Take your Bibles and turn with
me to the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 4. I'm going to
be using the whole chapter for a text this morning. So let's
all read through this together. Joshua chapter 4. And it came
to pass when all the people were clean passed over Jordan. that
the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the
people, out of every tribe of man, and command ye them, saying,
Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where
the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry
them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where
ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve
men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel out of every
tribe of man. And Joshua said unto them, Pass
over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan,
and take you up every man of you, a stone upon his shoulder,
according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel.
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? 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 a stone shall be for a memorial
unto the children of Israel. And the children of Israel did
as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst
of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua according to the
number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over
with them unto a place where they lodged, and laid them down. And Joshua set up twelve stones
in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests
which bear the ark of the Lord stood, and they are there unto
this day. For the priests which bear the
ark stood in the midst of Jordan until everything was finished,
that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people. According
to all that Moses commanded, Joshua and the people hasted
and passed over. And it came to pass when all
the people were clean passed over that the ark of the Lord
passed over and the priest in the presence of the people and
the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half
tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the children of
Israel as Moses spake unto them. About 40,000 prepared for war
passed over before the Lord under battle
to the plains of Jericho. On that day, the Lord magnified
Joshua in the sight of Israel, and they feared him as they feared
Moses all the days of his life. And the Lord spake unto Joshua,
saying, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony
that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the
priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. And it came to pass that the
priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord were
come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the souls of the priests'
feet were lifted up unto the dry ground, that the waters of
Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over his banks as
they did before. And the people came up out of
Jordan the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal
in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which
they took out of Jordan did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake
unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall
ask their father in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then you shall let your children
know, saying, Israel, came over this Jordan on dry land. And
the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan before you until
you were passed over as the Lord your God did at the Red Sea,
which He dried up before us until we had gone over. And all the
people, that all the people of the earth might know the hand
of the Lord, that it is mighty, and that they might fear the
Lord your God forever. If you will turn back with me
to Joshua chapter 4, I have some references as I go through this
this morning. What I have for you this morning
is lost in the modern pulpit. as they've lost sight of the
gospel, so their preaching has turned to vain jangling, political
speeches and stories that are meant to make folks feel better
about themselves. You say, is it wrong for somebody
to feel better about themselves? No, but this is not the place
for it. This is the place for the truth. And if you know the
truth, you don't feel better about yourself. David said, I
hate myself That's what he said. This was a man after God's own
heart. What I have for you this morning,
Paul says in Ephesians 3.8, is a message that unveils the unsearchable
riches of Christ. It's a message that you might
see, he said, the fellowship of the mystery which from the
beginning of the world has been hid in God who created all things
by Jesus Christ. The average person is not going
to open this Bible and read these verses and get from it what I'm
about to give you. The fact of it is, it's so special. I'm so convinced that this message
this morning is for you. You won't find this in any commentary. You can listen to all the preachers
that are currently pastoring. You won't find one word about
what I'm going to bring to you this morning. This is a one-of-a-kind
message. And I hope when I'm done that
you'll see it clearly enough to know that it is the revelation
of God. Religion wants to talk about
earthly tragedies, sorrows, and confusion. They take in earthly
curiosities, questions, speculations. And they especially take in the
words and will or wants and will of men. They know what men want. They want a bigger, better house.
They want a two-car garage with two cars to go in it. They know
what men want. They want more, more, more, more. The appetite of the flesh is,
you can't satisfy it. If it had this world, it'd want
another one. But they cannot begin to enter
into the mystery of godliness. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God Almighty, whom no man has
ever seen, was manifest in the flesh, in the person of a man. That makes it an even greater
mystery. But God, he said, has revealed
Him unto us by His Spirit. And then Paul goes on to say,
We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit
which is of God that we might make known the things that are
freely given to us of God. That's what I hope to do this
morning. Which things also we speak, not in words which man's
wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. How does
he teach? He compares spiritual things
with spiritual. And again, that's what I hope
to do this morning. What I have for you this morning
is a picture within a picture. Now, we didn't have iPhones when
we were kids or iPads, so we'd go on a long trip in the car
and we got this little book. It's called an activity book.
It had puzzles and crossword puzzles and all kinds of things
in it. And also, scattered throughout
that book, there'd be a picture. I'll just give you an example.
It'd be a picture of a pristine forest. and a stream running
through the forest, and then down at the bottom it would say,
can you see the little boy and his dog? And you'd look and look
and look, and pretty soon you'd find him, you know. His outline
would be up in the branches or something up there. Well, that's
what I have for you this morning, a picture within a picture. What I hope to do this morning
is give you a picture within a picture, and then I want to
ask you if you can see not only the hidden picture, but can you
see yourself in the picture? Now here's the picture. Israel,
the people of God, the elect of God, are in camp next to Jordan. Moses is dead, laid to rest on
a mountain by God. No one could lay the law to rest
except God. He died, and Joshua is now brought
into view. And Moses, who represents the
law, has accompanied Israel through the wilderness, all the while
teaching them about the covenant promises of God. And now they're
about to cross over out of the wilderness into the promised
inheritance. And Joshua, Jesus, must lead
them in, not mow. Though each would walk through
the river, Yet all will cross at the same time with Joshua. And men and women are saved by
divine covenant union with Christ. When Christ died, we died. When
God raised him from the dead, he justified us and we were raised
up with him. That's the hope of salvation
is union with Christ. Faith is about believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is a person. Christ died, come, and did for
us what we could never do for ourselves. He honored and exalted
the law. He satisfied divine justice.
He died in our room instead. He died, it said, just for the
unjust that he might bring us to God. No other way to come
to God. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. That's what Christ said. And
this crossing is the crossing of the whole church. And what
are they crossing from and to? They're passing from death unto
life, is what they're doing. Paul prayed in Ephesians 1, verse
17, that the Father of glory would give unto them the spirit
of wisdom and revelation of Christ, that their understanding might
be enlightened to know the hope of their calling, the riches
of his inheritance and the saints, and to know the exceeding greatness
of his power to usward who believe and the working of his mighty
power which he brought in Christ when he raised him from the dead
and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places. And
so goes the picture as the river stands in a heap while Israel
with Joshua passes through and is raised up with him on the
other side. This is the picture. That's the
picture of natural Israel entering into their inheritance. That's
a picture of all God's elect going down, being baptized in
Christ all at once, and raised with Him. But there's another picture,
and the picture is the Children's Memorial. As they pass through the depths
of Jordan, twelve men have been chosen to each bear a large stone
and carry it to the place where they will lodge, which is Gilgal,
some six or seven miles from where they cross this river. What is this memorial all about?
It's a type and picture of the local church. So Pastor, how
on earth did you come up with 12 stones being a picture of
the church? Several things. First of all,
the men. How many men? Twelve. How many
apostles? Twelve. Twelve men symbolizing the twelve
apostles. These apostles held a one-time
office to establish the local church. That's what they were
chosen for. That's what they were all about.
Highest office in the church, the apostles. Upon Peter's confession
that Jesus was the Christ, the Lord said unto him, Thou shalt
be called Peter, a stone. And upon this rock will I build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
In Revelation 21, John sees the heavenly Jerusalem coming down
from God out of heaven. And in verse 14 he says, And
the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the
names of the twelve apostles. These twelve stones are pictures
of the twelve apostles. My second reason is the stones
themselves, they were, Joshua chapter 4 verse 3, to be taken
out of the place where the priest's feet stood firm. Now let me show
you something. We're talking about priests bearing
the Ark of the Covenant. The priest stands for the entire
ceremonial law which was upheld by the priesthood. And what were
they carrying? The glorified Christ, the Gospel.
It had to be borne by the priest. They couldn't touch it. You can't
do anything You would rob God of His glory if you were to do
anything or touch anything that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished.
His work was absolutely perfect. Now these stones, what are these
stones? These are the doctrines of Christ.
It's where the priest's feet stood firm. They stood firm on
the gospel of Christ. That's how they bore that gospel.
That's how we bear that gospel today, same way. The priest bearing the ark is
a picture of the ceremonial law and the priesthood carrying the
gospel of Christ throughout the Old Testament. They bore the
gospel. The ark is a picture of the glorified
Christ, and within this ark is Aaron's
rod that budded. Do you remember the story of
Aaron's rod? It budded to signify that Aaron
was God's high priest. Not somebody else, Aaron. His rod budded, nobody else's
did. Now that budded rod is in the
ark, showing that Christ is God's high priest. The one and only. And also there's a pot of manna
preserved in here. Christ is the heavenly manna.
He's the manna. He's the bread. He said, I am
the bread. Moses didn't give you that bread. My father gave you that bread
back there in the wilderness, and I am the bread. Except you
eat of my flesh and drink of my blood, you have no life in
you. And the other thing inside that ark was the law. The law
was perfectly preserved in Christ. The honored, you can't do anything
to it. Anything you try to do to that
law, You just take away from it. And think about this. The ark
itself is the only thing in the tabernacle that supported the
mercy seat. Without the ark, there could
be no mercy seat. All the blood poured out was
poured out on the mercy seat, which was situated above the
ark. These are the stones upon which
the priest's feet stood firm. And these are the doctrines of
Christ. The apostles had no New Testament. The doctrines were
taught and established as the scriptures of the prophets. Now
let me stop for a minute and show you something else. As I
read through that section there in Joshua chapter 4, you see
that there were two memorials built. Joshua made one in the
middle of Jordan. He took 12 stones and made a
memorial in the middle. What's that all about? Well,
that's the doctrines of Christ which were formed in the depths
of the work of Christ. The doctrines that give us hope
are what? The doctrine of justification.
When will we justify? We've justified by the merits
of Christ. And where did we see that? In
the depth of His work. And I'll tell you something else
about it. That work was finished. Isn't that what I read to you
a while ago? What was that work? That was the work of Joshua,
Jesus. It was finished in Jordan. He stood there until it was finished.
The priest didn't move, the ark didn't move, nothing moved till
the work of Christ was finished. When the Lord spoke to those
men on the road to Emmaus, it says, And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, He expounded unto them and all the Scriptures
the things concerning Himself. That's the stones. And those
stones are laid and they'll never be moved. He said they're like
that unto this day, whatever day that was when this was written.
But those stones that those doctrines of Christ establish in law will
never move. They're there forever. Those stones bore witness of
the finished work of Joshua according to the purpose and will of God.
And then fourthly, the stones were carried to the place where
God's elect lodged, Gilgal. What's Gilgal? If you read about
it in chapter 5 verse 9, it's the place where the reproach
of Egypt was rolled away. That's Gilgal. It's the place
where all Israel was circumcised. A mountain of four skins. Forty
some thousand men prepared for war. All of them circumcised
in Gilgal. So where this memorial is about
to be built, is where the people of God are prepared to go to
battle. God has a purpose in his local
church. And he's going to have the local
church, this is the memorial. And the local church is where
God's people lodge. Their doctrines are laid in order
for all to see. And then what do you see when
you see this local church? What do you see? You see some
big cathedral? No, just 12 stones. You don't
build a cathedral out of 12 stones. What do you see? You see the
doctrines of Christ. That's what you see. Are there
people there? Sure, there's people there. Maybe
a multitude, maybe 40,000 like it was in Gilgal. But regardless
of how many, what the believer sees, is the doctrines of Christ. There's
so-called churches all up and down the road. Go there and see
what you see. See if you can find any of these stones. You
won't find them. They're not there. But they are
in Gilgal. Local churches were God's people
lodged. Their doctrines were laid in
order for all to see. And then fifthly, The stones
were laid for a future generation. Why would God have a local church? Because He's purposed to save
sinners for His glory. Has He saved them all? Not yet.
There wouldn't be a local church left. When He's done, that's
the end of the local church. But He plants a local church
because He plans on doing the work. And let me tell you something,
there hadn't a battle been fought yet. They hadn't confronted the
enemy yet. The first order of business after
the resurrection of Christ was what? To establish his church. Some 3,000 souls converted. And there was a church right
there at Jerusalem established. God establishes his church. But
they hadn't fought a battle yet. Yeah, but they will. And they'll
win their battle. and the church will be victorious.
And that's more or less what this memorial is all about. He
said, when your children come, what are they going to see? They're
going to see these stones. What stones? The doctrines of
Christ. They're going to hear them. They're going to see them.
What are they going to do? They're going to ask questions.
God's going to generate an interest. What's all this about? What's
all this preaching the gospel all about? What's this? I'll
tell you what it's about. dividing his inheritance to his
people. That's what it's all about. It's
about a crossing over. Who's going to tell them? Those
who crossed over. That's who's going to tell them.
That's the only people who know. You can't tell what you don't
know. Many preachers I've heard stand behind this pulpit, couldn't
preach a lick. Why? They've never crossed over. By the power of God, these men
crossed over. They walked on the dry ground.
They saw the men gather the stones. They understand what's going
on. And their children, they're faithful. How come your children
are going to see these stones? Because you're going to bring
them. Ain't nobody going to see the stones unless they're brought. You have to be drawn of the Lord,
is what he says in John chapter 6. No man is going to come to Christ
except he be drawn of the Father. There was another marked place
by these 12 stones, and it was in the midst of Jordan where
the priests stood, and these doctors were established forever,
and now they're laid in Gilgal, which is the place where the
reproach of Egypt was rolled away. And notice this, Joshua himself
laid the stones. Christ lays the foundation. Other
foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ the
Lord. And they were laid according
to the purpose and will of God. And then fourthly, these stones
were carried to a place where God's elect lodged in Gilgal,
where the reproach was rolled away. And the local churches where
God's people lodge, their doctrines are laid in order there. They
lodge there, they stay there, they live there. And these stones were laid for
a future generation, which means God has purposed to save some
of the children. He said, when your children, your children. Isn't that what
Peter said? the promises unto our children,
and our children's children, and as many as the Lord our God
shall cause. The battle has not been fought
yet. No walled cities overturned. No enemies defeated. Yet God
set up a memorial for the children of His people, knowing that the
victory was sure, and that His people would receive their inheritance. The local church was the first
order of business in the new land. God's church. It's an action on God's part,
laying claim to the kingdom bought by his own blood. If God establishes
a church somewhere, he's saying this place is mine. That's what
he's saying. This is mine. Where two or three
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. It'd be of little value if it
was just you and I. Oh, but if the Lord's there. God, according to his purpose
of grace, has established local churches throughout the world.
And we gather there and we worship, that is, all who are circumcised
in heart and ears, and we bring our children, that as they grow
older, and if God's pleased to work a work in them, they'll
ask this question, what's these doctrines all about? What's this
all about? What meaneth these stones? Maybe
that's what I should have titled the message. Now let me say this. If you don't bring them, don't
expect any interest. Because there's not going to
be any. If you have no faithfulness to
be here yourself, don't expect them to have one. This memorial has a purpose to
it. place where God's testimony will be heard. And in this place
where God says your children will have an interest. And then
finally, it's from this memorial that all the battles will be
fought. They're sitting right on the outskirts of Jericho in
Gilgal. And this is where God puts his
children. Is there not enemies encamped
all around us here? You don't think these churches
are your enemies? Go over there and preach the
gospel to them. See what happens. That's where God establishes
his church. Right where he purposes to do
battle. Now, here's the thing. He built
this memorial. And what's that tell you? If
God can cause a river to stand in a heap at flood stage and allow his people to walk
over before it bearing the gospel, what kind of a threat is any
power or principality in this world? They could take one look
at that memorial and go to war. You remember what Caleb said
at the first time when the spies went over and he come back? He
said, this is like a story I already told. He said, let's go. Yeah,
but there's giants over there. He said, that's where, when they
finally did go over, Caleb said, that's the city I want where
the giants are. I got a school of seven. In conclusion, let me say this. This body of believers is as
much a memorial as the one in Gilgal. In this place, the doctrines
of Christ are laid in order, and all being circumcised in
heart and in ears, the reproach of this world is rolled away.
Is it not? Our rest is established in God
by way of his son and we delight to come here and remember. That's
another thing this memorial is all about, they would remember.
They call it a memory, yes. I'll tell you what this stone
is all about. We came up to Jordan and coming into this land to
receive our inheritance promised to us through our fathers years
ago. And we weren't left to ourselves
to cross this river. God Almighty cut the water off. He wouldn't let the water touch
us. And you know what Jordan stands for, I told you in the
beginning. It stands for death. Death and judgment can't lay
a finger on you. God caused it to stand up in
a heap. And we walk across behind the
priest bearing the ark. Our rest is established in God
by way of his son, and we delight to come here and remember how
we got here and why. Now I'm struggling this morning
with this stroke, but my hope is that God will continue to
use me for a few more years. And what I have for you is so
special, I wish I could just Make that bear on your heart
how special it is to have a place to go hear the gospel. May the Lord press that on our hearts and
as we listen, create an interest in these things. Where God is purposed to divide
his inheritance, he will erect a memorial. And it'll be a sign
among you, he said. It'll be a sign among you and
your children in a time to come will, not might, will ask this
question, what meaneth these things? And my hope is that in all of
this, you'll see his glory. Put your hope in his son.