Go with me, if you would, back
to Joshua 13. Now, I read the first 12 verses
of this chapter for a scripture reading, which is not the easiest
scripture reading I've ever read. And the reason I did that is
because I wanted to give you an example of what is being said
and what is taking place over the next few chapters. All right. If you look actually at chapter
11 verse 23, it says, So Joshua took the whole
land according to all that the Lord said unto Moses, and Joshua
gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their division
by their tribes and their land rested from war. Joshua took
all of this land and he made lines and he made borders in
it. And he divided it up for an inheritance
to the tribes of Israel. Chapter 13 verse 7 says, Now
therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine
tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh with whom the Reubenites
and the Gadites have received their inheritance." And included
with them is the other half of Manasseh. Half of Manasseh and
those other two had cattle and they wanted to stay this side
of Jordan. And now the other nine and a half are receiving
their inheritance. Verse 8, With whom the Reubenites
and the Gadites had received their inheritance, which Moses
gave them beyond Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of
the Lord gave them. Now verse 15 says, And Moses
gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according
to their families. He doled out to them an inheritance
for all the families of the tribe of Reuben. Verse 24, And Moses
gave inheritance unto the tribe of Gad, even unto the children
of Gad, according to their families. He did the same thing for the
tribe of Gad. Verse 29, And Moses gave inheritance
unto the half-tribe of Manasseh, and this was the possession of
the half-tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families.
And he goes on to describe it. Chapter 14, verse 1 says, And
these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited
in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua
the son of Nun, And the heads of the fathers of the tribes
of the children of Israel distributed for inheritance to them. And
it goes on to describe those countries. Chapter 15, verse
1. This then was the lot of the
tribe of the children of Judah by their families, even to the
border of Edom, the wilderness of Zin. Southward was the uttermost
part of the south coast. And he goes on to acknowledge
the borders and the lines under them. Chapter 16 verse 1 says,
and the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho
unto the water of Jericho on the east to the wilderness that
goeth up from Jericho throughout Mount Bethel. Chapter 17 verse
1, there was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh for he was
the firstborn of Joseph to wit For Maker, the firstborn of Manasseh,
the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore
he had Gilead invasion. Chapter 18 verse 1 says, And
the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled
together at Shiloh. Shiloh means place of rest. It means quietness. It means
peace. The whole congregation of the
children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up
the tabernacle of the congregation there, and the land was subdued
before them. And then he finishes the divisions
in chapter 19. And if you look with me at chapter
19, verse 51, These are the inheritances which
Eliezer the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads
of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided
for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord at the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an
end of dividing the country. Now what we just skimmed is God's
holy word. And I've thought about the fact
that if that's all God had given us, what if God only gave us
from Joshua 13 to Joshua 19, we would have everything we need
for salvation. That's God's holy word. And it's not just worthy to be
skimmed over, is it? There is so much in those chapters. We know that there is. We're
all convinced that there is. That's a wealth of blessing in
those chapters. There are different circumstances
that took place with the people as they were dividing out the
land. There's a lot in there. But as I was reading through
all these chapters, I started and kept reading and kept reading,
something stood out to me that I want to focus on for the message
tonight. And my prayer is that the Lord
will truly, truly impress the hearts of those of us who are
here tonight. I sincerely beg the Lord to plant
a seed in us. I sincerely, I mean this, this
is so wonderful, this is so important, this is so important. I pray
the Lord would teach us this. I pray we can walk out of here
having grown in grace, having grown in knowledge, having grown
in wisdom. Honestly, I pray this will affect
us, okay? Look with me at chapter 13. Chapter 13 verse 14. Only unto the tribe of Levi. Now the tribe of Levi was the
tribe that all the priests came out of. all the priests, they
were the ministers of the tabernacle of the congregation. Verse 14
says, only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance, none. The sacrifices of the Lord
God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance as he said
unto them. God did not give the tribe of
Levi a portion of inheritance from this earth. He told them you're going to
live on and you're going to eat what all the other children sacrifice
unto the Lord, what they give sacrificially to the Lord. That's
what is going to sustain you. Look at chapter 14, verse 2. By Lot was their inheritance
as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine tribes
and for the half tribe, for Moses had given the inheritance of
two tribes and in half tribe on the other side of Jordan.
But unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them."
Verse 4 says, For the children of Joseph were two tribes. And
I'll just tell this as a side note so we can make sense of
it. An inheritance was given to 12 tribes. Levi wasn't one
of them. That makes him 11. And the family
of Joseph was divided into two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim.
So that makes up the difference. Verse 4 says, For the children
of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. Therefore they gave
no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in,
with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance. They provided them a place to
live. They provided for their daily needs, the things they
required in life. They had everything they needed.
They honestly did. The Levites had everything they
needed. But the Levites were given no earthly inheritance. Look with me at chapter 18, verse 7. But the Levites have no part
among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. Now I honestly do, I desire that this ministry and
if the Lord, I don't want to overstep my bounds, the Lord's
going to do what the Lord's going to do. But my desire is that
I might grow as a preacher and that you might grow as hearers,
and we all might grow as believers. I don't want to spin our wheels.
I don't want to waste our time. Does that make sense? I pray
the Lord might do a work here, and I really do pray that he
might make this effectual tonight, truly effectual. I do beg him
to plant a seed. That's my prayer for me and you. I pray he might plant a seed
with this tonight. These Levites were given by God
to the service of the ministry. Alright? They were given by God
to the service of the ministry. As we read what we just read,
we naturally associate that with the pastor of a congregation.
I do too. That's how the Lord has ordained
this to be. But I'm going to quote Revelation
5 verse 10 to you. It says that our God has made
us, all of us, all of His people, all of His chosen people, everybody
who is assembled in glory, He has made us to be kings and priests
unto Him. All of us. All of us. We have all been, if we are God's
elect, if God chose us, then we have all been set apart for
holy use. Isn't that what he was doing
with the Levites? You're going to be given to the service of the
tabernacle. We have all been sanctified. Every soul that the Father chose
every soul that the Son redeemed, every soul that the Spirit regenerated.
And as we look at this, I... I pray we might enter into, here's
the blessing of it, I pray we might enter in to the fact that
as His child, everything He has to say to the Levites, He has
to say to all of us. Everything He says to the Levites,
we're about to read some things He had to say to the Levites.
Everything He has to say to the Levites, He has to say to you.
He has to say to me. Look with me at Numbers 18. Numbers 18 verse 20 says, And the Lord spake unto Aaron
the priest. He said, Thou shalt have no inheritance
in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them. I am thy part. and thine inheritance
among the children of Israel." You don't get this world, you
get me. That's what he's saying. You
don't get this world. I wonder if any of the Levites
looked around at the other tribes and said, where's our part? You
don't get this world, you get me. What an inheritance. What an inheritance. All the
poor Levites, they don't get a part in this sinful world.
They don't get to inherit a piece of this sinful world. They get
God. They get God. That's who they get. That's wonderful. Man, that is wonderful. Look
with me at Deuteronomy 18. This is amazing. Man, this is
amazing. Deuteronomy 18. Deuteronomy 18 verse 1 says,
The priest, the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi shall have
no part nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings
of the Lord made by fire. They get the sacrifice. You see
what that's saying? They don't get to own for their
own anything that this wicked world has to offer them. They
get to own for their own the sacrifice. You get the sacrifice. That's what I've allotted to
you. That's yours. That's your portion. You get
the sacrifice. You know, Christ died on that
cross. How many people don't know that? How many people don't
know Christ died on that cross? How many people don't know that
Christ did it because of sin and salvation? But do you know
who gets the Christ of the cross? Only those that God set apart
for holy use. You get the sacrifice. They get
all this other stuff. You get the sacrifice. Verse
1 says, they get the sacrifice and the last three words say,
and his inheritance. That's what you get. Should anybody feel sorry for
us Levites? Verse 2 says, therefore shall
they have no inheritance among their brethren. The Lord is their
inheritance as he said unto them. The world gets the world. It'd be okay if we just get used
to that. The world gets the world. We get God. We get the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn with me over to Psalm 16. Psalm 16 verse 5 says, The Lord
is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest
my lot. Now look at verse 6. The lines
are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly
heritage. I was thinking about Joshua and
all those elders up there at Shiloh. They were standing in
the door of the tabernacle there, and all those elders are watching
Joshua draw lines. They've mapped out all this land,
and Joshua is drawing lines, and he's deciding who gets what.
In a couple of cases, the people went back, and they said, this
is not enough land for us, and Joshua gave more. But in some cases, you can look
in our maps in the back of our Bible, the tract of land is so
huge. Some of those places are so huge. And can you imagine the elder
of that tribe looking at Joshua draw those lines thinking, what? That's our lines? Those are our,
that's what we get. And then he goes back to the
families and he says, y'all are not gonna believe what all we
get. Well, saint of God, you're not
going to believe what all we get. If God didn't give us faith,
we couldn't believe it. We could not believe it. We have a goodly heritage. What an inheritance. Turn over
with me to Psalm 73. Psalm 73 verse 26 says, My flesh
and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and
my portion forever. The things of this world are
failing us. We can get things and lose them. They're failing
us. Our inheritance will never fail. Never fail. We need this to be
planted in our minds and in our hearts for two reasons. This
is why. I want every person in here to be successful. Don't
get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. I don't want
all you men to quit your jobs and I want everybody to be successful. But we need this for two reasons.
Number one, it will stop us from chasing after the things that
our God has not given us. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life. He has not given that to
us. This is a reminder to us that
those things are empty, they're vain, and they're not our inheritance. They're just not our inheritance.
The second reason we need this is because it'll comfort us while
we watch the world get the only inheritance they're going to
get. You know, life is good. How's
business? Oh, man. It's good. It's good. Psalm 73, right here,
look at verse 1. Truly God is good to Israel,
even to such as are of a clean heart. He said, but as for me,
my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped,
for I was envious at the foolish. When I saw the prosperity of
the wicked, there are no bands in their death. They're running
straight into destruction and nothing's holding them back.
They're not even worried about it. No bands in their death,
their strength is firm. They're not in trouble, as other
men are. Neither are they plagued by their sin, like other men.
Therefore, pride compasseth them about as a chain. Violence covereth
them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish." And he said, it just,
he said, I almost fell over it. I was so envious. Verse 16, when
I thought to know this, it was just too painful. until I went
into the sanctuary of God, then understood I therein Surely thou
didst set them in slippery places, thou cast them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation? As in a moment, they're utterly
consumed with terrors as a dream when one awaketh. So, O Lord,
when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my
heart was grieved and I was pricked in my reign. So foolish was I
and ignorant I was as a beast before thee. I've told you this
before. But since the psalmist is confessing,
so will I. Before you all called me to come
here, I was traveling a lot to different churches, and I was
going to this precious, precious church. And I had a big responsibility
with my business in Rocky Mountain. I was busy and Saturdays were
busy and sometimes I couldn't go to the church the night before
and stay there. I'd have to get up one place
in particular. I had to get up at 445 on Sunday
morning to make sure I left the house at 545 to allow myself
enough time just in case. I was driving to this congregation
one morning and I was tired. I was just tired. And it's all
fun and games until the stress sets in. And I was in a very
pretty area. There was a lake right there.
There was hardly no buildings, hardly nothing. I mean, it was
just road and beautiful scenery. But there was a gas station in
the middle of nowhere. And as I'm driving by, here comes
this beautiful F-150 with a brand new bass boat behind it. Gorgeous
and I looked at that guy, you know Sunday morning. I knew he
just filled up with gas He's gonna go sit out on that lake
and the winds gonna be in his hair Soak up the sunshine and
it just hit me wrong. I Just I got so envious at him
and the world I was thinking, and this is the honest truth,
Monday through Friday it's nose to the grindstone. We got bills
to pay. We got responsibilities. You know what Saturday is? It's
a full day of work at home. You got to mow your grass. You
got to clean out your garage. You got to make sure everything's
in order at home. Sunday is the day of rest. They get an extra day that I
don't get, no matter what they're into. I was thinking about this
world. They've got it made. They've
got it made. Sunday's the Lord's day. The
Lord said, I want you to give that day to the worship of me. And because of that, because
Sunday's the Lord's Day, I guarantee you there's no better sleep on
this earth than Sunday morning. I guarantee you our adversary
makes it so that nobody disturbs anybody on Sunday morning. His devils, tiptoe, don't wake
them. Let them sleep, let them sleep.
And then they get up and get them some coffee, watch TV for
a minute. And they're not gut-wrenching
in the fear of having to stand up and speak on God's behalf. And then they throw some clothes
on and they go to Cracker Barrel. Man, I love biscuits and gravy. At 10.30, it's not too early,
it's not too late. Brunch, bacon, sausage, eggs,
hash brown casserole. The world has it made. The world
has it made. And then God in mercy said to
my heart, I've called you to deliver the
glorious gospel of eternal peace and rest in Christ, eternal fulfillment,
eternal satisfaction. I chose you. I plunged you under my blood.
I didn't plunge them. I called you. And you've been
given this great privilege of going to brethren and encouraging
and feeding and supporting. And I thought, oh, I'm so sorry. I need to turn around and go
home. I don't deserve to go deliver this message you've given me.
I'm so sorry. I was pricked in my reins. Just
like he said right here in verse 21, thus was my heart grieved,
I was pricked in my reins, so foolish was I and ignorant. Lord, am I just a beast before
you? Is that all I am? Look at verse
23. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. in spite of how foolish I am,
in spite of how ignorant I am, in spite of how envious and ungrateful
I am. He says in verse 23, thou hast
holding me by my right hand, you won't let me go. I thought
about a little child wanting to run out in the road and you
got him by the right hand and they're just screaming and kicking
and you won't let go. You got me by the right hand.
Verse 24, thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward
you're going to receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
but thee? And there's none upon earth that
I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God, thank God I'm not the strength of my heart. God is
the strength of my heart, and he's my portion forever. For
lo, they that are far from thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed
all them that go a whoring from thee, but it's good for me to
draw near to God. I've put my trust in the Lord
God that I may declare all thy works." Man. May God convince us of the fact
that this is not it. May God convince us of the fact
this is not it. This world is not our appointed
inheritance. Look past it. Look past it. Whatever seems to be important
right down here, look past it. Don't settle for it. Don't desire
anything it has to offer. Our lines have been drawn in
better places. Better places. Lamentations 3
says, The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will
I hope in Him. Let's anticipate Him. Let's just
anticipate Him. I love that song. Turn your eyes
upon Jesus, look full at His wonderful face, and the things
of this earth will start to grow strangely dim in the light of
His glory and His grace. Now, I'm going to be very quick.
But I want to show you this, I believe this will be a great
blessing to you. Go back to Joshua, this time chapter 19. Our inheritance is the Lord Jesus
Christ. We get Him, that's who we get.
Look here in Joshua 19 verse 49, it says, when they had made
an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts,
the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua, the son
of Nun among them. According to the word of the
Lord, they gave him the city which he asked. He asked for
it. Even Temnath Sira, and that means
portion of the son, in Mount Ephraim, and Ephraim means double
fruit. And it says, He built the city
and He dwelt therein. Joshua got an inheritance too. Joshua represents the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our inheritance is Him. What is His inheritance? Everybody
in here knows the answer. Everybody in here knows the answer,
but I can't tell you. I have to show you. It's too
wonderful. First, go over to Isaiah 53. Man, I love this. We all know what this chapter
says. He's talking about Him carrying our sorrows and bearing
our griefs and He was wounded for our transgressions with His
stripes were healed. Isaiah 53 verse 12 says, God
the Father says, Therefore, because of all that, Therefore will I
divide Him a portion with the great and He shall divide the
spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto
death. And he was numbered with the
transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors. Because of everything he accomplished
for his people, God the Father said, I'm going to divide him
a portion. He gets a portion. What is it?
Exodus 33. Look at Exodus 33. This is where Moses said in verse
18, show me your glory. And the Lord said, I'll make
it pass before you, and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord,
and be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, and I'll show mercy
to who I'll show mercy, and I'm going to put you in the cleft
of the rock, and I'm going to put my hand over it. And when
I pass by, I'm going to let you see my back parts. No man can
see me and live. Now look at chapter 34, verse
5. And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him
there. and proclaimed the name of the
Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, And
that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children
unto the third and fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed
his head toward the earth in worship. Now watch verse 9. And
he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let
my Lord, I pray thee, go among us, For it is a stiff-necked
people. And pardon our iniquity and our
sin and take us for thine inheritance. That's what Moses begged. Would
you, Lord, you are our inheritance. Would you please take us for
yours? All right, here's the last scripture.
I close. Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32 verse 7 says,
Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations,
ask thy father and he will show thee, thy elders and they will
tell thee, when the Most High divided to the nations their
inheritance, When he separated the sons of Adam, he set the
bounds of the people according to the number of the children
of Israel, for the Lord's portion is his people." Jacob is the
lot of his inheritance. After all the lines were drawn,
After all the portions were given, we got him and he got us. Solomon said, I am my beloved's
and my beloved is mine. The Lord's portion, verse nine,
is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land
and in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about. He instructed
him and he kept him as the apple of his eye. That's wonderful,
isn't it? That's just wonderful. And Psalm
94 14 says, The Lord will not cast off his people, neither
will he forsake his inheritance. He will not do it. I love that. Joshua got the inheritance he
asked for. He asked for it. That's exactly
what he got. And then he built the city and
he dwelt therein. And that's what our God has done
for us. He got exactly what he asked for. You ask of me and
I'll give you the heathen. And then he built us and he's
going to dwell with us forever. Let's all stand together.