Well, let me welcome you too.
I'm glad to see everybody out this morning. As you can see, and you might,
well, I see you put part two up there. Okay. He didn't have
that a minute ago. I have a title, a message before
Christ magnified in the sight of his people, but you can see
this is part two. We're in the book of Joshua and
I'm doing a study through that. And you will remember that, uh,
Israel is camped out on the east bank of the Jordan River, ready
to go in and take possession of the promised land that they've
been given. And if we look back at Joshua
chapter three in verse seven, we'll see where this title comes
from and where we'll be speaking from again today. It says, and
the Lord said unto Joshua, this day, this day that he's about
to lead them into the promised land, now this day will I begin
to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may
know that as I was with Moses, so I'll be with thee. You remember
from our study of this book that Joshua is a type. He's a type
of Christ. Christ is the anti-type. And
just as God began on this specific day to magnify Joshua the type
in the sight of national Israel, he also begins on a specific
day to magnify Christ the anti-type in the sight of his elect people,
that would be spiritual Israel. And you'll remember from our
last study also that the first way God began to magnify Joshua
and Christ was as the one who has the authority the authority
of God. God gave Joshua the authority
to bring national Israel into possession of that land that
they had been given some 470 years earlier. And Christ said,
all authority is given unto me. Christ earned his authority to
bring spiritual Israel into the eternal salvation that they already
have in him before the world began. In time, in each generation,
Christ brings his sheep spiritual Israel into possession of the
salvation that he worked out for them on the cross. Now today,
we'll see another way that God began to magnify Joshua and will
magnify Christ in the sight of Israel. And we'll see it as the
one who manifests the presence of God. That second point right
there. We could subtitle this message,
manifesting the presence of God, because that's what we'll be
talking about. That's the whole issue here. We're going to see
how God manifested himself. And that word just means clearly
made known. He clearly made known himself
to national Israel. And he did it through Joshua,
the one he'd given them to lead them into that land. And we'll
also see how he makes his presence known to spiritual Israel through
Christ. Look at Joshua chapter 3 and
verse 9. This is actually where our text
begins today, Joshua 3, 9. And Joshua said unto the children
of Israel, come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God. In these verses we'll look at
today, we're going to see Joshua magnified in the sight of Israel
as the one who manifests the presence of God. And he manifests
that presence because he alone, he's the only one that has the
words of God. And because he alone has the
works of God. Let's see first that it's Joshua
who has the words of God. Look, look at that underline
again. Come hither and hear the words
of the Lord your God." Joshua was the one who's been taught
of God. God is speaking to Joshua. Obviously, God has already spoken
these words to him. Joshua makes it clear that these
are not his words, they're God's words. He's simply telling Israel
what God's already told him. So let's look on at Joshua 3
and verse 10 to see what God told him to tell them. And Joshua
said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you and
that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites
and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Gergesites
and the Amorites and the Jebusites. Through Joshua, In this verse,
God assures national Israel of two things. First, that they're
going to know that the living God is among them. And second,
He assures them that the living God will, and without fail, you
see that little phrase? Without fail, drive out from
before them all their enemies. Those seven nations listed there,
in that verse represent all the nations that are inside Canaan. They're the enemies they'll be
facing. So that's just a representation
of all their enemies. He's going to drive out all their
enemies. Today we're just going to consider that first point,
how Israel was to know that the living God was among them. And
they would know that God was among them by that one that he
had appointed to bring them into possession of this land. So let's
consider the living God among them. Now he's not speaking here
when he says that you'll know that the living God is among
you. He's not speaking here about God's universal presence in this
world. God's omnipresent. He's everywhere. He's in all things and he's there
at all times. So, he's not talking about that.
That's what Paul told the philosophers on Mars Hill in Acts chapter
17. If you look with me there at Acts 17 and verse 24, we see Paul is addressing a bunch of
philosophers here that have a tribute to the unknown God. And Paul
says, that unknown God, that's who I'm going to declare to you
here. It says, God that made the world and all things therein,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands, neither is worship with men's hands as though he
needed anything, seeth he giveth to all life and breath and all
things. That's his universal presence
in this world. He's given, if you're breathing,
he's the one giving you breath. If you're living, he's the one
giving you life. Verse 26. and hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and
has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of
their habitations, that they should seek the Lord, if happily
or perhaps they might feel after him and find him, though he be
not far from every one of us." He's not far from anybody, saved
or lost, justified or condemned. He's not far from any. For in
him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of
your own poets have said. For we are also his offspring."
He's not talking about God in this universal way. God was among
Israel, and he's among all men in this way, but that's not the
way he's talking about them knowing that God is among them. Israel
was to know, they were to be assured that God was among them
in a more specific way. They were to know that God was
among them as a deliverer, as a savior. They were to be assured
that he was among them as one faithful to fulfill his promise
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And they were to be confident
that he was among them as the one who had determined to give
them possession of this land that stood before them. And therefore,
they could be assured that what God had determined, he was certain
to bring about. In other words, they were going
to enter this land. They were going to possess this land. God had
determined it, and nothing could stop it. They were to be confident
that God was for them, that he was fighting their battles, that
God was on their side. And what better knowledge can
a people have than to know that God is for them? The scripture
is clear that if God be for us, who can be against us? Let's
answer two questions on this matter of Israel knowing that
God is among them. First, why is it so important
that they know that? Why is it so important for national
Israel to know that the living God was among them? Think about
it for a minute. This people stood on the border
of a land that God had given in a promise to Abraham some
470 years earlier. And inside this land, as I said,
there's seven nations, all of them, any one of them more powerful
than Israel, fiercer than Israel, better fighters than Israel.
And these people have occupied this land for generations. They
built homes here. They've got walled cities here.
They've raised their families here. Their possessions are here.
They think this land belongs to them. In fact, they're pretty
sure it belongs to them, and they're more than willing to
fight to defend this land and to hold on to it. It was necessary,
absolutely necessary, for national Israel to know that they were
not entering into this endeavor that they're about to embark
on in their own strength and ability. They needed to know
that God was behind them. It was necessary for them to
know that God was fighting for them, that they had his power
and purpose behind them, that God was determined for them to
possess this land, and that they would enter and possess this
land by his strength and power and not by their own strength
and power, because if it was based on them, they'd never make
it. All right, I said two questions.
Here's the other one. How was Israel to know this?
How were they to know that the living God was among them? How
were they to know that he had determined for them to possess
this land? Well, they would know because
God manifested his presence in Israel and he manifested that
presence through Joshua. God's doing two things here in
these verses. First of all, he's magnifying
Joshua in the sight of Israel. This day will I begin to magnify
thee. So he's magnifying Joshua. That's
the first thing. And he's bringing his people
into possession of this land. Those two things he's carrying
out here. And as I already said, we already saw last lesson, God
was magnifying Joshua as the one who had the authority of
God. Today, we're going to see that he's continuing to magnify
Joshua as the one who manifests the presence of God. Through
Joshua, Israel would know that the living God was among them.
They would know that the living God was for them. They would
know that the living God was on their side. It would be Joshua
who would be the one in Israel manifesting God's presence. And
they'd know this first because it was to Joshua that God gave
the words of God. It was to Joshua. Joshua alone
is the only one in Israel who could rightly say, come hither.
and hear the words of the Lord your God. He's the only one that
had them. He's the only one God had given them to. And these
are not just general words. They're specific. They are declaring
Israel's miraculous entrance into the land of Canaan. Joshua
is the one God told what he was about to do to bring Israel into
this land. He's the one God told the way
by which Israel must go to enter in. Joshua alone was given word
of Israel's miraculous entrance into this land. So Joshua tells
them what God is about to do here. He's been told and now
he's going to tell Israel what God is about to do. Look at Joshua
chapter three in verse 11 now, 11 through 13. He says, Behold,
the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes
over before you into Jordan. Now, therefore, take you 12 men
out of the tribes of Israel, out of every man a tribe, and
it shall come to pass as soon as the souls of the feet of the
priest that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth,
shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall
be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they
shall stand upon an heap. Now, he's telling them what God's
about to do here. And this is a tremendous miracle
that he's about to perform in their sight. And I want you to
know. Joshua knew ahead of time what
God would with certainty bring about in time. All that Israel
needed to know that the living God was among them was just to
hear what God said to Joshua and then to see the works that
confirm both the words and the works to be of God. And that's the second way Joshua
will be manifested in the presence, manifesting the presence of God
among the Israelites. He not only had the words of
God, but he was the one used by God to perform the works of
God. Before this day, God had used Moses to perform his works
in Israel, but Moses is dead. Now God has chosen Joshua for
this task. before Moses manifested the presence
of God in this nation. Remember all those miracles that
Moses did? Now that responsibility is passed
on to Joshua. We'll see in this point that
it's the works of God that confirm the words of God to be true. The works must confirm the words. They got to back up the words.
Without the works to confirm the words, the words are nothing
more than just literature. According to what Moses wrote
in Deuteronomy, the works, unless the words are confirmed
by the works, the words of the one claiming to be God are nothing
more than just presumption. Look at Deuteronomy 18 and verse
21. And if thou say in thine heart,
how shall we know the word which the Lord has spoken? The Lord
just said, I'm going to raise up a prophet among you, like
unto Moses. And you're to hear him. And so
they're asking him, the Lord is telling them, how are you
going to know that it's the Lord that's spoken? Verse 22 says,
when a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing
follow not and are come to pass, That is the thing which the Lord
hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously.
Thou shalt not be afraid of him. In other words, if he says, look,
like Elijah did, Elisha, I believe it was, said, it's not going
to rain on the earth for three years. What happened? It didn't
rain on the earth for three years. Why? Because that's what God
told Elisha to say. And then Elisha saw a little
cloud in the sky one day, and he said, it's about to rain in
Israel. And what happened? They had tremendous rain. So
the works have to back up the words. Otherwise, God didn't
send the prophet. That's what he's saying. Joshua
said to Israel, come hither and hear the words of the Lord your
God. Then he informed them what was about to take place. Now,
if what he prophesied, what he had just declared was going to
take place, if that fails to take place exactly as he said
it, what does that mean? It means God didn't send him.
God didn't give him those words. He's just speaking those words
presumptuously. Now it's no light matter that
the words that a man speaks in God's name be confirmed by works
that prove them to be so. So God confirmed the words he
gave Joshua to the people. He confirmed them with works
that prove both the words and the works to be of God. Look
at Joshua 3 in verse 14. And it came to pass, when the
people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the
priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people. And
as they that bear the Ark were coming to Jordan, and the feet
of the priests that bear the Ark were dipped in the brim of
the water, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of
harvest." This is the time of harvest, so the river's overflowing.
Verse 16, that the waters which came down from above stood and
rose upon a heap very far from the city Adam, that is besides
Arathan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain,
even the salt sea, failed and were cut off, and the people
passed over right against Jericho. As we'll see in that next lesson,
we're talking about a long stretch of riverbed here that's dry,
maybe 16 or 18 miles of it. One of those cities was on one
side of the river and one on the other, and that whole stretch
of riverbed was just dried up by the Lord so that they could
pass over. And it's obvious that God performed a great miracle
here, and we're going to look at the details of that in another
lesson. What I want us to see today,
God told Joshua what he's about to do to bring Israel into this
land. He gave him his words, and Joshua then relayed those
words on to the people, and then those words were confirmed by
the works of God. That river did. God just stopped
that river in its tracks, just as Joshua had told Israel he
would do. God brought about exactly what
he had previously made known to Joshua. Thus, God magnified
Joshua as the one in Israel who manifested the presence of God.
Joshua was the one who had the words as well as the works that
confirms his words to be of God. He said in that verse, he said,
hereby or by this, This one that God had given them to bring them
into the land of promise, by this Israel could know, they
could be assured that the living God was among them. Now, as I
said in the beginning, Joshua manifested the presence of God
in Israel. Joshua is a type. Ultimately
it's Christ who manifests the presence of God in the earth
and especially in salvation. And Christ, he did have the words
of God, but he didn't just have the words of God, he is the word
of God. He's the eternal word. John 1.1
says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God
and the word was God. And he's the incarnate word. John 1.14 says, and the word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. The very name given to Jesus
means God with us. Matthew 1.23 says, and they shall
call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with
us. Paul wrote to Timothy in first Timothy 3.16 concerning
Christ. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest. made known
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in
the glory. Christ is the Word of God. And Christ is the sum and substance
of the written word, Old Testament and New. Now, most people would
agree with you that Christ is the sum and substance of the
New Testament, but what about the Old Testament? Well, he's
the sum and substance of that too. Listen to what he said in
Matthew 24 and verse 27. This is Christ speaking with
his disciples after his resurrection. And he said, in beginning at
Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself." So the scriptures,
Old Testament and New, concern Christ. The entire Bible from
beginning to end is about Christ. It's about his glorious person,
God and man in one person. It's about his work of redemption,
of righteousness and justification. Therefore, Christ is the Word
of God. He's the Word of God in all things,
but especially in salvation. To be in him is to be saved forever. To not be in him is to be forever
lost. And it's the works of Christ
that confirm him to be what this word says he is. The God-man,
the Redeemer, the Savior. That's what the scriptures declare
him to be. The scriptures declare him and the works confirm him
to be the one declared. That's what Christ said to those
of his day. Look at John chapter 10 and verse
24 and 25. The Israelites came around him,
the scribes and Pharisees, and they wanted to know a question
here. It says, Then came the Jews round
about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to
doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered
them, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me. They testify of me. Christ
healed the sick. He raised the dead. He made the
lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He did things,
in other words, that only God could do. He performed miracles
that could only be performed by the power of God, and men
could easily see the hand and power of God in his works. Nicodemus,
the one who came to him by night, the Pharisee, said, We know that
thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Look at John
14 in verse 10. Believest thou not that I am
in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father
and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works
sake. Again, without the works to confirm the one being declared,
the words mean nothing. They're just presumption. Look
at John 5 and verse 36. Christ said, but I have greater
witness than that of John, for the works which the Father had
given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness
of me that the Father has sent me. The works Christ is speaking
of here are works that confirm him to be the Savior and Redeemer
of his people. They're works required, even
works demanded of a just God, a God who must do right, a God
who must punish sin. And they're the works of a God
who has determined to show mercy to a multitude of sinners by
providing them a righteousness that they must have but cannot
produce. These are the same works that
Christ said he finished in John 17 in anticipation of his death
on the cross. Look at John 17 verse one and
verse four. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hours come, glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. He's talking about his works.
He's speaking there in anticipation of his cross death and the works
that he would accomplish when he went there. Works that would
glorify his father in salvation as a just God and Savior. And
these are works which fulfill the prophecy of Christ in Daniel
chapter 9. Look at Daniel 9 in verse 24.
He says, 70 weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy
holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, and to
make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most
holy. Now Daniel's prophecy here is
about the Messiah who will come. He's foretelling what Christ
would do for his people when he came. These are the works
that the Father gave Christ to do. They are the works that glorify
God, a just God, and Savior. They are the works that can confirm
Christ to be the Savior of His sheep. Christ, when He came,
Christ did make an end of sins, the sins of His people. Hebrews
9, 26 says, He put away their sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The sins of his people were charged
to Christ and they can't be charged to them. Their sins cannot condemn
them or ever bring them into disfavor with God. Christ put
away their sin so completely that they'll never be brought
up in the court of God's justice. God speaks of them as those that
are cast behind the back of God or separated from the sinners
that committed them as far as the east is from the west, that
kind of language. So Christ did make an end of
sins, just like Daniel prophesied that he would, and he did bring
in everlasting righteousness. He established in time the one
righteousness which the Father imputes to his elect and by which
the Father declares his elect forever righteous in his sight.
Christ is the one by whose obedience the many shall be made righteous,
Romans 5 and verse 19. These are the works by which
God manifests himself to every spiritual Israelite in every
generation. These are the works that confirm
Christ to be the Savior and Redeemer declared in this word. Well,
as I already told you, it was important for national Israel
to know that the living God was among them. They stood against
impossible odds and an impossible task, humanly speaking. They
needed to know that the God who had given this land to Abraham
in a promise was the same one who determined that they have
it and was certain to bring them into possession of it. And God
showed them that he was among them in this endeavor. He showed
them through Joshua. He gave Joshua the words as well
as the works that confirm both to be of God. In every generation,
spiritual Israel stands against impossible odds in an impossible
task, humanly speaking. Spiritual Israel, the elect of
God, the sheep of Christ, need to know that the God who gave
them salvation in Christ before the world began is certain to
bring them into possession of that salvation in time in each
generation. God is determined that each of
them know the Savior whose blood has bought them and will keep
them to final glory. Just as national Israel must
possess this land, spiritual Israel must possess. They must
know their Savior. They must possess this salvation.
Now everyone we know in religion outside the gospel, which is
by far the majority of religious people in this world, everyone
we know in religion stands in opposition to what we see this
Bible saying about the words of Christ and the works of Christ. We declare a salvation complete
in Christ and totally contrary to man's way of thinking. And
we do so because God has changed our thinking. We used to think
just like they do, but God's changed our thinking. God has
determined to glorify himself in the hearts of a people. In
other words, he's determined to make himself known as a just
God and Savior in and by the works of Christ alone. Those
sinners who look to Christ alone as the one who accomplished their
complete salvation are those who reveal God's presence among
them. God is among those who know Christ
as a true savior, one who put away the sin of every sinner
he died for, one who established the one righteousness by which
God declares every sinner he died for righteous in his sight.
He is among those who proclaim the words of Christ, that's the
words he spoke, as well as those that speak about him, the ones
that proclaim the words of Christ rightly. and he is among those
who declare the works that confirm Christ to be the one that is
declared in this word. We worship God in the light that
he's given us. We worship God under the gospel,
which declares Christ to be the savior and redeemer of every
sinner he represented, as well as declaring the works that confirm
him to be that. And we are to avoid those who
speak not according to the light of this word. Look at Isaiah
chapter eight in verse 20. To the law and to the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word, it is because there's
no light in them. Those are the kind of people,
sinners, I mean, preachers, sinners too that we're to avoid are really
just to tell them the gospel. Tell them of the Christ of this
word and the works that confirm him to be so. We are to avoid
those who speak the name of Christ but then in the same message
deny the works that confirm him to be the successful savior and
redeemer of every sinner he was given. Such men preach a potential
savior. In other words, one that'll save
you if. If you'll just fill in the blank, if you'll just pray
a sinner's prayer or walk an aisle or get right with God or
whatever, clean up your life, start reading your Bible, start
praying, that's a potential savior. It's a savior they say died for
all, yet multitudes perish that he died for. The works they attribute
to Christ do not confirm the one revealed in this word. The
one in this word is a successful savior. He has put away the sin
of every sinner he died for. He has established that one righteousness
by which God declares every sinner he died for righteous in his
sight. So God commands us to avoid such
men. Look at another passage here,
2 John 9-11. Whosoever transgresses and abides
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. if there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine.
Now the doctrine he's talking about here is the doctrine that
proclaims the words of Christ and the works that confirm him
to be the one declared in this word. If they bring not this
doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed.
For he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Those are some men that we should avoid in this world. God magnified
Joshua in the sight of all Israel as the one who manifested the
presence of God among them. He gave Joshua the words and
the works that confirmed both to be of God. God magnifies Christ
in the sight of his people. The gospel declares Christ the
word of God, the eternal word, the incarnate word, the substance
of the written word. and the heart and soul of the
spoken word, the gospel, as well as the works that confirm him
to be the one declared in the scriptures. Those who look to
Christ alone are the ones who can know this Christ, the one
whose words and works confirm him to be the one in the scriptures. Those who look to him alone can
know that the living God is among them. Well today we looked at
the one by which God brings us in. We looked at Joshua, who
God appointed to bring national Israel into possession of this
land, and they were certain to have it because God had determined
it to be so. We looked at Christ who is certain
to bring every one of his elect into possession of the salvation
that he's worked out for them by his obedience unto death.
The next time we'll look at the way he brings us in, by which
he assures us that he will drive out all our enemies. So may the
Lord bless his word to our understanding of Christ.