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. 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, burying it, then you shall remove from
your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between
you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Come not near
unto it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for
you have not passed this way hithertofore." They haven't passed
this way before. Joshua said unto the people,
Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among
you. And Joshua spake unto the priests,
saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before
the people. And they took up the ark of the
covenant, and went before the people." Now there are just a
few notes that I've noticed from the few first verses, really
the first three verses. The first verse Joshua rose early
in the morning. He just stopped right there.
He stopped right there. One of the old writers, the old
commentators, he said that not much good has ever been done
from laying down. You know, from being idle. From
being idle. But what I notice about this
is Joshua, this believer, rose up early in the morning. He's
prepared to do what he has to do. He's not a sluggard. He's acting in faith because
the Lord said, do this, you're going to possess the land. You're
going to have to lead the people Moses did, but now you're going
to have to lead. As I was with Moses, I will be with you. So
he's got to start. He's got to do something. He's
got to start. So he's not a sluggard. He's
acting in faith. And he's ready to meet whatever
our Lord brings his way. Those three things just came
off just looking at this first verse. However, if you turn to
John chapter 8, John chapter 8, this reminds
us of one who is more glorious than Joshua. Joshua's namesake
perhaps, Savior, Redeemer. John chapter 8 verse 1 and specifically
verse 2, Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives and early in
the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came
unto him and he sat down and taught them. It was the custom,
I don't like that word custom, it was the characteristic of
our Lord Jesus Christ to rise early. So this Joshua, rising
up early, I think is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ready
to lead, ready to die, Christ. And Joshua, the Lord said, I'm
gonna give you the land. He didn't say there wasn't gonna
be any casualties. He didn't know. As a type of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Christ is always ready to lead, to teach, ready to die. He gave his life a ransom for
many. He gave his life for the glory
of God and the salvation of all his elect. He never flinched.
He said, my face is set as a flint to do the task that I have a
baptism to be baptized with. He did not shrug the responsibility
to do, to honor and glorify his Lord. Yet he set his face as
like a flint to the task ahead of him. He rose up early in preparation. That's the first general thing
I see. Joshua rose up early in the morning. I'm not saying there's anything
special about that. I'm not saying there's anything
sanctified about that. I'm just saying, whatever we do, do it under the
Lord. He rose up early. He started preparing his mind
physically. He started preparing himself
for the task at hand, acting in faith. The second thing I
think is really interesting, this is you and I. He removed
from this place and he came to Jordan, he and all the children
of Israel, the little ones, the big ones, the little kids, the
adolescents, the adults, the young adults, the old men, all
the children of Israel, and lodged. Okay, they camped, they slept,
they sit there before they passed over. Verse two, and it came
to pass after three days, what are they doing? Okay, they get
up, and then they lodge, they camp right on the bank, the banks. Now I don't have any, Melinda
and I with our history and knowledge of Lewis and Clark and these
different things, I often, and we did all that, we did that
from the Mississippi from down here to Illinois, all the way
to Seaside, Oregon. It was just beautiful. And we
went to different museums, and each different museum, they had
the Great Falls, Montana, they had what they had to do, and
they almost quit there. But I can't imagine going without
a motor, I can't imagine going without contemporary transport
to the bank of a river, and you gotta cross it. That many people. What does this tell us? Okay,
Jordan is this picture of death. on the newness of life. Okay,
so they're looking death in the face, looking square death in
the face. Three days they looked at that
barrier. That's the promised land. Here's
this barrier and here they sit. They looked at the trouble. They
looked at the sheer impossibility by themselves crossing it. They didn't know how they were
going to cross it. They sit down there. They didn't build anything.
They didn't start collecting anything. I don't know, maybe
there's possibly trees around, but they didn't do a thing. They
just, they sat. They get there. They lodged there
before they passed over. It came to pass three days, three
days, sitting there, looking, probably starting to get a little
discouraged. looking at trouble, looking at
death, looking at sin, looking at all these things. This huge obstacle. So that tells
me, before the Lord can do much with us, we must be brought to
the end of self. We must Like when they came out
of Egypt, he said, stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord. They couldn't do anything. Their backs were against the
Red Sea. The Egyptians were coming. So when every thought, three
days, every thought, and I imagine the old guys, just like in a
coffee house, they're sitting there, you know, if you did this,
this, and that, you could probably, or if you went up a little bit,
they probably talked it over. And they came back, can't do
a thing. God doesn't need our help. He's
not going to use us, our help, our assistance in salvation.
Not our free will, not our supposed decisions, any of this. To see
the utter futility of self is what's going on here. Three days,
right in their face, consider it, ponder it. You must be saved. How can I be saved? Melinda and I were talking, it's
still, It's impossible for those who are rich to enter the kingdom.
It's like a camel going through the eye of a needle. That's still
the same today. And I know we think rich, well,
I'm not rich, you're not rich. It's all subjective. We're rich
if you want to compare us to the Africans that Jean-Claude
preaches to. We're very rich. Money is a hindrance. It's a hindrance. It's still
true. It's impossible. The statement was so befuddling
to these commoners. Remember, they were ignorant
and unlearned men, but they'd been with Jesus. It was so befuddling.
They said, who then can be saved? Well, we're like, well, you know.
No, it's impossible. Totally. Three days. Sit and
ponder your situation. See, this is, preaching misses
this. They build you up, they have plays, they talk about how
good you are, and all these different, these counseling sessions, all
this kind of stuff. We must be brought to the end
of ourselves before God will show himself gracious to such
undeserving wretches like us. This is what these scriptures,
I'm gonna look at, we're gonna look at some scriptures, and
this is beautiful. Now, I've never seen it like
this. This is absolutely, Beautiful Okay, this is if the scriptures
reveal God's method of grace. I remember Years ago Henry preached
God's God's method of grace. He preached it out of Acts And I he had like 15 point outline
I wrote every one of them down It's in my study Bible, but I
looked at that last night and it's how God saved sinners. I
It's how God saves sinners. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter 19. Turn to Acts chapter 19. We're not
going to look at the whole thing, but this, in 2 Corinthians, hold
your finger on Acts 19, 2 Corinthians chapter 1. This is what Paul's
talking about. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 verse 8, For we would not,
brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came unto us
in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure above strength,
insomuch that we despaired even of life. Now Acts chapter 19
verse 22 forward, that's the account. So if you want to look
at that and read it at home, that's the account. Demetrius' uproar against Paul. He made his money by making idols
to Diana. He's preaching against those,
a total uproar. They almost got pulled apart.
They almost died. That's what Paul's talking about.
Let me read this in 2 Corinthians. This is beautiful. We would not,
brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble. Three days, they
see trouble all over the front. They have no solutions. All the
old men get together, they think, they can't come up with a thing.
The young men and their strength and their power, they can't do
a thing. The children and their innocence, supposedly, sometimes
children, they see things so simple, nothing, there's no help
from man. And that's what he's going to
bring every elect sinner to see. Okay? This is what he's doing
to Paul. Out of measure, pressed above strength, insomuch that
we despaired even of life." Look it, here we go. But we have the
sentence of death in ourselves. That's what's going on in Joshua.
When we see the death to self, we look upon Him whom we pierced
and we mourn. We mourn because we put Him on
the cross. We mourn for ourselves because we have the sentence
of death. There's no good thing in us. Okay, keep on. We have
the sentence of death in ourselves. Why? Why does he bring this death
blow to self? Why do we sit there for three
days and look at this over and over and over and there's no
solutions? You wake up, there it is again. You go to sleep,
you wake up, there it is again. There it is again. Look at this.
We had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not
trust in ourselves. But in God, which raises the
dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver,
in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. That's salvation. It's just, Romans, Romans chapter
four. I've never seen that in Corinthians
like that, in that light. that that is what he will he
will bring to make us realize we have the sentence of death
in ourselves and then we trust we can trust in God that he will
deliver us and yet he's able to live and he will deliver us
Romans chapter 4 verse 17 through 21 as it is written I have made
thee the father of many nations before whom whom he believed,
even God, Abraham, who quickened the dead and called those things
which be not as though they were, Abraham, who against hope believed
in hope that he might become the father of many nations. According
to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being
not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead." When
he thought there was some life in himself and Sarah's womb,
it wasn't going to happen, right? And when he got to that age,
it is utterly impossible. That's what God, through the
gospel, being preached, will do. It will wreck havoc on us. It will bring us to have the
sentence of death in ourselves. This is the same thing that Abraham
experienced. uh... now and being that week
in faith he considered on his own body he didn't consider it
now that when he was about a hundred years old needed to get the deadness
of sarah's womb he's dead woman's dead he staggered not at the
promise of god through unbelief but was strong in faith giving
glory to god and being fully persuaded that what he had promised
god promised he was able to perform That is salvation. That is regeneration. That is newness of life. That
is quickening. And this continually happens every time He gives us
faith. Every time we walk from faith to faith, the scripture
says, that means not We continually have the sentence of death upon
us. I think Nathan said years ago, and I read the same thing,
maybe it wasn't, I don't know who it was, but they said, you
know, years ago in the Roman Empire, they would, you know,
if you did some crime, they would chain a dead person. And you
had to walk around and drag that body. I've always been reminded
of that. We've got two natures. But we
reckon ourselves dead And here's the beautiful thing. Look at
2 Chronicles chapter 20. Look at this phrase. 2 Chronicles
chapter 20. Like I said, they're sitting
there three days looking at this. 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Look
in verse 12. Jehoshaphat's prayer. They're
trying to overthrow these enemies, but they're too great for them.
Look at verse 12. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For
we have no might against this great company that comes against
us. Neither know we what to do. But
our eyes are upon thee. Back to our text. Verse three, and they commanded
the people saying, when you see the ark, there's the sentence. You look within, it's death.
We are to look without. We are to look outside. Nevertheless,
it's too great an army. We can't do it, says Jehoshaphat.
But our eyes are upon you. That's exactly what's going on
here in Joshua. It's just beautiful. This is
exactly what Faith, this is the picture of saving grace of God
in the ark. For the third point, verse three,
then you shall go look at it and go after it. It is truly
looking unto Jesus that gives life to believe upon him, his
name, his person, his glorious redemptive work. Look away from
self, look away from trial, from hardship, difficulty. and cast
your cares upon him because he says he cares for you. Verse
3, and they command the people, when you see the Ark, when you
see the Ark of the Covenant, that's meant, it's something
a little bit more than just the Ark, it's the Ark of the Covenant.
Because in there, there is more testimony of what God was going
to do for them, by those three articles that were in there. You're God and the priest of
Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from the place and
go after it. Go after it, go after him. Jacob, I'm not gonna let you
go until you bless me. And he hits him in the thigh,
touches him in the thigh. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, go after him. Don't be content with
just a mere glimpse As the psalm says, look full in His wonderful
face, and the things of this earth will go strangely dim in
the light of His glory and grace. That's it. That's it. And... Oh, we just need to be taught
this over and over and over again. Over and over and over again.
Look away from... Because we have the sentence
of death. It's just death. Death. There's life in the look
and there's hope in the crucified Savior. And they said, and Joshua said,
sanctify yourselves, for you're gonna see glorious things. Verse five and verse six, the
priest take up the Ark of the Covenant and pass over before
the people, and that they took up the Ark of the Covenant and
went before the people, and the people saw it and went, acted
by faith. Today is the day of salvation,
don't harden your heart. Believe upon Him now. But I thought
this was interesting. Look upon the Ark. Look upon
this Ark. It's a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Don't look anywhere else. Actually,
nowhere else was allowed. Isn't that the Christian faith?
You look anywhere but to Christ? I don't care how doctrinally,
how orthodox your religion is. or how doctrinally correct, or
even if you can spell superlapsarianism. If you look somewhere else other
than Christ, eternal ruin. Nowhere else was
allowed, nowhere else would do them any good, because they're
sitting there looking at their trouble. Like I said, to me,
The lowest common denominator, it just seems like the Bible,
there's split twos. Old nature, new nature, heaven,
hell, just twos. You're either looking at yourself,
or your troubles, or you're looking at Him. I mean, really, it comes
down to that. I don't care how we turn it,
justify it, because I just sit there and listen to stuff at
work, I'm just amazed. I am amazed that grown men, and
then I step back and I realize they are blind, They're totally
blind. I don't care how intellectual
they are about money. I don't care how intellectual they are
about cars, vehicles, all this stuff. They are blind. They're either blind or you see. The gospel is for those who see. Who see. Now, they were to not look to
their religion, to their doctrine, but they were to look at the
ark. It's Christ. Some of these Old
Testament stories and these types are so clear. The command of the people say,
when you see the ark, go after it. Now, Christ speaks much better
things of those things of old. The shadows and types, they're
done away. We don't look to Mary. We don't look to our lucky socks. We don't look to our crosses.
We don't look to any of this stuff. We look to Christ. Salvation
is in a person. The Lord Jesus Christ. But the
beautiful thing is they were made to sit down. 2016, that's just psychologically cruel. We're going to have to get a
bunch of psychologists to come in here and help him talk to
him. Settle this thing down. Well, the gospel says we're blind. Christ says I'm right. And only
by his grace can we even look to him. And looking to him, we don't like what we see here.
We do not like, what did Job say? I abhor myself and repent
in dust and ashes. Three days. Now I'm sure there's
something in that three day thing. I tried to figure that out but
it got too over my head. I'm just like, this is what's
teaching me. Maybe in five or six years I
may understand what that means. But all I know is sit down. The same thing with the fishes
you've been talking about the last couple of weeks. Sit down. What do we
got to eat? Not enough money. Not enough
fishes. Send them away. No, no. Stand still and see the salvation
of God. He does stuff when we quit moving
around. What did I see? We saw this board up here. If you'll let Him. If you'll let Him. He didn't need any help here. Amazing story. If I don't get
any further than Joshua, that'll do me. That's just wonderful. Absolutely amazing. Go after
it. Go after it. Because you can't
go forward, you can't go backwards. You're just sitting there looking
at all the troubles. Sin. Sin lies at the door. Judgment. Damnation. Hell. Can't go that
way. That's what he does. He'll, in
that message in Acts, I think it was 20 where I did, in my
study Bible, where Henry, I wrote all those down. That's what he
does. He brings you to the end of yourself. Zacchaeus, come down. If I can just touch the hem of his
garment. She tried to, she went to all the doctors and they would
have said she grew worse. I just had someone to lift me
up and put me in that pool. You don't need that. You need
the grace of God. Well, may we think on these things
and be not a little encouraged and excited that the grace of
God's even come our way. And He's allowed us to, in a
small area, glorify Him and honor Him. What a privilege. What an
absolute privilege. Bruce, would you close us?