Joshua

[0:00] Strength and righteousness Make him anywhere In aésus coloca The fear of all the free joy Thou hast given every single glory Praise Him in cheerful grace

[1:04] To Him the highest praise be loved The Savior does lovedestி вся Ο음 Quality genteel obras With the Lord's help this evening, I will direct your attention to the book of Joshua, chapter 1, and verse 5.

[2:10] The book of Joshua, chapter 1, and verse 5. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life.

[2:29] As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

[2:40] Although I have read the whole of this verse, yet that part which is principally upon my spirit is the last clause, or clauses, I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

[3:00] There are many temptations which come into and upon the spirits of God's people.

[3:16] And amongst those temptations are the suggestions of Satan that God will fail. We have the testimony of the scriptures that God has not failed, that he cannot fail.

[3:38] It is impossible for him to fail. Joshua was about to take up a most arduous and responsible position.

[3:55] In a way, it was a mercy that what the future really held was hidden from him.

[4:07] As we can read on in this book of Joshua, and see some of the extreme situations into which he came, and some of the difficulties he had with Israel, he might well have been completely quenched at the start.

[4:39] We do not know what lies before any of us. And maybe, in looking back, we are thankful to God that we did not know the detail of our pathway.

[4:54] Otherwise, we should have been overwhelmed. The wonder of it is that God gives grace for grace, that is, grace as grace is needed, and helps us on our way.

[5:17] And I dare say, I feel sure that some of you would be witnesses to the faithfulness of God. And as Joshua himself said, not one good thing has failed of all that thou hast promised.

[5:37] The word that God was given to Joshua here was a strong one. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life.

[5:55] It is worthy of our attention to notice the opening of this book and what the Lord said unto Joshua the son of Moses' minister.

[6:13] Moses, Moses, my servant is dead. So now, I don't know how you will get on.

[6:28] Moses, you depended upon him so much, you relied upon him and sought wisdom of him. Moses, my servant is dead.

[6:39] sometimes we are overwhelmed by circumstances and certainly of the loss of what shall I say, pillars in the church of God.

[6:55] But we should notice that God does not instruct Joshua to embark upon a long period of mourning.

[7:12] Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

[7:25] how much guidance we need as we go along in life's pathway. There are many people that under sad circumstances will say all sorts of things which are not God honoring.

[7:49] I think one of the most comforting of all considerations is the lines of the hymn he never takes away our all himself he gives us still.

[8:12] Now, of course, Joshua and Moses in one sense were not related and yet you'll see they had been very close together.

[8:27] Joshua had been Moses' servant. Joshua had been close at hand when Moses came down from the mount and broke the tables of stone, the tables of the law in his anger because of the idolatry of the people.

[8:48] So, Joshua was well acquainted with Moses and it could not be otherwise that he would feel the loss acutely.

[9:04] But, we are not so much called upon to look at that which we have lost but rather to consider that which we have not lost.

[9:16] and therefore in these words there is so to speak a pointing out to Joshua that though Moses had died that all things were not over.

[9:37] There were things to be done. and the first point as I was with Moses so I will be with thee.

[9:51] I'm sure some of us at least have observed the power which has rested upon some of God's children and the burdens that they've been able to carry and the strength which has been communicated there to them from heaven in order that those burdens could be carried.

[10:16] And so Joshua could think about Moses and the numerous times when Moses had fallen down before God because of the rebellion of the children of Israel because of the adverse circumstances because of the complaining and so and so on Joshua was well acquainted that Moses' life was not a bed of roses and so there is something to remember it is always an encouraging thought when those that have been a strength and help to us have been taken from us yet we still have the memory we still have the thought from time to time of the way in which God arose and strengthened them and enabled such to stand in an evil time with this thought settled so to speak in the mind of

[11:45] Joshua then follows from the Lord God a single word word and often in the scriptures a great deal of meaning is in a single word in this case so so so so then whatever your present path may be have you come to this word so so in like manner as I was the support and strength of Moses so I will be with thee in all the adverse circumstances as I was with Moses so I will be with thee and the Lord knows whether this word so would be of any significance to any of you this evening so oh

[12:55] God has not changed he is not one thing to one person and another thing to another but it is clear that it was necessary for this particular appointment and as we read on there were other appointments which were needful in the course of the future entering into Canyon of the Israelites I will be with thee so now we have this negative to support the positive already expressed so I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee doubtless you will remember the words that are recorded in the last chapters of

[14:04] Hebrews where we read let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things that ye have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee there is an important point of these words being brought forth by Paul in his letter to the Hebrews this is a point that it shows though the word was spoken originally to Joshua yet we read no scripture is of any private interpretation that is when we look at these words of Joshua

[15:04] God speaks to the whole of his family throughout the generations what God may say to one is say to all as they are walking in a similar way passing through similar trials needing to be strengthened in those trials and oppositions but the apostle goes on to say so that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me in the psalms we read I will not fear what man can do unto me and we may well remain keep these points in mind what man shall and what man can all because of this wonderful word from

[16:22] God I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee if God lays a word in our hearts we can be sure it is not for us to treat it lightly be assured that God will give us a word lay a promise in our hearts in order that we may be supported unto extreme trials only God can speak in this most powerful way I will not fail thee I could not venture to say to you whatever certain circumstances might prevail that set me in that position

[17:26] I will not fail thee I do not know the future I have not control over all things and therefore I might find that when your time of need came I would not be available or it would not be possible for me to carry out my promise but it is so different with God I will not fail thee whatever the circumstances the solemnity of sicknesses the painfulness of afflictions the stress of adversity and so on I will not fail thee I have often thought Isaiah has a wonderful word when he says concerning

[18:30] God declaring the end from the beginning now we start our lives as babes we go on through our childhood teenage maybe longer and we do not know what lies in front of us even in regard to those thoughts and ambitions we have and the various examinations perhaps that we may take in order to make us quantified for certain positions well you see we do not know but God can tell us at the beginning and in the same way if God has called you to make a profession of his day

[19:32] God can tell you at the beginning that you will not fail because he will not fail you there are some that shall I say give an excuse for not to being members of the church that they might bring a disgrace upon the church of God but God can declare the end from the beginning upheld by thy supporting hand we pass O Lord from year to year and so it was with Joshua I will not fail thee nor forsake thee so then are we afraid to profess his great and holy name because we think we shall mar our profession you cannot mar the true profession of the people of

[20:49] God it is a mistaken thought and a misunderstanding that when people talk of a profession very often they think it's got to be a profession of how good they're going to be and how able they will maintain an upright walk and conversation but our profession is not about that at all superhero and so it is mentioned in the epistle to the Hebrews where we read in the 10th chapter and having an high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience our bodies washed with pure water and let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised the profession of our faith first of all lies in this that there is a great high priest over the house of God so then should we slip as we may well do if not outwardly inwardly as is recorded in Psalm 73 yet nevertheless the result will be proved

[22:42] I will never leave thee nor forsake thee it does not mean to say that we shall not be at times overcome in the hour of temptation we shall not be in that place where we shall have no trial be ashamed and feel that we are a disgrace whatever we feel is not our profession whatever our profession is is what God is is what God is we find in the 73rd Psalm truly God is good to Israel even to such as are of a clean heart but as for me my feet were almost gone my steps had well nigh slept but I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked and so on but the word of God given to Joshua given to the church of God through the ages still remained constant

[23:55] I will not fail thee nor forsake thee if you fail me I will not fail thee and after the way in which the Lord has the detail the Lord has given to us of the feelings of the the psalmist he comes to another word which is a turning point so often until I went into the sanctuary of God then understood I their end as a dream when one awaketh so Lord when thou awakest thou shalt despise their image thus my heart was grieved and I was pricked in my veins so foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee and in spite of this declension and this backsliding in the heart of the psalmist his faith his profession remained constant and so he says nevertheless

[25:18] I am continually with thee thou hast holden me by my right hand thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee in the force of the adverse circumstances so presented we find that the faith of Asaph stood firm many things came into Joshua's life but his profession was this God has said I will never fail thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee and if you'll think of the profession of Jacob we come to the same conclusion now Jacob did many things or shall I say a few things that are recorded which

[26:30] I would not recommend him but God gave him a word when he was at Bethel and then subsequently at the book Jabbok God gave him a word that he would not forsake him and that the Lord would be with him at all times and in all places so then how good that is when we can see these things in the scripture it would have been a poor thing for Jacob to make his profession based upon his own ability to to do to live an upright life now do not mistake me

[27:35] I am not saying that we shall not live an upright life there may be times when we fail when we are overcome by the power of Satan but I will never leave thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee and some of us may be witnesses to this great and solemn truth when we provide that despite our misbehavior God still puts his word the golden letters still appear he hates to put away and therefore spoken in another phraseology I will not fail thee nor forsake thee God knows the purposes of his grace sometimes people give the impression that once a person has joined the church of

[28:53] God they're going to be upright all their lives and shining lights all their lives it is most desirable that it should be so in my early days my pastor at that time used to say it is better to be kept and to be brought back and I used to think about this and I thought well I think it would be much better to be brought back because you know their matters would be so clear then the time went on and

[29:57] God was going to show me that what the pastor said was indeed the truth it is better to be kept than to be brought back by the mercy of God the first three years of my service in the army I was wonderfully upheld and supported and had one or two experiences of persecution and I remember on one particular occasion I thanked God because he had counted me worthy to suffer for his name but I was to learn something which I could never have envisaged I shall go into the details about having been kept for three years then three years the story was very very different and

[31:05] I went into so many things in the world it I remember so vividly what seemed to me the Holy Spirit withdrew himself from me now I do not mean to say by that that his eye wasn't upon me still but my heart was hardened and you see dear friends if you go into sin the first time oh you say I cannot do this if you do it three or four times your heart will be hardened and it will mean nothing to you well I shall not go into all the details of that this evening except to say this that at the end of that period when I was discharged from the army

[32:09] I came home and I do want to make this point because it is true I was a member of the church during that period and now God began to work in my heart in regard to bringing me back you don't need God's aid to go away but you certainly need God's aid to bring you back but what was it when I went to the house of God what could I do could I pray for a blessing indeed I just couldn't my lips were closed my sins closed my lips I would bow my head and I would pray for the other people that they might be blessed but as for myself it was out of the question and then this thought came into my mind by God

[33:34] I believe that I might have a desire for a desire now you'll see we're beginning to get to an extremity here most may well say well I have a desire but what a silent thing it is if you are brought so low as to realize that you cannot inculcate a desire yourself so to speak it is as though God has got to begin again in process of time in the Lord's mercy he gave me a desire for a desire and it may be and over the years that some of you might have been brought to that extremity let us not forget the text this evening and that is

[34:37] I will not fail thee nor forsake thee God had every reason to fail me and every reason to forsake me but he began gradually to bring me back and so eventually I had a desire for a desire and then then time went on and God began to touch my heart again and to bless me in my soul at that time I used to go regularly in the week to Gow Street Chapel where at that time they had the best of ministers as we say so but not one of them entered into my extremity and eventually circumstances came and I was led to go to a chapel and the first sermon

[35:58] I heard from the pastor he went right into the place where I was and had been and gave hope of recovery and then to come to a conclusion of this matter God broke my soul all to pieces when I heard a sermon from this text there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit I shall never forget the power of those words coming into my soul tearing me to pieces my soul was full no condemnation the one who deserved condemnation and how does the eighth chapter to the

[37:12] Romans finish there is therefore no separation and I will not fail thee nor forsake thee so what do we read into these words how is it that God will not fail nor forsake our people that have strayed and been overwhelmed and overcome by the power of Satan and the power of this world and the power of their fallen nature I will not fail thee nor forsake thee is a demonstration and a realization applied of the great love of the Lord Jesus Christ to sinners oh the love of Christ to sinners it's surely a wonderful word and perhaps some of you might have felt that love in your hearts oh the love of Christ as sinners when

[38:30] I'm sure if people had known what I knew they would have cast me out immediately but by the strange circumstances of God they didn't know they didn't know and so things carried on and it could be that things which have come into your life other people do not know I read just a letter that was sent to me recently and a person referred to her past life and I was very struck with one phrase she spoke about her sins and the sins which were unmentionable we got any sins which are unmentionable and yet

[39:43] God knows the sins which are unmentionable but this word still remains true I will not fail thee nor forsake thee how can God say this how can the Lord Jesus say this he can say it because he has died to put away sin died to deliver his people from all the strategies in which Satan has been successful I will not fail thee nor forsake thee what is our profession oh we dare not make a profession of what we have done and the ways in which we have failed and if people only knew but blessed be

[40:52] God that the details God has drawn a cloud over them and has extinguished them because he came and granted the fullness of the gospel in those words of Paul Timothy this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners now Saul of Tarsus we may regard as a pharisaical sinner others like Mimassi was a very different kind and doubtless if we looked into the scriptures we shall find cases where people that most would cast out

[42:01] God said to them I have loved you with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee and what does that really mean it is the father speaking I have loved thee with an everlasting love not just in a word and sometimes it is nice for us to receive words it is nice for husband and wife sometimes to hear just the words I love you but they've got to be accompanied by actions what is the action that the Lord follows with this word I have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness will I draw thee and if we turn to the sixth chapter of

[43:03] John I think it is the sixth chapter we read none can come unto me except the father draw me and you know none will come to Jesus Christ by any other way so have we been drawn by the father to Jesus Christ I came to Jesus as I was weary and worn and sad as I was and what happened what does the word of God say and whoso cometh to me I will in no wise cast out can we make a profession that this God is our God and he will be our guide even unto death

[44:08] I will not fail thee nor forsake thee now sometimes things in our past life they shut our mouth but and therefore under such circumstances we shall need an assurance from God that if we open our mouth that it will not be in vain I will not fail thee nor forsake thee now in the beginning of this verse there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life as I was with Moses so I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee and what has really happened when the

[45:10] Lord Jesus Christ was needing help so much backwards and forwards twice he ran as if to seek some help from man yet they all forsook him and fled and of course you know Peter denied that he ever knew him and did the Lord God fail then if there was a time when his when he could have failed said I have had enough this is going to an extreme he could have forsaken they had forsaken him but this word remained true I will not fail thee nor forsake thee the Lord Jesus

[46:11] Christ himself had come to redeem his people the very worst of sinners you see the apostles they were no better than the rest and this forsaking the Lord Jesus when he most needed their help surely was a very heinous crime but what did the Lord say oh it is a wonderful word on the cross he said father forgive them for they know not what they do and does that fit in with your case father forgive them for they know not what they do oh I thought and felt too so many of our sins are in that line we do not know what we do in this sense that we do not realize what our sins how our sins will affect other people sometimes in certain matters we may think to give advice but our spirit may be wrong and the very words that we think are going to be helpful are a source of sadness to the person to whom we are speaking now you see our intention was good but it wasn't appropriate father forgive them for they know not what they do

[48:09] I will not fail thee he remembered us in our lowest state for his mercy endureth forever oh how wonderful is the love of God the father the love of Jesus Christ the son of God the son of man and the love of the Holy Ghost but he does not turn away just even in what is called his apology said to the Jews ye do always resist the Holy Ghost that can never be so with the church of God with those who are blessed with their names being written in heaven for no other reason than that it is

[49:14] God's purpose of grace grace and also that which took place before the war began can never be shifted it sometimes we need to look at those words elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father now some have interpreted that word in this way but God chose the people because he knew that in time they would have a religious bearing and would lean in that way by God's form of knowledge he knew when he chose and elected his people that they would be the very worst of characters and when

[50:19] I say this you haven't got to go to great lengths in outside sin to feel that you're the very worst of characters and it's what you feel before God that is the estimate of a matter it may well be but sometimes what you felt in your heart has brought you to fear that God will leave me he will cast me off I cannot expect him to save me I am an absolute disgrace but these words stand firm I will not fail thee nor forsake thee and so when we come to the teaching of the Holy Spirit and as he teaches us he shows us our sins and shows us

[51:21] Jesus Christ one of our hymns has this line amazed to see myself so vile and Jesus smiling all the while not smiling at the vileness but smiling because he says I love thee well my child and therefore I will not fail thee nor forsake thee the Lord command his blessing and may there be a purpose in the things which have been set before you this evening we close with hymn number 297 to the tune

[52:35] Hanover 807 hymn number 297 and read the first two verses and we commence at the third Jehovah has said tis left on record the righteous are one with Jesus the Lord at all times he loves them t'was for them he died yet oft times he proves them for grace must be tried when faint in the way or lifeless and cold or sunk in dismay and none to uphold yet firm to his promise thy

[53:48] God shall abide but grace but grace