Thank you, Winston. Let me add
my welcome to Winston. It's good to see you all out
on this crisp morning in April. I trust that the Lord will bless
us through the study of his word here. As you can see, the text
will be Joshua chapter four. So if you're following with me,
you might want to go ahead and turn there. And the title, Perpetuating
the Mercy and Grace of God, has already been pointed out to me,
and I need to make a little explanation of this title, and I had already
planned to do that. Anyway, as you know, perpetuate
means to cause to last indefinitely. Now, how can we do anything about
that, to cause anything to last indefinitely? We're finite creatures,
so mercy and grace are eternal attributes of God, and no one
can nor needs to try to make them last indefinitely. Their
duration is without question. They're going on eternally. What
I mean by my title concerns the knowledge and understanding of
God's mercy and grace in Christ. This knowledge and understanding,
none of us has this knowledge by nature. None of us knows of
God's mercy and grace in Christ by nature. We have to be taught
this. We don't know unless and until God teaches us. And those
who are taught in each generation, we desire this knowledge and
understanding to go on to the next generation. So we declare
what God has taught us of his mercy and grace. We pass it on,
pass it on to the next generation. And that's the sense in which
I'll be talking about perpetuating the mercy and grace of God. Now
we need to make a short distinction here between God's temporal mercy,
his temporal goodness, and his eternal mercy before I get into
these verses here. I used to talk about this as
providential mercy versus eternal mercy. But everything God does
is providential. I mean whether it's temporal
or whether it's eternal. God's the God of providence.
He rules and reigns in this world. in every event, in every detail,
in every way, at all times. So he's the God of Providence.
So we're talking about a distinction here between that which is temporal
and that which is eternal. So I'm going to make a little
distinction here. Temporal, of course, means temporary. It means
just for a time. Not for eternity. Eternal, of
course, means forever. It has no distinction of time.
All men are the benefactors of God's temporal mercy, his temporal
goodness. He maketh his son to rise on
the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and
on the unjust. Are you healthy? How'd you get
there? God put you there. Are you financially
successful? God gave you that financial success. Do you enjoy economic and religious
freedom? And we all do in this nation.
All these are products of God's temporal mercy and his temporal
goodness. And all men, all men on the face
of the earth in any generation benefit from these blessings,
these temporal blessings in this way. But God blessed the nation
Israel temporally in a special way. He gave them a land. A land they didn't own, they
didn't possess, they didn't conquer. He gave them a land. His temporal
mercy gave them that which they did not deserve. And his temporal
goodness gave them that which they did not earn in any way.
Look with me at Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse 25. Now this is Nehemiah writing,
this is after, years after this event we're going to look at
today, but this is Nehemiah writing about what God had blessed Israel
with in a temporal way. He says, and they took strong
cities and a fat land and possessed houses full of all goods, wells
digged, vineyards and olive trees and fruit trees in abundance.
So they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted
themselves in thy great goodness." That's that temporal goodness
I'm talking about right there. Israel needed a land. They needed
a place to settle down. But they needed a land that they
didn't have to conquer by their efforts. They needed a land they
didn't have to work to obtain. Now, why is that? Because conquering,
obtaining by your efforts, puffs you up. It makes you proud. It
brings arrogance and boasting. They needed a land that was the
gift of a sovereign God. So God gave them rest from their
wanderings in the land, in the land of Canaan. By his temporal
mercy and goodness, he gave them the land of promise. But there's
a greater lesson here. As you know, as we study through
this temporal blessing of Israel in receiving this land, there's
a greater lesson here. In many ways, the nation Israel
was a type of God's church. National Israel is a type of
what the Bible distinguishes as spiritual Israel. Two Israels,
national, the natural descendants of Abraham, and spiritual Israel,
the spiritual descendants of Abraham. Now we'll see some scriptures
on this later in the lesson, but God's temporal dealings with
national Israel are a picture, a type of his eternal dealings
with the church, spiritual Israel. By God's temporal mercy and goodness,
God gave national Israel deliverance from their bondage in Egypt.
He delivered them out with a strong hand. The blood of the Passover
lamb kept them safe when God poured out His wrath on Egypt.
They were safe because they put that blood on the doorpost and
on the lintel. By His eternal mercy and grace,
God gave His church deliverance from their legal guilt and condemnation
by Christ's obedience unto death on the cross. Christ's blood
forever keeps those Christ represented safe from the wrath of God. By
God's temporal mercy and goodness, he gave national Israel rest
from their wanderings in the wilderness. He gave them the
land of Canaan, this land of promise. By his eternal mercy
and grace, God gives his church rest from their going about to
establish a righteousness of our own. He brings them to Christ. and causes them to see that all
their hope is in Christ and Christ alone. This generation of national
Israel experienced the temporal mercy and goodness of God. In
these first nine verses of Joshua chapter 4, God commanded and
Joshua, the director of this nation, he directed and the children
of Israel took part in an action designed to preserve the memory
of this day. This is the day that they actually
crossed that Jordan River and passed over into this land of
Canaan. And this action we're going to look at is designed
to preserve the memory of that day. They were commanded to gather
stones from the midst of the Jordan, take them into the land
of Canaan, and build a memorial to this event. These stones were
intended to stand forever as a memorial of God's mercy and
goodness to this nation. Their action this day would remind
them of this event. it would prompt others to ask
them about this miraculous entry. They were going to set up this
memorial, and when their children or others saw this memorial,
they'd say, what do these mean? What are you trying to say by
this memorial here? To this nation Israel, these
stones were a reminder to themselves as well as future generations
that they had what they had and they were what they were by the
temporal mercy and goodness of a sovereign God. As a type, Israel
actions remind the church that we have what we have. We are
what we are by the eternal mercy and grace of God in Christ. No
sinner can boast of his salvation except as a product of God's
mercy and grace. Israel's actions this day were
designed to perpetuate, they were designed to carry on the
memory of this monumental event that they had experienced here,
crossing over into Canaan. And to the church, that's to
those taught by God in each generation, to those taught by God of his
mercy and grace in Christ. Israel's action was one that
perpetuates the mercy and grace of God. And it does so for three
reasons. Their action, first of all, included
all Israel. Second, it exalted Christ to
not man, and thirdly, it would continually remind them and continually
prompt others to ask of this day and this event. That's the
three points we'll look at in this message here. First, the
action of national Israel this day was designed to perpetuate
the mercy and grace of God because it included all Israel. Twelve
chosen men completed the action we'll look at. Every tribe was
represented, one from each tribe of this nation. Even those two
and a half tribes who had chosen to settle in Gilead and not Canaan
were not excluded from this. You remember the tribes of Reuben
and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, they wanted to settle
in Gilead on the east bank of the Jordan River. They didn't
want to take a part in Canaan. And we studied that in an earlier
lesson. But God didn't exclude even those tribes from being
a part of this action today. They all gave a representative. Look at Joshua chapter 4 verses
1 through 2 and then verse 4. It says, and it came to pass
when all the people were clean passed over Jordan that the Lord
spoken to Joshua saying, take you 12 men out of the people,
out of every tribe a man. Then Joshua called the 12 whom
he had prepared of the children of Israel out of every tribe
a man. Twelve men were chosen, one from
each tribe. Twelve men completed the action
that God commanded here. But these twelve men represented
the whole nation. They represented all Israel.
All the children of Israel are said to be partakers in this
action. Look on with me to Joshua chapter 4 and look at verse 8.
He says, And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded,
and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the
Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of
the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the
place where they lodged, and laid them down there. He didn't
say twelve men took these stones, he said the children of Israel.
You see, these twelve were just representatives of the whole
nation of Israel. The only, all of Israel took
part in this action, the only prerequisite for taking part
in the action commanded here in the taking of these stones
this day, you just had to be a member of one of the 12 tribes
of Israel on this particular day. Each tribe was included,
none were excluded. Now as no tribe was excluded
from having a part in this action, this day and this memorial in
a like manner, no tongue or tribe or nation is excluded from the
mercy and grace of God in Christ. No tribe in this world. Look
at Revelation chapter 5 verses 9 and 10. This is the redeemed
singing. It says, and they sung a new
song saying thou art worthy to take the book and to open the
seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation
and has made us unto our gods kings and priests and we shall
reign on the earth. The mercy and grace of God in
Christ is not exclusive, it's inclusive. No kindred or tribe
or nation is excluded from this mercy and grace. Some from every
nation are chosen, are redeemed, are called. It doesn't matter
where you were born. It doesn't matter who your parents
are. It doesn't matter what your economic status is in this world. God has a people from every nation. And these people, these chosen
and redeemed people, will everyone without fail say of Christ, thou
was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood. They will
each one say of Christ, thou art worthy of all praise in the
matter of salvation. When sinners hear God's gospel,
they hear about a salvation that's by the mercy and grace of God.
They hear of a salvation that none of us deserve. No man deserves
to be saved. We all deserve the eternal wrath
of God. They hear of a salvation that
no sinner obtains by their efforts. In other words, they hear of
a salvation that sinners have nothing to do to get and nothing
to do to keep. Christ has done everything. He
did everything for the salvation of his people. He laid down his
life. He shed his blood. His blood
brought satisfaction to law and justice. He worked out a righteousness
by which we stand, the people of God stand, holy and unblameable
in God's sight forever. So when you hear the gospel,
you hear of a salvation that has been conditioned on and accomplished
by Christ alone. Man's effort here is totally
excluded. That's salvation by free grace, and like the song
we sung in the opening hymn, and if free grace, why not for
me? If God has chosen some out of
every kindred, every tongue, every tribe, every nation, why
not me? If Christ has redeemed some from
all nationalities, why should any sinner be excluded? Well,
none are, except those who reject Christ, except those who reject
salvation conditioned on Him and Him alone. So the first way
Israel's action this day perpetuated the mercy and grace of God, it
included all Israel. The action they did in gathering
stones included all the tribes of national Israel and the mercy
and grace of God includes all spiritual Israel. Second, Israel's
action this day perpetuated the mercy and grace of God because
it exalted Christ and not man. Joshua commanded these 12 men
to take up stones from the midst of the Jordan, the middle of
the river. Take them from a riverbed that was maybe 10 or 12 or perhaps
even 20 feet deep. Take them from the middle of
a river that was normally at this time of year, especially
overflowing with water, even overflowing its banks. Take them
from the place where men could not take them unless God himself
intervened. Look at Joshua chapter 4, verses
3 and 5. God tells Joshua, and command
these men, saying, take you hence out of the midst of the Jordan,
out of the place where the priest's feet stood firm, 12 stones, and
you shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging
place where you shall lodge this night. And Joshua said unto them,
pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst
of Jordan and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder
according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel."
What I see here is Israel entering into deliverance that they clearly
had nothing to do with. It was by the power of God and
not by the power of man. I see Israel being the recipients
of and partakers in a deliverance that exalted Christ and not man. He didn't tell them to take these
stones from the bank of the river. I mean, they could have probably
found stones along the bank of the river, nor the shoreline.
He said, take them out of the midst of that river, right where
the priest's feet stood that held the Ark of that Covenant,
that river that before was overflowing. The only reason these 12 men
could enter into the midst of Jordan was because the Ark of
the Covenant, which by the way typified Christ, The ark of that
covenant preceded them there and remained until each of these
men took a stone on their shoulder as God commanded them to do.
Now, perhaps in an effort to further emphasize this crossing
as God's work and not man's, Joshua set up 12 other stones. Not these 12, but 12 other. These
were in addition to those that the children of Israel carried
to the west bank of the Jordan and Joshua set these 12 stones
up. also in the midst of the Jordan. Look at Joshua 4 in verse
9. It said, and Joshua set up 12
stones in the midst of Jordan in the place where the feet of
the priest which bear the ark of the covenant stood, and they
are there unto this day. Now these stones were probably
stacked up on top of one another so that they could be seen up
above the waterline, the river, or else anyone walking along
the shore could easily see them down in the river because the
river was supposedly pretty clear at that time. And the meaning
of these stones is unclear. It could be Joshua's way of providing
a second witness of Israel's great success in this day. Like
Moses commanded, by the mouth of two witnesses shall a matter
be established. Look at Deuteronomy 19.15. He
said, one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity
or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth, at the mouth of two
witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter
be established. So possibly Joshua was just providing
a second witness here, just like the law commanded, a second witness
of Israel's miraculous entry into Canaan. But I rather think
it was something else. I think it was that Joshua's
action in setting up these twelve stones here in the midst of the
river was what Paul wrote to the believers at Ephesus. Look
at Ephesians 2 verses 12 through 13. Paul tells the Ephesians
here that at one time you were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But
now, In Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. And then look on at Ephesians
2.19. Now, therefore, you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God. and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are
built together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit." We
remember from our study here, Joshua is a type. He's a type
of Christ. He set up these 12 stones, 12
to represent all Israel and 12 perhaps to represent the 12 apostles
who would go forth in the world with a message of God's free
grace in Christ. They were the ones designated
by God to take the gospel into all the world. And it's from
that message that Christ would build his church and the gates
of hell would not prevail against it, he said. Now Joshua set up
these stones in the midst of Jordan. He set these twelve stones
up on that which Christ alone, typified by that ark. You see,
that ark had to enter the Jordan first. That ark stopped the flow
of Jordan. And Joshua set up these twelve
stones by what Christ alone, typified by that ark, had provided. Christ had cut off the waters
of the Jordan. He had provided access to that
riverbed. There's no action, no contribution
by man in this effort. This is all of God. This is all
Christ doing the work. It's all about Christ. It's all
about what God has done for sinners by the doing and dying of Christ
alone. That's what salvation is all about from the beginning
to the end of the Bible. The church in the scripture I
said I'd use some scriptures to talk about the church being
the Israel of God in the scripture. The scripture is clear that the
church, the Israel of God, will all be saved. They will all be
brought to rest in Christ alone for all of salvation. Now that's
what's being typified in Israel entering into this land of Canaan.
They're entering into the land of rest, the rest of God. But
it's not that eternal rest because in Hebrews it speaks of another
rest. And so that other rest is that spiritual rest that God
brings each of his elect and each generation into. So what
we're seeing is typifying that spiritual rest. The church in
the scripture is the Israel of God. Look at Isaiah 45 in verse
17. He says here, but Israel shall
be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Now, if
we're talking about an everlasting salvation, we know it can't be
national Israel. That would mean every national
Israelite, every son and daughter of Adam from all generations
would be saved. So he's got to be talking about
something else here. The Israel he's talking about here is spiritual
Israel. That's the one who'll be saved
in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. He says, you shall
not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. Those in the
world who will not be ashamed, that word ashamed means put to
the blush. put to flight, cause to flee
from your refuge, you will not be ashamed. That's those that
make up the church. Those who will not be confounded
about who their God is, about who their savior is, about what
he's done to make them eternally accepted in God's sight. They
will not be confounded. Those who will not be confounded
are the church. Look at another scripture that
talks about the Israel of God, and it's talking about the church.
Look at Galatians 6, verses 14 through 16. Paul said, But God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many
as walk according to this rule, What rule? God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of Christ. As many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel
of God. There again you see that Israel
of God, that spiritual Israel, that's those chosen by God, those
redeemed by Christ, those called out by the gospel in each successive
generation. The church is made up of those
sinners chosen by God from every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation
before the foundation of the world. It's those sinners redeemed
by Christ at the cross. It's those sinners called out
by the gospel in each generation. It's those sinners founded on
that which Christ alone provided, his life, his death, his blood,
his righteousness, and that righteousness imputed, giving us a righteous
standing before God. In each generation, Christ will
place each of his elect in that building of which he is the chief
cornerstone. Think about what sinners are
given in salvation. Given. Not what sinners obtain
by their efforts, but what sinners are given in salvation. They're
chosen and privileged to enter into a salvation that Christ
alone has attained by his death on the cross. Israel's testimony of this day,
of this event, was not to be what they had done to possess
this land. It would be what God had done
to give them this land. The stones they carried to the
West Bank, as well as those stones that Joshua set up in the midst
of Jordan, were not to be a reminder of what they did to obtain this
land. They were rather to remind them
of God's determination to give them that which they had done
nothing to deserve and nothing to obtain. Look at Joshua chapter
4 and verse 7. This is what God said, You will
say to those who ask you, What mean you by these stones? Then
you shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off
before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over
Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off, and these stones
shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever.
Israel would know, and they would pass on to their children and
anyone else interested, they would know that their entry into
this land was by the Ark of the Covenant. It was by Christ and
Christ alone. Whether the stones carried by
Israel to the West Bank of the Jordan or those Joshua set up
in the midst of Jordan, the action on both was designed to exalt
Christ. Both testified of Christ's work. Christ alone cut off the waters
of the Jordan. Christ alone provided access
to that riverbed. Christ alone will build His church
on the foundation that He alone has provided. And that's the
testimony of every spiritual Israelite, the church in every
generation. They testify of Christ's work
in delivering them from the wrath they deserve. They testify of
Christ's work in making them holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. And they do that when the Spirit
of God brings them to rest in Christ alone for salvation. The
second way, that's what we've been talking about, the second
way Israel's action this day perpetuated the mercy and grace
of God, it exalted Christ and not man. Now the third way Israel's
action this day was designed to perpetuate the mercy and grace
of God, because it would continually remind them and continually prompt
others to ask of this day, of this event. Look at Joshua chapter
4 and verse 6. He commanded these twelve men,
gather these stones from the midst of Jordan, that this may
be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers
in time to come, saying, what mean you by these stones? You
can answer them with that ark. Man perpetuates the memory of
those who've gone before. We do that all the time. We carry
on the memory of an event that happened in the past. At the
entrance of many buildings, you'll see a plaque, a big bronze plaque
of some sort honoring some notable person either in the community
or maybe persons of a national honor, such as the Thomas Jefferson
Memorial Library. the George Washington Memorial
Bridge. On the sides of I-10, I travel
east and west on I-10 every day, and coming out of the rest areas,
you'll see some of those big plaques on the side of the road.
They say Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway in honor of that day
of infamy that we don't want to forget. On the back windows
of many automobiles today, you'll see this little slogan, In Loving
Memory, and then you'll see a name. So we honor the memory of people
and the memory of events. We perpetuate the memory of people
and things by many different ways. The action God commanded
Israel to perform this day was designed to do the same thing
for them. It was designed to remind them of this event, and
to prompt future generations to ask them, ask them about it,
ask them about how God gave them this land, how they were heirs
of something they didn't deserve and had not obtained. These stones
would give the children of Israel opportunity to rehearse how God
gave them this land. how Christ, who was typified
both by Joshua here and by the Ark, brought them into this land
and not by any efforts on their part. Look back one more time
at Joshua chapter 4 and verse 7. It said, Then you shall answer
them, the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the
covenant of the Lord. When it passed over Jordan, the
waters of Jordan were cut off and these stones shall be a memorial
unto the children of Israel forever. The children of Israel were commanded
to answer those of their generation who ask, what does this monument,
what does this memorial that you've prepared here mean? What
mean ye by these stones? And they were to tell them, we
came over that Jordan River behind the ark. When the ark entered
that river, the Jordan was stopped in its flow. And we came over
on dry land. That ark was a picture of Christ. What do believers do today that
prompts our children and others to ask of our worship, our God,
and our Savior? What do we do to perpetuate,
to carry on the mercy and grace of God to the next generation? Well, we do what I'm doing right
here, right now. We preach the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace in Christ. We declare a multitude of hell-deserving
sinners saved from God's wrath by the death of Christ alone.
We declare that same multitude righteous in God's sight based
on the imputed righteousness of Christ alone. We declare what
Christ has already accomplished for a multitude of God's choosing.
That's the one thing that all of us are ignorant of by nature,
what Christ accomplished by his death. It's the one thing that
keeps sinners going about to establish a righteousness of
our own. It's the one thing that keeps
sinners looking within and not to Christ for all of salvation. God commands sinners in every
generation to be ready to tell those who ask that we are what
we are. We have what we have in salvation. by the mercy and grace of a sovereign
God. I'll close with this command
issued by the Apostle Peter to the church in every generation. Listen to 1 Peter 3 and verse
15. But sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness
and fear. Sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts. Learn of a just God and a Savior. Learn of Christ by whose imputed
righteousness God justifies the ungodly. Learn of the salvation
that is truly by the free mercy and grace of God. Be ready, be
prepared, be anxious to participate in that which perpetuates the
mercy and grace of God to our generation.