Matthew 20 verse 30 reads, And
behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard
that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord,
thou Son of David. And the multitude rebuked them,
because they should hold their peace. But they cried the more,
saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And Jesus
stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I
shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that
our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them,
and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and
they followed him. Yes, as they departed from Jericho,
a great multitude followed him, and behold, two blind men sitting
by the wayside. When they heard that Jesus passed
by, they cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son
of David. Jesus said unto them, What will
ye that I shall do unto you? And they said in verse thirty-three,
which is my text, They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may
be opened. that our eyes may be opened. We live in days where in the
blindness of man's heart multitudes scorn and scoff at the Word of
God and the accuracy of the Word of God. Modern man tries to dismiss the
Bible, the Old and the New Testaments as a mere collection of Men's
writings, myths, stories, morals, historical teaching. They tried
to dismiss it as being a collection of tales, contradictions, and
fables. But the reality is that this
66 books we have before us, written by numerous authors in God, caused
to write Prophets Move the World, the Apostles, Disciples in the
New Testament, has a wonderful beauty and wholeness between
everything which is written in the old and everything which
is written in the new. It is complete. It is divine in its inspiration. It is without error. Everything
that was prophesied in the Old Testament of the coming of Christ,
of Messiah in the New Testament, was fulfilled. There is not one
word in this book which is truly contradictory, no matter what
men may say. If it's studied carefully and
if it is studied with the eyes being opened, with the eyes of
faith, it will be seen that it is perfect, and in complete union
between the old and the new. And this morning I want to show
you something of the beautiful union that there exists between
the Old Testament and the New Testament by comparing some of
what we read in Matthew's Gospel with some of the accounts in
Joshua where there are many Similarities in essentially type and figure
between the accounts in Joshua and of Joshua's bringing the
children of Israel into Canaan, that promised land, and of the
coming of Messiah in Matthew's gospel, as Messiah comes into
this world and comes declaring the gospel of the kingdom of
the kingdom of heaven. There's a union between the Old
and the New Testament, as we see in John's gospel, where John,
in presenting him his gospel, he presents seven irrefutable
signs which point to the person and the work and the glory of
Christ as being the Son of God. In John's gospel, John in chapter
20 and verse 31 writes of these signs and of his gospel that
these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his
name. And so here in Matthew's gospel,
these things are written, in fulfillment of the types, figures,
prophecies, and promises of the coming of Messiah and his kingdom.
These things are written, that ye might no longer be blind,
sat as it were by the wayside, somewhere between the Old and
the New Testaments, somewhere between Jericho and Jerusalem,
like these two blind men sat on the wayside. These things
are written that ye might no longer be blind, but that having
your eyes opened, that seeing, you too might believe and know
that Christ is him who was prophesied, and him who has come, the Messiah,
the King, the Savior, the Lord of Lords, who brings in his kingdom. So let us look at Matthew's gospel
a little this morning. Under seven headings, I'm gonna
bring out seven aspects of the truths that are brought out here
in Matthew's gospel and their similarities to various things
we read in Joshua. I want to look at the kingdom.
I want to look at the witnesses to the king and his kingdom.
I want to look at the approach of that king. I want to look
at the city in that kingdom. I want to look at the woman who
was saved in that city. I want to look at the king's
victory. And I want to look at the establishment of that kingdom.
Firstly, the kingdom. In Matthew's gospel, we read
constantly of the kingdom, of the gospel of the kingdom, of
the kingdom of heaven. Matthew presents the Lord Jesus
Christ in a very particular way amongst the gospels. Each gospel
is in a certain light. Matthew sets Christ forth as
the Messiah. And as the Messiah that comes
to establish his kingdom. Not a kingdom established upon
the earth as the Jews expected and hoped, but a kingdom which
is established in the hearts of God's people. An inward and
a spiritual kingdom. The kingdom of heaven. but a
kingdom that is definitely seen and experienced and entered into
upon this world, but not as an outward kingdom, as an inward
kingdom. Constantly we read of the kingdom and the kingdom of
heaven throughout Matthew. We read in Matthew 4 of how Christ
went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Matthew 4.17,
4.23, Matthew 9.35, he goes about preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And his approach into this kingdom,
his approach into the kingdom is very much like Joshua of old. In Joshua, we read of Joshua
leading the people forth out of the wilderness, across Jordan,
into that land which had been promised them, a land flowing
with milk and honey, the land of Canaan. And Joshua leads the
people into that land which was inhabited by other nations. And
he leads them to take that kingdom and to establish it as their
kingdom. As the kingdom of the people
of gods. For the people of Israel. He leads the people forth and
they approach unto various people that inhabit that land. They
come unto Jericho. And they overthrow Jericho by
the might of the Lord's hand. And they approach into various
cities and various places in that kingdom until eventually
God gives them the land and divides it amongst the 12 tribes. And
Joshua brings that people into that land which had been promised
them. That picture of that kingdom of heaven which is promised to
all God's people through Messiah who would come and would bring
in an everlasting kingdom, a heavenly kingdom. the kingdom which is
not in this world and which is not of this world, but which
is of heaven, which lasts forever. So we see Messiah in Matthew's
gospel come in to bring up his kingdom. In Matthew five to seven,
of course, Christ preaches what is called the Sermon on the Mount.
He goes up into a high place, into a mountain and brings his
disciples under him. and he declares the wonderful
truth of this kingdom and of the character of those people
who would be citizens of this kingdom. He preaches to them
out of a mount as it were in heaven above to declare unto
them how heavenly this kingdom is and how different from the
kingdoms of this world. So there's a kingdom. Joshua
brought his people into a land and Christ brings his people
into an eternal and a heavenly land. a kingdom of which he is
the king. But in our reading in Matthew
20, we read of two blind men sat by the wayside. And I've
brought your attention to these two blind men because of where
they are sat, on which wayside, on which road they are sat. They're
very significant in Matthew's gospel, these two blind men.
They sit here on the wayside as Christ journeys up from Jericho,
where he had been ministering, to Jerusalem, where he would
ultimately lay down his life for his people. And these two
blind men are on this road, on this wayside, from Jericho to
Jerusalem. And this links Jericho of old
and Joshua's overthrow of Jericho in the Old Testament with the
coming of Christ, the coming of Jesus. coming of Messiah,
who would ultimately lay down his life for his people at Jerusalem. And in his ministry here, Christ
journeys from Jericho to Jerusalem and meets these two blind men,
who are set before us as witnesses unto Christ, witnesses unto the
gospel, as pictures of mankind, and of their blind state, but
as pictures of those who were given insight beyond their natural
blindness, who were given insight into who the Son of God is, and
into who this Jesus is, who passes them by on the way from Jericho
to Jerusalem, who passes them by as it were as a figure. linking
the old to the new the old testament and the new testament these men
had heard of joshua of old who overthrew jericho and here joshua's
anti-type he who joshua was a type and figure of passes them by
here this joshua jesus the king the messiah passes them by and
they know who he is Though blind with the natural sight, these
men are given some insight into who this is, and they're given
some insight to call upon him. For they cry out unto Jesus as
he passes by, have mercy on us, O Lord, the Son of David. Have mercy on us. Just like us by nature, they're
blind. And we're all blind. And we're
all blind to who Christ is. We're all blind to who Jesus
is. We're all blind to those things in which he's the fulfilment
of. We can read the scriptures and
not see that the Old Testament prophesied of him. Not see just
who he is and how great he is. Not see whose son he is. But these men were given sight
to see. They were given insight to know
that this was the Lord, the son of David. the one who was prophesied
of, and they cry out unto him who can show them mercy. Have
mercy on us, our son of David. They refer to him as David, the
son of David, the royal throne, the son of a king. Matthew's
gospel opens by showing us Christ's lineage from David, by showing
us his royal birthright, his royal lineage, from his father
David, that he has this royal line, that he is this royal king,
this king, this messiah, who was prophesied of. He comes as
a king to enter into his kingdom. And constant reference is made
in Matthew's gospel at various points by various people. They
refer to Christ when they see him, the blind men here, and
others as they approach unto Christ asking him to heal them. They refer to him as the son
of David. They know where he was born in
Bethlehem. They know who he is. He's the
son of David. He's the king. He's of royal
descent. And this fact infuriates the
Pharisees. The Pharisees who come across
him and hear him teaching and hear this man teaching in their
temples and in their towns are infuriated by him. In Matthew
12 verses 23, we read that the people were amazed and said,
is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard
it, they said, this fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub,
the prince of the devils. Jesus knew their thoughts. He
said unto them, every kingdom is divided, Every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or
house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan
cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then
his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out
devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they
shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the
Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else
how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods,
except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his
house? He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad. So the people testified to Christ
as the son of David, and the Pharisees who should have seen
him, who were the blindest, were infuriated. These blind men knew
he was the son of David and they knew that there was hope to be
healed of their natural blindness from this one who could touch
their eyes and make them see. Know that there are two blind
men here. There are two, there are two
witnesses. They remind us of this pathway
from Jericho to Jerusalem. They remind us of Joshua of old
and his conquest of Jericho. And we're reminded when we think
of that, that when the people of Israel came to the borders
of the land, that they sent two spies in to spy out the land.
And two spies went into Jericho, and they were protected in Jericho
by Rahab, and ultimately released to come and bring word unto Joshua
about their land. And the report of those spies
would lead to the overthrow of Jericho. and the salvation of
Rahab and her house. And here there are two witnesses
in Matthew's gospel to Christ. Two witnesses to the truth of
who he is. Two witnesses as it were that
connects the old and the new testament. Two witnesses that
present the gospel to us. Earlier in Matthew's gospel there
is a very similar account in chapter nine there are two blind
men by the wayside in chapter 9, who likewise cry out as Jesus
passed them by, thou son of David have mercy on us. And when he
was coming to the house the blind men came unto him and Jesus saith
unto them, believe ye that I am able to do this, and they said
unto him, yea Lord. And then he touched their eyes
saying, according to your faith be it unto you, and their eyes
were opened. So we have early in the ministry
of Jesus in Matthew's gospel, two blind men who cry unto them
as the son of David. And later here in chapter 20,
again, we see two blind men by the wayside. Two accounts, two
blind men, two witnesses that as it were, connect the old and
the New Testament and point us clearly to who Jesus is. But consider who Jesus is and
his approach. These blind men sit by the wayside,
and by them passes by Jesus. On his way from Jericho up to
Jerusalem, as he heads for Jerusalem to accomplish that which he had
prophesied, that which he had told his disciples of, that he
must lay down his life, that he must be given up into the
hands of the scribes and the Pharisees, and that they would
take him and that they would deliver him to the Gentiles to
mock and to scourge and to crucify him. And the third day he should
rise again. Earlier in chapter 20 in verse
17 to 19, he had told his disciples of this, you see. And then he
leaves Jericho and approaches Jerusalem and these blind men
encounter him. So the king is on his way to
Jerusalem. The Messiah, the king is approaching
unto his city, unto the city. Jerusalem unto Zion. He's approaching
into this city where he would bring about his victory, where
he would lay down his life to save his own, to save his people. Here, unto Jerusalem approaches
Jesus, who would save his people from their sins. This is the
approach of the King. Him of whom it says in the opening
of Matthew, before he was born, that Joseph was told in a dream
of Mary, that she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
And Jesus the Messiah came into this nation. and he comes and
approaches unto the city, unto Jerusalem. The king approaches
to save his people from their sins. But consider the approach
of the king before he comes finally to approach unto Jerusalem here.
In Matthew's gospel, the events are ordered in such a way that
Christ's approach unto Jerusalem is as it were left unto the end.
Now we know from the other gospels that in other accounts, we read
of Christ teaching in the temple in Jerusalem, but Matthew presents
the chronology of Christ's ministry in such a way that he doesn't
present his approach unto Jerusalem until the end. Earlier throughout
Matthew's gospel, it's emphasized how Christ's ministry is exercised
throughout Judea, and throughout the far side of Jordan. Only
when Christ then leaves Jericho and approaches unto Jerusalem
to lay down his life to be offered up and crucified do we read of
him the King entering Jerusalem. But before that his ministry
is exercised constantly throughout Judea and on the far side of
Jordan. Read of that in Matthew 4 and
Matthew 19. 19 one says the coast of judea beyond jordan his ministry
is conducted beyond jordan just as the nation of israel before
they entered canaan or in the wilderness on the far side jordan
and eventually joshua leads them through jordan and leads them
through into canaan into that promised land and leads them
unto jericho and unto jerusalem and unto the various cities of
that land where they conquer and take the land from the other
nations. But that time until Joshua leads
them forth, they're on the far side Jordan. And so in Matthew's
gospel, in fulfillment of this figure, Matthew constantly reminds
us that Christ's ministry here is on the far side of Jordan.
Indeed, when he comes to be baptized, when he comes unto John, to be
baptized in Matthew 3, he's baptized in Jordan. That river which speaks
of death, that river which speaks of the people of God being brought
through the rivers of death, and being brought through by
the lead of Joshua, who brings them through death and brings
them through the other side, out of the wilderness, into the
kingdom, into the land, into that promised land. So as a fulfillment
of this figure, Christ is baptized by John in the river Jordan as
another pointer to that baptism which he would be baptized with
when he would lay down his life for his people. Having told the
disciples earlier in chapter 20 of Matthew that he would be
delivered up and would be betrayed, the mother of Zebedee with her
children, her sons, worships him and asks whether her sons
could be on the left hand or the right hand. when he enters
into his kingdom but he rebukes them and says that these things
are not his to give but he reminds him of that baptism that he would
be baptized with and he asked them whether they could be baptized
with that baptism and they said yes and he says that they should
indeed drink of that cup and be baptized with that baptism
that he is baptized with for his disciples would indeed die
with him as he went through Jordan and would it indeed rise with
him as he came out of the river having led them forth. Christ as it were in this ministry
in Matthew conducts his ministry in throughout Judea he as it
were takes circuits throughout the land he leads his disciples
on circuits throughout Judea and throughout Jordan and he
as it were approaches Jerusalem circling it but not entering
in until that day in which he would conquer it and when Joshua
of old was sent to conquer Jericho the Lord told him to lead the
people forth on circuits as they would circle Jericho and they
would circle the city. And as they circled it, they
would blow the trumpets and they would carry the Ark of the Covenant.
And the blowing of the trumpets was a picture of the proclamation
of the gospel. They would blow horns, the Lamb's
horns, those horns which pointed to the Lamb of God. And the trumpet
in the power of God in the gospel in that gospel which declares
the power of the Lamb of God who would lay down his life to
save his own. And as they circled the city,
they blow these horns, they would, as it were, declare the gospel. The sound of the gospel would
go forth, that gospel which would eventually give them the victory.
And eventually on that seventh day, God gave him the victory
and the walls came down. And this picture is seen in Matthew
as Christ conducts his ministry, as Jesus the Messiah, the King
of whom Joshua was a figure, as he comes to establish his
kingdom, as he comes to overthrow Jerusalem and the old religion
and the old fortresses, the old strongholds of The old religion
and the old covenant of the Jews, as he would come to bring everything
down, everything falling down the walls that were set up by
man and his religion against the entrance of the gospel, as
he would come to bring the victory. As he leads his disciples around
through Judea, he preaches the gospel. He preaches the gospel. He comes preaching the gospel
of the kingdom. declaring the gospel of the kingdom
and that kingdom of heaven that he would bring in. Joshua used
no force to overthrow Jericho. And Christ here doesn't bring
force. He doesn't come to establish his kingdom by force. He doesn't
bring swords. He doesn't come to fight with
physical force. But the force he has, the power
he has, is that power in the gospel. What do you know of the
gospel? What do you know of that power
in the gospel? That power which is like no power. That power which can break the
hardest heart. Which can bring the strongest
stronghold crushing to the ground. That power which can break your
heart. Your hard heart by nature. That power which can make your
blind eyes to see. And your deaf ears to hear. How
hard is your heart to this Gospel this day? Has your heart been
broken by the Gospel? Has heavenly light been shone
in? Have your eyes been opened to
cry out to Jesus, the Son of David? Or is your heart still
hard? Do you harden your heart this
day? Do you shut your ears and shut
your eyes? or have you heard something of
Christ, the King, the Messiah, Joshua, who comes preaching the
gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. So the King approaches, he leaves
Jericho, he approaches unto Jerusalem where he would bring in his victory,
where he would fulfill every prophecy of him, where he would
die for his people. And he passes these blind men
who cry unto him, who point to him, who are witnesses to him,
and he heads for the city where he would lay down his life. Consider
the kingdom, the witnesses, the king and his approach, and he
comes now to the city. The city. Throughout Matthew's
gospel, We read of cities and houses. Christ prophesies in
Matthew of the destruction of Jerusalem, of the destruction
of the temple, and here he approaches Jerusalem near the end of his
ministry, where he would bring in the victory, where he would
do that which ultimately would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple and all which stood in the old covenant, all
which was of man, that he might bring in the kingdom of heaven,
and bring in that which is eternal, and that which is of God. As
I said, throughout Matthew's gospel, there's this constant
imagery, Christ constantly refers to houses, the house of God,
the strong man's house, which we read of. It's constant reference
to the cities, to their city being left unto them desolate,
to Sodom and Gomorrah, is constantly set forth cities and houses and
is presented for a reason. The destruction of these cities
and their houses is mentioned chapter 10 verse 15 verse 25
11 verse 1 chapter 12 29 we read of houses the masters of the
house the preaching from the housetops In chapter 11 and verses
20 to 24, Christ upbraids the cities. He condemns them for
the hardness of their hearts. In chapter 12 and verse four,
we have reference to the house of God and of David, going into
the house of God as appointed to Christ. And in these things,
there's a clear division made. It's clearly pointed that though
he comes into Israel and though they have the cities and though
they have the land and though they have the city of Jerusalem
and they have their temple that they have departed from the things
of God. And Christ comes preaching a judgment upon those whose religion
is but in the letter and in the flesh. And he pronounces that
their city will be left unto them desolate, that Jerusalem
will be destroyed, but that a remnant will be saved from amongst them.
There's a division scene. He reminds his hearers that a
man's enemies are those of his own household. And so as he comes
to his own, as he comes to those, the Pharisees, those as it were
of his own household, he finds that his enemies are those of
his own household. His enemies are those Pharisees
who should recognize him as the people did, as the son of David,
as the Messiah, as the King, and yet they railed against him
and they sought to stone him and to slay him. but there are
those few amongst these people who were those who recognized
him those under whom he was revealed those who cried out like these
blind men oh son of david lord thou son of david have mercy
on us christ says in matthew 15 verse 24 that he is sent to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. He comes unto the house, but
not to save all Israel, but to save the lost sheep from the
monster. So as he approaches unto the
city, he comes to that place where he will lay down his life,
where he will be delivered to the Gentiles, to be mocked, and
scourged, and crucified. He comes unto the approaching
to the city, And he enters the stronghold. He enters, as it
were, the strongman's house. He comes unto the lion's den.
He enters, as it were, into the dragon's lair, or the hornet's
nest. This place strongly occupied
by the Pharisees, the scribes and the Pharisees. Those who
should recognize him, but those who would deliver him to be crucified. Comes into the strongman's house.
And before he can spoil the house, he must bind the strong man.
And the binding of the strong man would only come when he would
lay down his life. For Satan would rage against
him. And Satan would seek to overthrow him. And Satan would
think that he had the victory when the chief priests offered
him up. When Satan moved in their hearts
to rage against this king. this Messiah, this one that claimed
to be the Son of God. Satan thought he had the victory
when he had them take him and deliver him to the rule of the
Romans, deliver him to the Gentiles. When he saw him mocked and scourged,
when they nailed him to the cross to crucify him. When he died
upon that cross, Satan thought he had the victory. And the Pharisees
thought they'd done away with him. And the Pharisees thought
that was the last they'd hear of this troubler in Israel. Him
who came to cause trouble in their house and their place and
their temple. And yet, in so doing, though
Satan, though the strong man thought he had the victory, though
he brought the law to condemn the Saviour, He had nothing in
him. He had nothing to condemn him
with. And Christ died the innocent for the guilty. He died in the
place of his people, the just for the unjust. And in so doing,
he brought his greatest victory. For he bound that strong man,
Satan. And in what Satan thought was
his victory, Christ destroyed him. and delivered his own and
he rose the third day in Jerusalem with a great company in him for
whom he died and for whom he shed his blood. So Christ came
to the city as Joshua came to Jericho and he came into the
city. But why did he come into that
city? For whom did he die? He came to lay down His life.
He came to save His people. Thou shalt call His name Jesus
for He shall save His people from their sins. He came to save
a people. When Joshua came unto Jericho,
who was saved out of Jericho? Were the people of Jericho saved? That wicked, that evil, that
foul, that base, that violent people that sought to slay the
spies which were sent before into that city, sought to do
unto them as they willed, that horrible, vile, wicked people. As Joshua went to destroy that
city, who was saved? Who was saved out of that great
city? How many were saved? Well, we
read in the account, in Joshua, that out of that great city of
Jericho, there was one particular woman, one woman, there was one
woman in her house who was saved, Rahab. Out of the whole of that
city, when that city was destroyed and the walls fell down flat
at the blast of the trumpets and the shout of the people,
as the Lord gave them the victory, God saved one woman in her house.
She was singled out. The whole operation, as it were,
was for the salvation of her and her alone. Joshua was sent
to take that city, to destroy everything which was rotten in
it, but he was sent to save one woman who was shown mercy. And likewise in Matthew's Gospel,
this picture of that of those of the one whom christ would
come to save is singled out in the emphasis of the kingdom in
christ conquest in order to establish that kingdom there's constant
reference to the deliverance of a woman of a woman in matthew
9 and verse 20 we read and behold a woman which was diseased with
an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him and touched the
hem of his garment. A woman. In Matthew 15 and verse
22, again we read, And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of
the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me,
O LORD, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. Note that, a woman of Canaan. came out of the same curse and
then of course in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 7 they comes into
the house of Simon the leper comes into the pharisee's house
they came unto him a woman having an alabaster box a very precious
ointment and poured it on his head as he sat at meat now here's
three women named in Matthew's gospel three women was come to
the saviour They're not named, and they're not named for a reason,
because the emphasis here, as the Spirit will seek to emphasize,
is that there is a woman which is approaches under Christ. A
needy woman. A woman who needs help. A woman. One woman. And as it were, Christ
comes to save this one woman. He comes to save and lay down
his life for this one woman. Rahab. And this woman with this
alabaster box in Simon Aleppo's house, we see as it were a crimson
line run all the way from Rahab in the Old Testament to this
woman mentioned in Matthew's gospel. There's a crimson line. Rahab let down that red cord
out of her window that the people might see her and rescue her.
and she's remembered in the gospel and that crimson line that red
line laid out of her window pointed to that blood of christ which
would save his own and here we sit we read of in matthew of
a woman a woman a vile woman a sinner both these women were
harlots both sinners both vile both base the lowest of ill repute
having nothing in them to deserve any mercy. Nothing about them
that they should be saved. Vile, those that others would
cast off and turn their backs on. And yet both were shown mercy. Like the blind men, these were
shown mercy. And they were saved. And they
were saved by blood. And they were delivered. From
Matthew 12 and verse 7, Christ says, I will have mercy and not
sacrifice. And he came to save a people. He came to save a woman and he
came to show her mercy. Both these women are memorialized
in the gospel. They both picture that people
that Christ should save. They're both pictures of his
bride, the church. Joshua, as it were, destroyed
Jericho, the whole city. and save just one person and
her house from its midst, just Rahab. As we read in Joshua 6,
17, and the city shall be accursed, even it and all that are therein
to the Lord. Only Rahab the harlot shall live,
she and all that are with her in her house, because she hid
the messengers that we sent. One woman. And here in the gospel,
Jesus destroys Jerusalem. He brings Jerusalem to an end,
everything that it represented of the old covenant of religion
in the flesh, of that people who received not God's messengers,
God's messengers of grace, who received not the prophets, who
received not the apostles, who received not Christ, who received
not the messengers of the gospel. Those who deceived it not would
be destroyed. But he being crucified outside
of its walls, was crucified to save, as it were, one person,
one woman, one woman and all her house, his bride. He died
for that one woman. He died for that one woman, the
bride, his church. And that people pictured by that
one woman, that people who are the bride, that church, those
for whom Christ died, are those who receive the messengers, those
who receive the messengers of the gospel with gladness and
those who hide their message in their hearts where others
reject and others condemn. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot
alive and her father's household and all that she had and she
dwelleth in Israel even unto this day because she hid the
messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Yes, everything
is for one person. And that's grace, isn't it? That's
the gospel. Jericho was destroyed for Rahab
alone and her house. It's so personal, so particular. And Christ came, as it were,
into Jerusalem, rejected of all, to lay down his life, as it were,
for one person, one woman. so particular, so personal, was
it for you? Are you that one for whom he
came? Can you say of Paul, of Christ,
that he loved me, gave himself for me, so personal, the woman
saved? The victory, he comes to the
city, The city was destroyed of old. Jericho was destroyed
that the people might be given the land Canaan. That their enemies
might be driven out. That they might be given the
land and that which was of old, that which was not of God might
be driven out. And here in the gospel Christ
comes And he dies in Jerusalem. That Jerusalem might be destroyed
and overthrown and all that it represented, all the old religion,
everything in the flesh might be taken away. Everything might
be taken away through his death. And through his death he might
bring in the victory that he might bring in his kingdom. He
dies outside the city walls. His victory is brought outside
the city walls just like Joshua blew the trumpets outside the
city walls and the walls came crushing down. But the victory
is brought outside the city walls as we read of Christ's crucifixion
in chapter 27 of Matthew in verse 50. Jesus when he had cried again
with a loud voice yielded up the ghost And behold, the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and
the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were
opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and
came out of the grave after his resurrection, and went into the
holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion
and they that were with him, watching Jesus saw the earthquake
and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying,
Truly, this was the Son of God. His victory was wrought outside
the walls, but his victory was complete. In his death he brought
in everlasting salvation, in his death he took away his people's
sins, in his death he washed them clean in his blood, in his
death he delivered them from sin, he delivered them from death,
he delivered them from condemnation, in his death he as it were brought
them through Jordan dry shot, In His death, He brought them
into that everlasting kingdom. In His death, He took away all
their enemies, inbred sin, their sins, their condemnation, their
guilt. He took away the accusations
of Satan, their accuser. He took away the accusations
of everything that should be set against them. In His death,
He took away the law which they were bound by. In His death,
He brought them into life. everlasting life in his death
he brought them into the kingdom in his death he gave them a city
in an everlasting kingdom all from his death all outside the
city and that old city and all that it represented was destroyed
as Jericho's walls were brought down flat to the ground and as
Jericho would never be rebuilt so all that Christ delivered
his people from would never be rebuilt The old covenant was
taken away, the new covenant was brought in, and everlasting
salvation for all his elect, from the beginning of this world
to the end, was brought in. He brought in a great victory.
As it was said of Jericho of old in Joshua, Joshua adjoined
them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord that
riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho. He shall lay the foundation
thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he
set up the gates of it. Jericho would never be rebuilt,
and so will that which is of the old covenant. After Christ's
death, Jerusalem was razed to the ground, and the old covenant,
and the old priesthood, and the old ways were taken away, and
Christ brought his people into a new kingdom, an everlasting
kingdom. all those for whom he died his
bride the woman are saved they were shown mercy like the blind
men that sat by the wayside that cried out to the son of david
their eyes were opened have your eyes been opened to see the son
of david Are your eyes opened? Do you see? For by this way,
as he came into Jerusalem and by his death, he established
an everlasting kingdom, an everlasting kingdom. By this means he saved
his people from their sins and he brought in this kingdom. And
at the end of Matthew's gospel, we read as he takes his disciples
up, into a high mount to look upon the kingdoms of this world
and he goes up into a mount as it were into the heavens to remind
his disciples of that heavenly kingdom of which he brought them
in. He charges them at the end of Matthew's gospel and he says
this unto them. Then the eleven disciples went
away into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them
and when they saw him they worshipped him But some doubted, and Jesus
came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Amen.