Go with me if you would back
to Joshua 6. That reading might have been
familiar to you. We looked at this account of
Joshua conquering Jericho when we were in chapter 2 looking
at Rahab. We looked at the end of the story
of Rahab and how she and every soul that was in the house that
had that scarlet line, they were all passed over. Right? Destruction
was coming in. Absolute destruction was coming
in. But every soul that was under that covenant of that scarlet
line was spared. Tonight, I want to look at this
same story from a different point of view. All right? This exact same story from a
different point of view. Rather than seeing salvation
from the outside looking in, I want us to see salvation from
the inside looking out. Okay? Verse 1, Joshua 6 verse
1 says, Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children
of Israel, None went out and none came in. You know what Jericho
is right there? That's my hard heart. And that's your hard heart. Jericho
is you and me, us. Jericho is us. Every sinner as
he is in his own wicked flesh. Now if you have a center margin
it says Jericho was straightly shut up. Mine reads did shut
up and was shut up. Jericho shut itself up. God is
coming through. God's glory is coming through. God's victory is coming through. Jericho did not run out to Joshua
and beg for mercy and peace and unity. Jericho shut itself up. Jericho hardened his heart. That's what Jericho did. Isn't
it amazing how God sent all those plagues to Egypt? Plague after
plague. After each one was over, Pharaoh
more so hardened his heart. after each one. That is all that
a sinful heart can do. It just gets harder and harder
and harder. That's all a sinful heart can
do. Verse 2 says, But God, who is rich in mercy for his great
love wherewith he loved us even when we were yet sinners. It basically says that. Verse
2 says, And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into
thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of
Valor." The old man who thinks he's the king of it. Everything Jericho is, everything
Jericho has done, the Lord said to Joshua, I have given it all
to you. Every bit of it. Do you know
what God the Father said to Christ in Psalm 2? He said, you ask
of me and I'll give you the heathen for thine inheritance. You ask. And I'll make your enemies your
footstool. I'll bring them right down to your feet. All your enemies. This right here is where every
child of God starts. Don't turn over there, but Romans
8 verse 7 says the carnal mind, this natural fleshly mind is
enmity against God. That's where we all start. Every
single one of us. We all start out as God's enemy. Every one of us. John said, he
came unto his own and his own would not receive him. Shut it up. The Lord himself said, you will
not come to me that you might have life. You will not. Hold
your place right here and go with me to John 5. John 5 verse 40, this is where
our Lord said, ìYou will not come to Me that you might have
life.î Verse 42, He said, ìI know you that you have not the
love of God in you.î But look what He said in chapter 6 verse
37. He said, ìAll that the Father
giveth Me.î The Lord said to Joshua, ìSee, Iíve given Jericho
into your hands.î Our Lord said, All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. How? How are they going to come?
Verse 44 says the Father is going to draw them. How is He going to do that? How
does God the Father draw His enemies to Himself? Go back to
our text and we'll see. Back in Joshua 6. Verse three, the Lord said to
Joshua, and you shall compass the city, all ye men of war,
and go round about the city once, thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear
before the ark seven trumpets of ram's horns, and the seventh
day you shall compass the city seven times, and the priest shall
blow with the trumpets. Now, here's a little side note.
The Ark of the Lord, when it went into Jericho, it went in
first. Isn't that right? He said everybody else is behind
the Ark. Jericho has been crossed. I'm sorry, Jordan has been crossed.
That's over. How does God make His enemy His
footstool? He sends a priest with a trumpet
in front of the Ark. Alright, now in Exodus, over
in Exodus, it talks about the sound of a trumpet coming out
of Mount Sinai while God was giving the law to Moses. That
mountain was on fire and this trumpet was blowing and the people
were afraid. In Leviticus, it talks about the sound of the
trumpet of Jubilee. When you hear the trumpet of
jubilee, that's the signal, that's the acknowledgement that all
the slaves are to be set free. John, who penned the book of
Revelation, he said, I heard a voice behind me, talking to
me, and that voice sounded just like a trumpet. These trumpets
are the voice of God. The message of God. The gospel. The message of God. From the
judgment of Sinai all the way to the joy of Jubilee. All the way to
the deliverance and liberation of Jubilee. These trumpets are
the gospel. God's message. God said seven
priests are going to blow seven trumpets. That's His perfect
ordained number. How many true grace preachers
are there in the world? I don't know, but they're all
numbered. Every generation, God has a particular number to blow
that trumpet. Seven of them. Verse 5 says,
And it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast with
the ram's horn, And when you hear the sound of the trumpet,
all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of
the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up
every man straight before him." Our Lord said, my word shall
not return unto me void. It's going to accomplish. that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I send it." It's going. That wall is coming down. Our
Lord said, is not my word like as a fire? and like a hammer
that breaketh the rock in pieces." Isn't that what my word is like?
A hammer that breaks that rock in pieces. God Almighty said
that hard stony heart in that center is going to be broken. It's going to be. He is going
to be conquered and he is going to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
How? Preach the gospel to him. That's
the answer. Preach the gospel to him. Preach the gospel and then walk
away. Preach the gospel and then walk
away. Preach the gospel and then walk away. Preach the gospel
and then leave him alone. Just preach the gospel and walk
away. Preach the gospel to him. Verse
6 says, And Joshua the son of Nun called the priest and said
unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant. You're going to
blow this trumpet. Don't make one sound though. Don't take one step without the
ark of God's covenant. That's the only note we sound. These trumpets only have one
note. Christ. Covenant. That's it. One note. They blow
one note. Verse 6, Joshua the son of Nun
called the priest and said unto them, Take up the ark of the
covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of ram's
horns before the ark of the Lord. And he said unto the people,
Pass on and encompass the city and let him that is armed pass
on before the ark of the Lord. And it came to pass, when Joshua
had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the
seven trumpets of Ram's horns passed on before the Lord, and
blew with the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord
followed them. And the armed men went before
the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the re-reward,"
and that word means the gathered host, God's chosen gathered people,
came after the The priest going on and blowing with the trumpets.
They just kept sounding that note. They just kept going on,
sounding that note and sounding that note. They just kept going
on and going on and going on, blowing those trumpets. Verse
10 says, And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, You shall
not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall
any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you
shout, then shall you shout. He's telling them the same thing
Moses told them. Moses said, Stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. He said, the Lord shall fight
for you and you shall hold your peace. You're not going to get
to take part in this. Gabe Stoniker does not get to
take part in another man's salvation. I don't get to take part. You
can't take part in this. You just get to witness it and
rejoice in it. Verse 11. So the ark of the Lord
compassed the city, going about it once. And they came into the
camp and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the
morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And seven
priests, bearing seven trumpets of ram's horns, before the ark
of the Lord, went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And
the armed men went before them, but the re-reward came after
the ark of the Lord, the priest going on and blowing with the
trumpets. And the second day they compassed
the city once and returned into the camp, so they did six days."
You see what's going on? Now I can see from the inside
looking out. From the inside of this whole
thing looking out, I can see Jericho pretty alarmed, pretty
shocked. I can see them fearful, absolutely
scared to death the first time they heard those trumpets and
saw that ark compass the city. I can just see them absolutely
scared to death. But then, nothing happened. Day two, I can see them being
a little curious about the fact that they heard these trumpets
again, and there they saw the ark again, but then nothing happened. Day three, I can see Jericho
saying, you mean to tell me they're going to sound that one note
again? Don't they know any other notes
in that one note? They just keep going around sounding
that one note. By day four, I can see them saying,
you know, I'm starting to get a little tired of that note.
That's getting to me. I hate that note. By day five,
I see them hollering over the wall. Where is the promise of
His coming? By day six, I can see him not
even looking over the wall anymore. Verse 15 says, and it came to
pass. It always does, doesn't it? And
it came to pass on the seventh day. The apostle Paul said, but when
it pleased God, But when it pleased God, Paul
said, I profited in the Jews religion. He said, I persecuted
the church of God and I wasted it. He said, but when it pleased
God, he knocked me down. Isn't that what God did to Saul? He revealed His Son in me. Verse 15 says, And it came to
pass on the seventh day that they rose early about the dawning
of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven
times. Only on that day they compassed
the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh
time, when the priest blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto
the people, Shout, for the Lord hath given you the city." Who
are all those people right there? Faith, hope, love, patience,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, kindness, meekness, forgiveness,
grace, mercy. Joshua said to all of them, go
take the city. Grace, take the city. Faith, take him. He doesn't want me. It makes
no difference. Take him. I love the song Hail
Sovereign Love that first began the scheme to rescue fallen man.
Hail matchless, free, eternal grace that gave my soul a hiding
place. Against the God that ruled the
sky, I fought with hand uplifted high. Despised the mention of
His grace. Too proud to seek a hiding place. But thus the eternal counsel
ran. Almighty love, arrest that man. Arrest him. He doesn't want to
be arrested. It does not matter. Take him. It's time. Take him. Verse 16
says, And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priest
blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout,
for the Lord hath given you the city. Hail, Sovereign Love goes
on to say, I felt the arrows of distress and found I had no
hiding place. I felt it. Verse 17 right here
says, And the city, that's you and me, the city shall be accursed,
even it and all that are therein to the Lord. Only Rahab the harlot
shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because
she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye and any wise keep
yourselves from the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves
accursed when you take the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel
a curse and trouble it." What he's saying is don't mix anything
from Jericho with this victory. Don't take anything or receive
anything from Jericho, dead man. or you'll curse the whole thing.
You take something from Jericho in this and you'll curse the
whole thing. The only thing that's going to
be spared is what is in the covenant. That's all that's going to be
spared. Only the child of God is coming out. That old man, that dead man,
I adore this. I just adore this. There's two
manner of people inside this body. There's an old man inside this
body. This is an old body of death. This body and this old man and
all his works, all his ways, the entire body and man and everything
that is not planted by Christ under that covenant of Christ
is going to be burnt up. Absolutely consumed. That new
child of the covenant is going to be finally delivered from
it. Finally delivered, finally freed
from this old, the apostle Paul said, who shall deliver me from
this body of death? Verse 19 says, But all the silver
and gold and vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto
the Lord. They shall come into the treasury
of the Lord. Only that peculiar treasure, only that seed that I planted,
that's the only thing coming out. Everything else is going
to be burned in the fire of God's wrath. Thank God. Thank God. Look at verse 20. So the people
shouted when the priest blew with the trumpets, and it came
to pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and
the people shouted with a great shout that the wall fell down
flat. So that the people went up into
the city, every man straight before him, and they took the
city. And they utterly destroyed all
that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and
ox and sheep and ass with the edge of the sword. But Joshua
had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go
into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and
all that she hath, as you swear unto her. And the young men that
were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and
her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had. And they
brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp
of Israel." Honestly, can you imagine what it's going to be
like to be liberated from this body of death. They went in and
they got Rahab and they brought her out. They went in and they
got her and they brought her out. Our Lord's going to send
his angels to the four corners of the earth. He's going to gather
his people up. He's going to bring us out. And I cannot imagine what the
feeling is going to be like for this soul to leave this body. This body of sin and death. You talk about set free. I mean set free. Free at last. Free at last, you know. Verse
24 says, And they burnt the city with fire and all that was therein. Only the silver and the gold
and the vessels of brass and of iron they put into the treasury
of the house of the Lord. We love that illustration. where
that guy was whittling those hound dogs and somebody came
up to him and said, how do you do that? How do you make them
look so much like hound dogs? He said, I get my knife and I
cut off everything that does not look like a hound dog. That's
what God is going to do for us. That's exactly what God is going
to do for us because of what Joshua accomplished, because
Joshua besieged us and liberated us. On that amazing day, that
day we're finally pulled out of this body of sin and death,
every single thing that does not look like Jesus Christ is
going to be cut off and destroyed. Every single thing. And we're
never going to have to enter into it or be under the bondage
of it ever again. Never again. Verse 25 says, and
Joshua saved Rahab. That's the summary of the whole
thing. Joshua saved Rahab. Hail, Sovereign Love ends by
saying, Ere long a heavenly voice I heard, and mercy's angel form
appeared. who led me on with gentle pace
to Jesus Christ, my hiding place. On Him, almighty vengeance fell
that must have sunk a world to hell. He bore it for a chosen
race and thus became their hiding place. Verse 25 says, And Joshua
saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and
all that she had. And she dwelleth in Israel even
unto this day, because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent
to spy out Jericho. That's what God causes every
child of God to do. He takes the message of the messenger
and hides it. Hides it and she hid it. Verse
26 says, And Joshua adjured them, Joshua warned them at that time,
saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth
this city Jericho. He shall lay the foundation thereof
in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up
the gates of it. That's a word of prophecy. In
1 Kings 16, a man did rebuild Jericho. He started laying the
foundation during his firstborn son, and he finished the city
during his youngest son. Our Lord went to Jericho while
he was here. Blind Bartimaeus was from Jericho.
But here's the spiritual significance. Our Lord is saying, cursed is
the man who tries to rebuild his own works. Cursed is the
man who tries to harden his heart again. The Apostle Paul said,
If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema
maranatha. Cursed when the Lord comes back.
Cursed. That's why David said, I love
this psalm. And I love what he said, and
he said, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know
my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting. Verse 27 says, So the Lord was
with Joshua, and his fame was noised throughout all the country.
All the glory, all the honor, all the praise went to Joshua. Can we not say, honestly, honestly,
can we not say, thank God Joshua besieged us? Thank God he infiltrated this
camp right here. I wouldn't have it, but thank
God he went to war with me and my sin. He broke this hard heart,
broke the wall down. Thank God Christ won the victory. The Lord delivered us from everything
that we are in this flesh. And He delivered everything that
we are in the covenant of Christ. He delivered us from ourselves
and He delivered us to our new selves in Christ. I'm going to
leave you with this. Go with me over to Ephesians
2. Ephesians 2. the summary of the whole message.
Ephesians 2.11 says, Wherefore remember that ye being in time
past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by
that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the But now in Christ Jesus,
ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace who hath
made both one. and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." That's
what Joshua did. Rahab, he brought her out and
she joined the camp of Israel, didn't she? Left Jericho and
they put her out in the camp of Israel. Verse 19 says, Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God. Thanks be to God. Let's all stand together.