I'll just add my welcome to Winston's. It is good to see you out. And
I would pray that we would be drawn nearer to our Lord as we
hear of him through his word here. You can see that my text
is Joshua chapter three in the first four verses. And this title,
you'll understand as we go through here, the way by which you must
go. This is quoted right out of one of these verses. So. We're
going to see here that the way by which you must go first applies
to the nation Israel as the way they must go if they would enter
into this land that they've been given, but As we've already studied,
this is a type of God showing sinners the way they must go,
his elect, and each generation, if they would enter into that
eternal salvation that was given us in Christ before the world
began. So, that's what we're going to look at, the way by
which we must go, and we'll look at this under two points today.
First of all, the way by which you must go is a way that no
sinner knows by nature. It has to be revealed. We don't
know it. We have to learn this way. And secondly, it's a way
that no sinner has ever been on before God delivers him to
it. So those are the two points that
we're going to see here and how they apply to us in this generation. Let's look first here at Joshua
chapter three in verse one. It says, And Joshua rose early
in the morning, and they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan,
he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they
passed over. Now, you remember back in the
first part of this book, this book of Joshua, God told Joshua
to tell the people that within three days we're going to go
into that land. So this is the end of those three
days here. Joshua has removed from his place
where they were encamped and moved right up next to the Jordan
River here. So just want to give you a little
of that background that we've already looked at. The first
thing we want to understand about this way by which you must go
is that no sinner knows this way by nature. It's a way that
has to be revealed to us. Look on with me here at Joshua
chapter 3, verses 2 through 4. And it came to pass after three
days that the officers went through the host, and they commanded
the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of
the Lord your God and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, Then
you shall remove from your place and go after it. Yet there shall
be a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure. That's a little over half a mile,
so they're not gonna be real close. But it said, come not
near unto it, that you may know the way by which you must go,
for you have not passed this way hitherto. You've not passed
this way before. You can see I've underlined some
scripture there. Let's just read that. When you
see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priest
of Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place
and go after it, that you may know the way by which you must
go, for you have not passed this way before. It says when you
see the Ark of the Covenant being carried by the priest, follow
that Ark. The ark with the priest bearing
it will show you the way by which you must go." And as I already
said, that's the way by which Israel would enter into the Canaan,
the land of promise, the land that they're about to enter as
a possession. They've already been given this
land, but they're about to enter in and take possession of that
land. And God commanded Joshua to tell them that back in Joshua
chapter 1, verses 2 and 3. This is the Lord speaking to
Joshua. He said, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now, therefore, arise,
go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land
which I do give unto them, even to the children of Israel. Every
place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I
given unto you, as I said unto Moses. The command is enter in. The command is take possession
of the land that I've already given you. But the way they are
to enter in has not been made known yet. They say they got
across the river, but they have no idea how they're going to
get across it with all those people. This is, we're talking
about probably 2 million or more people here. The way hadn't been
revealed yet. And that's what we're going to
be looking at here in chapter 3. That way is being made known
here. So look back at our text in Joshua
3 and just read with me again, the part that's underlined. When
you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the
priest bearing it, go after it, that you may know. The Ark of
the Covenant being borne by the priest is what's going to reveal
to them the way that they're to enter. When you go after it,
that is after the Ark, then you'll learn the way, you'll know the
way. You'll know the way you hadn't known before. That way
is going to be revealed to you. Then and only then will you know
the way by which you must go to enter into this land. Now
there are two things here that we need to understand a little
bit more about to see this way. And those two things are the
Ark of the Covenant and the priest bearing that Ark. First, let's
consider this Ark. This Ark of the Covenant. The
Ark was a type of Christ. In fact, this Ark of the Covenant
is one of the clearest pictures and types of Christ that we find
in the Old Testament. The Ark was a box made of shittum
wood. That was a type of wood kind
of like our cypress wood. It's a wood that wouldn't rot.
It was an enduring type of wood. It was about 45 inches long,
27 inches high, and 27 inches deep. So it was just a box like
that, overlaid without and within a pure gold. And inside that
ark were the tables of stone, the Ten Commandments. Now, you
remember Moses went up on the mountain, the Lord wrote the
Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone, and Moses came down
and found the people worshiping a golden calf, and he threw the
tablets down and they broke. So he had to go back up on the
mountain again, 40 more days up there, and the Lord wrote
him again. Well, that's what's in the ark, that second writing
of the tables of stone, the Ten Commandments. I used to think
it was the broken law, but you know that wouldn't be a very
good representation of Christ, because we've got to see the
law kept. We've got to see it honored.
We've got to see it whole, not broken. Man broke it. Christ
kept it. These commandments represent the strictness and inflexibility
of God's standard. They're the only things inside
this ark. Now there are some other things
with the ark, but inside this ark, just those two tables of
stone. And they were placed in the ark
to remind Israel of one thing. God demands perfection. He can't
settle for anything less than perfection. He demands perfect
continual obedience to his law. And where his law has been broken,
he demands the punishment of eternal death. God can command
nothing less than that, perfection in precept and in penalty. Over
the ark was the mercy seat, or a place of atonement. The mercy
seat was the golden plate of propitiation on which the high
priest went in on the day of atonement and sprinkled blood
seven times to make an atonement, symbolically reconciling Jehovah
and the children of Israel. And two cherubim stood on each
end of that mercy seat, overlooking it. The mercy seat also was of
pure gold. That mercy seat is symbolically
the throne of God. This is a place where God told
Moses that he would meet him, right there on that mercy seat.
Like Bill said, if we're going to meet God, it better be at
that mercy seat, and that mercy seat is Christ himself. Look
with me at Exodus chapter 25 and verse 22. This is God talking
to Moses here. He said, And there I will meet
with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy
seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the
testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment
unto the children of Israel. Now this is the only place on
earth where a holy God and sinful man can meet together. One place
right here at the mercy seat. Why? Because the mercy seat pictured
the law and justice of God and the mercy of God coming together
in harmony. That law that Christ honored
and satisfied and the mercy of God coming together in one place.
David the Psalmist said it best. Look at Psalm 85 in verses 8
through 10. David said, I will hear what
God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace unto His
people and to His saints, but let them not turn again to folly.
Surely His salvation is nigh unto them that fear Him or reverence
Him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are
met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Mercy and truth meet together
only where law and justice has been satisfied. Righteousness
and peace kiss only where a holy God is right. He's doing right. He's being just and showing mercy
to ungodly sinners. They meet and kiss, in other
words, only in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So you can see how this ark is a type of Christ. Christ alone
upheld the standard of God's law. Look at Isaiah 42, 21. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. He's talking about Christ here.
Christ alone satisfied the justice of God in bearing away the sins
of his people. Look at Isaiah 53, 11. He shall
see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities." Bore them away in a complete
satisfaction. Put them away as far as the east
is from the west. Never be seen or brought up in
the court of God's justice again. Christ alone established the
righteousness that ends the pursuit of righteousness in those who
believe. Look at Romans 10 and verse 4.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. To everyone that finds the righteousness
they need to stand before God and be declared just by Him based
on that righteousness imputed alone, Christ is the end of the
law of a sinner going about to establish a righteousness of
his own in pursuit of that righteousness. So you see, the Ark of the Covenant
is not just a box overlaid with gold. It's a type of the Lord,
Jehovah, who saves. To those given understanding,
the Ark of the Covenant typifies the person and work of Christ
in putting away the sins of His people and providing them a righteousness
by which He declares them righteous. In that, in all that, the Ark
addresses and answers the primary question of the scriptures. And
you know what that is because you've heard it hundreds of times.
How can a just and holy God deal in mercy with sinners like you
and me? How can he do that? How can God be just and yet justify
the ungodly? And the answer to that question
is always by that righteousness that Christ worked out, freely
imputed to sinners by God. From our former studies, you
remember that this land Israel is about to enter into was given
to them. It was given to them all the
way back beginning with Abraham and in a promise and reiterated
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob over this period of 470 years
now, that they were 430 years in bondage in Egypt and then
40 years wandering in the wilderness. So it's been about 470 years
since this land was given to this nation. But the Ark would
reveal Israel's way into possession of this land. You see, they never
had occupied this land. They never had lived in this
land. They're yet to enter in. By following the ark with the
priest bearing it, Israel would know, they would come to know,
it would be revealed to them the way by which they must go. The gospel proclaimed by men
sent of God in each generation declares Christ crucified and
risen again. And Christ crucified reveals
spiritual Israel, God's elect way into possession of that eternal
salvation that we were given in Christ before the world began. What about the priest bearing
the Ark? What's significant about that? You might not know that
there's anything significant. You might know that's the way
this has always been done, but it's not. Under the Old Testament
economy, the priests are the ones designated by God to minister
the ceremonial law. The priests kept the tabernacle.
They are the ones who killed the sacrifice. They put the sacrifice
on the altar. Once a year, the high priest
went into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled blood on the altar
and made an atonement for the sins of Israel. In other words,
it was the priest's duty. They were the ones who set Christ
forth in picture and type in that era. They didn't preach
the gospel like I'm preaching it here, but they were telling
about Christ every time they slayed an animal, every time
blood was shed, that unblemished lamb, every time they split its
throat and sprinkled blood on that, they were picturing and
typifying Christ. Everything about the priests,
their office, as well as every duty they performed in that office,
pictured and typified some aspect of the person and work of Christ,
the Messiah who was to come. Now when Christ, the great high
priest came, He fulfilled all the pictures and types, and the
Levitical priesthood gave way to Christ's eternal, unchangeable
priest. He's our great high priest, our
eternal high priest, a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Ark of the Covenant was a
type of Christ, and the priests were the ones of that era who
set Christ forth in picture and type through that ceremonial
law. So the priests bearing the Ark pictured those men of each
generation designated by God to declare or proclaim Christ
to their generation. That's what Christ told Ananias
concerning Saul of Tarsus. You remember Ananias said, Lord,
do you know who you're telling me to take into my house here
They can and talk to, look at Acts chapter nine and verse 15.
But the Lord said unto him and Ananias, go thy way for he that
would be Saul of Tarsus is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name
before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. So
that's what the priest did in their day. That's what preachers
do in our day. They bear the name of Christ
before those who will listen. So when the nation Israel saw
the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord their God and the priests
of the Levites bearing it, they were to go after it. Because
in doing so, the way into possession of the land that they were about
to enter to, that they had been given, would be revealed. Likewise,
when sinners in any generation see Christ being set forth, when
they see him with eyes being declared in the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace, the way that the eternal salvation
Christ has worked out for his people is being revealed. It's
being set forth in the gospel. Every sinner who hears the gospel
is thereby commanded to find their hope, all their hope of
salvation in Christ, in Christ alone. So the first thing we
understand about the way by which you must go. It's a way not known
to any of us by nature. It's a way that must be revealed.
And in our day, the gospel is what reveals it. To Israel, that
way was revealed by the Ark of the Covenant and the priest bearing
it. To us, of course, as I said, it's the gospel. The second thing
we want to understand about the way by which you must go, it's
a way that none have been on before God delivers us to it.
It's a way unknown to us by nature. Look back at our text in Joshua
3, verses 3 and 4, and just look at that last phrase. Well, I
don't have it underlined, but the last phrase in verse 4. He
says, for you have not passed this way, this way by which you
must go. You've not passed this way, hitherto
or before. You've not passed this way before
now. You're not familiar with this way. This is the first time
this way has ever been revealed to you. It's a new way. It's a different way. Now on
the surface, this might not look like anything significant, but
this is a new procedure for Israel. They're entering into a new era
and a new procedure's taking place here. Under the leadership
of Moses, back when Moses was alive. When Israel moved, when
they moved their camp from one place to another, it was not
the Ark of the Covenant that directed their movement. It was
a cloud that hovered over the tabernacle. You remember that
cloud would hover over the tabernacle. When that cloud would raise up,
they'd take down the tabernacle and carry the Ark and move. But the cloud would be what directed
their way. It wasn't the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark didn't lead them under Moses. But now, he's saying,
when you see the Ark of the Covenant, that's what you're going to be
following. The cloud that led them before is gone. It ceased
when Moses died. Now the Ark is to lead them.
So you can see that there's a distinct difference here in the procedure
of Israel. What's the spiritual significance
of following the Ark instead of following the cloud? The cloud
was an emblem of the Mosaic era. It was a figure of the dark and
cloudy dispensation of the law, particularly the ceremonial law.
The law given by Moses revealed Christ, but it was in pictures,
it was in shadows, it was in type, it wasn't in clear preaching. The law was but a shadow of good
things to come. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 and
verse 1. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year,
continually make the comers thereunto perfect. The law couldn't bring
perfection, not from sinners, not through sinners, not by sinners.
It could only picture the perfection found in the doing and dying
of Christ alone. That cloud which led them under
Moses continued only during his lifetime and when he was gone,
the cloud was gone. Now that Joshua or Jesus was
gone, there seems to be the marking of a new era for Israel. The
Ark of the Covenant would take the forefront. It would lead
this nation into the promised land and a lot of places wherever
they went in battle. If that ark didn't go, the commander
said, I'm not going if the ark doesn't go. As we've already
seen, the ark, as it pictured and typified Christ and his work,
that is the way by which you must go. So Israel had been given
a new way of movement. They no longer followed the cloud.
They now followed the ark of the covenant. That's the way
they had not passed before, a way they had not been on before this
time. And there's something else in these verses that identify
this as a way that Israel had not passed before. The ark itself
had never moved this way, with the priests bearing it. Always
before when the ark moved, a certain family from among the Levites,
called the Kohathites, were the ones designated to bear it. When
that ark was taken, when that tabernacle was taken down, The
Kohathites were the ones to move the Ark, but here he said the
priests, now the priests are Levites, but I've already told
you their job wasn't to move the Ark. It was to do the ceremonies
and the law and keep the tabernacle. So this is the first of four
times that priests bore the Ark of the Covenant. Here at the
crossing of the Jordan River. When they would march around
Jericho in a few days, the priests would bear the Ark. When David
removed the Ark from the hands of the Philistines who had stolen
it, and when Solomon dedicated the temple, those four times
are the only times that priests bore this Ark. Other times, the
Kohathites would bear it. So until this event, Israel had
not passed this way before. They had not followed the Ark
of the Covenant with the priests bearing it. This is the first
time that the priests bore the Ark. The first 430 years of Israel's
existence as a nation, they lived in bondage in Egypt, as I already
said. The last 40 years they wandered in the wilderness, but
now God was bringing them to a new way, a way they had not
passed before. Now God was bringing them into
possession of a land they would not fight for. It was a land
that had already been given to them, and the possession of it
would be the work of the Lord. He would do their fighting. It
was an inheritance to this nation. God was bringing them into a
land already established with houses and wells and vineyards.
Look at Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 11. And it shall be when the Lord
thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware
unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give
thee great and goodly cities which thou buildest not, and
houses full of all good things which thou fillest not, and wells
dig which thou diggest not, vineyards and olive trees which thou plantest
not. All Israel had to do was enter
in and possess this land, a land that was already full, a land
lacking nothing for their comfort and enjoyment. They had not earned
this land, they had not done one thing to deserve this land.
It was there simply because God had determined it to be so. Simply
because He had given it by promise to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. Now this is probably the greatest
thing that made this a way they had not passed before. They were
entering in to possess a land that they had not earned and
did not deserve based on anything found in them. In like manner,
God brings his elect, that would be spiritual Israel, from the
wilderness of false religion, from the bondage of salvation
conditioned on the sinner, to a way that they have not passed
before, a way we didn't know until God revealed it to us under
the gospel. National Israel's entrance into
the land of Canaan is a picture, a type of spiritual Israel's
entrance into eternal salvation. Sinners are commanded by the
gospel to enter in and take possession of a salvation they've done nothing
to earn, a salvation they don't deserve based on anything found
in them, not even their best obedience, not even their best
reformation. not even their best religious
zeal. The way no sinner has passed before is the way of eternal
salvation by Jesus Christ alone. Now we've all been on many ways
before we came to this way. We've all had many ideas of salvation,
too numerous to mention. This is a quote that You've heard
before, we all thought we were saved before we were saved, until
we were saved. By nature, we all thought we
were saved because we thought we had met that condition to
be saved. We walked an aisle, we prayed
a prayer, we confessed our sins, and so many other things. I think
there's some Winston said 2,600 different denominations, and
that's just the ones that are recorded. It's not counting all
those others. So there are hundreds of ways
that people think they've met some kind of condition in order
to be saved. But we had never heard Before
we came to the gospel and this way was revealed, we had never
heard of God's salvation. We'd never heard of God who is
just to save, to justify, to declare righteous, otherwise
ungodly sinners. Based on the righteousness those
sinners have absolutely no part in producing or maintaining.
It's righteousness worked out entirely by the doing and dying
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We had never heard of a salvation
Christ worked out in full for a people of God's choosing. We
had never heard of a salvation sinners enter into. It's not
a salvation we reach out and get or do something to attain. We just enter into it. We just
take possession of it when the Spirit of God gives life and
then faith in Christ and Christ alone. This way is not known
to us by nature. It's not known until God reveals
it. We're not owned this way by nature.
We don't even consider this way by nature. It's only known when
Christ, who's removed all the obstacles, is revealed by the
gospel. You see, the salvation of God
is not a salvation in which sinners meet a condition or fulfill a
requirement. It is, rather, a salvation where
Christ has met all the conditions, where he's fulfilled all the
requirements for a people of God's choosing. Sinners simply
enter into, they take possession of this salvation by God-given
faith. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
contrasts two ways of entering in. I'm talking about entering
into salvation because that's what Scripture commands. And
Jesus contrasts two ways of entering in. And what he's speaking of
here is entering into eternal salvation. Look at Matthew 7,
verses 13 and 14. Christ said, Enter ye in at the
straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that
leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in
thereat, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Now,
we don't know this, but all of us by nature are on that broad
way that's leading to destruction. That doesn't mean that any of
God's elect are headed to destruction. We're on that way that's leading
to destruction. The reason we're not heading
there is because God's going to deliver us off that way. But
that's where we are by nature. Until the Spirit of God brings
us to Christ and shows us the only way of salvation by His
righteousness imputed, the only way God can be just and declare
us righteous is by the work of Christ alone. Also, the book
of Proverbs tells of a way that seems right, but it ends in death. That way is recorded twice. It's
in Proverbs 14.12 and 16.25, but let's look at Proverbs 14
in verse 12. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof, the end of that way, are the
ways of death. It says here there is a single
way. There's a way, but that way's
in the minds of many, like I said. That way seems right to each
one of those many. But it says in the end of this,
the end thereof are the ways of death. There are many, many
ways that men think are right, that are heading to heaven, that
are heading to acceptance with God. But all of those ways are
the ways of death. By nature, sinners have many
ways, many ideas of salvation. but Christ crucified and risen
again is the only way. It's the way by which you must
go. Christ is the way sinners must follow if they would enter
into God's salvation. This is the way no sinner has
passed before. Before the Spirit of God brings
them to that way and settles them in that way and won't let
them depart from that way. Look back at our text now and
I'll close. I don't have anything underlined
here. I'm just going to read part of this. He says, when you see
the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priest
of Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place
and go after it, that you may know the way by which you must
go, for you have not passed this way before. When you see Christ,
when you and I see Christ being set forth in the gospel, follow
him. He's the way. He's the way into
eternal life. He's the one who must and shall
reveal to his sheep the way by which you must go. And that way
is his shed blood and imputed righteousness alone. He is the
one who must and shall deliver his sheep off the way that's
leading to destruction. The way that we were on before
God brought us to the gospel. He's the one who must and shall
deliver his elect unto the way. Unto the way they have not passed
before. And my prayer would be that he will guide his people,
lead his people on to that way by which you must go.