Okay, this evening we continue
in our Bible study through the book of Joshua. It's always interesting
as we read through these papers, the pages made of paper, and
see how the Lord inscribes these words to teach us the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said in verse 15 of Joshua chapter 11,
verse 15. Joshua 11, verse 15. As the Lord commanded Moses his
servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua. Everything he did, he did by
the command of the Lord, which is by the decree of God and the
will of God. And here's what caught my attention,
and he left nothing undone. of all that the Lord commanded
Moses, he left nothing, nothing, nothing undone. Everything the
Lord commanded Moses, Moses in turn commanded Joshua to do concerning
the defeating of the enemies in the land, conquering the land
of Canaan, and Joshua accomplished everything. He left nothing off,
he left nothing undone, nothing unfinished. And it says in the
last part of verse 23, and the land rested from war. Remember in verse 18, Joshua
made war a long time with those kings. Every king he faced, every
battle he was in, he won every one, won every battle. He left
nothing undone. He left nothing off. He did everything
that God commanded him to do. How much more? Now, whenever
we read a statement like that, my attention is drawn immediately
to the Lord Jesus Christ, our greater Joshua, our greater Joshua. Where sin did abound, grace does
much more abound through the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, our
blessed Savior, when He died for our sin upon the cursed tree,
He said, salvation is accomplished. Salvation is finished. Salvation
is done. Now, that gives us great comfort,
does it not? That gives us great comfort.
What great comfort this affords us to know that our salvation
is already accomplished. We can rest the whole of our
salvation totally and completely upon the Lord Jesus Christ and
what He has performed for us and has done for us and what
He's doing in us. I quote this Psalm all the time,
Psalm 52-7. Let me read it for you one more
time, verse 2. I will cry unto God Most High,
as a God that performeth all things for me. He performs all things for us. That gives us comfort, that gives
us peace, that causes us to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ all
the time. Now, by way of introduction,
remember from our last message in Joshua chapter 10, How the
five kings of the south came against Israel, led by the man
by the name of Adonai Zekiah, remember? And the Lord, and how
the Lord defeated all those five kings of the Amorites, and He
did so in a most unusual way. He sent great hailstones from
heaven, He even made the sun and moon to stand still, so Joshua
would have daylight, prolong the daylight, so Joshua could
finish the Lord's business in defeating the enemies. God will
spare no expense for His people. Even if He has to stop all creation,
He will stop it. Nothing too hard for the Lord.
The kings of the north part of the land of Canaan come against
Joshua, led by this man. In verse 1, his name is Jabin. King of Hazor, and he heard those
things, and he sent to all these different kings, he said, you,
let's confederate ourselves together, let's form a great army, and
let's attack Israel, and let's attack Joshua. The kings of the
north, led by Jabin, who seemed to be the ringleader, gathered
all these kings together to fight against God, but we know the
fight against God is absolutely futile, useless, and of no effect. Now, look at verse 4, Joshua 11 verse 4, and they went
out They and all their hosts with them, much people even as
the sand that is upon the seashore, in multitude with horses and
chariots, very many." Now the old Jewish historians, they say
that there were 300,000 men in this army. We know that Israel marshaled
an army of only 30,000 soldiers. How can 30,000 men defeat an
army of over 300,000 with horses, calvary, and with chariots, the
war machine of the chariots? And it says over here in verse
eight of Joshua 11, and the Lord delivered them into the hand
of Israel who smote them and chased them. Now, that word chase
them reminded me of this scripture. And let's turn back a few pages
to Deuteronomy, the book of Deuteronomy chapter 32. Chase them. Now, the Lord delivered them into
their hand. Now, Deuteronomy 32 verse 30. How should one chase a thousand
and two put 10,000 to flight? And that's what happened. Except
their rock had sold them and the Lord had shut them up. Their
rock, notice that capital, that is the rock of ages, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now I love this next verse. For
their rock is not as our rock, even as our enemies themselves
being judges, read on, for their vine is in the vine of Sodom
and their field of Gomorrah, their grapes are grapes of Gaul,
their clusters are bitter, their wine is a poison of dragons,
and the cruel venom of Asp is not this laid up in store with
me and sealed up among my treasures," look at verse 35, "...to me belonging
vengeance and recompense, their foot shall slide in due time.
For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that
shall come upon them shall make haste." Now, same chapter, Deuteronomy
32, look at verse 39, And here's why 30,000 has no problem beating
up on and destroying 300,000. See now that I, even I am the
Lord, I am he. There is no God with me. I kill,
I make alive, I wound, I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. For lo, I lift up my hand to
heaven and say I live forever. If I wet my glittering sword
in my hand, take hold on vengeance, I will render vengeance to my
enemy's judgment, and will reward them that hate me. Look at verse 43. Rejoice, O ye nations, with his
people, for he will avenge the blood of his servant, and will
render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his
land and to his people. That's why they won. had given
them deliverance from the hand of the Lord. The outcome of the
battle was never in doubt. Joshua wins the battle because
the Lord said that is what is going to happen. Now, if God
be for us, and He is in the covenant of grace, if God be for us, the
question is asked in the book of Romans, remember, who can
be against us? If God is for us, Who can be
against us? There's nothing too hard for
the Lord. With God, all things are possible. Now, with that introduction,
let's look at the first point here. Something most interesting
that caught my attention, going back to the reading of chapter
10, that's why I started in chapter 10. In chapter 10, Look at verse 15, Joshua chapter
10, verse 15. Now here's, you'll see in a minute
why I'm reading this. And Joshua returned, this is
Joshua 10, 15. Joshua returned and all Israel
with him unto the camp at Gilgal. They all returned, they all returned
back. Now, look down at verse 21, Joshua
10, 21. And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua and Makeda
in peace. None moved his tongue against
any of the children of Israel. Not even a dog would bark against
them. Look down at verse 38, Joshua 10. And Joshua returned
and all Israel with him to Debar and fought against it. And then
the closing verse. of Joshua 10 verse 43. And Joshua
returned and all Israel with him unto the camp to Gilgal. That was their base camp. They
went out of that camp. They had this great campaign
against all these kings, defeated all of them. And when they all
came back and Joshua counted heads, they were all there, not
one soldier missing. Now, they all returned safely. None were injured. None were
taken captive. None were killed. All returned. The whole army came back intact
and whole. Now, what does that teach us
about the gospel? Here's what I see. When the elect
of God stand in New Jerusalem, in the heavenly land of Canaan,
not one of the elect of God will be missing. All shall return
with our Joshua to that heavenly kingdom. Not one of the elect,
not one of the sheep of Christ will be missing. That's why I
read earlier Hebrews 2 verse 13, where it says they're the
captain of our salvation, our greater Joshua. He said, behold,
I and the children which God hath given me, they're all here. He presents us to the Father,
holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight, the Lord Jesus
Christ redeemed all of his Sheep with His blood, we are redeemed
with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. His precious
blood was not shed in vain. All those for whom He died, all
those for whom He shed His blood, all them shall be saved. God
bought us with His own blood. And He's gonna have what He bought.
He's gonna take us to glory because He bought us. You ladies don't
even go to Walmart and make a purchase and leave them there. You don't
leave your bag there. You paid for it. You bought it.
It's yours. What do you do with it? You take
it home. Now, that's a homely illustration, but that's exactly
what the Lord Jesus Christ. He bought us, He's going to take
us home to glory forever, and He's going to enjoy us forever. He saved all of His people. Call His name Jesus, Joshua,
for He shall save His people from their sin. He delivered
them all up to the Father as a charity of the covenant of
grace. Hebrews 7.22, by so much with
Jesus made a surety of a better, better covenant. None can perish,
will perish, or shall perish for whom the Lord Jesus Christ
died. Remember John chapter 10, John
chapter 6, John chapter 10, John chapter 17. All that the Father
giveth to me, they shall come to me. And those that come to
me, I will in no wise cast them out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And
this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone would
see the Son and believe it's on Him. I'll raise Him up at
the last day. None can perish for whom Christ
died. They all will be called out of
darkness. Called. That's interesting. He looked that word up sometime.
Called and called over 150 times. He uses that word in reference
to calling out his people. Called out of darkness into his
marvelous light. It's a glorious thing to think
about. The Lord said, I give my sheep eternal life and they
shall never perish. They shall never perish. No man
can pluck them out of my hand or my father's hand. Now here's
the second thing I want to look at, found in my title verse,
Joshua 11 verse 15. Joshua left nothing undone. You see that verse 15? as the
Lord commanded Moses. Now the Lord, our God, does not
make suggestions. He commands his people. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a suggestion for you to believe,
it's a command. God commands all men everywhere
to believe the gospel. As the Lord commanded Moses,
his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua. And so did Joshua. He left nothing undone of all
that the Lord commanded Moses. Everything was accomplished.
Everything was accomplished. Greater Joshua cannot fail in
all that he has undertaken for us. Remember that verse I read
last Thursday night when Brother Frank was here. I started the
service by reading Isaiah 42 where it tells us to behold the
elect of God. in whom my soul delights, the
Lord said. And then he says, you behold
the elect, the Lord Jesus, because he cannot fail. We have a Savior and a God, God
our Savior, who cannot fail in everything that he undertakes
for us. He knows nothing of failure. Everything He undertakes for
us, He does it with absolute success. He cannot fail. Our Lord Jesus Christ was zealous
in accomplishing the will and work of God for us. God speaks from heaven and said,
This is My well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. You remember in Luke chapter
2, the first recorded words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man
mediator in his earthly ministry, the first recorded words where
he said, I must be about my father's business. And then upon the cross
as he's giving his life for our sin, his last recorded words,
it is finished. It is finished. It's not that
he paid a part and you have a part to pay. That's not the gospel. The gospel is that the Lord Jesus
Christ finished our redemption, finished our salvation for us. That's his promise, is it not?
All the promises of God, all the promises God has made concerning
the salvation of his elect, the salvation of his covenant people,
no promise will go unkept or unfulfilled, no promise will
be made null and void. Will it? The Lord's made a lot
of promises. He's made a lot of promises.
The last recorded words of Joshua, turn over there to Joshua chapter
23. Of all the promises that God
had made to Moses and to Joshua, Joshua 23, verse 14, Behold,
this day I am going the way of all the earth. He said, I am
a dying man, and you know in all your hearts and all your
souls that not one thing hath failed. Of all the good things
which the Lord your God spake concerning you, all are come
to pass unto you, not one thing hath failed. And then I have
a reference written down here in 1 Kings 8.56, where Solomon,
when he prayed that prayer at the dedication of the temple,
said the same thing. Lord, of all your promises, not
one word has failed. Well, that gives us comfort,
does it not? And then we read this promise in 2 Corinthians
1.20. He said, for all the promises of God, all the promises of God
in him are yes. And in Him, amen, unto the glory
of God by us. Now if the promises of God failed,
would that bring Him glory? No, they cannot fail. The Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled
all the promises of God for us. He fulfilled all the Word of
God. He fulfilled all Scripture for us. How many times do we
read in Scripture, and this was done, and this was done, that
the promise of God, the Scripture might be fulfilled. Everything
the Lord Jesus Christ did was in fulfillment of the Word of
God. All Scripture fulfilled. He fulfilled
every promise for us. All the law of God perfectly
honored and satisfied. The Lord said, I didn't come
to destroy it, I came to honor it. Every precept of that law
magnified in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in
Isaiah 42, 21, the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness
sake, he will magnify the law and he will make it honorable.
And every precept is magnified in the obedience of Christ and
in his death, the very penalty of that law is satisfied. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. All righteousness fulfilled,
all righteousness established by your faithfulness. Thank God that I misspoke. I'll take that back. All righteousness
fulfilled by His obedience, by His faithfulness. Galatians 2.16,
knowing, let me just read it to you, knowing that a man is
not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of
Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. By the faithfulness of Christ,
he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Don't you just delight in the
fact? that the faithful obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ is that
righteousness that's imputed to you without work on your part. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputes righteousness without work. Now here's a third thing
I want us to see. In Joshua chapter 11, look down
to verse 18. Joshua made war. You know, In
Exodus 15, when the children of Israel were brought to the
Red Sea and God killed all those Egyptians, you remember they
were all drowned? God said, you will not see them
anymore. Remember what they sang? They sang, the Lord is a man
of war. And he is against his people,
against his enemies. Look at verse 18. And Joshua
made war a long time with those kings. And there was not a city
that made peace with the children of Israel, save or with the exception
of the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeah, all other they took
in battle." Now here's an example, a good typing picture of God's
sovereign mercy. For some surrendered and some
were hardened. Some were melted and broken and
some stood up with a hardened heart and a stiff neck of rebellion. Look what made the difference.
Look at verse 20. For it was the Lord to harden
their hearts. It was the Lord that hardened
their heart, that they should come against Israel in battle,
that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor,
no mercy, no grace. I mean, Joshua spared no quarter,
did he? I mean, he just, he wiped them
out. But that he might destroy them as the Lord commanded Moses. Now, Here is a picture of God's
sovereign grace, sovereign mercy. You remember from Romans 9, he
said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will harden
whom I will harden. I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. You remember from reading Joshua
chapter 9, the men of Gibeah, when they heard of the greatness
of the God of Israel, they were melted with fear and they unconditionally
surrendered. Remember? While the others heard
the same thing that the men of Gibeah heard, but the others
were hardened in their hearts and wanted to make war against
Joshua. But remember, turn back to chapter
9, verse 25, the land of Gibeah, verse 24,
and Joshua. And they answered Joshua and
said, because it was certainly told thy servant how the Lord
thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you the land and
to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you.
Therefore, we were sore afraid of our lives because of you and
have done this thing, surrender. And now, behold, we are in thy
hand, as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do." You do
it. They gave up. They surrendered. And God had mercy upon them.
In verse 20 of Joshua 11, we see the reason why God hardened
their heart. We see the reason why they rebelled
against God is because He hardened their hearts. They found no favor,
no grace, and no mercy. As he hardened the hearts of
Pharaoh and the Egyptians, remember God said that he hardened Pharaoh's
heart, that his power and glory might be seen in the destruction
of Pharaoh. Even so, the Lord is determined
to have all the glory in the saving of sinners justly and
in the condemnation of sinners also justly, He'll have all the
honor and glory. One to the praise of the glory
of His grace, the other to the praise of the glory of His justice,
that God's going to have all the honor and God's going to
have all the glory. Now, thank God for His mercy
to us. We're not any more deserving than any of those inhabitants
of the Amalekites, Amorites, or any other ites. Thank God
for His mercy to us. It is the Lord's effectual grace
that made us to differ. Remember, it is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. And
Paul said, Who made you to differ from another? What do you have
that you didn't receive? Now if you did receive it, why
would you glory as if you hadn't received mercy, His love, His
grace as the gift, the free gift of God? We can all say with the
apostle by the grace of God, I am what I am. And this is our
testimony, is it not? It's God who saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our work, but according to
his own purpose and grace, grace alone. God had no favor to these
men and destroyed them. Why did God have favor and grace
towards you? If you think the reason's found
in you, you've missed the gospel. The reason's found in him, not
in us. We don't merit his favor, his
love, or his mercy. That's right. Grace alone is
the grace of God that has made us to differ. Of His fullness
have we all received grace for grace. And in Him dwells all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily and we are complete in Christ. The last point is this, verse
23. Verse 23, and here's what caught
my attention. These words just sometimes seem
to jump off the page at me. Verse 23, Joshua 11 verse 23,
you got it? So Joshua took the whole land
according to all that the Lord said unto Moses. You remember
that was by the, how many times have we read and I emphasize,
by the command of the Lord. And Joshua, now here's the thing,
he took the whole land and then he gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their
tribe and their tribes and the land rested from war. Now, let me wind this up. Joshua took the whole land as
the Lord commanded him to do so. It says that over and over
and over. And then Joshua, after having took the whole land, he
gave it to these people, known as Israel, for their inhabitants
in the land. And then they had rest. Now,
all that is a picture of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done
for us. This is exactly what God has
done for us in Christ. Let me read this scripture to
you. John 10, 18. No man takes my life from me,
the Lord said. I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my Father. The Lord Jesus Christ
didn't die an accidental death. He died by the command of God. And he knew that. Peter preached
this at Pentecost, him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Oh, you took with wicked
hands and crucified the Lord of glory, but you did what God
determined before to be done, remember? The Lord Jesus Christ
came as a God-man mediator and took all my sin in His body. He took it to Himself by the
decree and command of God. God laid on Him the iniquity
of His people. He bare our sin in His own body
upon the tree. John identified the Lord Jesus
Christ as the Lamb of God that taketh away our sin. If you read
the Marginal Reference sometime on that verse, John 1.29, it
says in the Marginal Reference, it says, "...beareth away our
sin." He took our sin to Himself and then He put it away. by the
sacrifice of himself. He took all our sin to himself
and then he gives us the inheritance of grace. The whole inheritance
of grace. Now we have salvation and all
spiritual blessings in Christ never to be taken away. We are
called heirs of God and joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, don't turn, let me just
read this to you because you're familiar with Ephesians chapter
1. in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. We've obtained
it by His grace. We've obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should
be to the praise of the glory who first trusted in Christ. Now, who first trusted Christ?
From all eternity, God trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as our
covenant surety to bring all the children home. And then again,
let me just read this to you. You're familiar with it. I won't
have you turn and read it, but let me just read it for you quickly.
In 1 Peter 1, verse 1, he says, elect according to the foreknowledge
of God, the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience
and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that
fadeth not away, that's reserved for you, in heaven for you, who were kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
at the last day. Thanks be to God for our great
Joshua and the salvation he accomplished for us, And he freely gives it
unto us, making us heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
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? The apostle says this. My God
shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by the
Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be unto God who has given
us to victory, given us to victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's won the victory for us, conquered all of our enemies,
sin, Satan, hell, and death. He is victorious and we're more
than conquerors through him that loved us and gave himself for
us.