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Achan, uh, sin was discovered, confessed, and put right, and Israel were victorious over Ai. But as we now turn to the New Testament to read some verses, let us remember that haunting question that Joshua addressed to Achan. Achan, said he, why have you troubled us? The Lord shall trouble you this day. So let us now read from the New Testament, the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians and chapter one. Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, chapter one, verse six.
I marvel that you are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel, which is not another gospel. Only there are some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven should preach unto you any other gospel than that which we preached unto you, let him be accursed, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preaches unto you any gospel other than that which you received, let him be anathema, that is, let him be accursed.
And may God himself show us the meaning of these very solemn stories. Now we are currently studying together the book of Joshua in the Old Testament and finding it warm our hearts to their very foundations. Because as we Christian people read the story of Joshua, in irresistibly it reminds us of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. The name Jesus, as we have remembered now several times, is but a Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. So you can't read the book of Joshua without thinking of our Lord Jesus. But then, of course, there is a deeper similarity between Joshua and the Lord Jesus.
Joshua was the great hero, the great captain of Israel's salvation, whom God appointed to lead Israel into their glorious inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey. As we read of that, of course, we cannot help as Christians remembering that we too have an inheritance, as Peter himself reminds us. We are born again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us.
And just as it was Joshua who led the people of Israel into their God-given inheritance, so it is our blessed Lord Jesus that leads us and brings us into the good and the enjoyment of our wonderful and eternal inheritance. Through our blessed Lord Jesus, we have the very earnest of that inheritance, the down payment, the guarantee of the full and final payment. We have the earnest of our inheritance already within our hearts, for through the blessed Lord Jesus, we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And more than that, he stands guarantor that he will bring all his people at last, s- both spiritually and bodily, into that glorious inheritance.
Indeed, to tell you the truth, there's a strong rumor going about that some of you are already seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Is it not so? It's more than a rumor, for it is written in the Epistle to the Ephesians more than once, that not only will our Lord Jesus come again and take his people to their glorious inheritance in heaven, but in a sense already we are raised with Christ and seated with Christ in heavenly places, far above all principality, power, might, and dominion, and every name that is. For you see, the believer is joined to the Lord Jesus, in eh utterly unbreakably joined to the Lord Jesus, and therefore the believer shares the victory of the Lord Jesus, who has not only conquered death, but has risen into the very presence of God.
Therefore, if we are his and we are joined to him, we share his victory and already share his exaltation, so that we do well, as Paul tells us, to give thanks to the Father who has made us meet, who has qualified us for our participation in the inheritance of the saints in light. Now we are currently, as I say, studying the book of Joshua, but in particular phase one of the conquest of the land of Canaan that was their inheritance. We found last night that that first phase was in three parts, each part with its particular objective.
And if you have ready to hand the sheaf of notes that was given you, you may care to look at them tonight. And the first thing you will notice as you look at this, uh, sheet of notes tonight is how remarkably sophisticated and professionally presented they are compared with the crude amateuries, uh, set of notes that were given to you last night. And that is because I did the ones la- last night, but our good friend, my good friend Mr. Campbell, sitting down here on my right, he did the notes tonight, you'll see, and your thanks are due to him. Look at the first diagram above, and you will see there set out roughly the three parts of the first phase of the con- uh, uh, conquest, each with its own objective, the obstacle that was against the attainment of that objective, the miracle God did to bring his people through, and finally the objective achieved.
Last night, the objective before us was the first elementary objective of actually bringing the people of God into their inheritance. The difficulty in the way was the River Jordan in flood. The miracle God did was by presencing himself upon the ark, and then as the ark went through Jordan, the waters separated, and it made possible Israel's passage through the Jordan, even though it was at flood, thus to enter and to set foot in their long promised inheritance. Tonight we move on to the second objective, and that was, as you see from the list here, to establish the law of God in Canaan.
Two great obstacles stood in the way. They were the evil cities of Jericho and Ai. Once more, God performed a miracle. The walls of Jericho came a tumbling down, and Israel entered the city and destroyed it. The destruction of the second city was not so easy and was not accomplished until Israel had been through a very bitter experience, had got themselves compromised with sin, and were obliged to confess their sin and judge themselves before God. But eventually, the two cities were completely destroyed, and the way was opened up for Joshua to take the people through and to fulfill the obligation that Moses had laid upon them.
For you see, the establishment of the law in the land of Canaan, if you please, was something that Moses, the man of God himself, had commanded the Israelites and commanded them in detail. If you care, you could read his commands written down for us in the book of Deuteronomy and chapter twenty seven. Very, very clearly and in punctilious detail, Moses had told them what was expected of them. When they got in that land, as soon as they conveniently could, they were to make a beeline for the center of the land, take Israel and her armies to the twin mountains of Ebel and Gerizim, near the modern town of Nablus.
And there they were to assemble the nation, half of them before the one mountain and half of them before the other mountain. They were to build an altar there. They were to write out the laws on the plaster on the stones. They were to take the ark of God's covenant there. Solemnly then, in the presence of God, and in the hearing of the mass throngs of the armies of Israel, the Levites were to read aloud the terms of the law of God spoken through Moses. First of all, they were to read the blessings that would come upon Israel if they kept the holy commandments of God's law.
And as they read each blessing for the keeping of a particular commandment, the whole of the nation were to cry with their full-throated cry, Amen, be it so, if we keep the commandment of the Lord, may his blessing be upon us. But when they had finished reciting the blessings, then the Levites had to pronounce the curses. Cursed be he that does this or that or the other contrary to the holy law of God. Once more, as each individual curse was pronounced upon the breaking of any particular law of God, the mass thousands of Israel were to say, amen, be it so done.
And if we break the commandments of God's holy law. May God, God's curse fall upon us. That is a feature of the book of Joshua that is not often dealt with or dwelt upon. But it is exceedingly important. It is the second major objective. Indeed, so soon as they got into the land, it then became the first big objective that they were to, to seek. As you'll observe, Joshua did not wait until he had destroyed every pagan citadel of power in the country before he went to Mount Ebal and Gerizim to establish the law.
No, indeed not. Two cities stood in the way, and he was obliged to deal with them, else he couldn't have got the armies of Israel through and up to Mount Gerizim in evil. The two great cities were Jericho and then the lesser one, Ai, and therefore, of necessity, Joshua had to destroy those two cities. But once they were destroyed, he didn't wait around to try and destroy any of the other enemies. No, his number one objective now must be, now they were in the land, to see to it that the law of God was established in that hitherto evil civilization. The righteous requirement of the law must be fulfilled.
And now you see a very important thing. God warned Israel before they went into the land, that once they were in the land, they would be have to be very careful how they behaved. The Canaanites were being destroyed and thrown out of the land precisely because of their desperate sinning against God. And Israel were now going to be taken into the land in their place. There could therefore be no glimmer of a thought that Israel could get into the land and then just behave as they pleased, thinking because they were God's blue-eyed boys and girls, they could do what they liked because they professed to be God's people.
God made it very abundantly clear that if he were turning out the Canaanites because of their sin, when Israel got in, by the grace and the mercy of God, they would be expected to keep God's holy law. Do you know, it seems to me that's a sermon in itself, isn't it? Of what conversion means for us nowadays, and not only conversion. It is verily true that there is for every believer an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us, and every believer will be there.
But just a moment. The Bible also says that Christ now is raised above principalities, powers, mights, and dominions. Many of them have in the past and still are been, have been and still are hostile to God. They are those evil powers which, according to Ephesians chapter six, the world rulers of this darkness, the principalities and powers led by his satanic majesty himself, who war against the believer, and the believer is expected to war against them. The Bible informs us that Satan and his hosts will one day be thrown out of the heavenly places, and redeemed men and women taken in.
It stands to reason, doesn't it? That if Satan and his hosts are to be thrown out of the, uh, of the heavenly places because of their sinful rebellion against God, it stands to reason. There can be no glimmer of an idea that because a believer is saved by grace, he or she may live just as they please. God isn't going to turn Satan out of heaven for his disobedience and allow me in and there myself to disobey, just like Satan did. The great objective must be that the righteousness of the law shall be fulfilled.
Moses, I say then, commanded, uh, that the Israelites were to achieve this great objective. And as we have noticed on previous occasions, poor old Moses, he was very good at commanding, wasn't he? What a brilliant man he was. I guard my speech as I think about him. Good as he was at commanding, he wasn't always very good at achieving, was he? Rebelled against God himself eventually, for which he never entered the promised land physically. Ah. But then, this is the glorious gospel message of our book. Let's repeat it again. What Moses commanded, but what Moses could not do.
That Joshua did. He got the Israelites into Canaan, brought them into their inheritance, fed them the grapes and the milk and the honey, but he did more than that. Oh, read it with a sense of triumph in your heart, will you? See him now with Jericho and Ai destroyed, marching the Israelites to meet their God at Mount Ebal and Gerizim, there with the altar, there with the ark, there with God's holy law. And as the redeemed of the Lord stand around, blessings and the curses of that law are pronounced.
Oh, listen, can you hear it now all down the centuries, coming faintly on your ears at this very moment? Can you hear that mass roar, that full-throated roar of the tribes of God's people? Amen. Be it so done. The law of God established in the land of Canaan. It reminds us of a verse that we have quoted to ourselves now many times, a key verse from the New Testament in studying the book of Joshua. It is the verse to be found in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter eight and verse four.
The righteousness of the law, says Paul, the meaning the righteous requirement of the law. That holy character, that holy behavior that the law requires. God has a scheme for seeing that the righteous requirement of the law shall be fulfilled. Oh, what a glorious, glorious note of gospel it is. For all those whose consciences have been awakened, who would long to do his law and feel so often they failed, oh courage, my brother, my sister, God has a scheme, and when he's done with it, he shall see to it that the righteous requirements of his law are fulfilled in you.
They begin to be fulfilled now, and there'll come a day when they shall be fulfilled in all their entirety, and we shall go home to be with the Lord, and we shall sin no more. Oh, what a day it shall be. But how? How shall it be done? Listen to Paul giving us his New Testament comment on the book of Joshua. He says, you know what, the law could not do. Nothing wrong with the law. The difficulty, however, lay with us and the weakness of our fallen human nature.
What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin. First of all, God did what in sending his blessed son to Calvary? He condemned sin. Let's get the order straight. When we've had time to think about it, then let us begin to shout God's praise. Oh, thank God for a God with a backbone who dares condemn sin, I tell you straight, you might give up this very moment any thought of a heaven that's incorruptible and undefiled and that fades not away.
People say, you know, but God is so loving, he wouldn't condemn anybody. Well, if that's true, there's never going to be a heaven, is there? Because if God doesn't condemn sin now, he won't condemn sin then. And sin has made a ghastly mess of our world. If God won't condemn it, then it will make a ghastly mess of his heaven as well. Or we may well thank God for a God with a backbone, a God of holiness. There will be a heaven. It's no fairy tale, no Ri- Red Riding Hood fable. There will be a heaven that is holy and full of undiminished and untarnished joy because of the holiness of God who condemned sin.
How serious is his condemnation of sin? Oh, friends, see how God is in earnest. He sent his son, sinless though he was, sent him in the likeness of sinful flesh, sent him as a sacrifice for sin. See the sorrows of Calvary, the darkness and the wrath, and learn how serious God is in condemning sin. Yes, he condemned sin. Oh, thank God he sent him not only to condemn sin, but to be a sacrifice for sin on behalf of us sinners, to pay the dread penalty of the law that we had broke.
So in him there is forgiveness, and there is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ. Oh, what lovely words, no penalty. But there's more than that. We not only have forgiveness, but the righteous requirements of the law are now going to be fulfilled in us. Condemn sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. There lies the secret of heaven already begun.
If we learn no more than that from our reading of these ancient histories this evening, we should have learned an exceedingly important thing. But we have time to consider further details. The establishment of the law as the second main objective in the book of Joshua raises a fundamental question. And that question is this. What was in Israel's day, what was the relation between their keeping of the law and their entry into their inheritance?
I mean this. It was God's desire that they should keep the law, but tell me, their entry into their inheritance, what relation did it have to the keeping of the law? Was it that their entry to their inheritance was conditional upon their keeping the law? Did God say, now look here, first of all, let us get it clear before you get into the land. Now you must keep my law. If you manage to keep that law, you will be allowed into the inheritance. If you don't manage to keep the law, you'll never be allowed to be into the inheritance.
So let's have a testing time now. Let's put you on approval, so to speak. Let's put you on probation. We'll see how well you get on. If you manage to keep the law a hundred percent, you'll be allowed to go into the land. But, on the other hand, if you don't manage to keep the law, you won't be allowed into the land. Which way round was it? Or was it that he took them into the land of his sovereign grace, in spite of the fact that all of them at best were failing sinners, and of his mercy and grace, in response to their faith, he took them into the inheritance and then expected them as a result of that to establish the law.
Which way round was it? You say, I don't see why you should make a fuss about such ancient things. I mean, we're living in nineteen eighty nine, so why should we bother about such abstruse questions of ancient history? Oh, but no, my friend, it isn't, isn't just, just ancient history, is it? There is this inheritance for us, incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for us. And I, for one, want to know. Yes, I see God has a scheme that the righteousness of the law should be fulfilled, but what I want to know is this: what relationship does that have to my entry to the inheritance? And to you, for, for that matter.
Is it? Now, first of all, throughout this life, we have to try and keep God's holy law, and if we manage to succeed in keeping the law, we shall be allowed into the inheritance. But if we don't manage to keep the law, at least reasonably, you know, respectably, seventy percent at least, well, fifty five percent, well, forty one percent at any rate, um, we can't be allowed into the incorruptible inheritance. Is that how it is? You know, there are millions of people who say yes to that. They'd say, yes, that is precisely how it is. We're on probation in this life, we have to do our best to keep God's law, and if we succeed in keeping that law reasonably well, at least, let us into the inheritance incorruptible.
But if we don't keep that law, if we come short, we shall not get in. Would that be your view? You say, what's the alternative? The alternative is this, that first of all, sinners though we are, we have forgiveness through Jesus Christ, and he qualifies us to enter the inheritance and to start doing it now. He makes us meet to be inheritors and participators in the inheritance of the saints in light, and he does so by his redeeming sacrifice at Calvary that pays the debt of our sin and gives us the inheritance free, gratis, and for nothing. And then, in gratitude for what God has done and by the power of his spirit within, we begin to be able to keep the requirements of God's law ever increasingly, until the day dawns that we shall be perfect.
That's the one side. You know, that is, in fact, the Christian gospel. That's how it is. Isn't it marvelous? You know, a lot of folks think that salvation is like attending a university and trying to get a degree. In a university, if you want a degree, the first thing you have to do is to get into the university. Isn't that so? That isn't always as easy as you might think. But if you should manage to get into the university, you don't get a degree the first day you attend. No, indeed not. Now you've got the course. You're in the running for a degree, and uh, if you work sensibly and the tutors are sensible tutors, like some of them are at least, then you might have a hope that you would pass finals.
Well, of course, if you've got seventy percent, you'll get a brilliant first. If you were to get fifty five percent, you'll get a second. If you've got less than that, you'll get a third, but a third is still a degree, isn't it? And if you should manage to fall below forty percent, even then they might be kind and let you through. But you couldn't be sure that you would get a degree until you had passed finals. Do you know there's a lot of folks think of heaven like that? They think that if you want to get to heaven, the first thing you have to do is to be in the running. How do you do that? Well, you, you join a church and get baptized. And then, by the help of your spiritual guides and doing the best you can to keep God's law, you live through life and you try to improve.
But of course, you can't say you're going to heaven until it comes to the final judgment and you hear the verdict of the judge. That is not Christianity, ladies and gentlemen. That's the very opposite of Christianity. It's a widespread view. I. Hence the usefulness of the illustrations that God has given us here. That is not Christianity. Oh, thank God it isn't Christianity. The gospel is this, that right here and now, if never before, as a sinner, guilty and deserving of God's wrath, you repent and put your faith in Christ. Then his death pays the penalty of God's law, and immediately God takes you out of the kingdom of darkness, and he translates you into the kingdom of his dear son, into the glorious inheritance, to enjoy even now the blessed fruits of the Holy Spirit, peace with God, and forgiveness, and the beginnings of a holy life.
And then he guarantees you that one day he'll take you bodily into the presence of God, that you may enjoy the rest of your inheritance. And the law comes in afterwards, because those who are b- born again and have God's Holy Spirit now find they have the power to begin slowly to learn how to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. Ah. How would I prove to you that Joshua is telling us the same message as that? Well, to start with, I could do it simply. Look at chapter five, would you, and verse two. Chapter five and verse two.
At that time, the Lord said unto Joshua, make thee knives of flint and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. Chapter five is the beginning of certain preparations that were made before Israel went to attack Jericho and Ai, thus to establish the law in the land. The first thing they had to do was to be circumcised. Now, I have a question to put to you. It's a very important question, even if it's a very simple question. When is the question? When? At exactly what point in the proceedings were the Israelites circumcised?
Before they got into their inheritance, or after they got into their inheritance? The answer is simple, isn't it? They were circumcised after they got into their inheritance. Isn't that true? Chapter five comes after chapter four. In chapter four, they have passed through the Jordan. They now stand in their inheritance. They're already in when the command goes forth that they are to be circumcised. What's the point of it? Well, in Jewish thought, of course, circumcision stood as one typical command of God's holy law. And they who said that salvation was by keeping the law would take circumcision as a test case, and they would tell you, unless you be circumcised, you cannot be saved.
They would tell you, except you be circumcised, you cannot enjoy the great inheritance. That's why Paul, uh, argues a similar argument, doesn't he? Romans chapter four it is, if you like to take the reference. Romans chapter four and verse thirteen, Talking about this great inheritance, the inheritance originally promised to Abram and to his seed. He says like this, for not through the law was the promise to Abram or his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. You see, Abram was promised the inheritance to him and to his seed, and the record is Genesis chapter uh fifteen.
So now Paul is ar- asking a similar question to the question I just asked. He's saying, wait a minute, hold that. Abram was given the promise of the inheritance. Yeah, but when was he given the promise? When God gave him that promise, was Abram already circumcised? Or did he get the promise before he was circumcised? You say, what's the difference? Well, you see, if Abram had been circumcised first, and then God had said, okay, now I'll give you the inheritance, everybody would have concluded, wouldn't they? There you are, you have to be circumcised in order to receive the promise of the inheritance. It is very important, therefore, to notice that in the book of Genesis, when God made Abraham the promise, I'm going to give you and your seed this great inheritance, Abraham was not yet circumcised.
And it shows us this, argues Paul, that our enjoyment, our entry into that great inheritance does not depend on being circumcised, does not depend, therefore, on keeping the law. I'm arguing the same thing from Joshua chapter five. When they actually came to inherit the inheritance, they actually entered in under Joshua's leadership. Tell me, were they circumcised or weren't they circumcised? When were they circumcised? Before they entered or after? And the answer is as clear as daylight. They entered first, they were circumcised after.
You will say you are a rare antiquarian, you are. I mean, fancy raising questions of circumcision with a Christian congregation in the middle of Ulster, you'll say. What's circumcision got to do with us? Well, first of all, there's the legal point. Then there are multitudes, aren't there, that tell us that, uh, in Christianity, the equivalent of circumcision is infant baptism. I don't stay to argue the case whether that is true or isn't true. That would take us wide, wide out onto the ocean, wouldn't us? I make the simple point. Supposing you could show that infant baptism, according to the New Testament, is the equivalent of Old Testament circumcision, then what would follow?
Well, then the question would be, does our great inheritance depend on being baptized as infants, wouldn't it? Or is it that you first get saved, you first enter the inheritance, and then you get baptized? Which way around would it be? And the answer would be clear, wouldn't it? Just as circumcision didn't qualify you to enter the inheritance, nor contribute to your right to the inheritance, so baptism does not save anybody in that sense, nor help towards our salvation. God's order is this: we first get saved through the sacrifice of Christ.
We are made meet to partake of the inheritance of the saints in light, and then, as part of our response to the many things our Lord wants us and loves us to do, we then get baptized. We also, just like justification is altogether a gift of God's grace, so is entry to the great inheritance. Now, you mustn't think that in so saying, when I say that, uh, our entry to the inheritance does not depend on keeping of the law, that I am in any sense disparaging the law.
For we turn now to the details of the story. You will observe a very striking thing. When God took Israel into the land of Canaan, he insisted that they join him in the execution of his judgments upon those evil cities. Why did he do it, do you think? You'll see God needn't have done it that way, did he? He could have said to the Israelites, now look here, uh, you stay in one of the oases like Kadesh Barnea.
There's plenty of palm trees there and beautiful water and few coconuts and things, and you have a pleasant holiday here in Kadesh Barnea and stay there a, a few months. I'm going now to execute my long threatened wrath upon the evil cities of Canaan, and God could have used the same methods as he used with Sodom and Gomorrah. He could have burned them up, and having, uh, uh, uh, cleaned the whole place up, then he could have said, now come, my people, into this beautiful paradise and enter in. He didn't do that, did he? When God executed his wrath upon the cities of Canaan with all their evil, he took Israel by the scruff of the neck and he said, now you'll come with me and do it.
And what is more, he said to Israel, you will agree with me that it's right to do it. You know, there are some people that would tell us that these stories of Israel going into Canaan and slaughtering cities, whole cities full of people, is really the story of savages, primitive savages that came upon a civilization they didn't understand, and in their ignorance they slaughtered the inhabitants and destroyed the city. That isn't true, you know. You would be absolutely wrong and mistaken to think that Israel enjoyed what they had to do. In fact, the history tells us many times that so far from agreeing with God that it had to be done, they slunk back and they compromised.
Indeed, they intermarried with many of the people. I can imagine it happening, can't you? Here were the young bloods in Israel, you know, and here was Joshua repeating the law of Moses that all these cities and folks had to be destroyed, and here are the young bloods, and they come up to Jericho and they peep over the walls, there's some handsome girls there, you know, and AI in particular, you should see them when they're dressed up for their best, and they're saying to their pastor, do we have to do this? How can it be of God to go in and and slaughter such beautiful people? I think I would have been tempted to argue the same, wouldn't you? And very often, in spite of God's severe warnings, Israel compromised.
They didn't want to go and slip roads, did not want to go and execute the judgments of God on cities that to them looked very beautiful cities. In fact, they intermarried with the populace very often. Why did God insist that the Israelites join him and be his instruments in the judgment of these people? For the simple reason that God was going to insist, before he let Israel into that land, that they agree with him on his judgment of sin. And why? Jericho, said God, must be utterly destroyed.
Nothing that breathes shall be left. It's gold and silver devoted to the Lord. Nothing be salvaged. Everything under God's curse. You say, I find it difficult even so to take that in and believe that's the God, uh, of the New Testament. Surely that's the God of the Old Testament. Hasn't the God of the New Testament grown a bit more kindly than that? I thought Jesus Christ taught us that God is love. God condemned people to death? Well, ladies and gentlemen, here we come right down to the foundation of our Christian gospel, don't we? If you think the judgment of God on Jericho was severe, what will you say of the New Testament?
You'll say Paul tells us, yes, he certainly tells us the book of the Roman, to the Romans, chapter one, He says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation. But if you were to turn around and say, all right, Paul, right, oh, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, but tell me, Paul, please tell me, Paul, why do I need to be saved anyway? Do you know the first answer that Paul would give you? He'll say you'll need to be saved for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. That's why. The first reason we need to be saved is that as men and women, unrepentant, unsaved, unforgiven, we stand under the wrath of God.
That's why we need to be saved. There are other reasons why we need to be saved. Sin very often has made a mess of our lives, of our human relationships, have broken our hearts, and sometimes our emotions as well, and our mind, and our families. And we need to be saved because of the wreckage that sin has caused, and God can save us at that level too. But the first reason, we stand under the wrath of God. How severe is that wrath? How big is the need? Well, learn from Jericho.
God's sentence on Jericho, it had to be utterly destroyed. And God's verdict on you and me, as fallen men and women, is this. Now listen. This is Romans chapter three. We know that what things soever the law says, it says to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world become guilty before God. Friend, it's not too much to say, if ever we would be in heaven, if ever we would enter that glorious inheritance, we must now come with God and take God's hand and say, yes, God, your judgment is just.
I deserve your wrath. In my humble experience, I find many people who profess to be Christians but have no assurance of salvation in their hearts. I have long since come to the conclusion that one of the reasons for this is that they have bypassed this initial step in their conversion. It stands at the very entry. This is our Jericho. God's judgment that we all have sinned. And not only have we sinned in the past, but if we live to ninety nine and a half, it will still be true of us what the apostle says.
We have sinned in the past, and we still do come short of the glory of God. And God will not bend his law. The penalty of his law must be carried out. When God therefore says that nobody can be saved by keeping the law, God is not bending his law, God is not disparaging his law. He's maintaining his law. None of this, oh well, do the best you can, and in the end, even if you come short, God will be merciful. That's nonsense. No heaven can be built on that principle.
Sorry, this turret in the glorious city is a bit wonky, but then never mind, it's near enough right? Oh, if you want to see how serious God is about his law, come with me. That dark yet bright night when the hosts of Israel were gathered before the city of Jericho. Last minute preparations were to be made for the judgment of God to descend upon that evil city. When all was in readiness, Joshua, the commander in chief upon whose shoulders lay the m- their most serious responsibility, happened to lift up his eyes, and he saw...
There was a man with his sword unsheathed. Mighty warrior! With bated breath, Joshua the captain went and said, sir, are you for us or against us? And the reply came, neither, neither for you nor against you, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I come. And who was it? It was none other than the second person of the Trinity, in a pre-incarnate manifestation, come with his sword outstretched.
Oh, wonder, the lovely Son of God himself. The one who centuries later came to tell us that God so loved the world. He it was that took the sword that should, uh, execute the wrath of God's law upon Jericho City. That's how serious it is. It's not minimizing the law. I'll tell you something more. How serious God is about his law. That same figure who in ancient times took the sword out of its sheath and executed God's wrath upon Jericho, one day came in human flesh to, and the sword was raised, the sword of God's holy law.
And for your sake and for mine, that God might uphold that law, the sword fell upon the person of God's dear Son, and he was smitten for our offenses, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripe we are healed. Ever we would be in the inheritance, we shall have to come to this. We must agree with God. His judgment of me is correct. I deserve to be executed, dead and buried.
That's what I say in my baptism. My hope is this, that Jesus loved me and gave himself for me. The moment I repent and receive him like that, that moment I step into my inheritance, assured of it eternally. God's judgment on Jericho was severe, wasn't it? You say, yes, but Rahab was saved. So she was.
Rahab and all her family were saved, and any of her friends that gathered in her house. You say, on what grounds were they saved? When all the rest of Jericho perished. Was that she w- was it that she was better than the others? Well, hardly. She'd been the town prostitute for I don't know how many years. On what principle was she saved? Did she escape the judgments of God? And indeed, on what principle did she become incorporated with the people of God? And enjoy the inheritance with them her whole lifetime through. The Bible has the answer.
Hebrews chapter eleven it is. Rahab by faith. Oh, simply by faith. She had no good work to recommend her, nothing but a tarnished past, but she turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God and to wait. Ah. She had eyes to see it, hadn't she, as the armies of God massed outside the walls, and she knew any day now they'd be coming. To wait for Joshua. Joshua would destroy that city with the judgments of God. But Rahab knew in her heart she would be saved.
She had the word of God and the oath of God. Hmm, you'll say, Mr. Preacher, beg to disagree, because the Apostle James says that a Rahab was justified by her works. Now come, come, come. You choose to believe Hebrews eleven, I choose to believe James chapter two. Well, why not? I believe James chapter two as well. Was not a, a Rahab justified by her, her works? Of course she was. But what works? Well, James will tell you what works. In that she received the spies in peace. That's it. She showed her profession of repentance was real, and that she left the side of Jericho, her citizens, and the king.
She came over to the side of the people of God and declared her loyalty with them, received the spies, received the word of God, stood with the people of God. Here was a genuine conversion, and to make it clear, she bound the cord in the window of her little house upon the wall. Yes, this is salvation, accepting the fact that judgment is coming, owning we are worthy of that judgment, upholding therefore the law of God. Repenting, therefore, owning we cannot save ourselves, putting our faith in the Savior. Receiving the oath that is guaranteed that we are saved and we shall be saved from the coming wrath, and showing our repentance is genuine by taking our stand with the people of God and binding his word in our hearts.
Finally, we have to consider how solemn was the method God used of destroying the city. It was a method he didn't use elsewhere, so we must pay particular attention as now we close. God didn't go order the troops to make an immediate assault on the walls of Jericho. God told the Israelites they were to gather together their whole army and the, uh, uh, and the people. The priests were to go in front with their trumpets. The ark was to be to the fore. They were to take the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the earth.
And once each day for six days, they were to encircle the city. On the seventh day, they were to encircle the city seven times, and then only, when the word of command was given, were they to shout, and the walls of the city would come down. But for the first six days, they just round- went round quietly. Nobody said anything. The priest blew the trumpet to draw attention, and as the Jerichoites came peering over the wall, what was this? All they saw was this procession of people around the walls with his art. What was God saying? Well, the Jerichoites would have known and have remembered perhaps what you're not now remembering.
A few days earlier, they would have seen Jordan in flood and would have said to themselves, well, the Israelites will never get across that. That's our first line of defense, a veritable Maginot line like the French. Then they had seen the miracle, the Ark of the Lord of the whole earth approach the river, go down into its bed, and come up the other side. The great miracle of the resurrection of that Ark. And now that ark was being paraded by the people of God round the city. Spoke volumes, didn't it?
For the walls of Jericho would never keep out the ark of God that had been through Jordan and up the other side. Do you know we have the job too of bearing the ark of God around the cities of this wicked world? You say, what do you mean? Why? We have a message to preach. There's coming a day of judgment, in the which God will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And how do we know? Of which God has given us assurance, in that he has raised him from the dead.
Hear the message of the Holy Spirit as he comes to convict the world of sin that they refuse to believe the Savior. He comes to convict them of righteousness because Jesus Christ is right. The world crucified him. They said he was an impostor. He was a sinner and deserved to die, but God raised him from the dead, and Jesus Christ has ascended, and God has proclaimed to hold the whole world that Jesus Christ is right, and the world was wrong. And if that be so, if Jesus Christ was murdered by this world, but God has raised him from the dead, the third thing is true. The Holy Spirit witnesses of judgment, because now is the prince of this world judged.
As sure as Jesus is raised, there is coming a day of judgment. And we have our choice. We can stand like the Jerichoites, foolishly trusting their fortifications, unrepentantly, and perish in our sins. Or we can look on that ark, come through Jordan and risen again. We can look upon the blessed Savior, dead, buried, and risen. And take our stand with Rahab and with all the saints of God, turn to God from idols, to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, our deliverer from the coming.
You say, Mr. Preacher, you've told us tonight how to begin, that if we would have the law established, we have to start here, agreeing with God and the sentence of his law when it condemns us to death, and fleeing to Christ the Savior, whose death delivers us from the penalty of sin. You say, you haven't told us how the righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us, and that is really what we were wanting to hear. Yes, I suspect it was. Well then, if you are able to, please come tomorrow, and we shall discuss that subject at the beginning of our meeting tomorrow night, if God will.
