I'd like for you to take your
Bibles this morning and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4. I've got a little bit of a sore
throat. I asked Lindsay to read through chapter 3, but I find
my text in verse 3 of chapter 4. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith, and them that heard
it. For we which had believed do enter in to rest." I want
to talk to you by the Spirit of God, by the grace of God this
morning, about an invasion of the land. That's the story that
Paul sets before us in Hebrews chapter 3 and Hebrews chapter
4. It was an invasion. But before I get into the message,
I want to call your attention to what it says at the beginning
of verse 4. It said, for we which have believed. You see that? Look back in verse
1 of chapter 3. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession. There must take place before
there can be a serious considering of this apostle And our priest
set forth in the book of God a heavenly call. A heavenly call. All things, Paul said, work together
for good. Lindsay was talking about that
in Psalm 128 and what a blessing it was. All things working together
for our good. Blessed is that man who can walk
with God. All things working together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. And Jude, he addresses his letter
to those sanctified by God the Father, set apart in a covenant
of grace before the foundation of the world, preserved in Jesus
Christ by His atoning blood, by His righteous works. and called. In 2nd Timothy, chapter 1, verse
9, he says, God hath saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
And then in Romans 8, it said, whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. and whom He did predestinate,
them He called. Before we can begin to enter
into the deep things of God, when are we going to believe
the Word of God? When is that going to take place?
When are we going to look and read and say that means what
it says? It says, I have not seen nor
hear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him, but he hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. Before we can begin to enter
into the deep things of God, before we can begin to consider
this man in his majesty, And that's what he does in Hebrews
chapter 1 and Hebrews chapter 2. He sets forth the majesty
of his person and the glory of his offices. He's higher than
the angels. He's greater than the high priest
of Israel. He's after the order of Melchizedek,
this priest. He's more glorious than the sacrifices. And Paul told that Thessalonian
church that God had from the beginning chosen them to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit. There is a setting apart
of the Spirit of God. There is an invasion of the land.
That's what takes place. Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. You're going to believe God before
you receive any benefits. Now you write that down. It just
flat ain't going to happen. I don't care what you've been
told. You've been lied to. You've been told something different
than that. We're unto, Paul said, he called you by our gospel to
the obtaining. It wasn't just an invitation
that went out and fell on the ground. He said, my word don't
do that. My word accomplishes what I send
it to do. And that heavenly calling, that's
what these two chapters are all about. Hebrews chapter 3 and
4 is about God establishing His kingdom in us. That's what it's
all about. It's about the Lord Jesus in
the majesty and glory of His person setting up His reign and
laying claim to His rightful inheritance. It's about His going
deep into the land. deep into that place where the
enemy dwells, and setting up his king on his throne. That's
what Hebrews chapter 3 and 4 is all about. And to illustrate
what he's talking about, he reaches back into the history of Israel.
Now, everybody in here knows what Israel's all about. They're
set forth in this book, chosen in one man, Abraham, set forth
as a nation of people, a natural people to typify Those things
which God in his glory would accomplish through the Lord Jesus
Christ, the establishing of his kingdom. They were a people brought
up out of the iron furnace of Egyptian bondage. That's all
they knew. They labored and labored and
labored and labored and received nothing for their labor. Just
more labor. And they laid down there for
400 years. in that iron furnace of Egyptian bondage. They were
a people that God caused to journey through the depths of the Red
Sea, peeled back the waters, allowed them to pass on dry ground,
and then swept away the enemy with an overflowing scourge. Israel was a people who stood
on the opposite shore and watched the fall of the enemy wash up
on the bank. Israel was a people kept and
preserved by the power and purpose of God for 40 years in the wilderness,
in a place that bore no food, in a place that housed no water. They walked there and their shoes
never wore out the whole time. They walked there and God caused
bread to rain down from heaven. He caused water to come forth
from a smitten rock. They came to the waters that
were bitter, and the tree was cast in, and the waters were
made sweet. They were a people preserved,
protected, blessed by the purpose and power of God. And Israel,
Paul said, what makes Israel so special? Well, he tells you
over there in Romans chapter 3. They had the oracles of God. You know what that word means,
oracles? I always thought it meant things of God. That's not
what it means. It means utterance. Utterance. God spoke to Israel. He didn't
speak to the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and
all the otherites. He spoke to Israel. They had
the oracles of God. They had the utterance of God
in their midst. God spoke to them. God directed
them. God protected them. God blessed
them through His utterance. They had the utterance of God.
The book of Hebrews begins with that statement. Did you know
that? God, who at sunry times and in diverse manners spake
in times past to our fathers. Who spoke? God spoke. How did
he speak? Through the prophets. What did he have to say? Well,
Hebrews chapter 4 verse 2 says the gospel was preached. That's
what he said. That's what God said. It was preached to them by the
blood over the doorpost when he brought them out of Egypt.
It was preached to them in their baptism in the sea. It was preached
to them in their tabernacle in the wilderness by the high priest
of Israel, the atonement, substitution. It was preached by the washing
and sprinklings and eatings and drinkings. It was preached to
them in the Ark of the Covenant and in every detail of that tabernacle. God said, you see to it you build
it exactly as I've instructed you to build it. And to this nation was given
by promise a land flowing with milk and honey, a land where
Israel could rest and find peace and prosperity and fellowship,
where God could establish them as his people. and how they must
have dreamed of that promise down there in that iron furnace
of Egypt when the taskmaster's whip was on their back and they
labored and labored and labored only to wake up to more labor,
how they must have dreamed about that land, thought about that
land flowing with milk and honey. And God brought that nation right
up to the edge, right up to the boundary. And he said, pick from
among you 12 men. And I want them to go over into
the land. And before you go in, I want you to hear their testimony. And he sent over there 12 spies
to spy out the land. And they went all through the
land. They went up into the mountains and gazed down at the valleys.
And they went secretly all around the people who abode there. And
they came back with their testimony. And 10 of the 12 said, count
me out. Just count me out. I'm telling
you, we was over there. Merle, there's giants in the
land. The children of Anick. Giants in the land. There's walled
cities of refuge over there. Huge walls. And here we are,
people with nothing but swords How are we going to go in there
and overcome such an obstacle? There's armies in there. They're
organized. The place is populated. It's
already populated. We can't go in there. We'll be
trampled down. We can't go in there. And the
people stood there listening to the testimony and trembled
and began to murmur against God and murmur against Moses. And
God said, as I live, As I live, by my own name, I swear this
people will not go into that land. And every mother's son of them
fell their carcasses, he said, will fall in the dust. They're
not going to be buried with the memory of their name. They're
not going to be buried in memory of their family. Their carcasses
are going to fall in the dust under the plague of God. And
every last one of them did. They spied out the land. And only two of them had a good
report. They brought back fruit. It said
they cut one cluster of grapes down and put it on the pole and
carried it with two men. The place was full of fruit.
But they didn't dwell on the fruit. They dwelled on the enemy. This whole generation around
me talking about the blessing and benefits of the kingdom of
God and peace and prosperity and blessings and joy and rejoicing
before the Lord and walking with the Lord. And they're talking
about a place that they only dream about. They're talking
about that place that they dreamed about down in Egypt. They're
talking about pie in the sky and the sweet by and by. That's
what they're talking about. Somebody got up and gave a bad
testimony, and they skipped over the part where the land they
seeks inhabited. They skipped over that part about
the wild cities. They skipped over that part about
the giants who live there. I preached down in Arkansas the
other day, and one of the old members of the church asked one
of the visitors, he said, well, what do you think about that,
son? And his son looked at him and said, it sounded just like
the preacher who died, just all gloom and doom. Well, that's
all you can say until you see the glory. That's all there is. And what you said, I'm telling
you, these men brought back a report and every word of it was true.
It was an evil report, but it was a true report. There were
giants in the land. David's living proof of it. He
went out and fought Goliath in the valley. There were giants
in the land. There were walled cities. Jericho
was walled all the way around. There were mighty armies out
there in the land. Israel found out when God put
the curse on them and told them their carcasses were going to
fall in the river. Then they had second thoughts, and they
said, well, we're going to go up now. And they went up and slayed
everyone up. They all died. It's gloom and doom. Let me tell
you something. If God ever brings his gospel
to you, he's going to show you what's inside before he shows
you his glory. He's going to show you what's
inside the land. He's going to show you where
that kingdom is going to be established. He's going to show you the enemy.
And you're going to stand and tremble. You're going to tremble before
us. Paul said, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, and against powers,
and against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. I know we have a bunch of us
ideas. I made my little profession of
faith. I said, well, I've made my decision. I'm all fixed up. I'm OK. Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
I, with the finger of God, cast out demons and devils. No doubt
the kingdom of God has come unto you. For when a strong man arm
keepeth his palace, his goods are at peace. But when a stronger
than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, and taketh
from him his armor, wherein he trusteth, and divideth his foes. That's when salvation comes to
the heart. That's what that is. And he said, the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling
down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high
thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. I'm telling you, God's going
to bring you up, and you're going to see the enemy. You're going
to see deep inside the land, and you're not going to see it
in a vision. I'll tell you how you're going to see it. God's
going to send his messenger before you, and he's going to tell you,
and you're going to accept his testimony. Write it down. Write it down. Ain't coming no
other way. And if we ever experience this
heavenly calling, in Hebrews chapter 3, verse 1, we'll be
brought to see what's inside, darkness and doom. That's what's
in there. The enemy that was born in the
land of Canaan was a people cursed of God. Did you hear? I got to
read that the other day on those Canaanites, where'd they come
from? That's the children of Cain. Every nation in that land
Their father was cursed for some reason or other before God. Fallen. Fallen. It was a land fallen
under the curse of God. But it was the land of promise. He's going to take a man who's
looked inside. And he's not going to tell you
what Spurgeon said, and he's not going to tell you what Gill
said, and he's not going to tell you what somebody at John Knox
or somebody said. He's going to tell you what he
saw. And I tell you, you take a man
that's been inside, and he can tell you something about the
darkness and the doom. Oh, yeah. I tell you, I preached
the other day on blind Bartimaeus. And I could picture him there
on his dirty old blanket laying there listening to the folks
as they went by talking about the color of the sea and the
deep blue sky and the expanse of things and the mountains of
Jerusalem, how they rose up around it. And he just sat there and
listened and imagined. Oh, one day God opened them eyes,
Larry, and the glory of God's creation flooded in, and he just
stood there with his mouth open. And when his vision cleared,
he was staring into the face of the Son of God. You want a witness? There's a
witness. That old demoniac, occupied by
a legion of devils, Couldn't be bound, couldn't be tamed,
couldn't be taught. And God came on the scene and
cast out them devils by the authority and power and majesty of his
person, told them to get out. You talk about a witness. If you're ever brought to the
edge of Canaan, To hear the testimony of God. I'll tell you something
else we're going to see. We're going to see the religion
of our fathers for what it is. That's exactly right. Those folks
that we ain't going in. And God said, you're right. You're
not. You're not going in. And the
children of Israel watched their parents die under the plague
of God. See, that's what happens when
the gospel comes in power. That's exactly what happens.
You watch the religion of your fathers and you see it for exactly
what it is, a phony false refuge, a pretense of religion. They died in the wilderness. Over time, they went back out
there for years and years and years. And over time, God exposed
their rebellion and unbelief until every mother's son of Israel
over 20 years of age died. And their carcass fell in the
dust. I tell you, this thing is not
about sentiment. No, it's just not. It's not about
some old emotional experience you had. It's not about family
ties and traditions. We used to sing a song back in
my youth, back in religion, when we all get to heaven. Well, we
all ain't going. Now, that's the truth. We're
all not going to heaven. Only those called of God. And
I know this is so. I look at this picture, and I
see it as clear as a bell. We're all shut up to the testimony
of God. goes into that land and those
spies come back. And Joshua, well you know who
Joshua was, that's Jesus, came back. And Caleb came back, you
know who that is, that's the faithful. Their testimony was not received,
it wasn't even heard. He tried to steal the people's,
people wouldn't have it. Wouldn't have the testimony of
God. Well you're going to be shut up to the testimony of God.
We're going to see old Israel, cursed of God. We're not going
to stand back like folks now, and they're going to say nothing
about Israel. I'll tell you something about
old Israel. Their carcasses fell in the dust. That's what happened
to old Israel. Only those born again entered
into the promised land, born in the wilderness. And I know we're going to be
brought to see the religion of our fathers and that old tradition,
the traditional religion of this world for what it is. And we're
going to see that old man's carcass fall into dust. But the Israel
born of God is going to come and hear the testimony of his
faithful. And they're going to line up
behind Joshua, and they're going to take the inheritance God gave
them. This just, I went back and read these accounts. It's
too much for me to read to you this morning, but I encourage
you to go home and read through the book of Numbers. Read through
the book of Deuteronomy. Read about this story. See what
a, just an awesome picture it is of God establishing his kingdom
in the heart. But I kept running on. He's always
called in the testimony, Joshua the son of Nun. And, you know, one time tells
you who his father was, and then usually it's not repeated. But
it just keeps being repeated over and over. I don't care how
long the testimony was. The story was, he's Joshua the
son of Nun. And I thought, what on earth
does that mean? That's got to have a significance,
Ron. When he just repeats something over and over and over, it's
significant. And so I read everything I had time to read. I couldn't
find anything. Nobody else even mentioned it.
And it was really beginning to bother me. It was staying on
my mind, and I knew God had something here for me. And I just kept
looking and looking. And finally, I just got my concordance
out, and I looked it up in Hebrew. You know what nun means? N-U-N. What it means? It means perpetuity. That didn't give me any help
at all. And so I grabbed a dictionary,
and I said, well, what does perpetuity mean? I'm not as smart as some
of you are. So I looked it up. It means perpetual.
Well, that still didn't give me much help. So I typed in perpetual. What's that mean? It means everlasting. Oh. Joshua, the son of the Everlasting
Father. That's who went in. That's who
you line up behind. shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father." Joshua. Israel was willing to take the
land because God was with them, and he was with them in Joshua.
You see the significance? He's the son of none. Over and
over and over he tells, and I know this is a play on words, but
in the book of Isaiah, you need to read through there and see
how many times he says, I am God, and beside me there's none
else. I am God. There's none like me. I declare the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand. Thou shalt have none other gods
before me. He's the son of none. And I tell
you this, he's the son of man because there's none righteous.
Is that right? There's none good. There's none
that seeketh after God. He's the son of none. God with
us. None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? The Son of Nun is the Son of
God, and the Son of Nun is the Son of Man. And I tell you this,
you're going to go into that land when you see God in Joshua. That's when you're going to enter
in. Till then, you're just going to stand and tremble and murmur
against God. And we'd be willing to receive
his testimony when we see God in Christ. Except you believe
that I am, he said, you'll die in your sins. And when God's servant gives his
testimony of what he knows and what he's seen, and it lines
up with the testimony of those preserved in Scripture, you're going to hear God in his
voice. Oh, yeah. I'm telling you, it's not a natural
man for a thing to say, how beautiful are the feet of them who preach
the gospel of God. Until it's preached to you. Until
it grabs hold of your heart. And you just want to hang on
to his feet then. He that believeth on the Son
hath to witness, John said, in himself. What's he got? He's
got the witness. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his son, and the record is his testimony. I'm telling you this, that the
kingdom of God is an invasion of the land. It's Joshua and
his elect crossing the border. You can't come in here. This
belongs to us. I'm coming in. You can't violate man's free
will. Oh, my. I used to hear him beg and plead
and big tears rolling down her eyes. Won't you open the door
to your heart? Let me tell you something. When
Joshua comes in, he'll kick the door down, bolt, bar, and jam.
He'll come in. He violates the border, and he
violates the will. He violates the ownership. He'll give you a whole new meaning
to the word violate. I'm telling you, the kingdom
of God, when God comes in and sets up that kingdom, it's an
invasion, is what it is. I've heard folks say this, what will be, will be, whether
it ever happens or not. The old fella told me that one
time. I stood and looked at him. I never heard anything like it. When the invasion begins, Larry,
you're not going to sit on the border. Huh? You're not going to sit
over here where it's safe. You're not going to sit over
here in the peace and security of the whole wilderness. Oh,
no. No, you're going to pick up a
sword, and you're going to go stand and face that enemy before
whom you tremble. Oh, yes, you are. The kingdom
of God suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. That's what that scripture means. I don't have words to describe
it, and I know it just rubbed, it tears my doctrine all to pieces.
But if you ever find the rest of God and enter into your inheritance,
you're going to fight for it. Yes, you are. You're going to
fight for it. You're going to have to face
the enemy and stand before him and take from him what's rightfully
yours. You're not passive in this thing
of faith. It'll be accomplished by the
power of God. The battle will go your way because
God's with you. You'll defeat the enemy because
Joshua's leading you into the battle and fights for you. But
you're not going to set idle on the border. You're going to
stand there with him. You're going to stand right there
with him. There must be an invasion, a
violation of the border. and of the will and of the mind.
You know what Canaan means? Boy, once I found out what nun
meant, I went into the dictionary then. You know what Canaan means? Humiliation. Humiliation. That's where God leads his people
deep into the land of humiliation. We take the land. But always
in such a way, you go back and read it, always in such a way
that he gets the glory. Told his general, said, you got
too many men. Huh? Oh, yeah, you need to get rid
of them. We need to whittle this thing down to where there's no
possibility that you could ever get any glory. Then the battle's
going to be yours. Joshua took Jericho without pulling
a sword. just blew on the priest's trumpet
and the walls came down. And I'm telling you this, when
God establishes his kingdom in your heart, the priest will blow
his horn. And those old walls of refuge, they'll come down,
because they're daubed with untempered mortar anyway. Tells us that. They're walls that we built. There's no place of refuge. By the time we get to where God's
going to establish his kingdom, we find ourselves humbled by
his great name, and worship takes a more permanent form. All of
a sudden, the tabernacle fades out of existence, and the temple
stands in its place. That which appeared common and
ordinary to the eye now is glory inward and out. It's all good. We come down to that place of
humiliation and God appoints his king and seats him on the
throne and he rules over us and establishes us in his kingdom.
And then there's one more thing I want you to see here. There was never a reformation
in Canaan. Never was. In fact, the people
were warned not to do it. They were warned not to do it. All those who remained in the
land of Canaan, the enemies who were subdued, they remained under
the curse of God. They stayed right there. There was to be no mixing of beliefs, no sharing
of experiences. We're not going to have fellowship
with these people. They're subdued. They're going
to stay subdued. They're enemies. The enemy stayed the enemy. And
he always, go back and read the history of Israel, he always
was waiting in the shadows. Lindsay waiting for an opportunity,
waiting for some sign of weakness. Some opportunity to get his foot
in the door. Some opportunity to take back
that which God had taken away. Salvation is not an annihilation
of the old man. It's just an invasion of his
land. And he establishes his kingdom there, Ron. And he sets
up rule over the enemy. And by his power, he can't overcome
the rule. He's still there. He still causes
trouble, but he can't overcome David. Now look over at Hebrews chapter
4 verse 8 and I'll close. For if Jesus, and if you look
over in the margin of your Bible there it says Joshua, had given
them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another
day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did in
his." Our Father, take the message. We know who gave it to us. We
know it's true. And we know it's our experience. Impress those claims upon this
people who are here this morning. They're here by your providence.
They're here by your power. They're here by your blessing. Give them the spirit of grace
to receive it and to say, let's take the land for Christ's sake.