Turn with me again to Joshua
chapter 13, if you would, please. It was my original intention
tonight to teach on the inheritance of the tribes of Israel here
in chapter 13, but I woke up early this morning again thinking
about verse one here in Joshua chapter 13. And as much as I
love talking about the finished work of Christ in salvation,
there's also some unfinished work that needs to be done by
us for the salvation of others. And look at verse one again.
Now Joshua was old and stricken in years, and the Lord said unto
him, thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth
yet very much land to be possessed. You know, every year about this
time, I turn a year older. I haven't figured out yet a way
to get around that. I'm still looking. And I realize
that it takes a whole year to get a year older, but on our
birthday, the number of years that we've spent on this earth
becomes official. And until Saturday, I'm 66, but
Saturday, it officially becomes 67. And as I recently told you at
the beginning of each new year, I always have a tendency to look
back at how fast the previous year has gone by, and it's pretty
much the same when I turn a year older, and I'm sure it is with
you. And truly, this life is like a vapor. It's here for a
brief moment, and then it vanishes away. And now in my late 60s,
I see that not only years, but decades do the same. They pass by with lightning speed.
I was thinking this evening when Paul called me and told me he
wasn't feeling well. Paul's now 88 years old. When I first moved here, Paul
was around 55 years old. And his son John is close to
that age now, if he's not. And John was a young man in college. Seemed like such a short time
ago. I look out on some of you, familiar
faces been here for all those years and life is just passing
us by quickly, isn't it? This life anyway, not the life. Seems like such a short time
that we're here. Now, did you notice the first
word here in verse one now? Now Joshua was old and stricken
in years. You know, yesterday and before
that was then. And today, this very second is
now. And it goes by just about as
quick as it takes to say then and now. At least it seems so. You know, Joshua was nearly 40
years old when Israel exited from Egypt. And I'm just certain
that Joshua, to Joshua it seemed like only yesterday that he was
chosen by Moses to lead Israel's army into battle against Amalek. And I'm certain that Joshua would
have told you just how fast The past 40 years plus had come and
gone since he and Caleb and 10 other spies had first went into
Canaan to spy out the land. Now, though we're not told how
old Joshua is, he's probably close to 100 years old, for he
lived to be 110, and the land of Canaan was seven years in
its dividing. Don't know how old he was, but
we do know and we are told that Joshua was old and stricken in
years. I understand that age is relative. I'm a few days short of 67 and
my grandchildren think that I'm old. And yet someone who's in
their 80s and 90s would say, well, you're young, you're still
young. So it's relative, isn't it, age
is? Age is considered in relation
or in proportion to the age of someone else. Now, Joshua is
old and stricken in years. And the Lord said unto him, just
that, you're old and stricken in years. And when the Lord says
that you're old, you know it's so, because God doesn't lie. But that's not at all, that's
not all that the Lord told Joshua. And that's what I want us to
think about for a few minutes tonight. The first thing that
the Lord tells him here in this verse is very important and it
applies to each and every one of us. And there remaineth yet
very much land to be possessed. There remains things to be done. The Lord's work of salvation,
the Lord's work of deliverance is finished, but there is still
much work for Israel to do. And dear friend, it's the same
with you and I. As believers, there are things
that we must not leave undone. And that applies even more to
those of you who are yet without Christ. As one who trusts in
Christ, the work that God requires of me for salvation is done,
it's finished. Christ finished it for me, and
as we discussed in detail last week, what a blessing it is to
know that and to rest in that. And I really do rest in that.
But I've come to that point, that age, so to speak, in my
life where God has revealed to me that I no longer need to fight
and just rest. And I have a perfect righteousness
that Christ worked out for me. And that work's accomplished. And my sin's been dealt with
and it's been put away and is remembered no more. And it's
remembered no more by the very one that I've offended. And to
make that even more glorious and amazing is that the one that
my sin offended is the very one who put my sin away. Oh, how
beautiful Christ's substitutionary work is for us and in us. And
you know what I'm gonna say next, because I always say it. Salvation
by substitution is Christ doing for you and me what we cannot
and could never do for ourselves. And yet, at the same time, you
and I must endure to the end in order to be saved. That's what the Lord said in
Matthew 24, 13. But there's no need for us to
worry about that, to fret about that, to concern ourselves with
that either. Why? Because the Lord Jesus, having
loved His own. I said that purposely, that's
what the scriptures say. Having loved the whole world?
No, having loved His own. He loved them until the end. We endure to the end because
of His endless love to us and for us. And tribulations and
persecutions and hard trials will cause many who profess to
know Christ to forsake Him and His gospel. Many, like those
in that parable of the sower and the seed, receive the seed,
the word of God, in stony places with joy. but having no root
in themselves, they endure only for a while. But because of those
tribulations and those persecutions and those hard trials, they become
offended and fall away. And the truth of the matter is
they never were true believers. They never were the children
of God. Well, how do you know that, Brother David? Well, John
tells us, he said, they went out from us, but they were not
of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us, 1 John
2, 19. And sadly, over the years, I've
seen many who have fallen away and forsaken Christ. Were they
saved? Only those that endure to the
end will be saved. God's people can't be lost. Now
listen, Christ's blood was not shed in vain. None washed by
his blood can be lost. Nothing or no one can pluck one
for whom Christ died from the mighty hand of God or separate
them from his love. What shall separate us from his
love? And then Paul goes on to list pretty much everything. It pretty much covers everything.
And he said, nothing shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is where? In Christ Jesus. My, my. Our Lord said, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, never. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand, and I and my Father are one. Yet, even though
I'm redeemed by the precious blood and finished work of Christ,
there remains much land to be possessed. There's still work
to do in the service of God, in obedience to his word. Now,
the four gospel narratives end with the finished work of Christ.
Yet, beginning in the book of Acts, we see that the work of
the church had just begun. And that work still continues
today. As long as the sun rises in the morning, the Lord, and
He could yet come that day, He could yet come tomorrow, but
when that sun rises tomorrow morning, that tells me that there's
still work to be done. The Lord still has some sheep
that He's gonna bring into His fold. The work of salvation for
chosen sinners is finished, Our work for Christ out of love
for what he's done for us is certainly not. Did our Lord not
say unto them, those that he died for, to go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature? Christ works
finished, but we still have unfinished business. Not to do in order
to be saved, but out of love for the one who loved us and
gave himself for us. And we know that salvation's
by grace. It's not by works that we've
done. It's the gift of God. Yes, it's
by faith, but it's the faith that God gives us. It's not according
to anything that we do. And if you buy something, you
purchased it. If you earn something, you worked
for it. But if you deserve something, you merit it, but when you receive
something, it was a free gift. Salvation was not bought, earned,
nor merited. It was a free gift of God and
the giving of His beloved Son. And there are two sides to the
grace coin, if I may speak that way. James tells us what the
other side is. Even so faith. If it hath not
works, obedience, obedience to the word of God, obedience to
the command of God, it's dead, being alone. Faith is worthless
if it doesn't have obedience to what God has given us to do.
And upon his ascension, Christ gave his church a work to do.
Not a work to do that they might be saved, but a work to do because
they were saved. And this work is an act of obedience,
obedience out of love for the one who died for them. So Joshua
chapter 13 verse one still has great relevance and importance
today. To anyone who's familiar with
scripture knows that the sovereignty, the power and the omnipotence
of God was and still displayed in the salvation of chosen sinners. and in their deliverance. God
delivered Israel from Egypt with a mighty hand, didn't he? Moses went before the most powerful
man in all the world and he said, the Lord said, let my people
know. Remember what Pharaoh said? I
know not the Lord, don't care about what he says. But he was going to and he did
when it was all said and done. God sent one plague after another
upon Egypt. But over in Goshen, just not
far away, where Israel resided, no plagues, nothing but peace
and rest. God parted the Red Sea. Israel
crossed on dry ground. Pharaoh's army followed and was
drowned. Oh, that's the sovereignty and
power of God. God led Israel in the day by
a pillar of a cloud, and he led them by night with a pillar of
fire, and only the sovereign power of God can do that. It's
God who sovereignly directs the steps and the paths of his people.
Isn't that what David said? He leadeth me. But we need to
get that in the right order. It's not me leading him. He leadeth
me in the path of righteousness. He leads me through the valley
of the shadow of death, and I fear no evil. Why? Because He is with
me. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, because it is Christ, my
great shepherd, that leads and follows me, just like those pillars
of a cloud and fire. leading them one behind. God
fed them with manna from heaven. Only God can do that. Only God
can feed us with the bread of heaven. God gave them water from a rock.
Only God can do that. Christ is the bread from heaven,
the rock from which his people drink. Christ is the one thing
needful. He is the one thing that you
and I need and the one thing that you and I must have. Israel's
clothes, I've thought about this so many times, they didn't wear
out. 40 years, the soles of their
shoes, their sandals, didn't develop any holes. while their
feet didn't even swell. I can't get through a day without
mine swelling. They crossed the Jordan River
in flood season, and his sovereign power caused Jericho's walls
to fall down. God granted them victory over
each and every enemy that they faced, and the believer sees
the sovereignty of God stamped in bold letters all throughout
the scriptures. Anyone that says, I don't believe
that God is sovereign has yet to see the truth of this book.
His sovereignty is written on every page. Yet, there's work to be done. Not in our salvation, but in
the salvation of others. And if that's not so, then I
should resign and we ought to shut the doors to this church.
God is sovereign, but man has a responsibility to the salvation
of sinners. Men and women are commanded to
believe, and they are also commanded to preach the gospel. Last time
we discussed how that God did not simply make salvation possible
for us to accept or reject. You know what, that would make
salvation a man. Not of the Lord, but salvation's
of the Lord. God made salvation certain and
sure. Men and women are commanded to
believe. If you don't believe, there's
consequence. Men and women are responsible to believe. According
to the truth of this book, if you rebel against the Lord's
command to believe, you are responsible and you will perish in your sin. And men and women don't go to
hell because of Adam's transgressions. That's why Paul said, shall we
continue in sin that grace may abound? You gonna blame your
unrighteousness on Adam? No, men go to hell because of
their own sin. They don't go to hell because
God didn't elect them. They go to hell because they
love darkness rather than light. He that believeth on him, Christ
is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God, John 3, 18. I wonder how many people can
quote that verse. They sure quote the one, two
verses back. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son of
God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Responsibility. As a creature,
man is responsible to love and obey and serve God. And as a
sinner, he's responsible to repent and believe this gospel. That's
why I just don't even like the word invitation. I understand
that in some degree it is an invitation to come. But first
and foremost, it's a command. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And no man can come and no man will
come unless the Father draw him and make him willing in the day
of God's power. What a great mystery. In order
for sinners to come to Christ, that they might have life, the
eternal danger of their situation must be revealed to them by God. You'll never see it unless God
reveals it to you. Most everybody thinks, hey, me
and Jesus got a good thing going, everything's gonna be all right. But scripture's very clear that
unless God awakened them to the fact that there is but a step.
between them and death, as that old saying goes, got one foot
in the grave and the other one on a banana peel, that's true,
and it's appointed unto men once to die, physical death, but after
this, the judgment, it's after a sinner is judged that they
will forever live or die the second death, which is eternal
separation from God. And those that once said, oh,
me and Jesus got a good thing going are forever gonna be burning
in hell thinking, why didn't I believe? Why didn't I trust
this one who put my sin away? Boy, that would be hell, wouldn't
it? I'll tell you this much, when
God divinely reveals to a sinner these things to a sinner, they
will above everything else in their lives, desire to escape
and flee from the wrath of God, which is to come, knowing that
that is what they truly deserve. And that's the problem that most
folks have with assurance, is that we constantly think to ourselves,
that is what I deserve. But friends, that's what grace
is, God not giving us what we deserve. And that's why I want
grace. When we truly see the broad way
to destruction, when we see that there are many who entered therein,
we'll do anything to avoid it, anything. I strive to enter in
at the straight gate, the narrow gate, that narrow road that leads
to life. But if we neglect and reject
the command of God, it'll be no one's fault but our own. Man
has a responsibility in the service of Christ. A lost sinner cannot
remain passive. And a saved sinner won't. None
of us saved or lost possess any self-sufficiency. I don't know
who started that, but it started in the garden, I guess. It's
God alone who gives life and empowers people to perform that
which is their duty. We are live branches only because
of the vine to whom we are attached. But without Christ, who is our
vine, we can do nothing. That's what the Lord Himself
said. Without me, you can do what? Nothing. Nothing. A child of God will grow in grace
and in the knowledge of Christ, but God alone is the means of
that grace and He's the cause of that growing. But nonetheless,
we're responsible to grow. What a mystery this is. God is
sovereign, yet man is responsible. Truly God's ways are past finding
out, aren't they? They can't be understood. And
I don't need a God I can understand. I just need God. I need a Savior. I need one who can do for me
what I cannot do. And We're responsible to believe. There remaineth yet very much
land to be possessed. And this is the land that remaineth.
We still have some conflict to engage in. We still have a race
to be won and finished. There's still a world for us
to overcome, as long as we're in this world. There's still
a devil to resist. There's still a salvation to
be worked out with fear and trembling. But we know and have confidence
knowing that it's God in us, which worketh in you to will
and to do His good pleasure. And you know, as I read that
verse again today in my Bible, Philippians 2, verses 12 and
13, that word His, His good pleasure, is italicized, meaning it was
added. It's God who works in you to
will and do good pleasure. The word his was added to remind
us that all good pleasure is his. Good pleasure, that's God's doing. Godly pleasure. And it's increasingly evident
to the child of God that they're completely incapable in and of
themselves of accomplishing these things that God requires. Yet God's word tells us that
we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Philippians
4, 13. So we must still fight the good
fight of faith. There still remains very much
land to possess. And by God's grace and power,
we will possess it all. David said, by the word of thy
lips, I have kept me from the pass of the destroyer. Psalm
17, four, he said, I've refrained my feet from every way that I
might keep thy work. Paul said, I keep under my body,
1 Corinthians 9, 27. Paul said, I have fought a good
fight. I have finished my course. I
have kept the faith. Now, these are not proud, fleshly
boastings. They're true statements of fact.
They are things that we must do, but it's only by God's sovereign
mercy and grace that we can conduct ourselves in this way, and we
are responsible to do so. As long as we have breath and
as long as we have a heartbeat, as long as we're left in this
world, there remains very much for us to do. Not to be saved,
but because we are saved. And I purposely repeat myself
on that because folks, they'll take and run with anything that
you tell them to do and they'll make that their salvation. Teresa
and I were watching the news the other night, and all the
news was talking about was this football player, and it seems
to be a super nice guy that, you know, had the heart attack
on the field, and everybody's praying, everybody's talking
about praying, you know, the power of prayer, the power of
prayer. Listen, it's the power of God, not the power of prayer. People say prayer changes things.
No, the God to whom we pray is the one who changes things. Because
man will make prayer their God. No matter how old or young in
the faith we are, no matter if stricken in years or still green
behind the ears. As my mom used to say, you're
still green behind the ears. I don't know what that means,
but I know it ain't good. We must be obedient and we must
be active. Not passive observers, but active
servants. Remember, faith without works
of obedience is dead. It's dead. It's so dead, being
alone. People who imagine they can sit
back and never pray, never read God or God's word or study God's
word, not tell others of Christ, they've missed the true message
of the gospel. And it's true that in our redemption,
God will take care of everything, but he uses means. He uses the
means of preaching and witnessing of his people to do so. We don't
get any glory for it, it's our reasonable service. When you've
done all that you do, you're still an unprofitable servant,
but it's our responsibility to do it for our master. One old writer said it this way,
redemption in Christ gives birth to the believer's responsibility
and causes them to act in obedience to God's word, amen, amen. Good works never go before justification. Life has to be justly given before
any works of the sinner can take place. Good works was never the
cause of salvation, they're the result of salvation. I never
did a good work, and the only good work I do now is because
of Christ in me, who's my hope of glory. The believer's obedience
follows redemption, and it's an effect, and it's a result
of their redemption. Good works never brings about
salvation. They show a believing sinner
to be saved. How will you know them? By their
works, by their fruit. Sadly, many use God's sovereignty
and electing grace as an excuse to not do what true servants
are expected to do, but not a true servant of God, no, sir. So likewise
ye, when you shall have done all these things which are commanded
to you, say, we are unprofitable servants, we've done that which
is our duty to do. This is Luke 17, 10 in your Bible. Now in closing, I want you to
listen to me carefully. The land of Canaan was a divine
gift given to Abraham and his descendants long before Israel
ever possessed it. God gave us this land and this
inheritance before we were ever born, before we ever done any
good or evil. That's why we can't take any
credit in it. We don't have any reason to boast.
It's not a works that we should boast. But Israel had to fight, and
they had to fight long, and they had to fight hard in order to
enter into their possession. And as believers, so were you
and I. Joshua 11, 18 tells us that Joshua
made war a long time with all those kings. Yet eternal life
is a divine gift. Paul tells us that in several
places. Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, but the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. but we're
to lay hold onto this wonderful gift. Fight the good fight of
faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called
and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. Well,
I'm not a preacher, Brother David. Tell people what Christ has done
for you. Our inheritance is the purchased
possession of Christ for His people, the Word of Truth, which
is the earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of the purchased
possession. Who purchased it? God did. Christ did. And it's unto the
praise of His glory, Ephesians 1.14. Yet it is also the reward
of service unto the Lord, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive
the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ."
Colossians 3.24. The work of salvation has been
accomplished for us, yet you and I have unfinished business. There remains very much, very much. Oh, may God be pleased
to give us the grace to finish our unfinished business. And
to run with patience. The race that set before us.
May God enable us to say with the Apostle Paul, I fought a
good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. And we know why don't we? We
know why. Because of the Lord's done it
all for us. Knowing all the while that it's Christ in us who is
the hope of glory. Knowing that without him, we
can do nothing. Lord, please make it so for your
glory, for our good and for Christ's sake. Amen.