I think I am older than him,
I don't know. But, well, it's true that our hearts were knit back in
1993. And two years later, I was down
in Mexico with my family. But as to where you were all
those years, I think I was in the same place. But it is indeed a privilege
to be counted your friend, your brother in Christ. What a delight
to be here with you. like to see you more often. I
would enjoy coming here more often, but I do feel that the
Lord has called me to be there, and it's difficult to get away. But I will try to do better.
I do enjoy those times when several of you men have come down to
visit us, and I'm delighted to hear that, Lord willing, you'll
be doing it again this year. It was a break this year, but
it's a delightful time, and it's profitable to us. And the pastors receive such
a blessing. The Lord is blessed there. The
Lord called my dad, Walter Groover, there forty-seven years ago,
and the Lord is blessed with his work. The Lord has a people
there. and raised up several churches
and now the pastors and the preacher school. Do I have this thing
on? And we're just thankful to be
used of the Lord in this way and thankful for you. Tonight,
I want us to open our Bibles again to Joshua chapter 3. This morning We spoke of the
command of the gospel, and it was a very simple outline. First,
the inability of man, man's total inability, and how God saves
his people by the command of the gospel. He commands his preachers
to go forth preaching the gospel, and the command is, when you
see the Lord Jesus Christ, You will leave where you're at, you
will repent, and you will come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the command of the gospel. And tonight, the title of the
message is, Come by Christ Alone. Come by Christ alone through
Christ alone. Let's read this chapter here
in chapter 3. And Joshua rose early in the
morning, and they were moved from Shittim and came to Jordan. He and all the children of Israel
enlodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass, after
three days, that the officers went through the host, and they
commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant
of the Lord your God and the priests, the Levites, bearing
it, then you shall remove from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between
you and it. About two thousand cubits by
measure come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which
ye must go. For ye have not passed this way
heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people,
Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among
you. And Joshua spake unto the priest,
saying, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before
the people. And they took up the ark of the
covenant and went before the people. And the Lord said unto
Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight
of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses,
so I will be with thee. And thou shalt command the priests
that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the
brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. And Joshua said unto the children
of Israel, Come hither, Hear the words of the Lord your God."
And Joshua said, "'Hereby ye shall know that the living God
is among you, and will without fail drive out from before you
the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites,
and the Gargazites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the
ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over
before you into Jordan. Now, therefore, take you twelve
men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man, and
it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the
priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the
earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of
Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from
above." and they shall stand upon a heap, that is, the waters. And it came to pass, when the
people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the
priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, as
they that bear the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of
the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the
water, for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of
the harvest. that the waters which came down
from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the
city of Adam, that is, beside Zaretan. And those that came
down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and
were cut off, and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bear the
ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the
midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry
ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan." One of the constant attacks of
lost men, specifically of religion, The religious world, spearheaded
by Satan himself, no doubt, is the teaching of the need of a
contribution or a collaboration on the part of man for the saving
of his soul. A part, a collaboration. This is in the manned of mind
by nature. How can I earn salvation? Somehow I can earn salvation
by what I do, or at least collaborate. This is the religion of natural
man. Religious men would have some
part in their acceptance before God. And it is even prevalent
in the old nature, the flesh. It is prevalent. The flesh is
flesh. The flesh is always drawn to this. This
is what the Apostle Paul was dealing with the believers in
Galatians. In summing up the book of the Galatians in Galatians
chapter 5, he said this, he said, if you be circumcised, Christ
profits you nothing. In other words, if you lift one
finger, if you do one thing for your sanctification or for your
justification, or you try to contribute one thing. This work
that the Lord Jesus Christ has done is perfect. It's finished,
it's perfect. What can you add to perfection? You cannot add anything to perfection,
the only thing you could do is take away. And it's complete,
it's full. I'm going to read this in Galatians
chapter 5. The Apostle Paul is dealing with this, and he says
to these brethren who were brethren, but they had been seduced, bewitched
by these false preachers. It sounds good. It sounds good. Be under the law. And the Apostle
Paul says, Stand fast. Don't be moved. Don't be moved. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
that if you be circumcised, it doesn't matter what a person,
if a person thinks he's attending church or giving or something
that he's doing that God is going to, that's going to add to that
work, that finished work. Christ profits him nothing. He
is bound to do the whole law, and by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. Christ shall profit you
nothing, for I testify again to every man that is circumcised
that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of
no effect unto you whosoever that are justified by the law. Ye are fallen from grace, and
either salvation is all of grace or works, but not a mixture of
the two. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord from beginning to end and all in between. It is all of grace, all by the
grace of God in Christ Jesus given to us, given to his people
before the foundation of the world. All of the Lord. He alone has all the glory. This is what the apostle Paul
was saying in Colossians to the church at Colossae. He said,
I went that you would understand what conflict I'm in over you.
I'm in great conflict over you because you're complete in Christ. You lack nothing. In Christ Jesus,
you're complete. Would you know how God saves
his people from their sins? He does it. by Christ alone. Christ alone and only in Christ. That's the title of this message. Now, we saw this morning the
title of the message was, The Command of the Gospel. And the
command was, when you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord
your God, you leave the place and follow it. And how important
it is to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle
said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I am not ashamed of the
gospel, for in the gospel is revealed the righteousness, the
wisdom of God, the righteousness of God. It is how that God may
be just and justify a sinner. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, God had already told and
already shown this in the Old Testament scriptures, and I was
just going to point out, too, that this work of reconciling
his people unto himself. This work of the atonement is
only a work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. You remember on the day of atonement in Leviticus chapter
16, when the high priest would go in into that Holy of Holies,
it says there'll be none with him. He was to go in alone. Not without blood one time a
year, but he was to go in and alone. offer that sacrifice. No man, none of the people could
be with him. And you also remember that time
when the Lord revealed himself to Abraham and said, take your
son, Isaac, your only son, and go to the mountain that I will
show you and offer him there for a sacrifice. And he went to Mount Moriah. On the third day, he lifted up
his eyes and there was the Mount And he said to his servants,
you remember what he said to his servants? He said, you stay
here. I and the lad go and worship
and we'll return. This work, this work of putting
away the sins of his people is the work of God alone. God alone. And now this is illustrated
right here in this passage. It says here in verse four. There shall be a space between
you and it, about 2,000 cubits. By measure, come not near unto
it, that ye may know the way by which you must go, for ye
have not passed this way heretofore. Don't come. There shall be a
space between you and it by 2,000 cubits. Come not near unto it. In this work of redemption of
his people, in this work of justifying his people, God works alone. It says in 2 Corinthians 5 and
verse 19, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. And in
Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 14, it's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, the blood of Christ was offered up to God without spot
through the eternal Spirit. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. The will of man does not enter
or does not come to bear in this manner. The Lord Jesus Christ
said, Lo, I come to do thy will. The will of man does not come
to bear in this. To please God, God must satisfy
himself. The sacrifice must be perfect. Our Lord said to his disciples. You remember, our Lord said to
his disciples what he said to some people earlier, he said,
I go and where I go, you cannot come. Remember, he said that
to these religious people, and they thought, where is he going
to go? That we're not going to be able to follow him. And a
little later on, he said, let's turn this to John chapter 13.
He said this to his disciples. He said, I go. And where I go,
you cannot follow. And there's a difference. He
said now where I go, you cannot follow now, but you will follow
after John chapter 13 and. Verse 36. But verse 33, he told
these these. Verse 33 says, Little children,
yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me, and as
I said unto the Jews, Whither I go ye cannot come, so now I
say to you. And then verse 36, Simon Peter
said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him,
Whither I go thou cannot follow me now, but thou shalt follow
me afterwards. Peter was desirous to follow
the Lord. Is anybody down his sincerity?
I'll go to death with you. But Peter, you cannot go into
this work. No blood of man has ever, mere
man. It must be perfect to satisfy
God. In this matter of saving his
people, God must do something for himself. that he may be just,
and the justifier of those that come to God by Christ. Come not
near to it. He said, I go, and where I go,
you cannot come now. Now, I go to prepare a place
for you, he said. Peter said, I'll follow you.
If you read these, let's read these verses. He said, verse
36, Simon Peter said unto him, I'm in John 13, verse 36, Simon
Peter said to him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him,
Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt
follow me afterwards. Peter said to him, Lord, why
can I not follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my
sake? Verily, verily, I say unto you, the cock shall not crow
till thou hast denied me thrice. With all your desire, with all
your zeal, with all your love, you cannot satisfy God. You cannot
establish righteousness. You cannot put away sin. This
is the work of God alone. He said, Let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me and my father's
house or many mansions. And if we're not so, I would
have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. I go. I go to
prepare a place for you. Here's the commandment we see
here in Joshua. There shall be a space between
you and it. Come not near unto it. Come not near unto him that
you may know the way by which you must go. For ye have not
passed this way heretofore. Our Lord, his church follows
him. He does not follow the church.
We follow him. We don't know the way. We don't
know how to come to God the father. It takes somebody who knows the
way and he is the way. You haven't gone this way before.
And this way of satisfying God in this way of righteousness,
in this way of justice, in this way where God is pleased. You
haven't gone this way before. The only way we've gone before
is separated from God. Our Lord said this in John chapter
14 in verse 1. You remember that text? I got off it too quick. Look
at John chapter 14 now. He said, John chapter 14, Thomas said
unto him, Or look at verse 3. And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you into myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And whether
I go, ye know, in the way ye know. Thomas said unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how canst we know the way?
Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. If ye have known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip said unto him, Lord, show
us the Father, and it suffitheth us. Jesus said unto him, Have
I been so long time with you, and thou hast not known me? Philip,
he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou,
Show us the Father? I am the way, the truth, and
the life. I am the way. You have not passed
this way before. You have not passed this way
before. Without faith, it says, it is impossible to please God. And you know, we're not saved
by our faith. We're saved by the faith of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You've not come this way. It's
only through his faithfulness. This way requires the wisdom
of God. You've not come this way before.
How can God who says of himself, I will by no means clear the
guilty. How can God, who is holy, just
and says, I will by no means clear the guilty? How can he
forgive me a sinner? How can he have mercy on me a
sinner? You haven't passed this way before.
It requires the wisdom of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the wisdom of God. You've not come this way before.
This way requires the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God. How many times have you started
out on a trip and somebody gives you directions and they forget
one turn? Before you know it, instead of
being in this place, you're ten miles off and you're late to
your appointment. And it's all because you didn't
know the way. There was one detail in that
set of instructions that you did not know, and if you're off. We know that the scripture says
in Isaiah 53, by his knowledge, shall my righteous servant justify
many his knowledge of what God requires. His knowledge of what
God requires to set you before his presence perfect. Without
spot. In the sight of God who sees
everything. What does God require? By his
knowledge, shall my righteous servant not by your knowledge?
Oh yeah, he gives us understanding. He gives us knowledge. We know
him that is true. He has given us understanding
that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that
is true, Jesus Christ. This is the true God. He is the
true God, but it is not our knowledge. Our knowledge could be fit all
together, and it would not weigh a pound. All our knowledge would
not weigh a pound. This way requires the holiness
of God. This way requires the holiness of God, it better
not have a spot. It better not have a spot. When
he presents his people, when the Lord Jesus Christ presents
his people before the throne, they cannot have one spot. God
is of pure eyes than to behold iniquity. One spot, one blemish,
one sin. you'd be cast out of his presence
forever. God is holy. God is holy. It requires the
holiness of God. You haven't passed this way before.
Don't come near this. You don't know anything about
this. This way requires the faithfulness
of God. How thankful we are that Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Aren't you glad that he doesn't
change? That he doesn't change? You know,
if it were you or I, as soon as we get upset with somebody,
we'd just write them off. Wouldn't we? We'd just write
them off. But he doesn't change. His love for his people is everlasting. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. You're not consumed because he
doesn't change. And that covenant, that covenant
before the foundation of the world, he loved you with an everlasting
love. And he's going to, he came and
died and gave his life for you. I'm talking about his people.
You haven't gone this way before. It requires God. This is God's
work. It requires the justice of God. It requires the faithfulness
of God. It requires the righteousness of God. Only God can satisfy
God. The Lord Jesus Christ as man,
he satisfied God because he is God. The Lord, the Father said,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. I'm well pleased. It requires the righteousness
of God. It requires the love of God.
The love of God. The only reason for all this,
the only reason for all this is God loved his people. The
only reason is found in God, found in him. But God commended
his love for us. And while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for the ungodly. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall
not perish, but have everlasting life. The love of God. You've
not passed this way before. Stand back. Stand back. Don't
come near this. This is perfect. This is the
work of God. Now look at verse 5. Verse 5,
And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves. For tomorrow
the Lord will do wonders among you. Step back. Step back. Separate. Don't come near it. Step back. The Lord will do wonders
among you. The Lord will do. It's His work. And Joshua was speaking to the
priests, verse 6, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant and
pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the
covenant, and they went before the people. And the Lord said
unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight
of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses,
so I will be with thee." Now, in these Old Testament pictures,
the ark is a picture of Christ, and Joshua is a picture of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord says to Joshua,
I'm going to magnify you before all the people this day. And
by what's going to take place, I'm going to magnify, I'm going
to exalt you among all the people, all the children of God, all
the Israel, all the Israel of God. And this day, the day of
salvation, this is the day of salvation, this day The Lord
Jesus Christ is magnified in the sight of all his people. The Lord Jesus Christ is lifted
up. This is the day when God reveals how in Christ Jesus he
may be just and the justifier of all that believe. God is magnified
in the Lord Jesus Christ. When our Lord came to the brink
of the cross, do you remember? There in John chapter 12, he
came to the brink of the cross. He said, now is my soul troubled. Just anticipating being made
sin for his people who knew no sin. To be separated from God. To suffer the wrath of God in
the place of his people. He said, Now is my soul troubled,
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this cause I came into this hour. Father, glorify thy
name. And what was the answer? The
Father said, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. And the Lord Jesus, his name
is glorified in the preaching of the gospel. Jesus Christ is
preached, and when he is preached, God is glorified. All his attributes
are seen in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We preach
Christ Jesus and him crucified. God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, shines in the hearts of his people and
gives them the knowledge of the glory, how God can save sinners
in Jesus Christ, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
God is magnified before the eyes of His people in the redemption
He has wrought in Christ Jesus and Him crucified. This day will
I begin to magnify, just so the people know that as I was with
Moses, I'm with you. God the Father was with the Lord
Jesus Christ. God the Father was in the Lord
Jesus Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Verse 8 says,
And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant,
saying, When ye have come to the brink of the waters of Jordan,
ye shall stand still in Jordan. You know what I see there? God
the Father told the Son, You go down. You go down into the
world. You be made sin for my people. You suffer the wrath that is
due the sins of my people. You be made their substitute.
You stand in the Jordan. You take the wrath that is due
to my people. Our Lord said this, no man takes
my life from me. I lay it down. I have power to
lay it down and take it up again. This commandment have I received
from my Father. He came to do the will of God
the Father. The will of God the Father was
to lay down his life that he may redeem, ransom his people,
save his people from their sins. You stand still in the Jordan.
And Joshua said to the children of Israel, there's an outline
right here that could take several hours. Joshua said to the children
of Israel, Our Lord Jesus Christ has said to his people, Come
hither, hear the words of the Lord your God. Come, hear what
God has done for you. Hear what God has done for you
in Christ Jesus. Verse 10 says this, Hereby, Joshua
said, hereby you shall know that the living God is among you.
Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you and that
he will without fail bow out before you all your enemies. He names them there, the Cainites.
He names those enemies. Here's how you're going to know that God is for you, and nothing
or nobody can be against you. Here's how you're going to know.
How do you know God is for you? He says to his children. He says to his people. Those
who hear the Word, here is how you are going to know God is
for you and that nothing can be against you. Look at Romans
chapter 8. Hereby you shall know that the
living God is among you. Emmanuel, God with us, and that
he will not fail to deliver you from all your enemies. In Romans
chapter 8, verse 31. What shall we say? to these things. If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Here is how you are going to
know God is for you. Look at what the Lord did down
on the cross. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look, look here what it says here in this in our text. Here's how you're going to know
God is among you in Joshua, chapter three, verse 12. Behold. Verse 11, excuse me. Behold,
the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes
over before you into Jordan. Behold, the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world. Behold, the Lamb of God that
goes to the cross and pays the sin debt for His people. That's
how you're going to know God is for you. Behold, the ark of the covenant
of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into Jordan. Behold, the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world. Behold, the Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross bearing the sins of his people and his own body
on the tree. Behold how Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, as
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Behold
Him who has made sin for us, who knew no sin. That is how
you know that God is for you. Do you see the Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross? Do you see Him? Do you see that
He has gone and borne the penalty for sin? Do you see that He's
borne the penalty of your sins? He's gone to death. He paid the
debt. He went to the cross. He went
into Jordan. I need to jump now because of
time. Let's jump to verse 15. Verse 14, And it came to pass,
when the people moved from their tents to pass over Jordan, and
the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people.
And as they that bear the ark were coming to Jordan, and the
feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim
of the water, for Jordan overflowed all its banks all the time of
the harvest. Here's the point I want us to
see. That the only ones who got wet,
The only ones who got wet were the priests, and that was their
feet. When they stepped into the Jordan,
the waters divided, and the people all walked across on dry land. And then the priests were on
dry land until all of them crossed the Jordan on dry land. That is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was made sin who knew no sin.
And he's he hung on the cross. He suffered the wrath. You remember
in the ark Noah's ark. The wrath fell on everybody in
the ark also, but it did not touch the people in the ark,
it fell on the ark. If you remember the death that
came through when the Lord came through Egypt, all first born
were died in Egypt. That's also in the house of the
Israelites in the substitute. The substitute died. There was
already blood applied on the doors. And in the same way, the
Lord Jesus Christ, when he went to the cross and bare our sins
in his own body, when he was made sin for us, the wrath of
God fell on him. And all his people come through
him. There's no wrath. There's no
wrath for God's people because he's swallowed that wrath. He's
taking that right. You know, when it says there
in Ephesians two with the children of wrath, even as others, I believe
that's a misinterpretation when it thinks when people attribute
God to being angry or wrathful against his children one day
and then the next day he's not wrathful. If you believe that
he's not wrathful, that puts God changing. God doesn't change. What is talking about is sinners. We hated God. We had our fist
against the Lord Jesus Christ. bearing the sins of his people.
He made full satisfaction for that debt, that debt we owed
the holy law of God. He took our sins. When he died,
his people died. He took our sins to the grave. But he didn't stay there. Well,
there is no hope in some poor Jesus. If he didn't raise from
the dead, there is no salvation. This is what we do. It's just
a waste of time. There's no hope. We're all still
under sin. But God is satisfied. God is
satisfied with that work that the Lord Jesus Christ did. Put
away the sins of His people. And when He came forth on that
third day, He came forth free of that sin. They went in the
water and their feet got wet. But then their feet were dry.
And all the people passed over on dry ground. And that beautiful,
I believe that's all praise and all honor and all glory go to
the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Come to him alone. Trust him
alone. Don't lift your hand to touch
anything. Don't add anything. If you do
anything, Christ will profit you nothing. You look to him. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's how you know God is for you. Behold the Lord Jesus
Christ. Keep looking to him. May the Lord bless this Word.
Thank you, Brother.