The sermon titled 'Glory by Mercy or by Justice' focuses on Joshua Chapter 12, which recounts the conquests of the kings and lands by the Israelites under the leadership of Moses and Joshua. The speaker highlights the comparison between Moses and Joshua, illustrating Moses as a symbol of the law and Joshua as a precursor to Jesus Christ, who leads God's people into their promised inheritance. The sermon emphasizes the astounding nature of the conquests, achieved by God's power, fulfilling His promises to deliver the land to the Israelites. It underscores God's faithfulness and the importance of trusting in His promises, portraying the ultimate fulfillment of prophecy and God's unwavering ability to deliver on His word. The sermon also discusses the themes of God's justice and mercy, suggesting that all will glorify God, either as trophies of His grace or as subjects of His justice. The speaker encourages believers to count their blessings in detail and emphasizes the significance of God's promises, urging a trust in God's goodness and faithfulness.

Our sermon text is Joshua chapter 12. And please follow along. These are the kings of the land whom the children of Israel defeated and whose land they possessed on the other side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon to Mount Hermon and all the eastern Jordan plain. One king was Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon and ruled half of Gilead, from Arowar, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, from the middle of that river even as far as the river at Jabak, which is the border of the Amorites and the eastern Jordan plain, from the Sea of Chennaroth as far as the Sea of the Araba, the salt sea, the road to Beth-Jeshamoth and southward below the slopes of Pisgoth. The other king was Og, king of Bishan, and his territory, who was of the remnant of the giants, who dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edriai, and reigned over Mount Hermon, over Salekah, over Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead, to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

These Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the children of Israel had conquered, and Moses, the servant of the Lord, had given it as a possession to the Rubinites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh. And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel conquered on this side of the Jordan, on the west, from Baal-Gad in the Valley of Lebanon, as far as Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, which Joshua gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions in the mountain country, in the lowlands, in the Jordan Plain, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the south. The Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The king of Jericho, one. The king of Ai, which is beside Bethel.

One, the king of Jerusalem. One, the king of Hebron. One, the king of Jarmuth. One, the king of Lachish. One, the king of Eglon.

One, the king of Gezer. One, the king of Debir. One, the king of Gator 1. The king of Horma 1. The king of Arad 1.

The king of Libna 1 the king of Adulam 1 the king of Makeda 1 the king of Bethel 1 the king of Tapuah 1 the king of Hefir 1 the king of Affek 1 the king of lasharon one the king of madon one the king of hazor one the king of shimran maran one the King of Akkishaf. One, the King of Taanakh. One, the King of Megiddo. One, the King of Kedesh. One, the King of Joknium in Carmel.

One, The King of Dor in the Heights of Dor won. The King of the people of Gilgal won. The King of Tirzah won. All the kings 31. Let's pray.

Lord, we rejoice because of the blessings and the leadership you gave to Israel. How much more should we rejoice to the blessings, the guidance, the victories you give us in our own lives, certainly the greatest of which is the gift of life eternal through the person and work of Jesus who is Christ. Amen. When the current in a culture starts to rush so fast that it comes into the church and redirects the church to go in that direction, then if you're going to go against that fast-flowing current, you have to pay a price. And it's a steep price.

I just want to thank God for the mothers in this room who have decided to pay that price. Children, you won't know until later when you look around and observe what everyone else is doing, how it works out, the gift you've been given by having a mother who's willing to pay that cost. So it makes me giddy happy to think about the mothers who are in this room, because they're a tender-hearted group of women who have elected to pay a steep price. And They've decided it's okay to bear the reproach of everyone else who thinks you've done something foolish. By obeying God, you are no fools.

And in the end, you'll be completely exonerated and proven right by the investments that you've made. Robert was, in his prayer, was talking about sea turtles. A lot of my family was actually able to witness a turtle nest at night coming up and all the turtles going down. It was wonderful, but statistically, scientists tell you one or two out of a hundred make it. Their mother was gone months ago.

They'll never even lay eyes on their mother. And the predators are waiting and almost none of them make it. So anyway, you have very different mothers than that. Your mothers will fight off any predators. And I thank God for that.

The title of the sermon this morning is Glory by Mercy or by Justice. All of God's creatures will bring Him glory. And I thank God that many will bring Him glory as trophies of His grace. They will show that He is a God who doesn't just give what's deserved. But if you don't give Him glory by repenting and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, then He'll exact justice on you and He'll be shown to be a God who makes everything right, who's too righteous to just pass over rebellion against Him and all His goodness.

And that's really what we have on display in our text this week. The chapter started with Moses, who led the people on the east side of the Jordan. And under his leadership, two Amorite kings were conquered. Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan. And Moses and the children of Israel conquered those kings and then Moses apportioned the land to two and a half tribes.

Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. That was verses 1 through 6. Now in the rest of the chapter in verses 7 through 24, Joshua leads the people across the Jordan to the west side of the Jordan and under his leadership they conquer the land in the central area. They really cut that western side in half and then they go south and they conquer the south. God giving them victory after victory and then they go north and they conquer a coalition, a mighty coalition of kings in the north portion of the land.

As we come to our text, let's thank God. God Almighty, You are the great conquering king. No earthly king can stand before you. And our text this week puts that before us in vivid technicolor. Kings banding together to try to stand before you and they find that they're nothing.

We praise you as the Lord of hosts And we want to pause and just soak in the implications of that for all who have trusted in your Son. Thank you for the good implications of that for me, for us. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, I'm not going to reread any of the text today, I don't think. I'm going to attempt to draw out seven points from what Gary has already read.

Thank you for your participation in that. It was great. Here are the seven points. Number one, Moses and Joshua comparing verses six and verses seven. If you're taking notes and filling in blanks, it's 6 and 7.

Moses and Joshua, there's a comparison to be observed. It's really clear once you just look at these side by side. Look at verses 6 and 7. So let's do that. Let me reread verse 6.

This is the last verse of last week's text, These Moses the servant of the Lord and the children of Israel had conquered. So these are Sihon and Og and their people. And Moses the servant of the Lord had given it as a possession to the Rubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, what's being said in this verse. That Moses and the children, Moses led the children of Israel in conquest on the east side of the Jordan. And then when God gave them the victory, he gave as a possession that land that had been conquered to these two and a half tribes.

So that's Moses, the leader in conquest, and then the one who divided and gave as the possession. Now look at verse 7. And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel conquered on this side of the Jordan on the west from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon as far as Mount Halech and the ascent to Seir which Joshua gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their division. So what is verse 7 saying? That Joshua led the children of Israel in conquest on the west side of the Jordan just like Moses did on the east.

And that just like Moses did in verse 6, Joshua did in verse 7. He gave it as a possession to the remaining tribes and divided it up among them. Moses is a towering figure in the Bible and especially in the Old Testament. He wrote the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. He writes the first five books of the Bible and the law came through Moses.

So it's no wonder that He is a towering figure in Scripture. But the book of Joshua positions Joshua as the new Moses in many ways. We really see that so clearly in comparing verses 6 and 7. Everything that Moses is in verse 6, Joshua is in verse 7. And in terms of types, Old Testament pictures that God uses to point to a greater reality than the picture itself, Moses is a picture of the law.

In fact, often in the New Testament, when the law is being spoken of, it's not said it's the law, it's said Moses. He's shorthand for the law of God that was given through him. And in the same way, Joshua is a picture of a greater reality. And that greater reality is Jesus, the one who will lead the people of God into the promised land. Joshua's name means savior.

Joshua's name is the Hebrew word that Jesus' name is in the Greek. So they have the same name, Joshua just pointing to Jesus, the same name, Savior, the one who leads God's people into the inheritance of God's promises. And so Joshua does that, really does that for the people of God in the Old Testament. This is just a picture of something that's better and greater. And that is what Jesus does for me and for you, if you're trusting in Jesus.

So, by all means, Let Moses be a towering figure in your view. Keep a very special place in your heart for Joshua because of who he is pointing to. Joshua is pointing to Jesus Christ. Jesus is leading into the inheritance of all the promises that God has made to his people. Not just land promises, but better promises.

It's a better covenant based on better promises. And Jesus is leading us into the fulfillment of every single one of them. The application for me is that God is greater than all of his enemies. So just as Moses led in the conquest on the east side of the Jordan, and then Joshua led in the conquest on the west side of the Jordan. It just teaches us that God is greater than all of His enemies, and God can give me everything that is good for me.

So Jesus will lead to the apportionment of the inheritance. Everything is good for me. If there's anything that's good for me, then God can give it to me, and He's so willing to do that. Number two. This is a geographical, think about a map, and a geopolitical, think about people and rulers, summary.

A geographical and geopolitical summary. Verse 7 speaks of Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon. That is an extreme northern point in the promised land on the west side of the Jordan. Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir is an extreme southern point in the promised land on the west side of the Jordan. Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir is an extreme southern point in the promised land on the west side of the Jordan.

And of course the western border is a water border. It's the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern border is a water border. It's the Jordan River. So really once he gives you this point in Lebanon to the north and this point in Seir in the south, then you have the north-south-west, east-west borders. Six regions are mentioned in the text.

The mountain country, the lowlands, the Jordan Plain, the slopes, the wilderness, and the south. So we're given the borders and we're given the regions that are within the borders. This amounts to a geographical summary. You can actually draw a map from the description in the text. Then the author of Joshua brings us to six peoples.

The Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites. And then we get this long list of 31 kings. So we're given peoples and the kings that rule these peoples. And that amounts to the geopolitical summary. And it's only a summary.

There are kings, so how many kings in the list? 31 kings. There are kings in that list who have never been previously mentioned. They are the king of a city that hasn't appeared in any way in the book of Joshua before now, but now it's in the summary list. And there are kings who were previously mentioned, locations that were previously mentioned that had a king, who don't make the list of 31.

So that's telling us this is just a summary. There are missing kings and extra kings, So precision can't be the point of the list because you don't have precision in the list. There are extra kings in the list and there are missing kings in the list. The author's design isn't precision. It's not to help you have a master's degree in this portion of Israeli history.

The author's design is to leave you with the feeling of what God has done. So you won't come away with a master's degree of these places and peoples and kings that ruled them, but you will come away with the sense that God has done something astounding to keep His promises to His people. God has given Israel vast amounts of land by conquering everyone who stood in their way. That's what the list is designed to tell us. This land mass was given in fulfillment of promise, and it was given because God conquered every one of these kings, and it gives you a long list.

It wouldn't help you to have a thirty-second king. It wouldn't make you feel any different about what God has done. And the intent of the author is to make your jaw drop at all that God has done on behalf of His people. So that's number two. This is a geographical and geopolitical summary.

Number three, this summarizes an astounding conquest. This is no run-of-the-mill conquest. This is an astounding conquest. 31 kings! All governing a walled city state.

All with the advantages of defending a homeland. Oh, the Russians are finding out about the advantages of defending a homeland right now. There are many. Every one of them the most powerful person in his immediate sphere everyone the wealthiest person in his immediate sphere every one of them the lawmaker in his little city state. Every one of them the decision maker in his world.

Every one of them the life or death decider in his world. If he decides If he decides you live, you live. If he decides you die, you die. Everyone, the commander of an army. Every one of these 31 kings represents an army.

And every army represented in the list is wiped off the face of the earth because God rules in heaven. 31 kings, 31 armies, 31 armies wiped off of the face of the earth because God is king. God is the real king. God is the eternal king. God is the almighty king.

And the Lord of Sabaoth fought for Israel. The Lord of hosts fought for Israel and kept his promises. Armies joined together to form a military force with as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude. That's chapter 11 verse 4. How much sand on the seashore?

I'm not counting that. Yet none of these kings or their armies could stand before homeless Israel. Why? Because God made them promises. In Genesis 15 verse 16, God told Abraham, in the fourth generation your descendants shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." And now centuries later, God brings His righteous judgment upon these wicked kings ruling these wicked people.

Wicked people. If we had insight into these city states and the things that were normal there after a 500 year rising tide of rebellion and throwing off conscience, we would be shocked and appalled at the things that were happening in these city states and the things these kings felt so free to do to their people and among their people. That's number three. This summarizes an astounding conquest. Number four.

This is the fulfillment of prophecy. Listen to Deuteronomy 7 verse 24. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 24 gives us what God told Moses to say to Israel, and it's this, and he, God, will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them." God told Moses to say this to Israel before any of the kings on either side of the Jordan had been conquered. God will deliver their kings into your hand and you will destroy their name from under heaven.

It's interesting to me that in Joshua chapter 7 you find the You find the king of a location but not a single name. God didn't want their names even preserved. Listen to what God said in Joshua chapter 1. Let's just remind ourselves of how Joshua started. Joshua starts with God speaking directly to Joshua.

Joshua chapter 1 verses 3 through 5. Every place the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you as I said to Moses. From the wilderness of this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you." God said those words when all 31 kings were alive and well and at the head of an army.

I love the last verse of our memory text. Joshua 21 verse 45, not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel all came to pass. If you want four words to summarize the book of Joshua, those are the four words. All came to pass. God promised and God brought it all to pass with no exceptions.

Praise God for that. God said he would do it for his people and then God did it for his people. The application for me is that I can completely trust this God. I can trust Him without any reservation. Because God has always been this way, and God is this way, And God always will be this way.

He can't be any other way. He is unchanging and unchangeable. So that He's always kept His promises means that He can do no other. And He's going to keep every promise that He ever made to me, so I can rest in Him. The book of Joshua, one of the reasons it was given to us is to give us rest, to give us such confidence in this God that we can rest in Him and know that though life is filled with all sorts of troubles and challenges and sorrows that in the end He's promised good to us and He's unable to do anything but to keep that promise to do good to us.

So you already know, believers in Jesus, you already know how the story ends. It ends with unending good to you. And every tear wiped away, all the challenges that are so vexing now, and there are many, I get it. That's not the end of the story, so far from it. Number five.

Think about this chapter until the list is exciting, not tedious. If you're filling in blanks, exciting fills in the blank. So, the first time you read it, it's tedious. The second time, tedious. The third time, if you're thinking, if you're thinking about what it actually really means, less tedious, if you'll just allow yourself to think about it.

It's giving you the details. So think about why God would give you the details and think about the details. The more you think about it, the less tedious it gets and the more exciting it gets. So think about it until it isn't tedious, it's exciting. Imagine 40 years earlier you'd been on the cusp of receiving a homeland.

You'd been slaves, you'd been delivered from your slavery, but you didn't have a homeland. But now you're on the cusp of receiving a homeland. But the reports of the might of the people that you would have to defeat were so terrifying that you would not make yourself take the leap of faith. And it felt to you like you could not make yourself take the leap of faith. So for the next 40 years, while a generation died off, you trudged through the wilderness.

And now 40 years later, you've at least learned that much of your lesson, and you make yourselves take that leap of faith. The same challenge before you, the same adversaries before you, there's no indication that they're diminished at all and there's certainly no indication that Israel is strengthened at all from 40 years ago. There is no indication that Israel is mightier now than 40 years earlier. In fact, probably a strong argument can be diminished, their strength is diminished, probably. So you do it, you take the leap of faith, you trust, they're not different promises, it's the same promises, they're not different enemies, it's the same enemies, they're not diminished, you're not strengthened.

God gives you a victory, a victory, and another, and another, And then the dominant king of the southern region rallies the other kings to fight against you and God gives you that victory. And then another king, dominant king of a region in the north gathers together a massive army that you don't even want to bother counting because it's like the sand on the seashore and God gives you that victory. Until you have significantly broken the hold that all those kings had on the land that God has promised to give you as a homeland. I know we don't know the Kings. Scripture doesn't even give us the names and we couldn't pronounce them if it did.

Oh let yourself be a victorious Israelite basking in the details of this chapter for just a few minutes. You wouldn't let anyone take one king off the list If this had been the history of your last 40 years, you might start a petition drive to try to get King's names added because some were left off. You would want every detail there because of how precious the thing is that it communicates the heaping up of the names of the 31 places that had a king. God gave them all over to you. It is exhilarating.

You take the time to think it through. It's exhilarating what God did for these people. Why can't we just say Israel conquered the promised land? We can say chapter after chapter. Because it's deeper and richer than just that.

Horma had a mighty king. Horma had a mighty king. He was the baddest, most consequential dude in that part of the world. But he could not stand before God. There were 30 more kings just like him.

And God laid them low one after the other. The application for me is that I have no reason to fear. My God can do anything. Their fear 40 years earlier was misplaced fear. It's 40 years later, they're not strengthened, their enemies aren't diminished, They're not different enemies.

God gives them over one after the other. He would have done it 40 years earlier. Number six. This is Israel's version of Great is Thy Faithfulness. Thank you commentator Dale Davis, that's not original thought with me.

This is Israel's version Of great is thy faithfulness. This is a hymn of praise of sorts. Chapter 12 is. The listing of these kings is. It is a great record of thanksgiving.

And the praise and the thanksgiving is too fitting to be dispensed with with a boilerplate generality. God gave them Israel. Nope. Nope. God conquered king after king after king after king after king after king to keep his promise.

Don't you shortcut God. I will just sum it up in a phrase. God is too worthy to be short-cutted like that. He made an exceedingly great and precious promise, and the keeping of it required Him to lay low the mighty of the earth, one by one by one by one by one, and that's just what He did. You praise Him for that.

Oh, let them be named. These were kings with complete authority in their city-states, but God gave them over to His people. These were kings who were wealthy in the mayane extreme and lived like kings they were kings God gave them over to His people. These were kings that had the power of life and death but God gave them over to His people. These were kings that sat at the head of an army but God gave them over to His people.

These were kings that sat at the head of an army, but God gave them over to His people. These were kings that rose up to oppose the people of God, but God gave them over to the people of God. Worship this God. You His people, worship Him. Great is His faithfulness.

We sing it. They sang it. He knows every one of our names. He knows every one of the names of our enemies. There's all their names.

Quote from Dale Davis. It is as faith gives thanks in detail that faith is nurtured, encouraged, and takes on fresh heart to expect more mercies. Hence we should get rid of some of the tripe in our prayers like, and thank you for your many many blessings. Name one or two of those blessings instead. Why do we use such general lingo-ese in our prayers and worse yet teach it to our children?

Dale Davis goes right after me in this. If I had a dime for every time I've said his lingo-ese expression, I'd buy us all lunch. All of us. He's saying stop it. And furthermore, don't teach that to your children.

Instead of lumping it together as if it were this inconsequential thing, name a couple. Specify, count your blessings one by one. The application for me is that I should, I must count my blessings one by one. No more lumping them all together as if it was not much anyway. Not worth enumerating, calling out one by one.

It is, They're worth calling out one by one. God is too good to be short-cutted in our praise like that. Number seven. This is the sign of things to come. Chapter 12 itself is a picture of a greater reality.

Listen to Revelation 19 verses 11 through 16. This is what John saw. Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he who sat on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron.

He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." This is Jesus Christ. Every king of the earth has a king who rules in heaven. Every lord on the earth has a lord, and he rules in heaven. None of the kings of earth, none of the lords of earth, could stand for a nanosecond against this king in heaven.

He sits on a white steed, ahead of an army on white steeds. Listen to the account of this great king's return from Revelation 6. This is Revelation 6 verses 15 through 17. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath has come and who is able to stand.

Whenever Jesus returns, however Long or short that is, there will be great men on the earth. There will be kings, and great men, and rich men, and commanders, and mighty men. And what will they be doing? They've been the most consequential people that they knew in the sphere that God put them in. And what will they think then?

They'll call on the mountains to fall on them, to hide them from the face of Jesus Christ. Not one of them will be able to stand. Our confession of faith summarizes it this way. Listen to the 1689 Confession, Chapter 32, which is the chapter of the last judgment, paragraph 2. So it's speaking of this judgment day.

The end of God's appointing this day, the day of judgment, is for the manifestation of the glory of His mercy, displaying the glory of His mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect, and of His justice in the eternal damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. What our confession is teaching, and it is summarizing the teaching of Scripture, what our confession is teaching, that God has something in mind by appointing Judgment Day. To show His mercy in the eternal salvation of those who have trusted in His Son, and to show, to display His justice in the eternal damnation of those who would not repent. Yes, God will be glorified in the trophies of His grace. But God will also be glorified by the objects of His perfectly good and right justice.

We'll all say, God, you're right to do that. None of those 31 kings wanted to glorify God. They hated God. They lived their whole lives in rebellion, refusing to repent and turn to Him for mercy. Every one of them died trying to do to God's people what God's people ultimately did to them.

Our text is just a list of dead kings. They rose up against God and His people and God laughed. God laughed. Though sin has made this world unrecognizable from its originally created state. Sooner or later every wrong will be made right.

I'm going to repeat that. Those sin has made this world unrecognizable from its originally created state, God made it was good. God made it was good. God made it was good. God made it was good.

God made it was good. God made their image bearers it was very good. Does that sound like planet earth now? Not exactly. Though that's true, though it's warped and distorted, sooner or later every wrong will be made right, either by Jesus' sin bearing work, or in the good and right condemnation of the unrepentant.

Every wrong is going to be made right. Every wrong is going to be made right. Either by Jesus' sin bearing work, or in the good and right condemnation of the unrepentant. God will receive glory by mercy or by justice. Let the 31 dead kings convince you.

That's true. The application for me is that I will glorify God either by clinging to His mercy or receiving His justice and that for all of eternity. Think of the stakes. I will glorify God in my life, either by clinging to His mercy and being a demonstration of His goodness and willingness to forgive even sinners because of the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Or, I'll glorify Him by receiving His justice, because I would cling to my self-sufficiency and my independence and my autonomy and my rebellion, and I would not let it go.

God, You are worthy to be glorified. And I thank You that You desire to be glorified as a God of mercy. The people clinging to your mercy and receiving it, displaying how kind and good you are. God, if there's anyone listening to the preaching who is clinging to independence, self-righteousness, rebellion, pleasures that you call abominations. And they won't let go.

I pray that you would intervene. Make them objects of your mercy. Thank you for this list. The 31 dead kings who were the mightiest ones that they knew of, and you laid them low to keep your promises. All that that means for us.

Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.