Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, my dear brother, my dear sister, as I said to you, I want to speak about the feebleness of the people of God in following the Lord. And I want to do so here from Joshua chapter 23. As you can see, we're progressing through this book. And almost in the end of this book, we have seen here how the Lord has fulfilled all of His promises. And in this chapter 23, as we are about to read it, my brother, my dear sister, we will see that a long time has already passed. That's what we're told in verse 1 of chapter 23, that a long time has already passed. And because a long time has already passed, Joshua is very old and he knows that he's about to die. And in a very similar way, you may remember as Moses, who was about to die and spoke to the people of Israel. Now, Joshua, who is advanced in days, he was very old, He's going to come with a burden that the Spirit of God has given him in his heart, in his soul, to speak to the people of God. And in his burden, in this message, in this preaching that Joshua is going to give to the people of Israel, he is going to do three important things. First of all, He is going to remind them. He's going to remind this congregation, this assembly, this people of Israel, all of them gathered together before Joshua. He's going to remind them of the things that the Lord has done for them. Every single thing that the Lord has accomplished for these people, He is going to bring to their attention. The promises that have been fulfilled, the land that has been given to the people, the enemies that have been subdued, and even all of the mighty works that the Lord has done in the eyes, before the eyes of these people, He is going to remind them of that. But at the same time, knowing that he's very old and that he's going to die, he's going to exhort them, not only to remind them of the works of the Lord, but also he's going to exhort them, to exhort them to continue to walk in the ways of the Lord, to continue to obey the Lord. As they have been obeying the Lord, Joshua is going to exhort them to obedience and to love. And then finally, towards the end of this chapter, we will see that He has not only reminded them of the works of the Lord and also exhorted them to continue in obedience, but finally, He's going to give them a warning. A warning of the coming judgment of the Lord, that if they transgress the covenant, that if they disobey everything that the Lord has done for them, all the blessings that have been poured upon the people of Israel, none of them will be sufficient to come and to outdo the cursing of the Lord that will come upon them, upon disobedience. remind them of what the Lord has done, exhort them to obedience and finally, a warning of the future wrath of the Lord that can come upon them. That is what we have here in front of us in 16 verses. So now I'm inviting you, my dear brother and sister, to read with me with faith and paying attention carefully to each one of these 16 verses and let us read together the life given the joy-restoring, powerful, all-sufficient Word of the Lord. Let us do it, my dear brother and sister, with faith, paying attention to each one of the words. This is Joshua chapter 23, and from there we will speak about the feebleness of the people of God in following the Lord. This is the Word of the Lord, Joshua chapter 23, "...a long time, Afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, I am now old and well advanced in years, and you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. Behold, I have allotted to you an inheritance for your tribes, these nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off from the Jordan to the great sea in the west. The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight, and you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you. Therefore, be very strong or courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left." that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you, or make mention of the names of their gods, or swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them. But you shall cling to the Lord your God, just as you have done to this day. For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations, and as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. One man of you puts to fight a thousand, since it is the Lord, your God, who fights for you just as He promised you. Be very careful, or take heed, therefore, to love the Lord your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you, and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them, and they with you, Know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, and weep on your sides and thorns in your eyes until you perish from all this good ground that the Lord your God has given you. Verse 14, And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed. But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, So the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things until He has destroyed you from all this good land that the Lord your God has given you. If you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that He has given you." Amen, this is the word of the Lord. My dear brother, my dear sister, as I said, I want to speak to you about the feebleness of the people of God in following the Lord. The weakness or the feebleness of those who are the people of God in following this Lord that they claim is their Lord and their God. And when I speak about the feebleness, of course, I'm not speaking about the physical weakness that a person can have. Because among the people of God, there might be people that are strong, physically speaking. But rather, my dear brother and sister, I'm speaking about the spiritual feebleness. The spiritual weakness of the people of God in following the Lord. A feebleness that is rooted in who we are and in the things that we have. Before the Lord, we are weak and deficient. Spiritually speaking, in and of ourselves, we are needy. As the people of the Lord, we are deficient and we do not have what it takes in and of ourselves to make it until the end and to obey every single one of the commandments of the Lord. It is very important, my dear brother and sister, that the soul of those who profess to be in Christ will acknowledge, not only with the mind and not only with words, but rather in humility and in meekness, in the depths of your heart and of your soul, that apart from the power of the grace of the Lord, you are absolutely nothing. It is very important that we will come to the point in which it is inked in our hearts and in our souls, the fact that in separation, in chasm, in distance from this God of ours, we are weak, we are feeble and we are needy and we are dead. Brethren, if we do not come to that realization by the grace of the Lord, then we're going to be walking in the natural ways of our flesh. Our flesh is naturally going to tell us that we are enough, that we are sufficient. This is the prideful condition of our heart, that we are the center of the world, that we have the answers to all the questions, that we can do it in our own strength and in our own power. And it is not only the natural condition of our hearts, my dear brother and my dear sister. Everything that is outside of us, this fallen, wicked, dark world, is in the business of exalting men above God and telling us that we are good, that we are enough, that we are sufficient and that we are not feeble, that we are not weak and that we can do it in our own terms. that spiritual satisfaction can be found inside of us. And if our fleshly nature and the fallen world was not enough, there's the power of darkness in Satan and his demons, that when they are not able to oppress us demonically, They are going to try to convince us, to move us to our prideful ways, and to tell us that we are enough, that we are strong, and that we are sufficient, and that we can find spiritual satisfaction and fulfillment in and of ourselves. Brethren, coming to this realization is one of the greatest virtues of the Christian life. Destroying the mighty walls of our flesh by knowing before the Lord that apart from Him we are nothing, is one of the greatest things that can happen to a Christian. That we will be able to join the Apostle Paul in Titus chapter 2 and to know that apart from the grace of the Lord, teaching us to renounce all ungodliness and to fight against the worldly lusts that are within us, and to wait for the coming of the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from the power of the grace of the Lord working in us, we are nothing. Even if we pray a prayer, even if we attend the church, even if we preach, and if we call ourselves pastors or shepherds, even if we have whatever accolades to our name in spirituality, if we are not surrendered to the grace of the Lord that empower us in all ways, then my dear brother and sister, We are not going to bear fruits of righteousness in Jesus Christ for the glory of the Father, in the best case scenario, and in the worst case scenario, we are going to fall from grace and we're going to be severed from the Lord Jesus Christ. At this very time, at this very hour, my dear brother and sister, there are many, many, many churches who knowingly, or not knowingly, have renounced to the idea of depending upon the Lord, and are wise in their own opinions, and they are building unto themselves altars, because they think that they are strong enough, sufficient enough, and they have the ability to know in their minds and in their heads, what to do to be spiritually satisfied and fulfilled. At this very hour and this very time, there are many pastors from different pulpits who have chosen to trust in themselves, rather than surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, and are more concerned about how to deliver a sermon and how to articulate words in their mouths, rather than with their own heart in humility before the Lord. And at this very hour, and perhaps here within the sound of my voice, there may be many, many Christians who have taught themselves to do things in their own strength, in their own effort. And even though they might speak the words that I need the Lord, when it comes to the depths of their minds and their souls, what you see is a person who believes that they are strong and mighty enough. How much we prayed this morning. how much we prayed yesterday, how much we have been in communion with the Lord, how much we have surrendered our lives to the Savior. That will tell you what you think of yourself and your spiritual strength and how much you depend on the Lord. My dear brother and my dear sister, with the people of Israel, we see the example of the feebleness and the weakness of the people of God in following the Lord. Have you paid attention to this generation? This generation who made it through the wilderness, they show that their parents, their fathers, they perished in the wilderness. They were chosen in a sense from the Lord or by the Lord to make it through the wilderness. They received the promises of the Lord. The land was given to this generation. They saw the mighty works of the hand of the Lord. They saw how the Lord had fulfilled every one of the promises. And not only that, it's not that they were witnesses, my dear brother and sister, but did you pay attention to what the text says of this generation? That has passed a long time and we are told there in verse 5, the Lord your God, or better in verse 8, it says, you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. Brethren, this generation is not only a generation that has witnessed and seen the manifested presence of the Lord, but this is a generation who has become mature. This generation has become mature in obedience. And not one day, not two days, but a long time. Since they made it into the promised land, they have learned the ways of obedience. They have clung to the Lord. They have been obeying the Lord for a very long period of time. This generation has seen the judgment of the Lord. This generation has learned from the judgments of the Lord. And this generation is mature and obedient. This is perhaps the best moment of history for the people of Israel, not only receiving the promises of the Lord, but they are obeying and keeping the commandments of the Lord. Yet someone in the New Testament says, if you think that you are firm, take heed, lest you Fall, my dear brother and sister, because this mature generation that we are seeing here is not only the testimony of obedience, but they also are going to receive prophetic words, as we have just read here from Joshua. If you keep the commandments, the Lord is going to drive out these enemies. And not only positive promises, but also warnings. They have received the warnings from the Lord. If you transgress the covenant, everything that the Lord has done for you is going to be removed and the wrath of the Lord will come upon you. Who on earth, after seeing the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord. Who on earth, after knowing what it is, the wrath of the Lord, or the judgment of the Lord upon the people of God, who on earth, after growing in maturity and learning the ways of obedience, not intellectually, but practically, who on earth will, after receiving the warnings of the judgment that is to come, do something different? Brethren, everyone on earth, growing in maturity, seeing the mighty works of the hands, even having the promises of judgment of wrath that are to come, are not sufficient to change the feeble, wicked and weak heart that we have inside of us. God can come and say and speak of all the things that are going to take place if we do not live our lives from the heart. It does not matter what we have seen, what we have experienced or what we have become. We will turn into the same ways of these generations. Turning your page to Joshua or Judges chapter 2, as we have read it before, after this generation, brethren, After these people, and please don't say to your heart, this is the old covenant. These are humans, these are people. After this generation has learned the ways of obedience. Did you pay attention in verse 1 to the long time statement? A long time they had been obeying the Lord. These are a mature generation. After all of these things that I hope now are clear, this is the outcome of these people. Chapter 2, Judges, verse 1. Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and he said, I brought you out from Egypt and brought you into the land that I sought to give to your fathers. I said, I will never break my covenant with you. This is what the Lord said. And you shall... And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?" He's like, what is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their God shall be a snare to you. As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. And they called the name of that place, Bochim, and they sacrificed there to the Lord. But brethren, not even those tears, are going now to revert the wrath of the Lord that is coming upon these people, because of what they have done. Not even those tears, not even those laments there are going to change the fact that they have disobeyed in their hearts, that after seeing the majesty of the Lord and the things that He has done, and after all of these many years of obedience, they have turned their way, they have deviated their way. Brethren, the greatest thing that we can learn is that apart from the grace of the Lord, we are these people. Apart from the grace of the Lord continually and ongoingly working in us on a daily basis, every second, we are these people, apart from the condescension of God in preserving us and in keeping us and moving us and taking us to where we belong or to where we are to go, Brethren, we deviate apart from the grace of the Lord. The following word that comes out of my mouth is open blasphemy against Him, even if I think that I'm not going to do it. Brethren, if we do not come to the point of acknowledgement inside of us, in our hearts, that that is who we are, we're going to be walking ways of self-sufficiency, of thinking that we are enough. of thinking that we can solve it of our own. Building walls of indifference in our hearts, around our hearts against the brethren, because I can solve it on my own. I don't need to confess my sin. I don't need to come and speak to the brother or to the sister. I don't need the help of any older brother or any older sister. I don't need to submit to the elders. I don't need to submit to the pastors. I don't need anything. Why? Because I can solve it on my own. I have the book. And yes, it is true that the Spirit of God teaches us through the anointing of the Holy One. There is a context in which He has placed us to grow in conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. And my dear brother and sister, this is the feebleness of the heart and the people of God in following the Lord. How are we going to escape from having fellowship with the world, just as the people of Israel had with the Canaanites? They made covenants with all of these Canaanites. They married these women, they served their gods. How are we going to avoid making covenants and having fellowship with the world? Just paying attention to the two things that Joshua told them to do and we finish with this. Come back to Joshua chapter 23, How do we avoid having fellowship with the world? A world that wants to convince us that we are enough, that we are sufficient, and that we are okay. A world that wants to exalt us. A world that wants to tell us that we don't need God, or that we can have just God as an appendix. The other day I was just thinking about this, that many Christians make God their helper, instead of their Lord. They want to live their lives, they want to make their decisions, they want to decide what to work, what to do, what to build, where to go. They want to decide what to do with their lives and God is their helper in all of their projects. So they will bring their projects to the Lord as the helper. But the Lord is not our helper, the Lord is our Lord. All of our decisions, all of our lives is to be submitted to the Lord. Of course, the Lord will help us, empower us and strengthen us with His Spirit, of course He will. But He is not an appendix to our lives, He is our Lord and we are to submit entirely to Him. How do we do that? Just by hearing and paying attention to the words of Joshua given to the community of the people of Israel. Brethren, mighty Lord teach us to hear these words, with the heart, it says there in verse six, the first command. Therefore, be very strong or courageous. What is to be courageous in Christianity? What is to be a strong man? What is not to be feeble, not to be weak as we naturally are? What is to be strong? What is to be courageous? Spiritually speaking, it says, be very courageous or strong to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside from it, neither to the right hand nor to the left. Brethren, pressuring up the word of God in our hearts, that we may not sin against Him." This is the simplicity of Christianity, brethren. that how are we going to remain in genuine fellowship with the Lord that is going to prevent us from deviating our ways and having fellowship with the world? By treasuring up the Word of God in our hearts, that we will not sin against Him, that we will be diligent to keep and to do what He says, In order for us to keep and to do what He says, we are to treasure His Word in our minds and in our hearts. We are to memorize the Word. We are to meditate upon the Word. We are to hide it in our hearts. We are to meditate upon it constantly and ongoingly. We are not going to survive in this world. Spiritually speaking, brethren, if we just do it with our own wisdom, we need to renew our mind with the words of the Lord. And secondly, it says in verse 11, be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. And it's the same idea, for if you turn back, you see, if you love the Lord, it means fellowship with Him. Because if you do not love the Lord, you turn back to the Canaanites. You make covenants with the Canaanites. You have fellowship with the world. You don't want to have fellowship with the Lord. You're not to love the Lord, but you turn yourself to your life, to your passion, to the things of this world that are passing away. Brethren, threshing up the words of God in our hearts that we will not sin against Him. And as the Apostle says, or as Jude says, keeping ourselves in the love of God by praying in the Holy Spirit. And this is the simplicity of the Christian life. The words of life, my dear brother and sister, and abounding in prayers to keep ourselves in the love of the Savior. Apart from that, my dear brother and sister, next time that we speak, next time that we have fellowship, you and I are going to have burdens upon our shoulders. that we're trying to figure out how to solve and how to remove and how to change our lives, when the answer is so simple and so in front of us. To abide in the Lord Jesus, keeping His Word, and to obey Him in all matters, loving Him. Why? Because He first loved us. How are we not going to love this God that is not only given us the land, brethren, that has given us His only begotten Son to die upon the cross for your soul? Your soul, you know the depths of your heart to some extent, you know the depths of your thoughts, yet He loved you in such a way that He gave His Son to die upon the cross. How are we not going to count it a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? How are we not going to take up our crosses in this present world and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? How are we not going to set our minds and things about and not on things on this earth? How are we going to allow to make covenants with the Canaanites? How are we going to allow ourselves, brethren? How are we going to give ourselves and our hearts to have fellowship with the world, instead of having fellowship with Christ? My, the Lord Jesus, give us of His grace, the one that empowers us and teaches us to renounce to all ungodliness and to make war against the passions of the flesh that are within us, as we await for the revelation of the blessed hope and the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.