Turn with me to Joshua chapter
21, if you would. Look at verse one. Joshua 21, verse one. Then came near the heads of the
fathers of the Levites unto Eliezer the priest, and unto Joshua the
son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes
of the children of Israel. And they spake unto them at Shiloh
in the land of Canaan, saying, the Lord commanded by the hand
of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof
for our cattle. And the children of Israel gave
unto the Levites out of their inheritance at the commandment
of the Lord these cities and their suburbs. Now the sovereign
provisions of the Lord are so gracious and so wonderful. We
see that clearly in him providing the temporal needs of the Levites.
As you know, the Levites served in the tabernacle and they ministered
in the congregation of Israel and the holy things. And they
suitably picture and represent and type chosen and called ministers
of the gospel who are devoted to Christ. and his church. And we're told also in Deuteronomy
chapter 10, and again in Joshua chapter 13, that no separate
inheritance was to be given to the Levites. They were not to
earn their living by the sweat of their brow, but they should
neither have to beg for their daily bread. God always provides
for his servants. I've heard many preachers over
the past years tell story after story about how God provided
just when they needed it most. And it's continually repeated
over and over again in the scriptures that Levi had no part with his
brethren. In other words, they didn't receive
an inheritance themselves from the Lord. They were to be given
these cities and these suburbs by the other tribes of Israel. And we know according to Paul's
words in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, that whatsoever we, as the
children of God, receive of the Lord, we don't boast as though
we didn't receive it. We know who gave it to us. Who
maketh thee to differ from another? What did you have that you didn't
receive? Well, we don't have anything
that we didn't receive. And men and women that say ignorant
things like, well, you know, I picked myself up by my bootstraps
and I worked hard for everything I had, fail to acknowledge that
it was God that gave them the health and the good sense in
order to work and make a living. God is behind it all. It's all a gift from Him. Everything
is. Everything we have is the Lord's
gift. and the Lord's provision to us. And so it was with the Levites.
Cities were given to the Levites by the Lord's provision. Arthur
Pink once wrote, God is no Egyptian taskmaster, demanded that we
make bricks, refusing to provide us with straw. Instead, the Lord
is the God of all grace, who has promised to supply his people's
every need. And need, not greed, but need. And this chapter is about the
Lord's people's care for those who minister to them. And of
all the pastors, the undershepherds that I know myself, and myself
included, We're very well taken care of by those whom we preach
and pastor. I thank God for each of you that
support the gospel in this church, and your generosity allows me
to dedicate my time to the study of the scriptures and the service
of pastoring, and you very well provide, Patricia and I, with
every need as God supplies you. And it's a privilege for you
to give and it's a privilege for me to serve. And the child
of God who truly understands that all we have belongs to the
Lord, it does, every bit of it. And every believer who's a cheerful
giver to the cause of Christ knows that all we have comes
from Him, every single thing. And knowing that, we understand
that it's a privilege to give back to further the preaching
of the gospel. May the Lord be pleased to continue
the work here in Madisonville, Kentucky for many years to come. We've been so blessed and so
fortunate that He's kept the gospel presence here as long
as He has, over 50 years. And we should never take that
for granted. And we should continue to seek
God and beg him to continue this work for our children and our
grandchildren's sake. And I think often about what
David said, not once, he said, have I seen the righteous forsaken? And you know what? Neither have
I. And David said, I've never seen God's seed, God's people
begging for bread. And I can't say that I have either.
And I look back on my life with astonishment. There have been
difficult times, but God always provided for me and mine. And
I know you can say the same thing. He's promised that he would never
leave us nor forsake us. He certainly hasn't, and he certainly
never will. Now, it's the other tribes that
were to give this land to the Levites for their use that God
commanded them to use it for, and every true preacher is hesitant,
reluctant, and apprehensive to preach about giving. That's all
that some so-called preachers preach on is giving. This health
and wealth gospel that we have today, it's shameful. It really
is. But I know this much concerning
God's people, you won't have to shame them to give. They'll
give, and you won't have to shame the true preacher to be about
the business of preaching the gospel. They'll preach the gospel. You don't have to bribe them
to feed the flock. They'll feed the flock. That's
their calling of God. Peter, do you love me? Lord,
you know I love you. Feed my sheep. Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter replied, Lord, thou knowest
that I love thee. He said, feed my lambs. And every
true servant of God that loves his master will feed God's sheep
and preach the gospel. That's exactly why Paul said,
For unto me, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. God's under-shepherds
must give an account of the souls to whom they minister. And they
don't take it lightly. Not man-pleasers, but men who've
been separated from their mother's womb, the scripture says, that's
what Paul said. And called by grace to preach
the gospel. So this is a beautiful picture
of supporting the gospel. Now there, the first thing that
I'd have you to notice is that the Levites made this request
in Shiloh. Did you notice that? Verse two,
and they spake unto them at Shiloh. Now recently we saw who Shiloh
pictures and typifies. Jesus Christ is our Shiloh. And the people of God make their
request to God in Shiloh, in Christ. We don't cross Jordan
to return again to Mount Sinai. No, we don't make our request
known there. We go to Shiloh to do so. We go to Christ to do so. And
look at verse two in its entirety. And they spake unto them at Shiloh
in the land of Canaan, saying, the Lord commanded by the hand
of Moses to give us cities to dwell in with the suburbs thereof
for our cattle. We just read that in Numbers
35. And this gift to the tribe of
Levi, it was from God, as all gifts are. And the Lord commanded
it to be done, so their petition was brief and to the point. Did
you notice that? The request was firm and reverent. They came not as beggars. They didn't ask any favors. Their
appeal for this charity was not for greed. Their request was
based upon something that they believed wasn't based upon something
they thought to be owed them. They used no claim of worthiness
for their request. Their request was made according
to the promise of God. God had promised it, and they
asked for what God had promised. It wasn't a matter of discontent.
It wasn't a matter of covetousness, it was done with humility and
meekness. They simply asked for what they
were entitled to by God's divine commandment. Now there's parlings
today, you know this, and so do I, who have no real concern
for God's sheep. And it's for the love of money
and lust and for power that they claim to serve. but not God's
ministers, not the true ministers of God. The Levites were simply
asking for what God had promised them. Secondly, the Levites,
only for what they were entitled to, and the other tribes weren't
reluctant at all to give it to them. A time and time again,
we read there in Numbers 35, and the tribes, the other tribes
gave it to them, gave it to them. Even though the Lord had promised
these cities to the Levites, this teaches us a wonderful principle
that God has purposed his people to ask and inquire about these
promises. For all the promises of God are
in him, in Christ, yea and amen. No doubt about it. unto the glory
of God by us, that we're given by, Peter said, whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that's in the world through lust. But here we find something else
that's very instructive. Even though the Levites were
chosen of the Lord to minister to the people, they were the
last of the tribes to be supplied with what God promised them.
And the gospel preacher being the servant of the people, it
is right for the children to receive theirs before he receives
his. And our Lord came to minister,
not to be ministered to. What an example Christ is to
us. Our Lord said, but it shall not
be so among you, but whosoever shall be great among you, let
him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of Man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many." You know, in another place, Luke 22, the
Lord said the kings of the Gentiles exercised lordship over them.
and they exercise authority upon them that are called benefactors,
but you shall not be so. And listen, but he that is the
greatest among you, let him be as the younger. And he that is
chief, as he that doth serve, for which is greater, he that
sitteth at meet, speaking of the master of the house, or he
that serveth? Well, we know the answer to that.
The greatest is the master that sits at the table, much more
so than the one that serves. But then our Lord said, is not
he that sitteth and meet, that's who he is. But he said, but I
am among you as he that serveth. Our Lord became a servant. And what an amazing thought that
is. He who spoke the worlds into
existence, he who made man and breathed into him the breath
of life, became the servant of man. He came not to be ministered
to, but to minister to those that he came to save. And when
the Lord said, it's finished, every single benefit that Christ
accomplished for His people and their redemption was finished
and accomplished. Before the Lord resurrected from
the dead and was exalted into glory, His people had already
received all the benefits of His life, His death, His burial,
resurrection, and ascension. And even now, friends, we only
wait for the glorification of these bodies, which was accomplished,
even that was accomplished for us at Christ's death and resurrection. That's what John told us. He
said, Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not
yet appear what we shall be. You ever think about what we
shall be? What shall we be? Just like Him. My, my. Beloved now we are the sons of
God and doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that
when he shall appear, we shall be like him for we shall see
him as he is. In Christ's death, his people
were conformed to his perfect image. He presents to himself
a glorious bride. In verse three here of our text,
we read, and the children of Israel gave unto the Levites
out of their inheritance at the commandment of the Lord these
cities and their suburbs. The children of Israel gave,
gave unto the Levites, and they gave out of their inheritance.
They weren't taxed. They weren't fined. They willingly
gave. God's people willingly gave.
They did not give as if they had to. They purposed in their
heart, and so they gave. And the Lord loves a cheerful
giver. To cheerfully give, that comes
from the heart. That's what Paul said in 2 Corinthians
8, verse 7. He wrote, therefore, as you abound
in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and
in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that you abound
in this grace also. And then in the very next chapter,
Paul continued and said, every man according as he purposeth
in his heart, so let him give. Not grudgingly or of necessity,
For God loveth a cheerful giver. They gave cities to the Levites
in the midst of their own lands and in the borders of their lands
so that every tribe was near to the Levites. What a picture
that is of Christ in the midst of his people. You know, I wish
that we could really get a hold of that. It's just, we've said
this so many times, even tonight, When two or three gather in His
name, He's in the midst of us. And the Lord's always near, in
Him we live and we move and we have our being. And the Holy
Spirit placed these words upon the record of Scripture. It was
with heartfelt conviction that Israel willingly and voluntarily
gave to the Levites. And they raised no objections. They might have complained about
giving up what they had worked so hard for. Again, all that
we have, whether it's much or little. All belongs to God and
everything we have was given to us by Him. As we sung a minute
ago, this is my Father's Word. And it really is. It all belongs
to Him. For the earth is the Lord's and
the fullness thereof. For God so loved that He gave. He gave. You know, when it comes
to our salvation, Paul wrote, I have planted, Apollos watered,
but God gave the increase. There's nothing we've earned,
nothing we merited, and absolutely nothing we deserve. It's all
a gift, every bit of it. Christ is the greatest gift of
all. For as much then as God gave them, speaking of the Gentiles,
This gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
what was I that I could withstand God? You know, the Lord told
that Samaritan woman at the well, he said, if thou knewest the
gift of God. and who it is that saith unto
thee, who was the gift of God, give me to drink, thou wouldest
ask of him, and he would have given thee living water." And
that's such a wonderful gift in that God's given us living
water. He's given us the bread from
heaven. We drink of the living water and we eat of the bread
of heaven and we know hunger and thirst. Christ is all sufficient. The greatest of all gifts to
us is the precious gift of redemption that's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh God, enable us to be thankful, truly thankful for that gift. The Lord Jesus is the gift that
God gave and that precious gift of God, his beloved son came
into the world to save sinners. We're saved not by works of righteousness
that we've done, but according to what? His mercy. His mercy. What a gift His mercy is. God
didn't have to show mercy. God didn't have to be gracious. But it pleased Him to do so.
It pleased the Lord to make you and I, the wretches we are, His
people. Our Lord said so plainly that
none could misunderstand Him. He said, you've not chosen me.
but I've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring
forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever
you ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. Do you
have a spiritual need? Ask the Lord, ask the Lord. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation
for our sin. We love Him because He first
loved us. The scripture goes on and on.
Can anyone truly read these passages of scripture and argue that by
their own free will made a decision to be saved? And God saved them
by some cooperative effort of theirs. The Scriptures doesn't
even hint of such nonsense. It's all of grace, it's all a
gift, and it's all from God, salvations of the Lord. Now,
verses four through 40 gives us an account of all the tribes
and the cities and all that they gave to the Levites. But look
down at verse 41, look at what this says. All the cities of
the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were
forty and eight cities with their suburbs. We read that in Numbers
35, just what God had said. And these cities were every one
with their suburbs round about them, thus were all these cities. And again, what a picture here
we have of the people of God scattered throughout this world,
spreading the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. We, by the
blood of Christ, are made unto him a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a purchased people, lively stones made to offer up spiritual
sacrifices to the Lord, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ," Peter
said, 1 Peter 2, 5-9. Then the Levites, being close
to all the people, shows us something of the Lord, who our great priest,
high priest, being among and near each and every one of us. He's not watching us from a distance,
I can tell you that. God takes care of his people
and his people take care of his servants, who are esteemed for
the work's sake. And many of you take the time
to tell me often that the gospel I preach is a blessing to you,
and I'm so thankful that it is. That's because it's God's gospel.
And that's because it's the only message that will truly bless
his people. God's people don't want to hear
about something they have to do, because they know that whatever
they do, it falls short. And it's far from perfect, which
is what God requires. And that only Christ can do for
us what God requires of us. And never grow tired of hearing
that. Oh, it's a blessing because Christ is in the midst of those
gathered in His name. He's the Word in whom we preach.
The truth we see in these verses is that the Lord is faithful
to His people. He is faithful to promise. He
always, always keeps His promises. Even when unbelief raises its
ugly head within us. If we believe not, He about it
faithful, the Scripture says. He cannot deny Himself. Isn't
it wonderful to think that as wretched and unbelieving as we
are, that God abides faithful to us? Look at verse 43. And the Lord gave unto Israel
all the land which He sware to give unto their fathers, and
they possessed it and dwelt therein. All that they gave the Levites,
God gave to them. and everything that we give to
the furtherance of the gospel God gives to us. Verse 44, and
the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that
he swear unto their fathers. And there stood not a man of
all their enemies before them. The Lord delivered all their
enemies into their hand. Verse 45, there failed not of
any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of
Israel, all came to pass. In other words, God is faithful
at promise. All that God promised, He fulfilled. Aren't the attributes of the
Lord just wonderful? His sovereignty and His mercy
are beyond description. God gave them the land. God gave
them the rest. God delivered all their enemies
into their hand. And every good thing that God
promised to them came to pass. And it's the same with you and
I. Every good thing that God has promised to us, He is faithful,
and they will come to pass. Now, This is our end. God gives us
Christ. God gives us a land of promise.
God delivers us from all our enemies, sin, death, hell, the
grave. He gives us peace and rest. And
every good thing that He promises, He brings to pass. What a gospel. You know, for someone to believe
that God is sovereign, and has made folks the way that they
are, how then can he find fault with them? We hear that a lot. Paul told us that argument. He said, you're gonna say, is
there unrighteousness with God? Who's able or worthy to reply
against the Lord? Men and women need to be careful
what they blame on God. Men believe, for God to love Jacob and hate
Esau while both being in their mother's womb, having neither
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God in electing love
might stand, makes God to be somehow unrighteous. That's ridiculous. God has a
right to do what He will with His own. And He doesn't have
to give any answer to anyone or Whatever God does, man has
no right to question it. That's what Paul said, who are
thou, old man, that replies against God? The child of God is absolutely
sure of things that they cannot explain. You know, folks ask
all the time, well, why do you believe that? I just believe
it. Why do you believe it? I just
do. I can't explain it. I know it's true. I don't have
any proof. I can't prove it to you other
than out of the scriptures. We're just sure of things we
can't explain. We don't base what we believe on human logic.
We walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is a substance of things
hoped for. It's the evidence of things not
seen. Faith itself is unseen, but it
gives substance and it gives evidence to things that we can't
see, but yet things that we hope for. And it's for certain that
our unfaithfulness and unbelief doesn't affect his faithfulness.
Nothing that he purposes is thwarted by our unbelief. If we believe
not, yet he about it faithful, scripture says, he cannot deny
himself. For what if some did not believe?
Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
God forbid. Yea, let God be true, but every
man a liar. Now these last three verses here
of Joshua chapter 21 declares the faithfulness of our God to
his people as we very well see. God kept his promise to Israel
and God keeps his promise to spiritual Israel. And the first
thing here, the possession of Emmanuel's land began before
we were ever born. God promised a physical Israel. His promise to them was based
upon what God had promised their fathers, Abraham in particular,
some 400 plus years before. And God chose a people unto himself
and he determined them to be his. And he gave them to his
son to redeem. And Christ took the office of
their surety and their substitute and their sacrifice, and he bled
and he died so that God could be both just and justifying them. God could be just and justify
the ungodly. And as we saw Sunday, Christ
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This principle
of the elder serving the younger, the firstborn serving the secondborn,
it's seen throughout the scriptures. Adam was the first man, Christ
was the second man. The covenant of Mount Sinai was
the first revealed and the covenant of grace was the second. In each
case, the elder served the younger. And it's the same in our salvation. Our first birth is subservient
to our second birth. Our fathers could not enter the
land of promise because of unbelief, the scripture says, and the fathers
did not receive the promise because God promised and determined to
give it to their sons. Moses did not lead Israel into
the promised land because Joshua, God is our Savior, must lead
them into the land of promise. The first Adam didn't stay in
innocence because the last Adam must. History's not a story of
God reacting. It's a story of God acting. History is the story of the recovery
of fallen man by the God-man, Jesus Christ. I heard a man say
one time, God's sovereign and he had a backup plan. Well, listen,
a sovereign needs not a backup plan. There's no backup plans. And it's not an explanation,
it's a declaration. You know, the tree was put in
the garden to reveal that salvation's not by works. You think about
that. The covenant of works was given
to reveal that salvation is not by works. God said, don't do
this or you'll die. And if you do this, you'll die. And if you don't do this, you'll
live. And what did man do? The one thing that God gave him
not to do, he did. The covenant of works was given
to reveal that salvation is not by works. In both cases, the
first served the purpose of the second. The second declared salvation
by grace, salvation by mercy, salvation by God's forgiveness.
The mercy and grace of God was lost by the fathers through unbelief,
and it's returned to the elect of God by grace. It's not returned
to believers by their self-manufactured faith either, because they are,
as sons, guilty of the same sins that their fathers were. All
we have was given to us by God's sovereign grace, and the recipients
had nothing to do with the land except to receive it. God gave
it to them. God caused them to enter it.
God killed their enemies, delivered them from their enemies, and
God gave them rest. Isn't that not the same with
us in the land of promise in which we enter? Oh, God gives
us faith so that we might understand that everything we have is by
grace. For by grace through faith, or
by grace through faith, you say, oh, the promise of God is fulfilled.
by the grace of God. The children of Israel possess
the land and they dwell there. And then and even now, most of
the world believes that Israel is occupying someone else's land. And the world sees those who
profess Christ and declared to be the heirs of God to be trespassers
because we don't care anything about this world. And there's
nothing for us to gain from it. And it's clear that the people
of God rest in the purpose of God. Aren't you resting in the
purpose of God? I am so thankful that God is
on His throne and in control of everything. I can rest there. You know, all fears and anxieties
are removed because of who reigns and who rules. We have no fear
of losing anything. We know that if something's taken
away from us, that it wasn't good for us, or the Lord wouldn't
have allowed it to be taken away. Our rest is based upon the work
that was finished for us by our Lord and Savior. And if the work's
finished, the work's done, and there's nothing for us to do
but rest. And our rest is in the rest that
Christ has provided for. He satisfied the law, He satisfied
the justice of God, He defeated every enemy of His people, and
we rest in the dwelling place because our King of Kings controls
and reigns over all things. And the end of the gospel brings
nothing but good things. Good things, and there are good
things. All things work together for what? The good of them that
love God, who'd be called according to his purpose. All the good
things that God's done for us. All that God purposed for his
people shall come to pass, we read. No possibility of failure. Cause our Lord does all things
well. You know, I've said this often and I truly mean it. If there was one square inch,
one square centimeter on this earth that God was not in control
of, sovereign over, I couldn't rest. For I'd always fear that
I would be where, that would be where I was standing. But
I'm telling you, He's in control of all of it. So we can find
comfort in that. With our salvation in Christ,
there's none of that. Every valley shall be exalted. Every mountain and hill shall
be made low. The crooked shall be made straight.
The rough places made plain. Looked at last week, the road
is kept clear to Christ, the city of refuge. Our shallow. Everything's gonna be alright.