Turn with me, if you would, back
to Joshua chapter 5. We've been going through the
book of Joshua mainly on Wednesday nights, but I just couldn't wait
for Wednesday night. I titled this message, The Captain
and the Servant, and I have a spoiler alert. By the end of this message,
We're going to see that the captain and the servant are one and the
same. And because the captain made himself to be the servant,
God the Father highly exalted that servant and made him to
be the captain. All right. Joshua 5 verse 13
says, And it came to pass. Every time I come across that
phrase, I fall in love with it again. It came to pass. Everything God purposes to do
comes to pass. Everything. God is not trying
to do anything. God is not working towards anything. God does not have a plan. People say God has a wonderful
plan for your life. No. God does not have a wonderful
plan for your life. God does not have a plan for
anything. God has a purpose. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning. All of them. And at God's appointed
time, Every single one of them comes to pass. Every single one. Verse 13 says, And it came to
pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes, and
looked, and behold, there stood a man. Who is this man? Verses 14 and
15 both tell us that it's the captain of the Lord's host. Who
is that? If you look at chapter 6, verse
2, it says, And the Lord said unto Joshua. You see that? This
man is the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how can it be the Lord
Jesus Christ? This happened a couple thousand years before He was
even born. Jesus Christ did not begin in
a manger in Bethlehem. Jesus Christ spoke this world
into existence. John 1 says, All things were
made by Him. and without him was not anything
made that was made." John 8, he said, before Abraham was,
I am. Back in Exodus, Moses asked him,
God said, I want you to go to my people. And he said, when
I go tell them these things, who should I say sent me? He
said, you tell them I am sent you. Now, Joshua, who is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been seeing that all through
this book. The man Joshua, the picture, has now seen Christ. He is standing before Christ. And he said, when I lifted up
my eyes and looked, I saw a man. I saw a man. Our Lord is not
portrayed as a man today. People are, and we say in quotes,
preaching Him. But they are not preaching a
man. They are preaching a sissy. They are preaching somebody who's
going all over the place, trying as hard as he can, but his efforts
are not that effective because he's a sissy. He's a soft man in soft Raymond. He just goes from farm to farm
and he walks out in people's fields and he just picks up lambs
and he'll hold that lamb and he'll pet the lamb. People gather
around and he'll show them the lamb and then he'll put that
lamb down and go to another farm and walk out there and grab another
lamb and he just likes lambs. That's almost accurate, isn't
it? The forerunner of the Lord Jesus
Christ was John the Baptist. He was the one God sent to prepare
the way for the ministry and the message of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the people were not used
to hearing the message of truth that God gave to John. They were
used to hearing the brown-nosing Pharisees. Those Pharisees just wanted their
money. So they didn't want to say anything
that offended anybody. What we'll do is we'll just tell
you what we think you want to hear and we'll leave it at that.
How about that? So these people went out and
when they heard John the Baptist preach, they were shocked. I mean, they were shocked. Buddy John was honest. John told the truth. Was he playing
games? God called that man to go prepare
the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, the way of salvation. John knew
time is short. Some have said that John's ministry
was about six months long. He told it like it was. No time
for playing church. He told it like it was. Those
people came back from hearing him wide-eyed and just stunned. And here's what the Lord said
to them. Well, what did you expect? Did you think you were going
out there to hear a man in soft raiment? Did you think you were going
out there to hear a sissy? Joshua said, I lifted up my eyes
and looked and behold, there stood a man. I saw a man. And Joshua was afraid because
he was standing there, this man was standing there with his sword
drawn in his hand like this. He was not holding a baby animal.
He was holding a sword. He was ready to do one of two
things, cut off or pierce. One of two things. Now this right here is the true
Christ of Scripture. This is the true Christ of Scripture. Jesus Christ is a man with a
sword drawn in his hand and he is going to do one of two things
with it. He's either going to cut off
or he's going to pierce. One of two things. Now turn with
me to a few scriptures. Go to Exodus 15. Exodus 15 verse 3 says, the Lord
is a man of war. The Lord is his name. Now this
whole chapter is about him killing Pharaoh's army. He drowned them
in the Red Sea. He's a man of war. Turn with
me to Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40 verse 3 says, the voice
of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall
be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low and
the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain and
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed And all flesh shall
see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The
voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the
flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion,
that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem, that bringest good
tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not
afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his
reward is with him and his work before him. Now, who is that
talking about? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Somebody's going to say, no,
that's not talking about Jesus Christ. That's talking about
God. Well, who do we think God is? The Word was with God, the Word
was God. God the Father said to God the
Son, Thy throne, O God. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. The highest, none higher. He is the highest God. Look with me at Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43, verse 11, and I want
to say this, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. If God
has given us ears to hear, discernment of the scripture, hear this,
okay? Isaiah 43, verse 11, it says, I, even I, am the Lord,
and beside me there is no savior. Now, who is the Savior? Jesus
Christ. There is only one Savior. If this is another God, then
why did Jesus Christ come? You know what the name Jesus
means? Call his name Jesus. What does that mean? Savior.
For he shall save his people. There is only one Savior. He said beside me there is no
Savior. Verse 12. I have declared. He's the word, right? I have declared and have saved,
and I have showed when there was no strange God among you. Therefore, you are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am
he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
it? Please won't you let Jesus? Please. Now come on now. It's
time now, come on now. It's time for you to let Jesus,
okay? No I won't. I will not let Jesus. I cannot let Jesus do anything. The only thing that I can do
is let myself, if he's willing. I can't even let myself do anything
if he's not willing. But if he's willing, I can let
myself crawl in the dirt, crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's it. I'm a sinner. I'm
a sinner. I'm a sinner. Such a sinner. God, be merciful to me. I'm the
sinner. Now turn over to Revelation 1.
Revelation 1, verse 1 says, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. This last book of the Bible was
written to show us Jesus Christ. This book was not written to
reveal prophecy. This book was not written to
reveal the end of time, Armageddon. This book was written to reveal
Jesus Christ. Verse 16 says, And he had in
his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his
strength. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet, Now that's what Peter, James, and John saw when they
went up on the Mount of Transfiguration with him. He unveiled himself. He revealed himself. And they
saw him as he is. And he shined, his countenance
shined as the sun in its strength. Verse 18, he said, I am he that
liveth and was dead, Jesus Christ. And behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And watch this. He said, I have the keys of hell
and death. Not Satan. Christ does. Now, does that sound like this
weak, helpless, begging Jesus that everybody's preaching? Please help him. If you don't
do your part, he can't do his. That's what they say, isn't it?
Joshua said, I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, I saw
the God-man. Isaiah saw the God-man. He saw
him sitting on his throne, high and lifted up, and he cried,
woe is me. As soon as he saw that, he said,
I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. I'm
a sinner. I'm such a sinner against God.
If a sinner ever sees Christ as he is, if a sinner ever truly
sees God, that's exactly what that sinner will do every time. He will fall at his feet crying,
woe is me, woe is me, and that's what Joshua did. Now go with
me back to Joshua 5. Joshua 5 verse 13, 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? And he
said, Neither. That's what the word nay means.
He said neither. The question is not, is God on
my side? The question is, am I on his? That's the question. Am I on
his? Joshua said, whose side are you
on? Ours or theirs? The Lord said,
neither. What he was saying is, I'm controlling
the whole thing. I'm controlling the whole thing.
At some point, every little boy will grab two action figures
and make them fight. This one is going to win for
a while. And then this one is going to
win for a while. Whose side is the little boy
on? Neither. He's controlling the whole thing. He's in absolute control of the
whole thing. And that's what the Lord told
Joshua. I'm God and I'm controlling the whole thing. Who are you
trying to beat? Nobody. Nobody. I'm controlling the whole
thing. Verse 14, He said, Nay, but as
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? Now Joshua is physically just
a sinful man. He is a type and a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ but Joshua in his flesh is just a sinful
man and right now he is standing before Christ. As soon as he finds out who he
is, he falls on his face to the earth and he starts worshiping. I mean worshiping. That's what
every child of God will do when he is called to finally see Christ. Everyone. He'll fall down and
worship. True worship, people call all
kinds of stuff worship. They call all kinds of foolishness
worship. All kinds of craziness and running
around. They call all kinds of things
worship. True worship. Worship that God
will actually accept only happens one way. I was going to turn
there but I'm not going to. Over in Philippians 3, it says,
I tell you, I will read it to you so I don't misquote it. Just
listen to this. Philippians 3 says, this is Philippians 3, 3. For
we are the circumcision, we are the true called children of God,
which worship God in the spirit. and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. None. Absolutely none. True worship
is in the heart, it's in the spirit of the heart. The Lord
said in Isaiah chapter one, you can read it for yourself if you
want to, over in Isaiah chapter one, he said, I'm so tired of
all this fleshly show that everybody's calling worship, sick and tired
of it. I don't want to hear it anymore.
He said, when you raise up your hands to me, isn't that everywhere?
Isn't that everywhere? He said, when you raise up your
hands to me, I'm going to turn my face. I'm not even going to
look at it. Not going to do it. True worship
takes place in the heart. True worship is a sinner absolutely
rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Rejoicing. Somebody will say
rejoicing? Based on what you just told me
about him, I'm scared to death. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Once a sinner sees God's holiness
and God's justice, he's going to realize, I have nowhere to
turn. I have nowhere to look but to
Christ. Nowhere else to go. When a sinner
looks to Christ, that sinner is going to see what Christ did
for sinners to satisfy God's holiness and God's justice. And when a sinner sees that,
he'll start rejoicing. He will. And He's going to have
no confidence in the flesh. He's going to say, I didn't help
him. Nothing in me was worthy to receive this. I played no
role at all. Jesus Christ just saved me. Jesus Christ just saved me. Now
how did Christ save His people? Joshua here, He is a sinful man. He is. He's just a sinful man.
And he's standing before Christ, but he is still a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When he said at the end of verse
14, what saith my Lord unto his servant? That's what Christ said to his
father. Even though Christ thought it
not robbery to be equal with God, He made himself of no reputation,
and He took upon Him the form of a servant. And He did that
to pay the price, didn't He? He did that to redeem His people
back to God. And this is what God the Father
said to Christ. This was the command. He said,
this is what it's going to take. Verse 15 says, And the captain
of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off
thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy." Now,
what we're about to see is deep and tedious. All right? It's deep and tedious. This is
my prayer. I prayed the same thing for our
Bible study. I thought it was deep and tedious. My prayer is
God might send his spirit into this place and make this simple
and clear. Simple and clear. Our hope of
not being slain by this man of war is in the singleness of what
Joshua, Christ, was commanded to do right here. Our hope is
in the singleness of what this servant was commanded to do.
Do you see how it does not say, loose thy shoes, plural, from
off of thy feet, plural, for the place whereon thou standest
is holy. You see that? He said, loose thy shoe from
off thy foot. This is precious. OK, this is
precious. If you are a sinner like me,
if you're not a sinner like me, this is not going to mean anything
to you. If nobody in here is a sinner
like me, we could just stop. But if you are a sinner like
me. This is wonderful. Two scriptures. All right. The first one is Exodus
chapter three. Exodus chapter 3, this is where
God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, alright? Exodus chapter
3 verse 5 says, And God said, Draw not nigh hither, put off
thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest
is holy ground. God told Moses, you take both
your shoes off. Take both your shoes off. Why
both of them? Moses represents the law. God said the law must acknowledge
that I am holy and it does. It does. God spoke out of that
burning bush and he said, the law must acknowledge that I am
a consuming fire. And it does. The reason the law condemns sin
is because it must acknowledge in the sight of God that he's
holy and he's strict and he's just. And the law is the servant of
that justice. The law cannot excuse the sin
that must burn in that eternal fire. So God said, you take both
your shoes off. You're my law. I'm calling you
right now. You take both your shoes off
and you stand on that holy ground. That's what I want you to do.
But to Joshua, to Christ, God the Father said, I want you to
take one shoe off. And I want you to stand on that
same holy ground in the sight of God Almighty. Why? What does that mean? Go with
me over, if you would, to Ruth chapter 4. Ruth chapter 4. A few books over. It's actually about two books
after Joshua. Page 376. Ruth 4. Now Ruth here is a heathen Moabitess
woman who represents sinners just like you and me. Boaz is
the great land owner and he represents Christ. Ruth is with her mother-in-law
Naomi. Both of their husbands are dead.
They're flat broke. They're completely empty. They
have no other options but this. Naomi said, I have this little
piece of land and we'll sell it. And whoever buys it, whoever
redeems it, whoever pays the price for it will buy us and
we'll be their slaves. So Ruth goes to Boaz one night
and she says, Will you please buy me? Will you please pay my price? Will you please redeem me to
yourself? Could I please be your slave?
I'm going to be somebody, I'm just a nothing slave sinner. Could I be your slave?" Boaz
said, it's true, I do have the right. I do have the ability. But there's one nearer kinsman
that must be dealt with first. So Boaz said to that nearer kinsman
who represents the law, he said, there's a piece of land for sale.
You have the first right to it. Buy it if you want to." He said,
but you need to know this, if you buy that piece of land, Ruth
the Moabitess goes with it. Ruth 4 verse 6 says, and the kinsman said, I cannot
redeem it for myself lest I mar my own inheritance. The law said
she's a sinner. She's an outcast. I cannot pay
the price if she comes with it. I can't do it. The law can't
do it. So the law went on to say in verse 6, redeem thou my
right to thyself for I cannot redeem. The law looked at Christ. and
said, if she's going to be redeemed, you're going to have to do it.
I cannot redeem. Verse 7 says, Now this was the
manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning
changing for to confirm all things. A man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor.
And this was a testimony, this was a covenant, this was a promise
in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto
Boaz, buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. One
shoe. Christ asked the law, what's
the price for that sinner? The law said, blood. So he reached
down and he drew off his shoe. This is my promise. This is my
covenant. I will I'll pay it in full. Verse 9
says, And Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people,
You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's
and all that was Cylon's and Malon's of the hand of Naomi.
Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Malon, have I purchased
to be my, not slave, wife. That's what Christ did for us. We didn't even deserve to be
a slaves. But he made a promise, he made a covenant, and then
he stood on that holy ground. He cried, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? And he said, but thou art holy. Holy. He willingly stood on that
ground of God's holy wrath and justice to redeem us for his
bride, not his slaves. That's what we ought to be. That's
what we ought to be. Those perfect angels in glory
that have never yet sinned, doing his bidding, following his commands. He has redeemed us to be His
wife. And I love, I'm going to close
right here, but I love how our text words that. Go back over
to Joshua 5. Verse 15 says, And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did it. It's finished. It's over. All of God's people are redeemed
thanks to Joshua. Let's all stand together.