted not, but yet you do eat from
them. The gospel constantly reminds
us that the Lord is the only one who can say to us, I have
given. And every child of God knows
that they don't have anything that they didn't receive, and
therefore they can't glory in it as if they didn't receive
it. Well, we have to be honest with ourselves. I can't glory
in something I didn't do. If it was given to me, it was
a gift. I need to glory in the giver. I need to brag on the
giver. And because of these things,
in his last recorded message to Israel before dying, warns
Israel and warns us, I might add, in verse 14, he says, now
therefore, because of these things that the Lord has done, therefore,
because of these things, fear the Lord. Reverence and honor
him. Serve Him in sincerity and truth. May we, like the Lord, always
be about our Father's business. Put away the gods which your
Father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt. Just
put them away. And serve ye the Lord. You see what a privilege it is
to serve the Lord. I think I'm beginning to see. May God be pleased to make it
so for His glory, our good, and for Christ's great name, for
His great name's sake.