Joshua chapter 5. Joshua chapter
5 will continue our series of Christ in the Old Testament.
Joshua chapter 5. Now this chapter contains several
very memorable events. Israel is now entering the frontiers
of Canaan and the Canaanites are alarmed. And Israel is energetic. They're ready to go. They're
ready to go. God's told them to go into the
land, and they are ready. And as if to remind them of His
covenant engagements, God commands the rites of circumcision to
be renewed, which had been long omitted, and the Feast of the
Passover also, after 8 and 30 After 8 and 30 years, so 38 years
of neglect, it's again celebrated. And the Lord supplies the camp
with the good things of the land of Canaan. The man asceases,
and the captain of the Lord's host appears to Joshua. So with
that in mind, let's read the whole chapter. I'm sorry. And our text will
be found in verses 13 to 15. And it came to pass when All
the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward,
and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard
that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before
the children of Israel until we were passed over, that their
heart melted. Neither was their spirit in them
anymore because of the children of Israel. So the enemies of
Israel had heard news had traveled about this wondrous miracle.
And they were filled with fear. They were filled with fear. Who's
coming? Who's coming? And at that time, the Lord said
unto Joshua, make these sharp knives and circumcise again the
children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him sharp
knives and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the
foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise all
the people that came out of Egypt that were males. Even all the
men of war died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out
of Egypt. Now all the people that came
out were circumcised, but all the people that were born in
the wilderness, by the way, as they came forth out of Egypt,
them they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel walked
40 years in the wilderness till all the people that were men
of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed. Remember, God
had told them, you're going to die. You're going to die in the
wilderness. Because they obeyed not the voice
of the Lord, unto whom the Lord swore that he would not show
them the land which the Lord swore unto their fathers, that
he would give us a land that floweth with milk and honey.
And their children whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua
circumcised, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised
them by the way. And it came to pass, when they
had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their
places in the camp till they were whole. So we see the Lord
making them wait. Because they're only going to
go into the land of Canaan when it's God's time. They're made
to wait. Just like sometimes we're made
to wait, aren't we? Certain things we anticipate or are waiting
upon, and we're made to wait. Even us, every believer desires
to be in glory, don't we? But we're made to wait, we're
made to wait. One day though, we'll be there,
we'll be there. And the Lord said unto Joshua,
this day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you,
Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
And then next we see the first Passover in Canaan. And the children
of Israel encamped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the
14th day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And
they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after
the Passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn in the south
same day. And the manna ceased on the morrow
after they had eaten of the old corn of the land. Neither had
the children of Israel manna any more, but they did eat of
the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. So we see there in
verse 12 that the manna ceases. Next though, we see the captain
of the Lord's host appear to Joshua. Now, don't forget, Joshua
was a man of war. He's a man of war. Joshua's a
picture of Christ too. And so he's a man of war and
all of a sudden this man appears before him. Let's read it, verses
13 to 15. And it came to pass when Joshua
was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold,
there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his
hand. And Joshua went unto him and
said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? He doesn't
know who he is. But Joshua's a man of war, right?
So he's, are you for us or are you for our adversaries? And he said, nay, but as the
captain of the host of the Lord, the captain of the host of Jehovah,
am I now come? And Joshua fell on his face. and did worship, and said unto
him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain
of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off
thy foot, for the place wherein thou standest is a hole. And Joshua did so. Now Matthew
Henry comments in this way about the captain of the host of the
Lord. This man was the son of God.
This is the eternal word. eternal word. Joshua has appear before him a Christophany,
a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this
is none other than the word eternal. Note in verse 2 of chapter 6,
turn over one more chapter, well you can, if you're, I have to
turn the page because my chapter is on the other page, but look
at verse 2. Still speaking, the captain still
speaking, and the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into
thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty man of
valor. Now think of this. Christ appeared to Abraham as
a traveler. Now he appears to her before
Joshua as a man of war, a man of war. One old commentator said,
Christ will be to his people what their faith needs. What
their faith needs. The captain of the Lord's host. And it says, and the Lord said
unto Joshua. That's Jehovah. That's the self-existent
one. So again, this is a Christophany.
This is a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the eternal word. The captain of the Lord's host,
he has his sword drawn. And think of this for Joshua.
He's a man of war. This would encourage Joshua to
carry on this battle with courage. Christ's sword drawn in his hand
denotes how he's absolutely ready for the defense of his people.
He defends us. He's our captain. And just as
a general would lead their troops in the battle, I remember Brother
John did a message on Christ our banner. We follow him. We
follow him. He is before us. He's ready here
for the defense of his people. And what strength we who are
God's people can glean from this. What courage to carry on. Because
we're needy sinners, aren't we? We're needy all the time. and
to know that our Lord goes before us. He's the captain of the host. Captain of Jehovah's host. And
think of this. Think of this. One angel killed
over 100,000 men. Just one. And our Lord said,
I can call six legions of angels. 5,000 men in a legion. If he had called six legions
of angels, the whole world would have been destroyed. There wouldn't
have been anything living left. And the one who leads them appears
before Joshua with his sword drawn. This is the king of glory. My. this is great encouragement to
God's people. The word Jesus Christ himself
comes to this holy war as Joshua sees a man clad in armor and
equipped for war. Let's read it again. And it came
to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and
behold There stood a man over against him with his sword drawn
in his hand, and Joshua went unto him and said, Art thou for
us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as the
captain of the host of the Lord, I am now come. And then what
does Joshua do? Joshua does what any of us would
do in the presence of the Lord, right? He falls on his face.
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and
said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the
captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from
off thy foot, for the place wherein thou standest is holy. And Joshua
did so. Joshua obeyed, didn't he? Oh
my. So Joshua, we see in verse 13,
is bigerical. Perhaps he's in prayer, or perhaps
he's in meditation. Perhaps he's seeking guidance
from the Lord. for the upcoming battle because
there's a critical situation unfolding before him here. And
he had at the Lord's command observed the feast of the Passover
and the unleavened bread and was now following up those services
and waiting upon the Lord. He's waiting upon the Lord. And
he looks up and behold, this man is before him. And can we
not we with the eye of faith, beloved, see our blessed Redeemer? He meets his people where they're
at, doesn't he? He meets his people. Joshua saw him with his
sword in his hand, ready for battle. And know that our blessed
Savior would come in our midst with the sword of the Spirit
in his hand. And come with power and in love
with his two-edged sword. To smite our sins and to cut
us to the heart. And to cut his adversaries to
the heart. To slay their unbelief, to lay
their iniquities before him. The word of God is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrows, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Note
in our text the sword is drawn, it's not scabbard, it's drawn.
Verse 13, and it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that
he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man
over against him with a sword drawn in his hand. He's ready.
He's ready for battle. And Joshua went unto him and
said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And note,
the sword is in the Lord's hands, beloved. It's in the Lord's hands. It's not in the preacher's hands. It's not even in an angel's hand. The sword is drawn in Jehovah's
hand. It's drawn in Jehovah's hand.
In the hand of the Mighty One of Israel. In the hand of the
Word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
What power there is in the Gospel when the Lord Jesus Christ holds
the sword of the Spirit. When the hilt is in His hand,
as one commentator said. What power there is. It cuts to the hearts of sinners
when it's wielded by the Lord Jesus. The sword of the Spirit
cuts right and left and cuts at the hearts and conscience
of men. And we who believe, we who are born again say, yes,
that happened to me. That happened to me. The glorious man whom Joshua
saw here, man who Joshua saw was on his side. Joshua asked
them, are thou for us or for our adversaries? This man is
on Joshua's side. This man is on the side of God's
people. In what great comfort this brings
God's people to know that the captain of the Lord's host, the
eternal word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is in the midst
of the church and carries a sword. only for the purpose of love
to his people as he defends us, but, oh, to his enemies, what
a dreadful sword that is. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
45. Psalm 45. Psalm 45, verses 1 to 6. Psalm 45. My heart is indicting a good
matter. I speak of the things which I have made, touching the
king. Notice, the king. There is only
one king, the king of kings and the lord of lords, who's over
all. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer
than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips.
Therefore, God has blessed thee forever. gird thy sword upon
thy thigh, O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty, ride prosperously
because of the truth and meekness and righteousness. In thy right
hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under
thee. Look at that, thou gird thy sword
upon thy thigh, O most mighty. That's our king. That's our king. He is most mighty, and he who
appeared here to Joshua is he who is most mighty. Most mighty. With all glory and majesty. Thy throne, look at verse six,
thy throne, oh God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy
kingdom is a right scepter. Let's go back to Joshua chapter
five and note again the divine presence with God's people because
the captain of the Lord's host is God himself. God himself,
the eternal word. And it came to pass, when Joshua
was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes, and looked, and
behold, there stood a man over against him, with his sword drawn
in his hand. And Joshua went unto him, and
said, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And note in
verse 14, he came to do to go to battle for them and before
them. Look, and he said, nay, but as
the captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto
him, what saith my Lord unto his servant? Beloved, is it not our heavenly
bridegroom's presence which we desire? When we gather together,
we desire to to hear about Him, to have His presence with us.
When we gather to worship, we gather to hear His Word proclaimed. We don't want to be told what
we have to do and what we don't have to do because we already
know we're sinners. We want to be told what's been done for
us by the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to be refreshed and encouraged
by our great God and King. And when the Holy Spirit applies
the truth of the Word of God to the believer, it encourages
us. It encourages us. Think upon
this. It was enough for the army of
Cromwell to know that he was there. Cromwell was a great leader. And for his army to know that
he was there in their presence. to lead on his iron sides to
the fray, it encouraged them to go into battle. Just the sight
of him, just the sight of him. And many of the time, the presence
of an old Roman general was equal to another legion. I remember
reading of a time in one battle, in a book I read about Caesar's
legions, and there was a time when they were being just defeated,
pushed back. And Caesar had commanded them
to go up a mountain. up a hill, actually, not a mountain,
but a hill. And the enemy was on top of the hill. They had
the high ground. They were just decimating them. And Caesar went
right out in front of them. And the whole legions just rallied
behind him. And they ended up winning. They
won the victory. They won the victory. So many a time, the presence
of an old Roman general was equal to another legion. As soon as
the cohorts perceived that he was come, whose eagle-eye watched
every motion of the enemy, and whose battle-practice hand led
the legions upon the most prominent points of attack on the enemy,
at just the sight of the general, it said by one that men's blood
leaped within him, and they grasped their sword and rushed forward.
And as I said in that book, it was evidenced how the men rallied
around Caesar. and ran forward to try to protect
him before, but he was ahead of them, leading them into battle. And so think of this, the King
of kings and the Lord of lords is in our midst, leading us,
going forward. And this should encourage us
and fill us with courage to go forth. Because think of this,
the scriptures declare, plainly declare, If God before us, who
can be against us? If the captain of the Lord's
house, the one who's in charge of all those angels, is leading
us, is going before us, who can be against us? And that's written in light of
our sins being forgiven in Christ. Who can bring a charge to God's
elect? It's God who justifies. If God before us, who can be
against us? It's wonderful. It's wonderful. I've seen, I've seen people,
I've seen things, I imagine you have too, enemies of God's people. Things, they're just taken away. Taken away, moved away. so that the church continues
on and marches on. It's incredible. It's absolutely
incredible. The Lord protects and defends
His people. He does. Think upon this. The one who
went to Calvary bearing our sins, the one who lived and died as
our substitute, our great King and our great Redeemer, is the
one who's with us. And I ask you this, who can stand
against the Lord of hosts? Sinner friend, who can stand
against the Lord of hosts? Who can stand against the King
of glory? No one. No one. Can anyone thwart him? Can anyone stay his hand? Can
anyone say you can't do that? Anyone? No. Think of this. Empires have rose
through the years. Empires have fallen through the
years. And our King is still on the
throne. People who have shook their fists at God have perished
in their sins. Multitudes of them. And our King
is still upon the throne. What a great God we have. Let this picture, which we see
tonight of the Lord in the midst of his people, lift up our hearts
and give us courage as we journey through this world. Our Lord
is with us. He's promised he'll never leave
us nor forsake us. Never. And a glimpse of him will
help us overcome the things that we go through. One commentator said, At a glimpse
of our great King, we will almost be ready to say, turn away thine
eyes from me, for they have overcome me. I'm overcome with the love
that you have for me, Lord. Overcome by it. And let us, who are redeemed
of the Lord, never go into warfare with our own strength, but let
us wait upon our Master. Before I get in the pulpit, I
always pray and ask the Lord to go before me. I don't want
to ever get into this pulpit, ever, without the Lord going
before me, never, never. Every preacher will tell you
that. We do not want to get in the pulpit in our own strength.
We pray that God goes before us and prepares the hearts and
minds of those who are here. But knowing that he goes before
us, knowing that he'll never leave us or forsake us, and knowing
that the very one who will never leave us and forsake us is standing
before Joshua in the midst of God's people. What great strength we can glean
from this. And note the Lord's position
again. He's in the midst of the people, and he said, Nay, but
as the captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto
him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? He's right there. The captain of the Lord's host. Think of the relief this must
have bought Joshua. He's if he's if he's contemplating
what's going to come. Think of the relief that this
would bring him. that the captain of the Lord's
host is there before him with his people. And for Joshua, the responsibility
of the battle was taken from him right there. Taken from him. I've talked to men who lead people
into battle and the burden that they carry when things occur
or men are lost, sometimes never leave those men. And for Joshua, again, the responsibility
of the battle was taken from him. He was to be the lieutenant. He's the lieutenant. The king
himself would marshal his host. And think of this, this is true
amongst all of God's people. Some are called to lead and all
are called to serve. But it's the Lord Jesus Christ
and him alone who is the commander-in-chief. He's the commander-in-chief.
And he puts men into position by his sovereign will and decree. It's his doing. It's his doing. He's the commander-in-chief. He can do whatever he pleases. But we all serve one master. We have one master, don't we?
We're here for the furtherance of the gospel. We have one captain,
one commander in chief, the Lord Jesus Christ. We serve him. We bow down to
him. We say down with self as we bow
down to him. Carnal judgment and foolish reason
lie still. Let the word of God be paramount
within the soul. All opposition being hushed because
we do not act unless the captain moves forward. Because if we
go forward on our own, whether we're here in the church, if
we go forward on our own, it'll be disappointment. So we pray
that the Lord goes before us. Lord, lead us, guide us, direct
us. Don't ever let us go where you
don't go before us, Lord, please. Please. So a lesson is here before us
to wait on the Lord. To wait on the Lord. And be strong in His might and
power. We only march forward when He moves forward. We only
march forward when He moves forward. And again, if God before us Who
can be against us? No one. He goes before us. And this isn't pride that we
say, oh yeah, we can go and do. No, we only march again when
He moves forward. We wait for our Lord's moving. So let us walk together, we who
are the Lord's people, being comforted in Christ, in the preaching
of the gospel of Christ, being knit together in love, unto all
the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ, in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We're
knit together in love, beloved. We're one in Christ. We're one
in Christ. Now let's look at verse 15, considering
We worship the Lord Jesus Christ. He who is present with us, says
in verse 15, and the captain of the Lord's host said unto
him, said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place wherein thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. I'd
like you to turn to Exodus chapter 3. And notice in our text there,
Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped. He worshiped
he who is the captain of the Lord's host, the word of God. the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll read
that again while you're turning to Exodus 3. It says, And the
captain of the Lord's host said unto him, unto Joshua, Loose
thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place wherein thou standest
is holy. And Joshua did so. We see Moses doing a similar
thing at the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3, where it said
that the place where Moses stood was holy in the presence of the
Lord. And let us never forget that
it's only holy because our Lord's there. It's only holy because of his
presence. Exodus chapter 3, we'll read verses 1 to 15. Now Moses
kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of
Midian. And he led the flock to the backside of the desert
and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the
midst of the bush. And he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses
said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the
bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of
the bush and said, Moses, Moses, and he said, here am I. And he
said, draw not neither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet,
for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Again, it's only
holy because of the presence of the Lord. Because of the presence
of the Lord. Moreover, he said, I am the God
of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and have
heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver
them, look at that, and I am come down to deliver them out
of the hand of the Egyptians. Where is the captain of the Lord's
host before Joshua? Right in front of him. My goodness, who came down from
glory to deliver us from our sins? The Word of God, the Word
of God. And I have come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that
land into a good land and enlarge into a land flowing with milk
and honey and to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites
and the Amorites and the Perseids and the Hivites and the Jezebites.
Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has
come unto me. He hears the cries of his people, beloved. He hears
the cries of his people. Remember, idols have ears, but
they can't hear, and lips, but they can't speak. God hears the
cries of his people. He hears them. Now therefore,
behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come unto me, and
I have seen the oppression. wherein the Egyptians oppressed
them. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh,
and thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel,
out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who
am I? Is that not what we all say? Who am I, Lord, to do this? That I should go unto Pharaoh,
and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of
Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee. There's
a wonderful promise right there. He's ever with us, beloved. And we know that he said, I'll
never leave thee nor forsake thee. Certainly, I will be with thee.
God says you can be certain I'll be with you. Oh, that's honey
for the believer's soul. And this shall be a token unto
thee that I have sent thee. When thou has bought forth the
people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
Moses said unto God, behold, when I am coming to the children
of Israel and saying to them, the God of your fathers has sent
me unto you, they shall say unto me, what is his name? What shall
I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. And he said, this shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me unto you. And God said, moreover unto Moses,
thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of
Jacob, has sent me unto you. This is my name forever. And
this is my memorial unto all generations. Now look again at
verse 12, and he said, certainly I will be with thee. We have
a picture of that in Joshua 5, don't we? He's right there with them. He's right there with them. So
we as believers can look at that and say, certainly the Lord is
with us. We who are his blood bought people. Let's go back to our text in
Joshua chapter 5. Verse 15, and the captain of
the Lord's host said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off thy foot
for the place wherein thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. Joshua did so. One commentator
of old said this, worship is the highest elevation of the
spirit and yet the lowliest prostration of the soul. Worship the son
of God. Then when you have done so, give
up yourself to his command. Say to him, what saith my Lord
unto his servant? What do you have me to do? Stand still. We stand still. and we see the salvation of God,
don't we? We do. We see Him at work. And how we stand still and we
see how God puts terror in the hearts of His and our enemies,
don't we? We've seen that in our lives. And may we who believe be led
through the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ to the banqueting
house of love, the banqueting house of His love. And may our
souls rest on He who is the true Passover, the Lamb of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we who are born again by
the Holy Spirit of God, we only seek salvation in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? Only in Him. Only in Him. We're redeemed by His precious
blood. We're clothed in His perfect and spotless righteousness. And
we proclaim Him. And Him alone is our God and
our Redeemer. We proclaim that Christ is the
only way of salvation. Trusting in yourself, you're
perishing your sins. But oh, for we who trust in Christ,
for those who trust in Christ, He's eternal life. And it's all in what He's done.
It's all in what He's done. Let us never forget that the
one who here appears to Joshua is the very one who would bear
our nature and perform that great work for which our redemption,
for our redemption's sake, that he was engaged, covenantally
engaged to do. And in the covenant made between
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit of God, he covenanted
to redeem us with his own precious blood. To become a man. To save us from our sins. And
so the one appearing here before Joshua is the one who finished
the work the Father gave him to do. And sometimes our troubles
and trials seem like Jericho's, don't they? They seem like the
walls are insurmountable. When they saw those walls, the
Israelites thought, how are we going to do this? And sometimes
our trials and troubles are like those walls, aren't they? They're
just huge. In our eyes, they look gigantic. And we say sometimes, how can
we overcome these things? Sometimes we're in times of great
sorrow. And we think, how are we going
to overcome this? And it's at those times that we confess our
helplessness, our helplessness. And what do we do? We wait upon
the Lord. We wait upon the Lord. And as
time goes by, and usually in hindsight, we see that our great
captain guides and directs us. And goes before us. Goes before
us. Beloved, He will undertake the
cause of His people. He will marshal His troops and
win the day. He will. He will fling the walls
of our Jerichos to the ground. And He does that. And we can
look back and see time and time and time again that He's done
that for us. That's why I like to say look
back and see the mighty hand of God in your life, even before you were saved. We
see that, don't we? Him preserving us. There's been
times, I can look back on my life and see, I've told you guys,
two or three times where I should have been dead. He preserved me. He kept me. And then there's things that
have come up in my life since the Lord saved me. And I think,
oh my gosh, Lord, how am I going to get through this? And like
the walls of Jericho, the troubles just crumble right before your
eyes. The enemies are destroyed. And you marvel, don't you? You
just marvel. So let us close with this, that
this captain is the very one John saw in In a vision with
a flaming sword in his mouth, he's the Word made flesh, the
Redeemer of God's elect, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he himself
was wounded before he triumphed. The captain of the Lord's host,
the captain of our salvation, is our great conquering head.
Our great conquering head. And the captain of the Lord's
host is the head of the church. He is Jesus who was crucified. Heavenly Father, we thank thee
for this time that we could spend together looking in thy word. And oh, what hope and strength
we can glean as we see you, Lord Jesus, going before your people,
leading, guiding, directing them, but going before us in battle.
And the battle is yours, Lord, not by might nor power, but by
your spirit, saith the Lord. And oh, Lord, we distrust you
and rest in you. We give our lives to thee. And
Lord, forgive us when we get anxious and troubled in our own
lives, but help us to just look to Thee, to know that if You
are for us, who can be against us? We love You and we praise
You and we thank You for the wondrous salvation. We who are
Your blood-born-again people, we thank Thee for the wondrous
salvation that we have in You, Lord Jesus. Glory to Your name. In Jesus' name, amen.