Don’t Forget to Remember

0:54The memorial at Fort Iwo Jima, for example, helps us to remember all of the sacrifices that soldiers have made for centuries so that we could enjoy living in freedom. Museums like the National Civil Rights Museum, which was actually made out of the Lorain Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed, helps us to remember the plight of our black brothers and sisters who wanted and still want equal treatment and opportunities. Holocaust Museum helps us to remember that millions of men, women, and children were exterminated for their ethnicity and their religion.

1:43And all of these things are very important for us to remember and to consider on a regular basis because when we forget the past, we tend to repeat those same errors. Memorials and museums help us because we are a forgetful people. And as Christians, we don't want to be a forgetful people. We want to be sure that we don't forget to remember. And at the outset here of Joshua chapter 3, the people are going to be charged to remember the work of the Lord in a very special way. And I want to just set the scene by going back to last week. You may remember, if you were here, that the spies went into Jericho and they were used by God to rescue this woman, Rahab, and her family, from the coming judgment of the army of Israel.

2:29And the spies return here at the beginning of chapter 3, and on the third day, the officers disperse among these million-plus people to tell them that it's time to go to the banks of the river Jordan and then to wait until the Ark of the Lord passes before them, and then they are to set out after it. And if you're wondering what the Ark of the Covenant is, if you didn't see Indiana Jones, if you don't even know who Indiana Jones is, we're kind of getting to that point in my life where many people don't even know who Indiana Jones is anymore.

3:00Then here's an image of it. The Ark of the Covenant was Israel's most sacred treasure. It was a small rectangular box. It was overlaid with gold. It had two cherubim on the lid. These are angelic creatures. And there were these rings in the corners for poles because the priests, even the Levitical priests, were not allowed to touch the Ark of the Covenant or they would die. It symbolized the presence of the Lord. And so if you touched it, like Uzzah does later in Israel's history, you were put to death immediately. And so they carried it with these poles.

3:35And Joshua tells the people that they need to keep 2,000 cubits, about a half a mile, in between them and the Ark of the Covenant as it's going over the Jordan. And so inside of the Ark of the Covenant, there are three memorials. The first is the two stone tablets of Moses that have the Ten Commandments on them. The second is a jar of manna, I should say. And this one jar of manna was representative of all of the manna that God provided during their wilderness wanderings for 40 years.

4:06And then the last artifact in there was Aaron's staff, Moses' brother, his staff that had budded as a miracle and a display of God's power. And so the Ark of the Covenant was going to go across the Jordan River, carried by the priests. Then the people were to set out after it. And I think that's the first thing that I want you to notice in this text is this order of events. The Ark is going to go forward. First.

4:31The Lord is going to go first, and then the people are going to follow after. See, that pattern is instructive for us because I think there are so many times that we decide on our own path and then we kind of invite God to follow us. But that's backwards. The pattern that we see over and over again in Scripture is: God speaks, God reveals Himself, He commands us, He goes first, and then He commands us to follow Him.

5:07We don't go first and then ask God to follow us. We cannot expect blessing to come from going first and then asking God if He wants to come along. God goes first, and then we follow Him. So the people are to follow the priest carrying the ark of the Lord as it passes by. But you notice in verse 5 that Joshua commands the people to consecrate themselves before they set out. And that Hebrew word translated consecrate, it means something like to set apart as holy or to sanctify.

5:41And in the Old Testament, consecration often involved washing the clothes that you were wearing, washing your body. Remember, they didn't take a lot of baths or showers back then. They didn't wash their clothes very often, and so this was a special deal. So consecration involved that. It often involved abstaining from. Intercourse. It involved abstaining from anything that would render one ceremonially unclean. Because the entire idea with consecration is, as David talks about in Psalm 24, we must go before the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart.

6:17So in the Old Testament, you have these examples of people consecrating themselves. Jacob and his family, right before they go back to Bethel, after God renames him Israel, they consecrate themselves. They take the time to make sure that they are of clean hands and of pure heart before they go about this next step of faith. Or you might be familiar with David and his sin with Bathsheba. After he sins with Bathsheba, he is mourning. He doesn't wash himself. He doesn't change his clothes, doesn't do any of that. But as soon as his child dies, then he washes himself, he washes and changes his clothes, and then he goes and worships God. And so you have these examples all throughout the Old Testament of people consecrating themselves. But I think one of the key differences between Old Covenant Israel and the New Covenant Church is that unlike Old Covenant Israel, we are called a royal priesthood.

7:11So every believer is a priest. Every believer is to be consecrated all the time. We are commanded to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God. So it's not like it's just on special occasions like Christmas or Easter or other seasons in the Christian life. We are supposed to set ourselves apart to honor and serve the Lord, but as believers, as followers of Jesus, our lives are to be consecrated. Everything that we do, every day, is supposed to be set apart for God and His service.

7:46So we come to verse 7, and God begins to speak to Joshua, saying that he's going to exalt him in the sight of Israel, and that they're going to cross over the Jordan. But before they do that, come to verse 9. Joshua tells the people to gather near because he's going to speak the word of the Lord to them. So look at verse 10. And Joshua said, Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

8:25So there's this question in every Israelite's mind. Moses is dead. The miracle of the parting of the Red Sea and all of the miracles of the wilderness, these are many years or many decades in the past. And so the question in every Israelite's mind is: is God still with us? Is Joshua really his chosen leader? Is he still going to fulfill his promises to bring us into the land? And so we take a look at verse 10. 13, and Joshua says, Here's how you're going to know: when the souls of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.

9:21We find out later in verse 15 that this entire situation is occurring during the harvest. And if you've ever been to Israel or if you've ever seen pictures of the Jordan River, it's really nothing to, it's not like the Mississippi or something like that. It's kind of this tiny little brook. It's not very big. But during the harvest time, when all of that snow water is melting and all of the rain is pouring down, it gets to be about 20 or 25 times the normal size and depth, and it's huge.

9:53And the water is white because it's rushing down. It is rapids. It's a scary thing to see. And so that's the situation here. The river is at flood stage. It's overflowing its banks completely. And what that meant is that humanly speaking, there was no way for this million plus people, men, women, and children, plus all of the animals, plus all of their supplies, to make it across the river when it was at flood stage. There's just no way that's going to happen. And so God is going to perform a miracle, not just to get them across the river, but to prove and to. Confirm the truth of his word.

10:34So, I just want you to imagine for a moment being one of the priests that's carrying the Ark of the Covenant. You know that this is so holy, it symbolizes the presence of the Lord. If you even touch it, you will die immediately. And your new leader says, I want you to carry it into those white waters. That just sounds crazy. And yet, Joshua obeys God and gives this command. And the priests obey Joshua. And as soon as they set foot in the water, God does what he promised. He cuts off the water as far as Adam, the city that's about 19 miles upriver from where they are standing. And I think you read this, and a lot of skeptics have read this passage, and they say, well, look, if this happened at all, then it was just a coincidence. There was a mudslide or something like that. Some rocks blocked the flow of the water, something like that. And it's important to note that the waters of the Jordan have been cut off by a mudslide before. It happened in 1925.

11:36But it takes more faith than I have to believe that that's what happened here. And I think the evidence that you need is in verse 17. Take a look again at verse 17. It says, Now the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over. Passing over the Jordan. So, if a mudslide or a rock or something just temporarily blocked the flow of this mighty river, the thing about that is that the ground is still going to be soaking wet. It's still going to be a muddy mess. So, when the priests are trying to carry the Ark of the Covenant out there, they're going to be slipping and sliding all over the place. When a million people, men, women, and children, all of these animals are trying to cross, they're going to be sinking down into the riverbed. Have you ever tried to stand on a riverbed? I mean, you start sinking right away. So, the author says two different times, just so that we know for sure, they passed over on dry ground.

12:44God didn't just stop the flow of the water, he sucked up all of the water out of the Jordan and He had it stand up in a heap at Adam. He cut it off completely. And I think it's just so amazing when you think about this situation in the midst of Israel's salvation history, because we know that God parted the Red Sea to let His people out of Egypt, and now He parts the Jordan to let them into the promised land.

13:19Jesus is the better Joshua, He is the one who leads us in this way. See, our God leads us out of slavery to sin. Which is what is symbolized in the 400 years of Egyptian slavery. And he leads us into freedom, into freedom from sin, and into a life of joyous obedience and worship to God, symbolized by their entrance into the promised land. Jesus is the better Joshua who leads us there. He leads us there through his life and death and resurrection, where we are freed not just from sin's penalty, from death and eternal punishment, but we are freed from sin's power in our life.

14:07I want you to take a look at Romans chapter 6 on the screen. It captures that idea so well. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

14:58Jesus is the better Joshua. Joshua. Through faith in him, we have been crucified with him, and we have been released from the power and the penalty of sin forever. We have been led out of slavery in Egypt, so to speak, and have been brought into the promised land of freedom. Let's pick up here in chapter 4 now and continue on with the story in chapter 4, verse 1. It says, When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priest's feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight. Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, what do these stones mean to you? Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever. And the people of Israel did Joshua. Just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant had stood, and they are there to this day. For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.

17:06So after everyone crossed over the Jordan River, Joshua has one man from each tribe take a stone and bring it to where they were going to lodge for the night. And those stones were going to form this memorial to Israel that would help them to always remember what God did when he cut off the water of the river. And I think, friends, this miracle is packed with so much spiritual significance that we often just kind of read over because all we really see here is this great act of God where he stopped water from flowing. And to be sure, that is a wonderful miracle. But I don't think that a lot of us have captured the spiritual significance of what God did when he stopped the flood waters of the Jordan from flowing.

17:54So if you go back in your mind to the very beginning of the Bible, you have in Genesis chapter 5 this proclamation from the Lord. That all of the intent of the heart of man on earth was wicked. It was evil. Things were so bad that God said, I am going to bring judgment over all of the earth. I'm going to destroy all the people. I'm going to destroy all of the things that I've created, except for one man and his family, Noah and his family. And so God commands him to build an ark, and that ark is going to be the vehicle of deliverance from God's judgment when the flood comes over the earth.

18:33And you have here in Genesis chapter 6, and then in Exodus chapter 13 and 14, with the parting of the Red Sea, you have all throughout Scripture this symbolism of water as the judgment of God. So here in Joshua chapter 3 and 4, the people have been led out of Egypt. God parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could pass through, and then he brings his judgment on the army of Egypt, and now they're standing on the east side of the Jordan River wanting to cross over into the promised land. But how can they do it? The river is at flood stage, there's no way for this to happen. And so here's the beautiful spiritual significance of this situation: God Himself stops the water of His judgment for His people so that they can cross. Over into the land of promise, the land of freedom.

19:36They didn't do this by their work. They didn't do it by their merits because they were good people. God did this by his mercy and grace and power. Isn't that an amazing picture? I mean, the symbolism is often lost on us, but it definitely wouldn't have been lost on Israel. That image of God Himself stopping the water of his own judgment so that his people could pass over. And God wants Israel to remember that miracle and its significance forever. And so he commands a man from each tribe to pick up one of the stones from the Jordan and build a monument, which we're going to take a look at later. But what I want you to see right now in verse 9 is what Joshua himself does. It says in verse 9 that he set up 12 stones where?

20:29In the midst of the Jordan, where the priests stood. And the text notes, and they are there to this day. Now you may have noticed in this chapter, there's nowhere that Joshua is commanded to build this altar in the middle of the Jordan. But he just takes it upon himself to do this. He just goes and he grabs these 12 stones, he walks back down into the bottom of the river where the priests are still standing with the ark, and he himself sets up this monument.

21:00That probably no one is ever going to see because the water is going to cover this up. It's going to be at the very bottom. And it's like Joshua is saying, I want to do everything that I can to make sure that I and our people, that we don't forget the work of the Lord. Because who better than Joshua knows that God's people forget the work of the Lord? I mean, think about all that Joshua and the people of Israel experienced when God brought the ten plagues on Egypt, when he parted the Red Sea, when he provided water from the rock in the wilderness two different times, when he fed them with manna in the wilderness. They saw all of that, and yet, when Moses and Joshua come down from Mount Sinai, what do they find?

21:51The Israelites are down there. They've made two golden calves, and they're worshiping them. How quickly they forgot. How quickly they forgot God and all that he had done for them. Joshua understands that. He understands that he and all of the people are forgetful. And friends, that's why the Bible is filled. You should do a word study on this sometimes. The Bible is filled with commands not to forget the work of the Lord. It's filled with commands to remember because we are a forgetful people.

22:28So when Peter writes to All of the churches that are dispersed through the Roman world in 2 Peter. I want you to take a look at what he says after he's talked about God's very great and precious promises and the qualities that should mark every Christian. Look on the screen. Peter says, Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may be able at any time to recall these things.

23:19So, in the span of just a few verses, three different times Peter has said, I want to remind you, I want you to recall these things, because he knows that he's not going to be around forever. In fact, he's not going to be around much longer at all. And Joshua knew that just as Moses was no longer with him, there was going to come a day where he would no longer be with the people either. And he didn't want them to forget. He wanted them to remember.

23:46And so we're going to think more about remembrance in the next section. Let's pick up there in the second half of verse 10, chapter 4. The people passed over in haste. And when all the people had finished passing over, the Ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. About forty thousand ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses all the days of his life. And the Lord said to Joshua, Command the priests bearing the Ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan. So Joshua commanded the priests, come up out of the Jordan. And when the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before. The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, When your children ask their fathers in times to come, what do these stones mean? Then you shall let your children know, Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over.

25:30That, all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever. So they travel on from the Jordan to Gilgal, this place right outside of Jericho, and these 12 men who had the privilege of doing this ancient CrossFit workout, carrying these stones all those miles there, they set them down and they set up this monument that God has commanded. And the purpose of this monument is really simple and straightforward. It is a conversation starter.

26:10It's so that when kids see it, they would ask their mom and dad, what do these rocks mean? What's the purpose of this? And their parents could answer, those are taken out of the River Jordan, which God parted for us, so that we could walk out of slavery in Egypt into freedom and life in the land that's now ours. We can't miss the twofold purpose of this monument in verse 24. Take a look at that again.

26:44So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever. So there's two purposes, and I want to start with the second one: that Israel would fear the Lord forever. Think about Proverbs 1:7, it says, The beginning of the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Everything starts with the fear of God. Because when we fear him, we view him with the right reverence that he deserves. We orient our life around him, around his worship, around obedience to him, and then we experience blessing. Because the way that God set up his world is that when we honor him, when we worship him, when we orient all of life around obeying his commands, we will be blessed. That's the promise of God's word. And so that stone monument is going to be a reminder to all of them to fear God, that he is the one that can cut off the waters of the Red Sea or the waters of the Jordan. He is the one that can do anything because he is the Lord of heaven and earth. And if you think about that moment where the disciples are in the boat with Jesus, and there's that terrible storm at the Sea of Galilee, and these trained fishermen are scared for their very life, Jesus steps up and he calms the storm by speaking to it. And the disciples say, Who is this?

28:18That even the wind and the waves obey him. That's the kind of reaction that this was supposed to evoke. That they would look at that stone. Monument, and they would say, Who is this? That even the wind and the waves obey him. Well, he is God, the one true Lord of heaven and earth. That was the second purpose of this monument: that Israel should fear God. But the first purpose, the one that's actually listed first in verse 24, it's this: so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty.

29:02Now, if you think back to when God first revealed Himself to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, take a look at the screen of what God commands or speaks to him in that moment. Now, the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse. Now, listen to this, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

29:42So, God's saving purpose was never limited to Abraham, or to Abraham and his family, or to Abraham and his descendants alone. From the very beginning, the purpose of God saving Abraham and his family was so that they would be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth, so that all The families of the earth, people from every tribe, tongue, and nation would be blessed through him and his family. As Rahab testified last week, God is the Lord of heaven and earth.

30:14And you see his saving purpose: that he desires people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to come to him and enjoy the glorious freedom of salvation in the purpose of this monument. Because this monument wasn't just a conversation starter and a talking point for Israel and the children, it was a conversation starter for everybody who passed by. When they would ask their friends in Israel or the people they were doing business with in Israel, what's that pile of rocks over there? They would say, This is what God did at the Jordan. He is the one true God, the Lord of heaven and earth. And he will receive you if you come to him in repentance and faith. Just as he'd received Rahab, just as he receives everyone who comes to him in that manner.

31:04Church, when you look at these chapters in Joshua 3 and 4, you've just got to stand amazed at God and the work that he accomplishes in his world to save his people. This stone monument had the purpose of declaring to this generation and the next what God had done and the fact that he saves. So, this stone monument is, as we would say it here at New Life, it is a call to preserve and proclaim the good news of the word of the Lord.

31:41We are quick to forget what God has done, which is why we are commanded all throughout Scripture to remember and to not forget the saving work of Jesus Christ. And so, friends, at this point in our history, at the back end of the pandemic, It is so important to remember the reason that we gather together in person to worship the Lord God. We gather together on the first day of the week, not because there's always been a thing called the weekend and this is just a convenient time to do it, but because Jesus rose from the grave on the first day of the week. When we come together, we come together to read God's Word and to sing God's Word and to pray God's Word and to hear God's Word preached and to take the Lord's Supper together because all of those things are reminders to us of the person and work of Jesus Christ. We are so forgetful that we need constant reminders. We need those reminders and we need to remind others of the importance of every one of God's works. That's why gathering together is so important. That's why we've got to do it, and that's why we've got to encourage those who are now out of. The habit of doing it, or who have been unable to do it for the past year, to come back together because we are called to remember who God is and what He has done, especially in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

33:15Now, there's no doubt there are some of you that are here today that can't remember the work of Jesus Christ because you've never come into contact with the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so, if that's you today, then we want you to know that just as Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt, we have been delivered from slavery to sin, not because we're good people who tried really hard to turn our lives around, but because Jesus is a great Savior who came for the sick and who delivered us from the ultimate sickness and death that sin causes. We want you to know the same freedom that we know. We want you to know the same escape from the power and penalty of sin that we know. And so, we want you to turn to Him in saving faith today. God promises, as we saw last week with Rahab, to receive everyone who comes to Him. And so, we want to invite you to come to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith this morning.

34:20And I think there's probably a good number of you who you maybe grew up in the church, you maybe grew up with faith or the Christian. Religion as kind of a part of your life in your childhood. But when you went off to college, or when you got married, or you started a family, or you started a career, you forgot him. And there wasn't this particular day that you woke up and you said, you know what, I'm going to forget Jesus today. But just over time, that's what happened to you. You forgot him.

34:55And friends, if you're in that position, understand that there is mercy for you. There is grace for you in the person of Jesus Christ. He never stops seeking his people. So there's nothing that you need to do to clean yourself up. There's nothing you need to do to show that you're sorry enough about what you've done. All that you need to do is repent. You need to turn from the way you've been living and you need to begin following Christ, either for the first time or again.

35:25And so see this as an invitation to remember the one who lived and died and rose again for you. Because wherever you find yourself this morning, the truth remains that God is calling us to remember and not forget who he is and what he has done, and he invites every one of us to follow after him in faith today. Let's pray. Father, we ask you to forgive us for our forgetfulness, for all the times that we have failed to remember not just your amazing work in human history, but the amazing work that you have done in our own lives.

36:52You have called so many of us out of darkness into light. You've called us out of death into life. You've called us out of slavery to sin into the glorious freedom of what we call the Christian life. And we don't want to ever forget that. And so we ask this morning that you would help us to remember. Help us to do whatever it is. Takes to remember your work, your goodness, your grace. And we pray for those who have not yet come to faith in Jesus that today would be the day.

37:45We pray that today would be the day of salvation for some who have been running from you, for some who have forgotten you, for some who are now just for the first time in their life hearing about the person and work of Christ. We pray that you would save them and bring glory to your name. God, thank you for the work that you did at the Jordan River. And thank you for the work that you have done in our lives. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

38:22Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.