Thank you. That was great. One
of my favorites. It's good to be with you today.
I appreciate your pastor, my pastor, inviting me here during
his absence. It's an honor. It's always a
joy to be with you. I'm with family. I'm home. It's
good to be home. Always good to visit here. Would
you turn with me to Joshua, Joshua chapter 23? Or read the first five verses,
Joshua 23, and then skip down and read verse 14. Joshua 1 through 5 first. And it came to pass a long time
after that the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their
enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.
He was a hundred and ten years old. And Joshua called for all
Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for
their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old
and stricken in age. And ye have seen all the Lord
your God hath done unto all these nations because of you. For the
Lord your God is he that hath fought for you. Behold, I have
divided unto you by a lot those nations that remain. to be an
inheritance for your tribes from Jordan with all the nations that
I have cut off even unto the great sea westward. And the Lord
your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them
from out of your sight, and ye shall possess their land as the
Lord your God hath promised unto you." Verse 14. And behold, this day I am going
the way of all the earth. And you know that in all your
hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed
of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning
you. All are come to pass unto you
and not one thing hath failed thereof." When Charles Spurgeon
As a young man first came to London to pastor there, he hadn't
been there very long when a young man came to him who felt God's
call upon him to preach the gospel. The first thing Mr. Spurgeon
would say to such young men when they would approach him concerning
the call, Mr. Spurgeon would tell them, don't
do it if you can help it. Don't do it. That's good advice.
That's good sound advice because Spurgeon knew if God had called
them, if God indeed was calling them to preach, they couldn't
help them. Be like Jeremiah. His word was
like a fire in my bones. I had to speak. But the first
time a young man came to him and asked him would he help him,
help instruct him and so forth in the ministry, And that enlarged
to be hundreds, and to my understanding, that college, Pastors College,
is still there today. But Spurgeon advised these young
men, as often as they could, to be
at the deathbed of God's people. If they had opportunity, avail
themselves of it, to be at the deathbed of God's dying saints. Spurgeon said, you will learn
there what you can't learn from a book. You'll see there firsthand
the reality of God's grace. The reality of God's grace and
the sufficiency of God's grace. Will His grace support me in
that hour? Will it? Will God be true to
His word in that hour? What Joshua said concerning God
and His Word, that not one thing had failed of all that He had
promised me, will that hold true when I'm leaving this world?
When, as the old hymn puts it, change and decay all around I
see. When I'm leaving this world,
when I'm taking that step into the unknown to a large degree,
Never been there before, Merle, and I won't be coming back to
tell you about it. Oh no, will God's grace be sufficient
then? Soon, as one said, I shall go
the way of all the earth. That's what Joshua is speaking
of here. His time to leave this world
was very near. That's why he called the leaders
of Israel around. The scene before us is near that
time. Tell us, Joshua. Let us listen
in. Tell us of your experience of
God, His faithfulness, His promise. Is it so? Is it so? Turn, if
you will, back to chapter 1 here in Joshua. Let's compare what
God said to Joshua soon after the death of Moses when He, Joshua,
would take up the mantle and lead the children of Israel,
those multiplied thousands, into the promised land. Here in chapter
1 and verse 1, now after the death of Moses, the servant of
the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the
son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant is
dead. Now therefore arise and go over
this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I
do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Look down
at verse 5. There shall not any man be able
to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with
Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee. What a comfort that must have
been to young Joshua at this time. Look down at verse 9. The
Lord again repeats it. Have not I commanded thee? Be
strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with
thee. whithersoever thou goest. And then in chapter 21, we read
this, chapter 21, verse 45. Concerning that promise that
God gave to Joshua, all the promises of his faithfulness, verse 45
of chapter 21, there fell the nod off of any good thing which
the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel All came to pass. All came to pass. In that day that Ruth sang about,
when with holy thrones were standing in the presence of our King,
every child of God, every individual will be able to look back upon
the way God brought them, And Joshua's testimony concerning
Israel, God's word to them, will be the testimony of every child
of God in glory. Every individual of those multiplied
thousands and thousands of thousands shall be able to say everything
God promised. Every word, not one thing. Not one thing has failed. Everything He promised has come
to pass. He promised to give His elect
grace. He promised to preserve them.
He promised to keep them. And He that promised grace also
promised glory. Now here we are before the throne
beholding the King and His beauty. Not one word. Not one word has
failed. Joshua reminded them of this. that what God promised, he's
able also to perform. Child of God, let me ask you
this. Lindsay mentioned David and being
burdened for him and asking that we pray for him. David's going
through a trying time now and has for some time with his health.
I pray that God will use the doctors to find out what exactly
is wrong. But child of God, during difficult
times, Is anything more comforting to you than the sweet assurance,
as David said on one occasion when the enemies of God mockingly
said to David during a difficult and trying time, David, where's
your God now? Where's he at now, David? You
know the verse. Such a comfort. and how blessed
it is to be able to reply, to have this answer. My God's in
the heavens. My God's where He always is. He's not like your gods. He's
not made out of your hands. He's the creator of all things.
Our God is in the heavens as He always is, where He always
is, doing what He always does, ruling and reigning supreme over
everything and everyone. Our God is in the heavens, he
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." Is there anything that's
a stronger support as we live or a softer pillow for our head
when we lay down to die like Joshua was about to do than that?
To know that our God is in the heavens and not one word shall
fail of all that he has promised us. I read a story, I think it
was a story that Mr. Spurgeon told in one of his messages.
There was a young girl who was on a ship, a passenger ship,
of which her father was the captain. And one night after the passengers
had gone to their cabins and gone to bed, a pretty severe
storm arose. And the officers were commanded
to awake the passengers because they may have to get in the lifeboats. They wanted them to be ready.
So they went to the cabin where the captain's daughter was sleeping
and woke her up and told her what was happening and you need
to wake up, put on your life jacket. And she asked them, well,
is father still on board? Is my father still on board?
And they said, oh, yes, of course. Your father, the captain, is
still on board. And she laid back down to go to sleep. Father's
on board and our father is always on board. He never abandoned
ship. The captain of our salvation
doesn't prevent all the billows from rolling. He doesn't always
allow us to sail on a sea of ease. Oh no, sometimes the storms
of life are raging. Sometimes the billows roll over
our soul. Is He still the captain of our
salvation then? Is God still in the heavens then?
Is His grace still sufficient then? Oh, exactly so. Especially
so. It's even more sweeter then.
Oh, they're like landscapes in our spiritual pilgrimage. Those times when our Lord comes
walking to us on troubled sea and says, Does such a time come
to your mind right now, child of God? Did you mark such a time
in your life when you thought, oh, surely this next billow,
this wave will be the end of me? And then here he comes, walking
up on the storm because he said, I'll never leave you. There's
nothing can keep me away from you. Nothing. Nothing. I'll come
to you. I'll come to you, he's promised.
And he comes walking up on the troubled sea and speaks over
the tumult and says, it is, It is I. Mark, who else would we
have? Who else would we want? Who else
would we need? But he to come to us and speaking
in words as only he can. It is I. Be not afraid. The psalmist said, I will lift
up mine eyes into the hills from whence cometh my help. My help
cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not
suffer. He will not allow thy foot to
be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. Yes, Father is on board. He always is. Joshua says there's
not one word, not one word of any promise that he gave concerning
you has failed. All has come to pass this day. Oh, what a comfort it is to know
that our God is in the heavens and he that has loved us with
an everlasting love He that works all things together for our good,
to those who love God, to those who are thee called. That's not
everybody. Thee called. Those who are affectionately
called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Those who are
called into the arms of the great Shepherd of the sheep. Those
He takes up on His mighty shoulders and He says He brings them all
the way home. All the way home. He seeks them
and He finds them and he saves them. Oh, what a comfort it is
to know that them he did foreknow he also did predestinate. And
those he did predestinate, them he also called. And those he
called, he'll glorify. Don't call if we'll not enter
glory. Don't bother to call me by your
grace if you'll not keep me by that same grace and bring me
all the way to glory. Oh, but what a comfort it is
to know that he which hath begun a good work in us will perform
it in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's briefly visit another
deathbed. Let's take Mr. Spurgeon's advice
and visit the deathbed of another believer. Turn, if you will,
to 2 Samuel chapter 23. You know the place, don't you? It's a familiar one. The sweet
singer in Israel, David the son of Jesse, that one who went from
tending sheep to being king over God's people. Israel, oh my,
what a checkered life the son of Jesse led. Why didn't David
have his ups and his downs? He was a man just like you and
I. When we read concerning Joshua
and David and Paul and these others, remember, they were men
just like you and I. They were no different than you
and I. I mean, listen to Paul, for example. Can you not identify
with it? When he cries, O wretched man
that I am, yes, that same one who was caught up to the third
heaven and saw things that wasn't lawful for him to utter, he also
cried out, O wretched man that I am, O this struggle within,
when shall I be delivered from the body of this death? Someone
said it was like a picture of a corpse strapped to him. When
shall I be delivered from this? Yes, they were just men like
you and I, but God's promise to them, God's word to them,
he fulfilled. All came to pass. Here in 2 Samuel
chapter 23, look at verse 1. Like Joshua said, David also
says, this time has come for him as well. It comes to all
flesh. All flesh is grass. Your life's
like a vapor. We're here for a little while
and soon we're going to vanish away. 24 years ago I came to
Danville. And, uh, Lindsey, you've changed. Mark, you've changed. Rex, you're
still riding your bicycle, but you have changed. And so have
I. Change and decay all around I
see. And so it was with David. Here
in verse 1 of 2 Samuel 23. Now these be the last words of
David. David the son of Jesse said,
and the man who was raised up on high, The anointed of the
God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, look down at
verse 5. Child of God, I know you can
identify with these words of David's. Although my house be
not so with God. My, my, my. David had his share
of suffering, didn't he? Heartache, trials. And he looks
back and he says, although my house be not so with God. Oh, the things that happened. The things that took place. And so much of it was his own
fault. Although my house be not so with
God. Yet. Oh, blessed yet. What a word full of grace. Yet. He had made with me. No matter
what I failed to do, or no matter what I did do, God has made with
me an everlasting covenant. He made that everlasting covenant
of grace with the great Shepherd of the sheep. And that's ordered
in all things insure. Nothing can change that. Nothing
can touch that. Nothing can change that. David
says, I look to that, that everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire,
although he make it not to grow. God is faithful, David says,
just like Joshua did. Let's look at one more. Turn,
if you will, to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 4. Some commentator,
I don't recall which, said that Paul faced death as calmly it
seemed like someone arising to answer a knock at the door. I
mean, if David didn't tell us himself that he was in prison
and what he was facing here, we wouldn't know it. They could
lock Paul in, rather. They could lock Paul away, put
him in that dungeon in Rome, but they couldn't lock Christ
out, could they? No, bars don't keep out Christ. He says, I'll come to you. I'll
be with you until the end of the world, until the ages roll
on. Look what Paul writes here in
chapter 4. Among his last recorded words
in Acts chapter 20, he met with the Ephesian elders
of the church on his way to Jerusalem. And he told them, I go bound
in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there. I know that bonds and afflictions
abide me. But none of these things move
me, that I might finish my course with joy, to testify the gospel
of the grace of God. Until I finish my course, I'm
not deterred. Paul now has finished his course. That time had come. Verse 16,
chapter 4. At my first answer, no man stood
with me, but all men forsook me. None wanted to be identified
with me. I pray God that it might not
be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, yet, yet, as
David said on his deathbed, notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened
me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that
all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the
mouth of the Lamb. And the Lord shall deliver me
from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly
kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and for ever." And since
God says, I am the Lord, I change not, the same God that spoke
His promises to Joshua, to David, to Paul, and to you and I. Is He not the same now? Is He not that God who says,
I am the Lord, I change not? Therefore, therefore, there's
a necessary and sure consequence to God's immutability. Therefore,
because I change not, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob,
are not consumed and that includes you and I, child of God. You
and I. The word of God, his promises
are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. They're as sure to you
and I as they were to Joshua. Joshua said not one word had
failed. So did David. So did Paul. So can every child of God. In
Hebrews chapter 11 we read in verse 13 concerning the Believers,
those pilgrims and strangers in the world, Abraham, others.
We read that these all died, but more, more, not just that.
These all died in faith. These all died in faith. The
precious gift of God's faith and repentance to his children
are without repentance. That is, he never repents. He
never withdraws them. He never takes them back. Once
he grants the gift of faith, it can't be destroyed. Can't
be destroyed. You can't stop believing. Even
when Peter stood there cursing and calling down curses from
heaven from God upon his head to try to convince those around
him that he could not possibly be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth,
still in his heart of hearts, he yet believed. the precious
gift of God's faith. And these all died in faith. They died still believing, still
trusting, still looking. Oh no, I don't hint for a moment
that any sinner, any believing sinner's faith is perfect. It's
far from perfect. Oh no. But the object of faith? Now that's perfect. The object
of faith? is altogether lovely, because
the object of faith is Jesus Christ himself, and he's perfect. A faithful pastor, just before
his own death, was asked by some friends at his bedside what his
thoughts were concerning eternity. Eternity to which he seemed to
be so very near at that time. And he said, well, I'll let you
know. You've asked me, so I'll let you know. And he stretched
forth a feeble hand, and he said, Here it is. Now here's the last
words of a child of God. Here it is. The grave, the wrath
of God, devouring flames, the just punishment of sin on the
one side. And here I am, a poor sinful
soul on the other side. But, but, grace has made a difference. But here is my comfort. The covenant
of grace which is established on so many sure promises has
saved me from all. He said, and I like this, there
is an act of oblivion passed in heaven. God says, I will forgive
their iniquities and their sins will I remember no more. No more. Oh, what a comfort that
is. That is the blessed privilege
of all included in God's covenant of grace. I made a copy of an
article, I want to share it with you, perhaps some of you have
seen it, but I believe it was in a bulletin of Brother Bruce
Crabtree. It's called, I Can't Mess It
Up. Bruce wrote and told this story,
he and a friend were talking about the blessed gospel of God's
grace. And Bruce said, I can't remember
exactly all the details that we talked about, but I'm sure
that we talked about God's electing love and redeeming grace and
how that the Lord in tender mercy called us out of darkness with
a call that we could not resist. And has kept us till this day
and has refused to let us go. When saints get to talking about
spiritual things, they often talk about such subjects as these. And when our discussion was almost
over, my dear friend put the icing on the cake and he said,
and one of the best things about all this is that I can't mess
it up. I can't mess it up. And Bruce
said he thought about that and he said, Jesus has finished the
work. It's already been done and I
can't mess it up. My sins had already, already
been punished and atoned for, and I can't mess that up. It's
a done deal, Merle. I'm in Christ accepted and complete
and sealed into the day of redemption, in Christ now, and in Christ
forever. I can't mess that up. And I feel
like I've messed up everything else, but thanks be unto God,
I can't mess this up. Bruce said, it's unmessable. Unmessable. And thank God so
it is. Ordered in all things ensured. We can't mess it up. I want to glorify God, don't
you? I want to live a life that honors Him. I want to be faithful
to Him. But there's not been a day since
God brought me out of darkness into His marvelous light. There's
not been a day at the end of that day that I've laid down
in my bed at night and not looked back over that day and not seen
all matter of sin. And if my hope, if my hope of
acceptance is the foundation upon which I rested dependent
upon that, I wouldn't have any hope. Oh, but my hope is this,
like Bruce wrote, I can't mess it up. This sinner is accepted
in to be loved. Lindsey, I'm with him. I told
you the story. Several years ago, I played in
Lindsey's tournament, his family get-together, and one of the
places we played was at the club that he belongs to here in Danville.
I wasn't a member there, and somebody asked me while we were
waiting for everyone to show up, some guy came up to me and
said, who are you with? I think it worked there. Are
you a member? I said, no, I'm not a member, but I'm okay to
be here because I'm with him. I'm with Lindsay there. I'm with
him. I'm with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, I'm accepted and to be loved. One hymn writer put
it like this. You've heard it many times. With
his holy garments on, as holy as the righteous one. We read,
forgive one another. even as God had, for Christ's
sake, forgiven you." Think about that. What will God not do for
Christ's sake? For Christ's sake. He accepts
me for Christ's sake. He forgives me for Christ's sake.
He's promised to bring me to glory for Christ's sake. No wonder Joshua said, not one
word. Not one word has failed. Now you know that the word Joshua
is the Hebrew of the same word Jesus in the Greek. They mean
the same thing. Jehovah Savior. Or Jehovah is
salvation. Our Joshua. Our salvation. Our Jehovah Savior is Jesus Christ
Himself. Joseph, quit tossing and turning,
the angel said. Don't worry. about taking Mary
to be your wife. She's not been unfaithful to
you. That's not what's happening here. That holy thing that's
been formed in her, that's the Son of God. That's God. And when He's born, when He's
born, oh, this couldn't have been said of Joshua of the Old
Testament, could it? This can only be said of our
Joshua, Jesus Christ, our salvation, our God and Savior. Call His
name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. My soul, what a task! What a work! But He did it. He did it. And we can't mess
it up. Saved from sin's penalty? If
He doesn't save all of His people, all those that got His Father
before He ever created the world, or a star or a planet, He entrusted
the souls of all of His people into the hands of our blessed
surety, Jesus Christ. And Christ became responsible
for all of His people, every one of them. And if He doesn't
save His people from sin's penalty, from sin's dominion, from sin's
curse, and one day from sin's very presence, then change His
name, Lindsay. Don't call Him Jesus. If he fails
in any way to save one of his people from all of their sins
forever, don't call him Jesus. Oh, but blessed be his name that
is so. That is his name because he has
saved his people from all of their sins. He's Jehovah the
Savior and he's mighty to save. Dear dying lamb, thy precious
blood will never lose its power. Oh, it speaks just as satisfying
and effectually to God now as that day when he shed it upon
the cross and cried, it's finished. It's just as vital, just as real,
just as purifying, just as atoning for sin as it was then, as it
is today. Oh, dear dying lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power to all the ransomed church of
God, all those from whom you shed it. be saved of sin no more. Yes, He's mighty to save and
He's able today because He's Jesus, Jehovah Savior, the same
yesterday, today and forever. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by Him. There's never been a sinner,
never been a sinner come to the Savior sincerely seeking His
mercy who didn't find it, never did and never will. He's mighty
to say, behold your King, your great God and Savior, behold
your salvation, Jesus Christ Himself full of grace and truth. Joshua of the Old Testament can
only go so far as a type, can he? Because our Joshua stands
alone as to who he is and what he's done. He by himself purged
our sins. Who can set us Who could typify
that? There are no types that can reach
far enough. That's why all the scriptures
he said testify of me. Remember when on the Mount of
Transfiguration Peter and James and John were there and Moses
and Elijah appeared and talked with the Lord concerning his
decease, his death, his exodus is the word there. His exodus
that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. I like how the Bible
talks, don't you? I hear preachers talk about Jesus
tried to do something. Or Jesus made something possible.
Or it might work if you do your part. Oh, no. He accomplished. He accomplished the redemption
of His people. He obtained eternal redemption.
He purged their sins. He did everything. Every word,
every promise, everything He came into this world to do, He
accomplished. That's the language of Scripture.
Because He, or Joshua, shall not fail. He obtained their eternal
redemption. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And now we have in heaven Jesus
appearing in the presence of God, we read in Hebrews, appearing
in the presence of God for us. Man, we're well represented. Now I know where I now live in
Alabama is no different than it is here. Watching television,
it seems like one out of three commercials is about an ambulance
chasing lawyers that never lose a case. Jesus Christ, our advocate
with the Father, we're well represented. Well represented for Christ's
sake. Without Him, there would be no
heaven, no salvation, no hope. Without Him, indeed, there would
be no heavenly Canaan at all. I go to prepare a place for you
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. John said in Revelation 14, he
saw the Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion and with him, the
Lamb and his company, the bridegroom with his bride. When I pastored
for several years, a little church back in West Virginia, There
was a brother there, Waldo Arthur. When we would observe the Lord's
table, I would call on Waldo to pray. I'll never forget it.
He would say, Father, thank you for the blood of Christ. Thank
you for the precious blood that made atonement for our sin. He
said, we feast on it. And Father, you feast on it.
And we're both satisfied. We're both satisfied. God's satisfied,
and so are we. That's why we preach Christ alone. Christ always. Christ enough. Because without Christ, men will
die in their sins. Without Christ, you have no salvation. You have no hope. You have no
mediator. You have no assurance. Oh, but
with Jesus Christ, you have everything. everything that you need. That's
why the prophet said, look unto me. Look unto me and be ye saved
because I am God and there is none else. Aren't you thankful
that God made you look? Made you look, dropped the scales
from your eyes and enabled you to look. Again in Joshua, we
read, not one word hath failed. And it never will. Never a promise
that God made to his people, not one word shall ever fail. I read a statement that Brother
David Edmondson wrote not long ago. He said, if there was one
square foot on this whole earth where God didn't rule, David
said, I would always be afraid that that was the place I was
standing on. But bless God, he rules all the
time, everywhere. Our Joshua, our Jesus, our great
Jehovah Savior has never failed. He's never failed. Not one time,
not anywhere, not in anything. Think about that. He's never
failed and He shall not fail. As we read here concerning God's
promises, all came to pass. All came to pass. Joshua died. Soon after, what
we read there in chapter 23, Joshua died. And so did our Joshua. He died. He died. He bowed his head upon the cross,
said, it's finished. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And he died. Oh, but that death,
that death proclaims redemption attained. Sin put away, God satisfied,
and he proved it three days afterward when he raised him from the dead. And now he comes forth and says,
I'm he that liveth, was dead, but I'm alive forevermore. And I have the keys of hell and
of death. And because I live, because I
live, ye shall live also. Martha, whosoever liveth and
believeth in me, She'll never die. She'll never die. Believe
us, thou this. In chapter 5 of Joshua, we read
that the children of Israel did eat of the land of Canaan that
year. All of their journey, their journey
in the wilderness was finally over. And they ate of the fruit
of the land of Canaan that year. Our Lord, before he went to the
cross, in John 17 in his priestly Our priestly prayer said, Father,
I will also that all those whom thou hast given me be with me
where I am. This is my will, Father. I will
that they be with me where I am. My soul, when the Son of God
wills that his children be with him where he is, I ask you, who's
going to hold them back? Who's going to stop them? Be
with me where I am. And the same one, our Joshua,
that gave us grace, shall also give us glory." Isn't that a
blessed thought, that this year, this year for some of us, some
of us may eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year. This year, before it's over,
may be the year that we behold the King in his beauty. Let me
close by reading a few stanzas of a hymn of old Augustus Toplady. A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant
mercy I sing, nor fear with thy righteousness on my person and
offering to bring. The terrors of law and of God
with me can have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood
hide all my transgressions from view. The work which his goodness
began, the arm of his strength will complete. His promise is
yea and amen and never was forfeited yet. things future, nor things
that are now, nor things below or above, can make him his purpose
forego, or sever my soul from its love. Not one word hath failed,
all came to pass, and so shall it be. God bless you. Thank you
for your attention.