in the Old Testament to the book of Joshua. The book of Joshua And we're gonna read verses, excerpts from chapter three, and we're gonna read parts of chapter four. So you'll see in the bulletin that I have a selection of reading verses there because this is the best way to cover the material. Otherwise, what I was concerned would be too lengthy a reading for us. And so to concentrate and focus our understanding of the unfolding of this story, these are the verses I will be reading. And this is the final moment now when God after 40 years in the wilderness is leading His people into the promised land. So we pick up the reading in chapter 3 verse 1. Listen to the word of God. Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from the Acacia grove and came to the Jordan. He and all the children of Israel lodged there before they crossed over. And so it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp, and they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before. And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people. So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. And the Lord said to Joshua, This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan. So Joshua said to the children of Israel, come here and hear the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, by this you shall know that the living God is among you and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Gergesites and the Ammonites and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant, the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. Now would you go to verse 14. So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people. And as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped into the water, the edge of the water, for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest. That the waters which came down from upstream stood still. and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan. So the waters that went down into the sea of the Arabah, the salt sea, failed and were cut off and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. And then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel crossed over on the dry ground until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan. And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, Take for yourselves twelve men of the people, on whom one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priest's feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe, and Joshua said to them, Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the jardin. Each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean to you? Then you shall answer them. that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever." Verse 20, And these twelve stones which I took out of the Jordan Joshua set up in Gilgal. And then He spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What are these stones? Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you, until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us, until we had crossed over. that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, and that they may fear the Lord your God forever. Amen. May God bless the reading of His Holy Word this morning as we consider it together, brothers and sisters. Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yesterday, Blake and Alexa were married. some of you were there at a certain moment in the ceremony each one was called to present a ring. A ring and they said each one this ring is a symbol and pledge of constant faith and abiding love till death do us part. And each one placed the ring on the finger of the other and now from now on every time they see that ring You have one on your finger. Many of you married couples don't. You've got a ring. Every time you see that ring, it reminds you of your vows. Or think of it this way. Every time you see a cross or you hear the word, cross, the cross, what do you think about? Immediately you think about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Don't you? If you're a Christian, you certainly do. Behind that word, cross, or the sign, cross, behind that word is a story of significance in your life and throughout history in our lives, but also the lives of all since the day that Jesus died on it. See, we were not eyewitnesses of the crucifixion of Jesus. None of us were there. None of us saw it with our eyes. But nevertheless, because we've heard the story, because we've read it, we remember when we hear about that cross, we remember our hope, we remember that our faith is fixed upon Jesus. We have our hope, we remember it, and it becomes an occasion to actively think about what it is that Christ has done and why I have confidence in Him for my eternal salvation. A sign, a memorial, is a powerful thing. The Lord's Day. The Lord's Day, what is significant about the Lord's Day? What is significant about the Lord's Day is that God raised up Jesus from the dead on the Lord's Day. And so, interestingly enough then in Scripture, God has said, this is your ultimate memorial day. On this day you will gather and you will worship the Lord your God and you will remember and you will rejoice in your salvation because God raised Jesus from the dead. The Bible is filled with significant times, dates. They are written on the calendar of redemptive history. They say God is good and God is faithful. And those dates are often in the Bible accompanied by memorial signs. There are many of them throughout the Old and New Testament. Memorial signs that commemorate a particular experience, a particular day where people witnessed these events, right? And they're significant events that have an ongoing impact in the lives of those who know them and trust God because He has done these things. Thousands of years later, they're still impacting our lives. Now why are these memorials there then? Why does God inscripturate them on Holy Scripture? So that not only the people who witness those events, but also the next generation and the next generation and the next generation after will know what their God is like. They will embrace the goodness and faithfulness and presence and power of God. Because of the testimony of what God did that day, we have seen with our eyes, we have seen what He did, even though it was done so long ago. So what does God want us to know about this memorial pile of stones? Well, first of all, I want some highlights to note together with some of the highlights of this story we just read together. And the first one that stands out to me is the strangeness of God's ways. Now what do I mean by that? Well, think about this story. It's dramatic, it's compelling, but God intentionally brings over a million people to the edge of the Jordan River. He does it precisely at the time of year when harvest is starting. And if you remember from chapter 3, verse 15, it says, at that time of year, the Jordan overflows its banks. You know what that means, right? It's flooding. It's flood season. And normally the Jordan was a small shallow little kind of river stream that could be crossed easily. But due to the geography of the region where there is this fairly fast drop geographically in altitude or latitude or whatever you want to call it, elevation, that's my word, okay. The river that they faced that day in flood stage is really a raging river. It's coming fast. It could sweep you off your feet if you've ever been around a flooding river or something. You know what that can look like? Well, it literally just sweeps you away. Crossing would have been difficult for one man in relatively good health and strength. But for over a million people, young little people, elderly people, livestock, all the stuff they had to carry with them through there, It's impossible. Now, think about this. Don't miss that point. In chapter 3, verse 2, Joshua was bringing all the people up to that Jordan River to look at it, and they sat there for three days. He didn't come up and say, okay, let's cross, let's do it. No, you're going to sit here for three days and watch a raging river, and you're going to think about something. We're going to cross over that? Yep, you're going to cross over. For three days you get to look at it. You get to look around at your little ones, and your elderly ones, and all this stuff. How are we going to do this? Now, why would God do that? Why would God make it so hard on all these people? Why would God make it so hard on Himself? Why does God do these kinds of things in our lives is what we really need to ask ourselves. Why is it that He brings us into impossible circumstances in our lives? As you sit here today, this Sunday morning, what are the impossible circumstances of your life? Seemingly hopeless circumstances in your life. Why does God give two young, relatively inexperienced people a covenant child and say, raise him up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, Josh and Beth? What? Me? We talked about that this week when we were talking before the baptism. Me? I'm going to do this? Why does God do this? Well, is it not that if we aren't washed away, if we aren't utterly overwhelmed, if we are going to endure all of this, it will have to be the grace and the faithfulness and the power and the assistance of our God, of Yahweh. That word, Lord, in the Old Testament is really a word that is behind the Hebrew language for the word Yahweh, Jehovah, the old way of saying it, the God of the Covenant. The God who says, I am, that I am, is your God, Yahweh. And it's He who has made some promises. And we're going to learn, brothers and sisters, throughout this life, when God does these strange things in our lives. God is teaching us, our help is in the name of the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth. Trust Me. Now the second interesting thing that strikes me about highlighting this passage is that it really is showing us then the assurance of God's power, God's presence, and God's faithfulness. Think about the way the story unfolds. God initiates the crossing. They don't. God says, Joshua, tell them this is how it's going to be done. This is how they're going to proceed. This is what the ark's going to be like first. This is how it's going to go across. Don't do it any other way. You've never passed this way before. You don't know what you're doing. I do. Follow me. God initiates, right? And they follow. And notice what is highlighted here is the Ark of the Covenant. You don't have to be a genius, a literary genius, to figure this out, do you? It's explicitly mentioned. The Ark of the Covenant by name is explicitly mentioned 16 times in the passage I read to you. Not including the pronoun for the adjective like it. So what does that tell you? Well, of course, get the point. This is about the Ark of the Covenant. And what is the Ark of the Covenant? You kids know what this is, right? Where does it normally go when the tabernacle is set up or when the temple was finally built? The Ark of the Covenant is residing in the Holy of Holies, right? And what's it a sign and symbol of? It's a place of God's throne. It's a place where atonement is made. It's a place where God dwells in the Holy of Holies, in the Shekinah glory cloud, and all that amazing stuff that we read about in the Old Testament. It's saying, God, your God, is enthroned there. Now, He's not limited. We never imagined that the God of heaven and earth and of the universe is limited to a little spot here. But it's the sign of the king of the whole earth and where he resides with his people, for his people, the ark of the covenant. He is sitting in power. He is ruling all things. And that God went before the people that day. And he led them into the promised land. Now, look at chapter 3, verse 10, just to refresh your memory here. Joshua says, by this you shall know. What does He want you to know? The living God is among you and without fail He will destroy all His and your enemies. Without fail. If God can do this, the logic goes, if God can do this, if He can part this river and make dry land and have you cross over the whole host of Israel, if He can do this, then you know He's among you and you know He will drive out your enemies. He wants people to know. And then look at verse 11. You might have caught it when I read. It might have irritated you that I left out a word. Behold, the ark of the covenant, the Lord of all the earth. That's how it should read. There's no of there. the ark of the covenant, the Lord of all the earth. So the ark is a symbol of what? The Lord of all the earth. This is who is going before you. This is who is about to do these things and He lives among you. He is bringing you into this land flowing with milk and honey. He's piling up the waters of the Jordan so that you can cross by. He's making it dry. That's His power. That's His presence. Is there any God like this God? Is there any God who can do these things? But not only His power and presence, His faithfulness here. Because what's going on here? They're entering the promised land. Now stop and think about your history here. God had promised Abraham over 400 years earlier that he was going to give him the whole land of Canaan and that he was going to make out of Abraham a whole nation. But do you remember when he made that promise? Abraham didn't even have one child yet when God promised that. Abraham was a hundred years old and he had no children and God says, you're going to be a great nation. And I'm going to give you the whole land of Canaan. And he also said, and I will be your God, and I will be the God of your children, and you will be my people. 400 years earlier, God promises that. Behold your God, people of Israel. Behold your God, Church of Jesus Christ, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It impresses on Israel here, doesn't it? It impresses on us the sheer magnitude of God's sovereignty and His goodness and His faithfulness. He can keep a promise over 400 years old, and He makes it happen when it's time, but He never forgets and never fails His promises. This God is your Lord and Savior. Now I want to move secondly then to the importance of remembering this act because the text now highlights that as you get into chapter 4. What is highlighted in 4 is the importance of remembering. Notice the memorial sign of the event. Twelve stones taken up out of the river bottom, exactly where the Ark of the Covenant had stood. And they're taking boulders up out of the river bottom, and they're taking them over to the other side, and they take them into Gilgal, as we read in the later part of Chapter 4, and they pile up a pile of twelve stones. Now you don't again have to be a literary genius to recognize that's what's really about here. Because twice is repeated. Put those stones up. Put those stones up. They're a sign. They're a memorial. Put them up. Put them up so that you can tell the rise of the future generation about it. Put them up so that you will remember and also the future generation will know. Repeats it over and over. And so he says in verse six, chapter four, let this be a sign among you. What does that mean? It means don't just let the sign be there. Let it be a living word. It's not going to be something that you're going to, it's going to be inoperative in your life. It's going to be a living testimony. Let it be among you. Let it live among you. Let it be known among you. Tell this story. It calls you to faith, brothers and sisters. It calls you to trust Him. It calls you to live by faith. You see, all Israelites, without exception, were to understand this. Not some. In fact, notice, not just the generation that saw it. No, he says, you saw it, but you keep it because I want you to tell future generations that never saw a thing of it. I want you to tell them so that they will know this as a living truth in their lives. You have to keep in mind, people of God did not have a written Bible like we have today at that point. So, you have to remember and you have to be able to pass it on faithfully. And mark this, Joshua gives a prophetic instruction about the meaning of the sign and memorial, doesn't he? The Lord God says to Joshua, tell them! And Joshua, acting as a prophet, tells them. And notice, the meaning of the memorial is not up for your interpretation. You don't look at this pile of stones and say, well, you know, I think I see a fish or a pterodactyl or something. Or maybe it's about some spaceship that came down and dropped this pile of rock. No. This is what it means. It doesn't mean something else. It means only this. It means this. This really happened. Remember it. So they were to be precise in their understanding. and they were to precisely pass it on so that future generations of the covenant people will know me, God says. My works of blessing, my redemptive power, my faithfulness. Now think about that. Step back a minute. Don't let it go. God wants future generations to know I did this for you. When he says that in the text, he's not saying, the generation who saw it, I want you to tell them what I did for you. No, he's saying, I want you to tell that future generation what I did for them. Because what I do today, I did for the future generation too. I did it for both. I did it for people not yet born. The implication of this, because I'm your God and they need to know who I am and the kinds of things I've done so that you could get the point of who I am. I think you have to underscore a very remarkable and astounding thing. In the Bible, there is one people of God. The one true, eternal, living God is the God of Abraham. and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of Moses, and the God of Joshua, and the God of the generation that went across the Jordan, and He's the God of the children of the generation that will rise up from them, and He is our God. There's one people of God throughout the whole Bible. And He is our God. Yahweh is Jesus Christ. He is God the Father. He is God the Holy Spirit. And the fact that God commanded a memorial sign to be put up says He's not going to do this every Tuesday. I'm going to put up a memorial sign so that you'll know the kinds of things I do. And I want you to be carefully teaching this. It's a unique event that tells everybody what I'm like. I don't have to do it every Tuesday. So you can kind of envision this in your imagination. There's this family on their vacation walking through Gilgal National Park. And they come along and suddenly one of the kids says, hey, daddy, look at that pile of stones. Isn't that interesting? What's that about? I wonder what that's about. And of course, another one is going to outdo his younger sibling and says, well, I don't think this is just some natural geological formation here. So he pulls the expert kind of thing out. And so they both say, well, dad, what do these stones mean? Well, son, let me tell you. A well-versed father can now say, look, this is a story of the mighty acts of God. This is a story of how Israel received the benefits of God's work. It shows the goodness and the kindness and the faithfulness and the presence of God. He did that for you, kids, as well as for me. So that pattern of remembering, that goes on in church history to this day. What did Jesus say at the night of the Last Supper? Do this, in remembrance of Me. Remember, remember, remember is a word throughout the Bible. Remember Yahweh your God. Remember His goodness. There are many, many, many more memories and even greater memories than just the crossing of the Jordan, if you can believe it. many incredible things that God has done that are inscripturated in His infallible Word. So whether it's the rescue at the Red Sea, whether it's the piling up of the waters of the Jordan River, or whether it's the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, all these are given proclaim to you and me and to assure us and to demonstrate to us God's power and God's care and God's presence and the one who mightily handles great salvation needs and pressing emergencies. Think about that. If He can do those things, He's surely adequate to deal with all your very small or relatively small anxieties and crises. providing for a family, giving wisdom for raising John, strength for perseverance and faith as you serve the Lord Jesus Christ, waiting for a surgery date for your little child. Jesus Christ is the great King of all the earth. He is present among you, us, here today. He indwells you. If you are a believer in Christ, you are united to Jesus, and He indwells you. He doesn't get closer than that. I am among you, the Bible says. Well, how about that? He is in you. He is present. His grace is sufficient for you. His strength will be perfected in the face of your weakness. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ rests upon you. Remember the cross. Remember the resurrection. Remember the ascension. Remember the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Tell these things to your children. Mark them. Think of the sign that John receives this morning. The triune God has made a promise to John and put His name on John. I baptize you into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is naming, putting His name on him, and He's saying, your mind, and you received a certificate today. Put that certificate up on the wall. It's a memorial. Someday John says, boy, mom and dad, what's that? Because kids do this. What's that? What's that? Let me tell you, John, on August 6, 2017, God placed his sign and seal of the covenant on you. He gave you a promise. He did that with baptism. What's baptism mean, daddy? What does baptism mean? What do those stones mean? What does baptism mean? Well, son, let me tell you that too. God promised to be a God to you, and that you were His child. And that baptism is a sign of salvation. It's not salvation. Nobody here should believe that we think that John got saved today. That's God's doing. I don't know when God saves John, but it's a sign of salvation because only in the blood of Jesus are your sins washed away. And only by the Spirit and power of Jesus is your heart made new and you're raised up to newness of life. And only by the power of God and Christ do you get united by faith into Jesus Christ. And John, that's what you're to believe. You're to trust in Jesus. And your baptism points you to that and tells you Jesus is adequate to do all those things for you. Only Jesus! So trust Him, John. Believe in Him. God calls you to fear him, to love him, to serve him, to obey him all the days of your life. And God says, John, if you believe these things, God is going to take you with all of his people into eternal glory and rest forever. Tell the story. God is able to do all these things because He's Almighty God. He is willing because He is a faithful Father. Remember, believe, tell the story, remember the goodness and faithfulness of Yahweh. Amen.