Okay, this evening, Joshua 23. As usual, I'm looking for a title,
and I'm taking the title from verse 3 and verse 10. Notice verse 3. He reminds them,
Joshua's last sermon, you have seen all that the Lord your God
hath done. Salvation is a matter of the
Lord's doing. The Lord's doing. He doesn't say, I've seen all
that you have done. He said, I've seen, you have
seen all that the Lord your God have done. And all these nations
because of you, the Lord your God is he that hath fought for
you. Now look down at verse 10. One
man of you shall chase a thousand for the Lord your God is he that
not only has he fought for you, but he it is that fighteth for
you. As he has promised. The Lord has delivered us He
will deliver us, and He hath delivered us in Christ. So I'm using this title, The
Lord, your God, hath fought for you. Now, in looking at this,
we see a picture of God's salvation that he has accomplished for
us. You remember when Israel was delivered from Egyptian bondage
and they were up against it? They couldn't fight their way
out. They couldn't go back. Pharaoh was breathing right down
their neck. They couldn't go to the right
hand or the left hand because of the mountains. The sea was
in front of them. And the Lord our God says this,
the Lord shall fight for you. Hold your peace. Stand still
and see the salvation that is of the Lord. Now, the Lord hasn't
changed. He's the same. He said, I'm the
Lord. I changed. He still has fought
for us. And he is still fighting for
us. And He will yet continue to fight
for us until He eventually puts His flesh in the ground and takes
us home to glory. Now it was true in the days of
Moses, in the days of Joshua, how the Lord did so many times
in so many ways fight for Israel. And it's true today for God's
elect. the Israel of God. He still does
fight for us. He still undertakes for us. He
still intercedes for us, as God did in that day. He did undertake
for them. He did intercede for them. Now,
that being true of what we might say the lesser Joshua, how much
more Is it true of the greater Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, we read this in Romans 8.
Don't turn because you're familiar with this. What shall we say
then to these things? Those whom he called, he predestinated,
he justified, he glorified. What shall we say to these things?
Well, if God is for us, who can be against us? If God's for us,
and He's for His people, His elect, He that spared not His
own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him freely give us all things? If God be for us, and He is His
people, if God be for us, does it really matter who's against
us? It doesn't matter, does it? It doesn't matter who's against
us. Now, if God be against us, Just flip it around. If God be
against us, who can be for us? Who can be
for us? I remember hearing a story of
Abraham Lincoln during that great war in this country. Someone asked Abraham Lincoln,
I hope God's on our side. You know what he said? I hope
I'm on his side, whatever side that is. I want to be with him.
I want to be with him. We see the mighty warrior and
faithful servant of the Lord, verse 1, and it came to pass
a long time after the Lord had given them rest. Most of the
writers that I read after estimate seven, maybe ten years they were,
after they crossed Jordan, fighting these many years that the Lord
had given them rest. Rest. The Lord had given them
rest, rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about. And
Joshua now, he's an old man. He's not only an old man, he's
a sick old man. And he knows his ministry's over. He knows his work is done. The mighty warrior, the servant
of the Lord, at the close of his ministry, at the close of
his life, like all other servants of the Lord, when their ministry
is finished, the Lord is pleased to take them home to glory, to
be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord. You remember the hymn writer
said, man's days are immortal here until their work is done. When their work is done, the
Lord will take his people to be with him forever. Now what
we have in this chapter and the next is the last sermon or the
last instructions from Joshua unto this people known as Israel."
He's very careful, very precise in giving all the glory to the
Lord our God alone. He said in verse 3, you have
seen all that the Lord hath done. Now salvation is not a matter
of you doing, salvation is a matter of the Lord, what the Lord hath
done for us. And the reason it is like that,
that he might receive all the glory. Let not the wise man glory
in his wisdom, don't let the mighty man glory in his strength,
but let him glory in this, that he knows me, that I am the Lord. Now, the Lord says to Joshua
back, if you will, If you wanna look with me, you can. Joshua
13, verse one. Remember back there, Joshua 13,
one. Now, Joshua was old, stricken
in years. And the Lord said to him, thou
art old and you're sick. Who gave him that sickness? Where'd
that sickness come from? Remember, Moses was an old man
when he died and he was in vital health. that were old and stricken
in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to possess."
He said back years before, Joshua, when he was old and stricken,
he said, there's a lot of work to do. Now he's saying here in
chapter 23, verse 1, he said, now the work's done. The work
is done, it's over. Now his work being finished,
the Lord is ready to take him home, the glory. This is also
true of the greater Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ. When he had
finished the work the father gave him to do, remember he was
always about the father's business. His first recorded words are
in Luke chapter two. He said, remember, 12 years old,
12 years old. He said, I must be about my father's
business. You remember what his last words
were upon Calvary's tree? Finish. It done. You see, this is also true of
the greater Joshua. When he had finished the work
the Father gave him to do, he sat down, you remember that verse?
Hebrews 1 verse 3, when he by himself purged our sin, he sat
down on the right hand of God. Why did he sit down? It wasn't
because he was tired. He sat down because the work
was finished. Joshua being, and we know from
chapter 24, is 110 years old. His work finished. He can say
with the Apostle Paul, I fought a good fight. I'm ready to be
offered. Time of my departure is at hand.
I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give
me at that day. Not to me only, but to all them
that love his appearing. Now, look at verse three again. Joshua 23, three. And you have
seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations
of you because of you, his elect. Remember He said, I've chosen
you. For the Lord your God is He that has fought for you. He fought for you. I've divided
unto you all the land by lot. It's your inheritance. Verse
5, the Lord your God, He shall expel them, drive them out, and
you shall possess the land as the Lord your God had promised.
Be courageous. Be courageous. Stick to the words. Joshua's last sermon declares
the work of God for them. It is all of God. He's saying
that salvation is of the Lord. Joshua does not brag about his
courage. He was a mighty, courageous man.
He doesn't brag about his daring exploits. He doesn't brag about
his battlefield wisdom and excellency, how the Lord led him to defeat
these armies. Joshua does not brag about himself,
but he does say that salvation is of the Lord. Salvation of
the Lord in His planning, His execution, His application, His
sustaining power, His ultimate perfection. As David said, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, give glory
for your mercy and for your truth. That's what Joshua was doing,
is it not? He's reminding the people all that God had done
for them. The Lord shall fight for you.
And we know in God's saving mercy, it's God who had saved us and
called us. We did not save ourselves. Now,
did you ever notice the order of that verse, 2 Timothy 1, 9,
God saved us and then he called us. When did he save us? Paul's in that same verse says,
before the foundation of the world. Before we knew anything
about it, God saved us, set us apart in Christ. And then one day he told us about
it. He called us with the gospel. This too is our message. Our
gospel message is salvation of the Lord. It's not what we must
do for God, but rather what he has done for us. And what he
is doing for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the word of his
exceeding great and precious promises unto us that cannot
fail. Isaiah 42, four says that God
cannot fail. Therefore, everything God says,
he said, I've spoken it. I'll bring it to pass. I purposed.
I will do it. Isaiah 46. Now, I got this at a Gabe Stoniker's
bulletin. I'm gonna read it to you. I think
I had it in our bulletin several weeks ago. The gospel is a notification
of what God has already done for his people. The call of salvation
is not a call for a sinner to do anything for God or to bring
anything to God. It's not an announcement of God
wanting to save us if we will let him. Now, isn't that what's
being said? God wants to save you, but you
won't let him. That's not the gospel. It's not an announcement
that he started the work and will finish it, still quoting
Gabe Stoniker. The gospel is a declaration of
what God has already done for his people. The true message
of the gospel is a notification and a declaration, the salvation
of the Lord, and it's completely finished. End quote. Now, he said, be courageous,
be steadfast, don't quit. Look at verse 6, be you therefore
courageous to keep and to do. All that's written in the book,
the law of Moses, now he is not saying that salvation is by doing
the law. We know that's impossible. But
God laid out a guideline for them to follow. And he says here,
don't turn aside from it, don't go to the right hand, and don't
go to the left hand. Now, would you rather stick with
what thus saith the Lord or the philosophy of Plato and Socrates
and Aristotle and the other philosophers of this world? It's a no-brainer, is it not?
Stick with the Word, thus saith the Lord. Turn not away from
the Word of the Lord. And this goes back to the promise,
all the promises of God. And it goes all the way back
to the promise that God gave Joshua in chapter 1, verse 5,
down to verse 7. Notice, if you will, Verse seven, that you come not
among these nations that remain among you, neither make mention
of their name, of their God, nor swear by them. Don't serve
them, don't bow to them. Cleave to the Lord. Cleave unto
the Lord. Cleave unto the Lord. Shun and hate that which is false. Cleave and hold to that which
is true. What good instruction. What good
instruction. That word cleave there means
to lay hold of and don't let go. Lay hold of and don't let
go. And that's what we're to do. We're to hate that which is false
and cleave and hold fast to that which is true. It's also true
in this day. Hold and cleave to the word of
God. It's a message taught throughout
the word. Remember Romans 12, let love be without dissimilation,
abhor that which is evil, contrary to the way of God, and cleave
to that which is good. I mean, get a death grip on it.
That's what the word cleave means. I mean, get a death grip on it.
Don't let go. How would you illustrate that?
If you were out hiking one day down in here in the Red River
Gorge. And as you see so many people do, they hike up there
and they think they're just going to kind of walk out to the edge
of that cliff. And a lot of them, I don't know
what happens, but sometimes they fall over that cliff. Well, if
you were slipping over the edge of a cliff and there was a strong
root of a tree sticking out, what would you reach for? Let's
grab some air. Hold on to it. No, you'd grab
hold of that tree root, and what would you do to it? You'd cleave
to it. You'd get a death grip on it,
and you would not let go, would you? If you let go, long way
to the bottom. That's what the word indicates
here, just to kind of illustrate what it means to cleave unto
the Lord. The apostle writes this, seeing
then that we have a great high priest that is passed into heaven,
Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast. Let us hold fast our
profession. Now, it's not that we're holding
to our Our profession is Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord will drive out our
enemies. He has, He will defeat all of our enemies, even our
own sinful self. The Lord has defeated for us
death, hell, and the grave. The Lord has defeated for us
sin, Satan, and salvation. Verse 10, the Lord One man of
you shall chase a thousand for the Lord your God is he that
fighteth for you as he has promised. Now take good heed. Take good
heed. Good heed. I mean he says you
listen to this real good. He's saying you get a hold of
what I'm saying here. unto yourself. Not only are you
to cleave to the Lord, because He fights for you, and He has
delivered you, and no man shall be able to stand before you,
He says, you cleave to the Lord, and that you love the Lord your
God. Love Him. Now, we love Him because
what? He first loved us. We love Him
out of gratitude. We love Him out of thanksgiving.
You see, He ever lived to intercede for us, does He not? He's an
advocate for us. Love the Lord your God. I think
of that verse over in 1 Corinthians 16, 22, where it says, if any
man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, now we only love Him
because He first loved us, right? But He says, if any man love
not the Lord Jesus Christ, he'll be okay anyway. It doesn't really
matter. That's what some would have us
to believe. But the quote is, if any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be damned. Now, I know we don't, I'm personally
very convicted over the fact that I don't love the Lord Jesus
Christ like I want to. Now, I do love him, but not like
I want to, not like I should, not like I will one day. I think what Peter said often,
when the Lord asked him not once, but three times, remember? Peter,
do you love me? This is the risen Lord. talking
to Peter and those men who said, some think they, when Peter said
to John and the others, we go fishing. Some think that they
were quitting the ministry and going back to their original
profession as fishermen. Now that may be so. But the Lord
came to Peter and said one thing, Peter, say, ìWhat are you doing
out here fishing? I told you to go all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. Well, what are you
doing out here?î He asked him one thing three times, ìPeter,
do you love me?î ìYes, Lord, I feed my sheep.î ìPeter, wait
a minute, do you love me?î ìYes, Lord, I feed my lambs.î Then
he said again the third time, ìPeter was I guess he was, you
know Peter, he's a whole lot like a lot of us, a little bit
rambunctious and a little bit impulsive and he was probably
a little bit irritated maybe. Peter, do you love me? He said,
Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. You
know that I love you. Take good heed, therefore, unto
yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God. Now, if you do,
it's a miracle of grace, because men by nature hate God, the carnal-minded
enmity against God. We love darkness, not light. If any man loves the Lord your
God, it's a miracle of grace, is it not? I wish I loved him
more. I think as we see more of the
wickedness of ourselves and the more of His grace and love toward
us, it causes us to love Him more. No greater motive, I think, for
service than love, love, gratitude. Now, He says here in verse 12
and 13, a warning to persevere in the faith. He's saying here,
don't go back. You're cleaving unto me because
you love me now. Don't go back. You see verse
12? Don't go back and cleave unto the remnant of these nations,
even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages
with them, and go unto them, and they unto you. Know for a
certainty that the Lord your God will know more drive out
any of these nations from before you, but they shall be snares
and traps unto you, scourges in your side, thorns in your
eyes, until you perish from off this good land, which the Lord
your God hath given to you." Now, if God's gonna make good
on His promise, you look at the next verse. Of all that He had
promised, not one word will fail. So, there is a warning here to
these people and to us to persevere in the faith. And saving faith
does persevere because we're preserved by God. Don't go back
to idolatry and false religion. What would you think of me if
I resigned the ministry and moved back to Salt Lake City and took
up Mormonism again? wouldn't you have to come to
the conclusion that preacher never did believe the gospel. That would be a plain, bold statement
that you don't believe the gospel. Don't go back to idolatry and
false religion. It will nothing, it will do nothing,
it will be nothing but a trap, a snare, a scourge, a thorn in
your eye until you perish. Remember what our Lord said?
No man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit
for the kingdom of God. Paul said, forgetting those things
which are behind, reaching forth unto those things which are before.
Now, you know, we can, my example probably would be an extreme
one to go back to such pagan idolatry as Mormonism. But I've
seen folks who attended this ministry for a good number of
years. I mean 10 years or more. walk out that door, go right over to a place where
what we preach and love here is denied and hated and take
up with false religion. Now, you say you're being judgmental. Well, the actions, their actions
prove what they think about the gospel. They compromised the
gospel. They compromised the gospel and
walked away from the gospel. Remember our Lord said to those,
after those 5,000 left him, he turned to the 12 and said, boys,
if you want to follow them, get in line. Now is the time to leave. And
what Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words
of eternal life. We believe and we're sure thou
art that Christ, the son of the living God. Now we know from
our studies about this people here and the descendants of these
people, it says over in chapter 24, I believe, or maybe in Judges
that that the people followed. Israel served the Lord all the
days of Joshua and all the days of the elders that overlived
Joshua. And after that, it went downhill
until God raised up David, and then Solomon, and then Jeroboam
and Rehoboam, and the kingdom split and it went downhill. Now, but saving faith never looks
back. Saving faith never goes back. Saving faith keeps looking to
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where faith starts, is
it not? That's where faith starts. Look unto me and be ye saved. That's what faith continues to
do. You remember Hebrews 12. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. We have come to him by saving
faith, but Peter says, to whom coming? We're still coming to
the Lord as sinners seeking mercy, seeking salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We are encouraged and even, yes,
commanded to continue in the faith. John said they went out
from us because they were not of us. If they would have been
of us, they would have stayed right here with us. We have, as the elect
of God, verse 14, Behold, this day I am going the way of all
the earth, and you know in all your hearts, you know in your
heart and your soul, not one thing has failed of all the good
things which the Lord your God spake concerning you. All have
come to pass. All have come to pass. As the elect of God, All the
promises of God we have as the elect of God, all the unfailing
promises of God to rely upon now and forever. You remember
Joshua said in verse 45 chapter 21, there failed not ought of
any good thing which the Lord has spake concerning you, all
have come to pass. These are the exceeding great
and precious promises that the Lord has given unto us. For all
the promises of God in him are yes, and in him, amen, and to
the glory of God by Christ Jesus. Now these promises of God, Aren't
they a comfort unto us? All the word of God, a comfort
unto us. I remember reading this in a
bulletin 30 years ago, maybe 35 years ago, and it stuck with
me about the promises of God. One old writer said, the promises
of God are like the clothes we wear. If there's life in the
body, they warm us. You put a lot of clothes on,
corpse, dead bodies, as being a funeral director. The promises
of God said, one man will like the clothes we wear. If there's
life in the body, they warm us, but not otherwise. Where there
is living faith, the promises of God afford warmth and comfort. Does that make sense? It made sense to me. The promises
of God only warm us if there's life given to us in Christ. The believer can say with Martin
Luther, although I'm a sinner, my pastor used to say, never
graduate. Never graduate from being a sinner
saved by the grace of God. Never graduate. The true believer
can say with Martin Luther, Although I'm a sinner, yet I despair not. For Christ, who is my Redeemer
and my righteousness, liveth. In him I have no sin, no fear,
no sting of conscience, no fear of judgment. There is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Still quoting
Martin Luther, in Christ there's no condemnation. Indeed, I'm
a sinner as touching this present life." Luther goes on and says,
"...but I have a righteousness of God which is above this life,
who is Christ my Lord, in Him I rejoice." Behold this day, Joshua says, I'm a dying man. Was it Richard Baxter who said,
I preach as one who may never preach again? I meant to quote
this Sunday morning. I even had it written down. I think it was Richard Baxter.
He said, I preach, I think I've stuck it back in here. Let me
see if I can dig it out. Not that one. There it is. I preach as one who may never
preach again. For I'm a dying man. I preach
as one who may never preach again, for I'm a dying man. But you
know what? I'm preaching to dying men. You should hear the gospel as
a dying man, knowing it's appointed unto men who want to die. And after that, after that, You'll meet God.