In this sermon, the preacher discusses the victory of Joshua over the Amalekites and the importance of memorializing this victory. He emphasizes the wickedness of the human soul and the need for the fear of God to restrain it. The preacher then draws a parallel between Joshua's victory and the battle of Calvary, where Jesus Christ, representing Israel, faced attack as the Messiah. He warns against reducing the Christian life to mere fun and levity, and urges listeners to remember the seriousness and cost of Christ's sacrifice at Calvary.

Would you please turn to the Word of God, to the book of Exodus, chapter 17. Exodus, chapter 17, commencing to read at verse 1. And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after their journeys according to the commandments of the Lord, and pitched in rephidim. And there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore, the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water, that we may drink. Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore, do ye tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there for water. And the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore, is this, that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with me the elders of Israel. And I wrought, wherewith thou hast smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the people of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not? Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him. And he sat thereon. And Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, and the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. The Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi. For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. May God bless the reading of his infallible and inerrant word. I would like to direct your thoughts to the chapter which earlier was read to us. Exodus chapter 17, and considering together verses 13 and 14, And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You will have gathered from the reading of the chapter that it's about Israel's journey, or part of Israel's journey, from Egypt to Sinai, and thence to the promised land. We're told in verse 8 that they come to a place called Raphidim. There they set up camp. No sooner do they do that than they're attacked by a marauding band of people called Amalekites. Now this was a trouble that had followed hard upon other troubles. A little while before, Israel had been without food, and then in Raphidim, without water. That was no joke in a wilderness. Now here they are being attacked by the Amalekites, and we can presume that what the Amalekites wanted was nothing less than the total destruction of the children of Israel. So you see that though the Lord had wonderfully brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, their journey in the wilderness was not without its various trials. And friend, neither is the Christian life. Praise God for the grace that rescues men and women from their bondage to sin, in all its effects and consequences. Praise God for the grace that sets their feet heavenwards, and ensures they will never come into that form of bondage ever again. But the Christian life is not without its battles. We may wish it would be. We may even think it ought to be. But the biblical description of the Christian life is that there are battles to be fought, and one, and as in the case of Israel, there is sometimes one skirmish upon another. Trials and temptations, the world with all its allurements, ever ready to capture the young person's heart especially, the flesh with its lusts, so ready to be charmed by the world, and above all what the New Testament calls our adversary the devil, going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and if you are a Christian you are called to resist him steadfast in the faith. Now I'm trying to give you an honest description of the Christian life, and the reason I do so, my friend, and if you're a young person particularly, it's because you know as well as I know that we are living in a society that is reduced to fun and to levity, where even life itself is forbidden almost to be taken seriously. And you see, my young Christian friend, if you are tonight, and not only you but all of us together, the danger is to regard the Christian life as a kind of extension of this fun life that we're presented with, and so when the battles come there may be resentment, and when the Christian life is preached in all its seriousness, there may be resentment even more. And I want to tell you tonight there is no comfortable road to glory, there are trials to face, there are amulets to withstand. Now I'm aware I'm saying this in a person where unconverted people may be present, and you may say to me, well my dear friend, you're going to put them off Christianity altogether. My answer to you is this, if you're not a Christian, even if you are not, you've got your problems too. You can't live in a world that despises God and neglects his laws and not have problems. Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards, says the Bible. The question is, how do you face them? How do you face them? Israel was without her food, that was a problem. Then she was out of water, that was more of a problem. And then came the Amalekites, but Israel had a God, didn't she? And the food was supplied and the water was given and as verse 13 tells us, that day Joshua discomforted Amalek. So when your problems come, is God there? Is he your God? My friend, don't think that when life runs smoothly you can shut God out and then call upon him when you feel you might have a need of him and when you think it's convenient, as if God is going to jump to your aid in a moment. He may do because he's very gracious, but there's no guarantee and it's far better to be sure you have God now, that he is your God. When you're in the wilderness and all the Amalekites come and one trouble after another, when things go wrong, when you lose your job, when illness strikes your home, when days are dark and gloomy, when you're in despair, when you're alone, when all the things you put your happiness on are taken from you, make sure for that time you are one with God, your sovereign protector. That's what he is at hand. Unchangeably faithful to save, almighty to rule and command. He smiles and my comforts abound. His grace as a dew shall descend. Wars of salvation surround the soul he delights to defend. Do you have that God? Well, why haven't you? Because you can. Because you can. Listen to what the Bible says in the Old Testament. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Oh yes, but let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his path. And let him return to the Lord. And what will happen when the Lord say I don't want to know? Oh no, no, no, no. He will abundantly pardon. Oh, thank God. The New Testament takes that up by saying God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Isn't that a wonderful phrase? The world so offensive to God and God reconciles the world to himself. Christ died for the unjust that he might bring us to God. Oh my friends, God is calling you to fellowship with him. Seek him. Seek him as the God who is ready to pardon everything. Even all the years when you shut him out of your life. The God who will forgive all and reconcile you to himself to be your God forever. Your sovereign protector to unseen but forever at hand. Now verses 14 to 16 in this passage record for us the sequel to Joshua's victory over Amalek. It is, Matthew Henry says this, it is the setting up of the tokens of victory. Now you see, usually after a great victory there is some public display. Well, there might be a fly past or there might be a military parade or the sovereign and the head of government might make a public appearance. Joshua's tokens of victory were slightly different from that. We're told what he did or what he was to do. Write this, this victory for a memorial in a book. Moses, write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the years of Joshua. Now there are lessons to be learned in that I think. First of all write, Moses write this for a memorial in a book. Now we know what that book turned out to be. It's this book of Exodus which in this 17th chapter records for us the battle and the victory over Amalek. And so God you see through his servant Moses has preserved the remembrance of this victory to this present moment. And the reason for that it seems to me is this, that it was too wonderful a victory to be forgotten or even to be remembered by word of mouth. It had to be recorded in pen and ink such is the wonder of the victory that today over Amalek. And the reason for the wonder of it was this, and if you turn to Deuteronomy 25 and verses 17 to 18 you will discover why that victory was so wonderful that it had to be recorded in black and white forever and forever. It was this, that on the face of it Israel should never have won that battle at all. Deuteronomy 25 17 to 18. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way. When you will come out of Egypt the unpreparedness of Israel. If there was one thing that Israel could not have done in Egypt was to make themselves a fighting force. Well they'd been slaves. And they'd only just come out of Egypt and they'd come out in a hurry. They had no army as such. They had never even seen a military battle. What hope are they against Amalek. And not only that but notice too that at the end of verse 18 when thou wast faint and weary. Well they're just on a trying trek through the wilderness. At one point without food at another point without water. So that even if they had been a fighting force they would have not have been in a fit state to fight the battle anyway. What hope are they against Amalek. And also in verse 15 notice the verse 18 the ferocity of the enemy and smote the hindest part of thee. You see they were a bit like gangs of teenage muggers. Teenage muggers don't go six foot lock forwards do they. They go for the vulnerable. And the Amaleks went for the vulnerable. The women and children and the people on crutches and what have you coming behind at the very back the stragglers they went for those. And they do so says verse 18 because they were a people that feared not God. Which meant there was not an ounce of mercy in the heart of the Amalekites. But that they were driven by a godless ferocity that no one would be exempt from their swords. If you like it's a kind of a Rwandan situation where young and old women and children invalids weak and sick were put to the sword. Because you see my friend where the fear of God is not you see what depths of depravity lie in the human soul. And it's never a nice picture. The heart of man is ever desperately wicked. And when the fear of God when the restraint is drawn look out and we're beginning to see things like that in our land. Anyway there was Israel untrained weak weary against the people strong and fierce used to battles determined to slaughter Israel going for the weak and the vulnerable. What hope do they have? Yet verse 13 tells us Joshua discomforted Amalek. That's why it had to be written. That's why it had to be recorded. It was a wonderful victory because it was an impossible victory. My friends the Bible records another great battle and another great victory. The battleground was a place called Calvary. And once again Israel is being attacked only now in the person of its Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ. It's Christ against all the enemies of Christ and you know if you know about it as in the case of Israel it seemed quite impossible that he should ever win. He's fated really to. He comes to the fight in the middle of the night when he's physically worn out. And there are Amaleks who bring him to Calvary. Merciless people know nothing of the fear of God. They are motivated by a gigantic hatred for him. They're out to destroy him. They drag him from one court to another throughout the night pouring upon him one scornful abuse after another. They get an ungodly Roman governor to condemn him to be crucified when it's plain he's innocent. They strip him of his robe and they spit in his face and they beat him with their fists and they force a crown of thorns upon his head and they mock him and they insult him and then they subject him to the awful scourge a horrendous punishment. And all the time there's no word of complaint. He's led as a lamb to the slaughter. Then he's made to carry his cross and he's so weak somebody else has got to do it. At length they come to Mount Calvary and they affix him to the cross and he's hung up between heaven and earth despised of man and cursed of God at one and the same time. Nobody wants him. He's alone and he's weak and he's weary. There they are in their triumph all around hurling insults, parting his garments and gambling for them. There he is. What hope has he got? He hangs there for several hours till at length he gives up the ghost and some friends come and take the corpse down and they carry him lifeless to a tomb and they put a stone of the entrance and they set soldiers on guard and it looks hopeless. Oh dear friend if the odds were stacked against Israel in Rephidim they're stacked against Israel at Calvary. Stacked. What hope? And then consider the real Amalekites that our Joshua had to deal with. Deuteronomy told us that those in the wilderness had no fear of God. These have no fear of God. There is Satan. He's there. You know whatever abuse is thrown into the face of the Savior by those ungodly men at Calvary Satan is doing it. They are his agents. He is their captain. It's the devil pouring out all his bitter hatred into the blessed face of the Son of God. He had tried to defeat him under temptation. He had tried to defeat him through those who hated him. He had used Judas. He had failed. Now at Calvary he pours out all his spite in malignant hatred and horrible, horrible abuse upon the Son of God as he hangs seemingly helpless upon the cross. And he looks hopeless. And there's another Amalekite. Oh I mentioned it this afternoon. Listen. God has made him to be sin. What awesome words. The holy Son of God who knew no sin to be made sin. And that by the action of his beloved Father. The loveliest person with the loveliest life. He wasn't a sinner. He wasn't made a sinner. He couldn't become that. He's holy. He's harmless. He's undefiled. He's separate from sinners. Oh but he is made sin. If I'm made sin, it's only what I am. But he was made sin. So much so he's all but identified with it. Who can conceive what that was like? That darkness came upon him. You and I know what it is to be sinful. You know what it is to be sinful. And you were grieved at your sin sometimes. It's so horrible sometimes you can't tell your loved ones about it. You see the darkness of it and the ruin of it and it grieves your soul. Does it not to see sin? But we are sinners. We are sinners. He was never sinner. What was it like for him to be made sin? To be plunged into the very vortex of the darkness of this horrible corruption that's so offensive to God. What was it like? What was it like to be stuck with the curse of his own father? What was it like for him to receive the strokes of his father's wrath from heaven? No wonder the sun went dark and the rocks went and that horrible earthquake. No wonder. It all comes upon him as well as everything else and it seems hopeless. Hopeless. Then there's the final indignity. He dies. Death comes to him. You and I will die but we deserve it. He never deserved it. He is and he is the fount of life and the joy and the fount of every blessing. What is it like for him to enter into the halls of death? What is it like for him to walk along the corridors of the last and greatest enemy? Was it like for him to have a cold body to be laid in a cold tomb that belonged to somebody else? What was it like? Listen my friend, whatever the ferocity of the amulet that came against Israel in Rephidim, it was but a very pale reflection of what came to Jesus upon Calvary. And as we consider the weakness of Christ and the ferocity of the enemy and the fact that he died and was buried, we may well ask, what hope? And here's the answer. That day Joshua discomforted Amalek. It seemed impossible that the Lord Jesus did, should, but he did. The cross of the most fierce battle ever fought, the enemy's the most terrible, the suffering most awful, but that made the victory the most wonderful victory it ever was in all time and history. And that victory was recorded too. It was recorded the very moment it was done. And that was on the cross. The victory, my friend, was not of the resurrection. That was the evidence of the victory. The victory was on the cross when Jesus was seemingly at his weakest. He cried out, it is finished. All his amulets defeated. And as if to enforce the wonder of the triumph, we are told explicitly, he made that cry with a loud voice. Isn't that incredible? After all that he'd been through the night before and those hours on the cross and the weakness, he cries with a loud voice. You see, he's not done for at all. It's his enemies that are done for. He's still in the strength as the Son of God, the Savior. He's got all his strength. After all the awful cross, he's still the Savior in his strength. It's the amulets that are defeated. And when shortly after he died, it was not the pain of the cross, nor by anything his humor or spiritual force did. He gave up the ghost. He bowed his head. He chose when it was time to die. He's dictating the progress of the battle. He's in charge. He's in control. He's the Lord still, even in his weakest moment. He's still the Lord. He's still the Son of God. He's still the Lord of glory. He's still doing the Father's work to its very end. And he bows his head only when he knows all the work is ended, when every sin has been dealt with, when all his enemies are defeated, when Satan has been put to flight, when the armies of the aliens are sent packing, when his Father's justice is satisfied, when redemption is done. Then he bows his head. On that day, my friends, our Joshua, despite all the ferocity of the enemy, prevailed. And that's a victory so wonderful it ought to be recorded in every page of every book there ever is. Because the enemies that were there were yours and mine. The devil came. The one who's got men and women in his grasp, blinding them, deluding them, keeping them from God. The sin and the guilt that was charged to him was yours and mine. The stripes that fell upon him, oh, he was wounded for our transgressions. The wrath was ours. The death was ours. The grave was ours. Our deadliest enemies. But it was precisely because they were ours that the blessed Lord Jesus made them his. It was for our sins that Jesus suffered so. Such is his love. I'm glad Moses recorded this verse, and I'm glad the other victory was recorded too. I know that Jesus has won the battle. Oh, Christian, what praise you owe him. Is it written in letters of gold upon your heart? Jesus has won. No, strife is all. The battle won. Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee, from death's dread string thy sermon free, that we may live and sing to thee. Hallelujah. Tell me, when you consider the cross and the great victory over your spiritual foes, is there a hallelujah in your heart? If there isn't, there ought to be. And if you can't say hallelujah toward that victory, my friends, oh, but ask in faith. Go to this great Joshua, this great Savior, and seek the victory over your sin in him, and it shall be given. And you will have a hallelujah upon your hearts too. He was not only to write it in the book, he was to rehearse it into the years of Joshua. Why Joshua? Well, because you see later as Israel's leader, in the place of Moses, Joshua would have to face many enemies and join many battles against fierce odds. It was vital for Joshua that he would remember that that day Amalek was discomforted, so when his battles came, he would be encouraged. So tell Joshua, Moses, go and tell him, that when that day comes, he will fight all the more valiantly and be all the more assured. And you and I, my friends, need to be reminded again and again of the great victory at Calvary. Tell me the old, old story, for I forget so soon. You will never forget the fact that Jesus died at Calvary. Oh, but you're going to forget the glory of it. Have you forgotten it? The years of your Christian life, the world, the responsibilities as captain. You've lost the thrill of Calvary. Even worse, you can forget the benefits it brings. And you need to remind it again and again of the glory it was at Calvary. Oh, friend, when the love of the world is bigger than love for Christ, get somebody to rehearse in the years the cost that Christ paid for your redemption at Calvary. When Satan fills your heart with the guilt of some sin, you need to be told again and again that at Calvary, Jesus said, it's finished. It's a perfect redemption. He put all away. When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, I don't look down, I find only guilt there. Upward I look and see him there who made an end of all my sin. As all of it, you know, the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin. When doubts, as you're standing with God fill your soul, you need to be reminded again that at Calvary, Jesus reconciled us to God. He purchased our redemption. And when troubles arise and sorrow grips the heart, oh, rehearse the cross to that dear soul, so that he will know just how much the Lord cares for him. Remind him that at Calvary, Jesus carried the greatest burdens, and so that there is no burden of sorrow he will not bear. Remind him that God spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, and therefore with him freely will give us all things. And when death comes, and if the fear of it grips your soul, rehearse in your ears that at the cross, Christ was the death of death and hell's destruction, and he will land you safe on Canaan's side if you are his. Tell of the empty tomb and the living hope it all has brought. Oh, Christian, never grow weary of what Christ did at Calvary. It's absolutely fundamental to every aspect of our lives. And my dear friend, if Calvary means nothing to you, oh, may God give you the faith to go there and see what is happening. There the Lord Jesus Christ dies for ungodly people, that they might be brought to God. He did it. Oh, believe you've got nothing to do. He's done the work. Just trust and receive, and he will bring you forgiven, pardoned, healed, restored, ransomed, to God. And if you say to me, but I know so little of the gospel, you only need to know you're a sinner in need of God's pardon, and that the pardon was won at Calvary. And if you say to me, but my faith is so small, my friend, it's not the size of your faith. It is that it's faith in the Lord Jesus to save you from your sins. If it's faith only to cry, Lord, have mercy upon me, he'll hear it. He'll hear it, and he will answer. And all the benefits of that mighty victory at Calvary will be brought to you, will be made yours. Oh, God forbid we shall ever forget. The wonderful thing is, of course, that he never forgets us. He continues to make intercession for us. And when doubts arise and faith grows dim, we rest, do we not, on his unchanging grace, and take refuge in the surety of his word and promises. And then the next thing we read is this in our text. Rehearse it in the years of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You see, Israel's victory over Amalek that day was only the first. Others were to follow over Amalek until, at length, as the text promises, Amalek was totally destroyed and the very remembrance of them lost from under heaven. You see, Amalek had the audacity to attack the people of God, and when they were in their weakness. My friends, no one who does that gets away with it. God has said in his word, he who touches you touches the apple of mine eye. I can't understand why it is I am the apple of God's eye. I really can't. I know it must be because of my Savior, because I'm in him. God sees me in him. He's the apple of his eye, therefore I am in him too. But oh, my friends, whatever Christians may be like, even if we are at our lowest in spiritual ineffectiveness, we are still God's chosen people in Christ, bought by his precious blood. Though the enemies of God may seem to prosper, their end is certain. God will so deal with all who oppose his people, as to what we destroy even the remembrance of them from under the heavens. He must reign till all his enemies are cast out. But I want to apply this to our Savior's victory at Calvary. Do you know, my friends, when the Lord Jesus gave up the ghost at Calvary, do you know what his father said? His father said this, I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek, or to put it in another way, as Jeremiah puts it, their sins and iniquities I will remember no more. And again, as far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed their transgressions from them. And again, I will brought out their transgressions as a cloud. And again, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Jesus dealt with our Amalek, our sin, and defeated it. All has gone from the sight of God. All our guilt, all our condemnation, all that God ever charged with, he has brought it out. He will cease to remember. He will never see it again. It will never come to mind. My sin, not in part, but the whole was nailed to his cross. And I bear it no more, because he doesn't. And you shouldn't. My friends, if you believe that Christ took away your sins, believe it. He has taken all the guilt away and removed all the condemnation. Why are you living in fear? Why are you living in doubt? Go back to Calvary and rehearse the victory again in your years. The cross is not only the place where we receive salvation, it's also the place where we receive our assurance of salvation. Jesus has done it all. God has blotted the remembrance out. Of course, Amalek was destroyed in the end. It wasn't until the day of the king Saul, in fact, that the Amaleks were finally destroyed, but they were destroyed, never ever to appear on Scripture, never ever to come to remembrance again. I suppose the victory of Christ over our sin is a bit like that. You know, because of Christ's victory over sin, Christian, you can say, I am dead to sin and alive unto God in Christ, and you can say sin shall never have dominion over me again. But you know, the battle still goes on. You know, the motions of sin are still there. It's like a terrorist movement, isn't it? Sin coming back to try to drag you down and catch you again, but it shall never have dominion over you, but the battle is there. There are always the motions of sin, those things you haven't yet got rid of are still coming back at you. But you know too, don't you, that Christ's victory at Calvary is but the first installment. Christ has broken the power of cancelled sin. He's cancelled the guilt. He's broken its power, and the day will come when he'd even deliver you from its presence. When the Christian will finally be delivered from the very last vestiges of sin in his heart, and he will stand before the Lord clothed in the white garments of spotless holiness with all the rest of God's glorified people, and he will join the heavenly chorus in praise to him who won the victory, and by whose blood and righteousness and glorious resurrection we are made the people of God to dwell forever in the glory of his heaven. And Christian, nothing will ever prevent you from getting there. All the amulets that might come to fight against you again and again, but the victory has been won. The Lord is risen. The Lord is risen. By his mighty power, he's keeping the Christian through faith, under salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Do you have this hope? Do you want it? Do you want to go on through your life with your sins, unforgiven, without God in this world, of all worlds? Without God is bad enough. Without God in this world is fearful. And to be without God is to be without hope. The worst thing that can ever happen to you, my friends, or belong to you, is that you are without Christ. For then your situation is hopeless. And when your particular amulets come, what have you got to help you? When death comes, is it will? When eternity stares you in the face, is it will? When you have to come before the judgment seat of God as you must? When the gates of hell are opened to you, who will save you? And in hell there is no saving. There is no mercy. There is no hope. Even if like that rich man you cry out for a drop of water upon your tongue, there is just nothing. But now is the time of salvation. Now is the day. Now is the offer. Now the Lord Jesus Christ presents himself to you as the Savior of sinners, as the one into whose hands has been committed all the merits of salvation and all the power and all the help to save as many as call upon him. He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto him in faith, believing that he died for our sins and rose again for our justification to bring us to God. O sinner, don't sit there just thinking is the sermon going to end as it is in a minute. Make Christ yours. Call upon him. Trust him. Believe him. Lay hold upon the victory of Calvary. Make it yours by faith in him. God will reveal to you himself. His love will bring you to himself. He will make you his child for his name's sake. Voice glory.