If you will this morning, turn
in your Bible to Joshua chapter 6. I'd like to refresh our memories
and read through chapter 6 again. Try to picture in your mind 40,000 men. Isn't that about the population
of Texarkana? 40,000 men of war all around
this city. in camp before it. And the Lord
of hosts says to Joshua, Now Jericho was straightly shut up
because of the children of Israel. None went out, none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua,
See, or perceive, I have given unto thine hand Jericho, and
the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. and ye shall compass
the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once,
thus shalt thou do six days. Seven priests shall bear before
the ark seven trumpets of ram's horns, and the seventh day ye
shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall
blow with the trumpets. 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 all the wall of the city shall fall down flat,
and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
And 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, 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 seven priests bearing
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, and blew with the trumpets. And the, I don't really know how to pronounce
that, re, reward, rearward, I don't know, came after the ark, the
priest going on and blowing with trumpets. And Joshua had commanded
the people saying, you shall not shout nor make any noise
with your mouth Neither shall any word proceed out of your
mouth until the day I bid thee to shout. Then shall you shout. 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 priest took up the ark of the
Lord. And seven priests, bearing the
seven trumpets of ram's horn, before the ark, and the Lord
went on continually, and blew with the trumpets, and
the armed men went before them. But the rearward came after the
ark of the Lord, the priests going on and blowing with the
trumpets. And the second day they compassed
the city once, and returned unto the camp. So they did six days. came to pass on the seventh day
that they rose early in 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 on the seventh
time when the priest blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto
the people, shout, the Lord hath given you the city. And the city shall be accursed,
even it and all that are in 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 were sent. And ye and any wise keep yourselves from the accursed
thing, lest you make yourselves accursed when you take of the
accursed thing and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble
it. But all the silver and gold and
vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the Lord and
shall come into the treasury of the Lord. So the people shouted
with the priests, blew with the trumpets, and it came to pass
that when the people heard the sound of the trumpets, 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 their kindred and left them without the camp of Israel.
They burnt the city with fire and all that was therein, only
the silver and gold and vessels of brass and of irons they put
into the treasury of the house of the Lord. Joshua saved Rahab,
the harlot alive, and her father's household and all that she had.
And she dwelleth with Israel even unto this day, because she
hid the messengers with Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. noise throughout all the country
as the Lord adds his blessing to the reading of his word. You will turn back with me to
Joshua chapter 6. I want to review a little bit
what I taught last week. We had a very poor signal here
and we have folks that follow us and several of them called. and wanted to know why the message
was not posted. Well, we just didn't have the
signal to record it, so we lost that one. I want to expand a little bit
this morning on some of the details involved in this. And I titled
the message this morning, The Large and the Small Picture. What's taking place here in the
plains of Jericho is a picture of an assault on the heart of
sinners. That's what it is. God's people
gathered together in his name and there is an assault. When
God comes into a chosen sinner's heart, it's an assault. Nothing
less than an assault from God. He takes over. You know, you
hear people talk about decision-making and going through all this days
and days and days of indecision and what to do and so on and
so forth. That's just not so. When God comes into a sinner's
heart, a chosen sinner's heart, it's a full-on assault. And the
walls fall. And God takes over. Why would God order an assault
on the heart of a sinner? Because that sinner stands as
a robber of God for one thing. Will a man rob God of his glory?
Yes, he will. I'm not talking about robbing
him of his treasure. I'm talking about robbing him
of his glory. He puts a lot more stock in his glory than he does
in his treasure. He lays claim to what The sinner
lays claim to what's not his, and he boasts of it, even though God created it. You remember Paul said, he said,
you're going to say unto me in Romans 9, why does he still find
fault? For who hath resisted his will?
And he said, Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against
God? Shall the thing made? Who made
him? God did. We don't question God. God's our creator. What do we
know about creation? What do we know about anything,
really? We boast of things that are not ours. And God gives them
to us as a gift, just as the food we eat and everything and
how little we thank him for what he gives us. The air we breathe,
the life we have, a consciousness, and so on. Let alone the very
gifts of God. Why would God order an assault
on the heart of a sinner? Because within his walls is a
soul given to Christ before the world began. And he's going to
have him, he's going to save him, he's going to possess him.
And he's going to be one with him. And he's going to be one
with his people. He's given this sinner to Christ
before the world began and given him covenant provision and promises. And all of these belong to that
one within this city. There's an old hymn that goes
like this. 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 who rules the
sky, I fought with hands uplifted high. I can almost vision those
men of valor inside Jericho standing on that wall mocking Israel as
they marched around and blew the horns. Despised the mention of His grace,
too proud to seek a hiding place. But thus eternal counsel ran,
Almighty love, arrest that man. That's what God's doing. I felt
the arrows of distress I found I had no hiding place, had nowhere
to go. Where are you going to hide from
God? Indignant, justice stood in view. To Sinai's fiery mount I flew,
but justice cried with frowning face, this mountain is no hiding
place. Ere long a heavenly voice I heard,
and mercy's angel's form appeared. So lead me on with placid pace
to Jesus Christ, my hiding place. The multitude within the walls
of this city are voices. They're pictures
of voices within the center. Spirits, if you will, within
the center. And Jericho had a king, and so
does the center. You, hath he quickened, Paul
said, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein you walked
according to the course of this world, and according to the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience. There's an evil force within
you, an evil king, just as it was in Jericho. and your servants
to him, partly of fear and partly of ignorance. Most people don't
even know what Satan does. Satan gets blamed for a lot of
things he had nothing to do with. Pornography and all this kind
of stuff. Satan doesn't do that. That's the natural man. That's
just the natural lust of his heart. That's what all that stuff's
about. When Satan works, it's in the
realm of religion, false religion. And so it was in Jericho, this
picture. Our Lord said in Luke 11, 21,
He said, When a strong man arm keepeth his palace, his goods
are at peace. But when a stronger than he shall
come upon him and overcome him, he taketh forth the armor wherein
he trusted, and divideth his foes. And that's exactly what
he did to Jericho. Those mighty men of valor and
all their weapons, that place was fortified to the hilt. I
looked it up in the dictionary and Jericho is the oldest fortified
city in the world. They have nothing fortified from
artifacts and stuff that predate Jericho. And it's just a picture, like
I said, that man's hiding place in religion. It's been here since
the beginning. It's as old as man. And then
he said this when the Lord said that about the strong man, he
that's not with me is against me. And he that gathereth not with
me scattereth. So the smaller picture here is
that of a sinner being assaulted by the commandment of God through
the gospel. through gospel preaching, there's
an assault that goes on. And we live in a fallen, depraved
world. None righteous, none that understandeth,
none that seeketh after God, none good. Destruction and misery
are in their ways. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. You have but to read this book
to hear the mighty things that God has done. preserved his people
in flames of fire. That old evil king looked in
that furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal, and what
did he see? He saw four men in there. He
saw three and one like unto the Son of God. Split a sea for Israel to cross
on dry ground, and drowned the armies of Egypt in the midst.
broke the power of the strongest nation on earth. Piled up the Jordan River at
flood stage. I was looking at those pictures
of the hill country down in Texas flooding. Jordan River was at
flood stage when Israel crossed. And God just stopped the waters. He just stopped them and they
just piled up in a pile. And all these people in Jericho
saw this, or at least heard it, heard the people crossing. But
they could see them out there camped. They were camped right
out in front of the city. And they saw the power of God. And we see it. All we got to
do is read the book, any part of it. It's all through the book,
cover to cover. And yet, this world huddles inside
the walls of their refuge and feel secure against God. How
ridiculous is that? If you were inside a city and
these people were coming to make an assault on you and you saw
that river piled up, you knew that God was with them. Would
you feel secure? And yet sinners hear the gospel
every day and walk out that door unconcerned. It's amazing to
me. The blindness that sin brings
upon a man and upon his heart, he can't hear unless God the
Holy Spirit goes in and does His work. He cannot hear. You
can preach it ever so clear, but they can't hear. All of this of God and all by
His grace. He said, Is that in verse 2 there
of that chapter? See, he said, I have given you
this city and all the mighty men of valor and the king. I
have given it all into your hands. Salvation is the gift of God.
And when God saves a sinner, he sees first hand of the judgment
of God on his refuge. obliterates his refuge. He makes
it to appear exactly as it is, nothing but a paper fortress. Rehab could hear the cries of
dying men outside the house. I often think of Noah in that
ark as that ark began to rise and the water began to rise and
hearing the cries of those outside. There was an open window in the
ark But Rahab received the spies with peace, and what that means is she got
on God's side in the condemnation of this refuge. That's exactly
what that means. We'll defend this heart to the
last, unless God doesn't work. And here's the work that God
does. He shows you what kind of fortress you have. He shows
you how ridiculous it is and that you can't hide from God
with this. The only hiding place from God is in Christ. And we don't actually hide from
God. He brings us into harmony with Himself. He reconciles us. But when God saves a sinner,
he sees firsthand the judgment of God on his refuge and he's
on God's side in this thing. If you care to look after a while,
you can look over at Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter,
and it talks about what happened there and said it was an act
of faith. All of it. The destruction of
it and the salvation revealed within it. It's all an act of
faith. So the smaller picture is that
of the individual. The larger picture is the salvation
of all of God's elect by faith and the total destruction of
this world. That's the larger picture. John
says, Love not the world, neither the things of the world, for
the world passeth away. How come? Because God's going
to fold it up like an old vessel. He'll just fold it up. And then
secondly, here's the arrangement. God's enemies are shut up in
a false refuge. None went out, none came in.
But Rahab is one of God's elect. But she can't come out. She must
be saved. She must be brought out. I read
to you at the end of that chapter, he sent the two young men, the
two spies that gave her the promise of life. Sent them in there to
bring her out. Her, and her mother, and her
father, and her brethren, and all that she had. Now what he's
saying, I'm saying Rahab did not work her way out. She didn't
decide her way out. She was brought out by God. It was the Lord of Hosts that
commanded Joshua to do this. And he did exactly what he was
told. She was plucked out of there
as a brand from burning. You know, when they finished
that, they burnt the city to ashes. And then he threatens
anyone who would build that city again. But that city was built
again and again and existed even in the days of Christ. If you
remember, Christ came to Jericho. It said he went through Jericho.
And when he got on the outskirts, he saved blind Botimaeus, gave
him a sight. Jericho stood once again, not
with walls, not like it was in that day, but it stood. And those
who built it, I'm sure, were under that curse. But it just shows us that the
sinner's gonna, he's gonna build his refuge, no matter what God
says, no matter what he threatens. That sinner's gonna build that
refuge. Or what about Rahab? Rahab's
the mother of Boaz. Think about that, the kinsman
redeemer. She is in the very lineage of
Christ. You can read the genealogy. The arrangement is that God attends
His people. He's chosen them, made provision
for them, and calls them by His name. Unbelieving rebels huddle
in their strongholds, but God's people don't need those walls.
They have God among them. If God be for us, who can be
against us? I mean, if God be in our midst
and we know that He is, that's what salvation is. It's entering
into that knowledge of the very character of God and God is with
us always. I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. And who can be against you? Nothing can happen to you
except it's by His command and it's sent for your good and His
glory. We don't need walls. You know, I believe that young
children, when they're taken before adulthood, I believe those
are saved. I believe God saves those small
children. Brings them into His fold. And if I look at what's
going on down there, I'm looking at a harvest, not a destruction.
I'm not looking at a catastrophe, I'm looking at a harvest. God's
harvesting His children. And as with the situation, so
it is with the arrangement, the smaller picture is that of Rahab,
the larger picture is concerning all of God's elect. And she stands
as a beautiful bride of Christ, a Gentile bride. Here's the picture
of Gentile salvation, right here. The arrangement of everything
in Jericho is by the works of the flesh. Everything outside
of the walls is by the grace and counsel of God. The arrangement
includes all that the Lord commands and ordains. The priests, the
horns, the blowing of the horns, the shouts, Everything that takes
place is of the Lord. This victory and all of it coming
to pass in time, he shows us a picture of his
church working in accordance with his commands, and we're
actually doing things, but when the battle's over, all the glory
goes to him. There wasn't a person there who
thought that his shout actually brought that wall down. He shouted
because God told him to. And when God gives a command
like that to His elect, He also gives him the power that goes
with it, the power to do it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
I can't. Yeah, but you will. The arrangement includes all
that the Lord commands and ordains. The priest, the horns, the Ark
of the Covenant, The seven days, the 13 revolutions, even the
shout of Israel is commanded of the Lord of hosts. And all
that transpires here is the gift of God. I've given you this city
into your hand. I've given you the men of valor.
I've given you all these things. What's he saying there? He's
saying salvation is grace. That's what he's saying. It's
all of grace. And not just salvation, but overcoming
your enemies. It's all of grace. Everything
God does is of grace. And whether it be a major battle
or a slip of the tongue. And the miracle of the work is
that though we are there and take part in the battle, yet
the glory of it goes to God so that none can deny it or none
can say, I did this. Worth boasting. It's history,
Paul said. Not going to happen. And I must
not overlook a shocking detail of this. All but Rahab and her
house died a horrible death. A horrible death. And it's the same today, the
gospel's preached, man's refuge is torn down, and he that believeth
not shall be damned. See, somebody, I think it was
my sister told me one time, the Old Testament is a bloody book. Yes, it is. But it pictures physically
what takes place spiritually in the New Testament. You know, he says in John chapter
3, he gets down to the last verse and he said, He that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. They go to their eternal doom
defending their stronghold. And if we believe what we cannot
see with these eyes, you must to some degree realize the awful
end of unbelief. You can't help but see it. That's
why we don't run back to it. You think Rahab ever wanted to
leave Israel after this? And I tell you something else,
every time Israel gathered together to worship God, Rahab was right
there. I guarantee it. But oh, thank God a commission
was given. We talked last week about a commission.
Compass this city about. Go around everywhere. Let every
man in that city hear you and see you. And what he says in
his great commission, all power is given unto me in heaven and
earth. Go ye into all the world and preach my gospel. You teach
every nation. Don't skip a nation. Don't skip
a tribe or a people. What we're going to do, we're
going to preach the gospel of the grace of God, the mercy of
God, the gospel of substitution. The gospel of imputed righteousness,
the gospel of reconciliation, the gospel of representation,
being in union with God, made provision for in Christ. We blow
on the ram's horn, and the sound thereof, with the shout of all
God's elect, is sufficient. We don't need anything else.
We don't need to get creative. Beware, one of these days I'm
not going to be here. My hope is that God will supply
a man to keep on warning you. Don't get creative in this thing.
God's means are ordained and don't try to build one of your
own. Well, this will work better.
No, no it won't. They're going before the ark
is the gospel being sounded out in picture and prophecy. before
the incarnation of Christ. To Him, they said, give all the
prophets witness that through His name, whosoever believeth
in Him shall receive remission of sins. That's what the prophets
talked about. People always talking about some
event that the prophets are talking about. The event is Christ and
Him crucified. That's the event. And after a hair-raising warning
about ignoring worship and the means of grace, our Lord inspires
Paul to write these words, It's a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God. And that's exactly what happened
in Jericho. It's a fearful thing. You think
about falling into the hands of the living God with no hope. No hope, just as you are and
as he is. God's not some indifferent spirit
who contends to let man think and do what he pleases, but he
sits on the throne of holiness, and he holds all men responsible
for their thoughts and actions. Jericho's a perfect example of
it, and he points to it in the book of Acts. Let me say a word about the reason
and purpose of the fall of Jericho. Why would God do these things?
That's more or less what my sister was asking. Why would he come
in and destroy 50,000 people or 100,000 people? Why would
he do that? Colossians 2, verses 2 and 3. I'm going to quote you several
scriptures here. I'll just read them for you. I'll begin with
this one. He said, Oh, that their hearts
might be comforted being knit together in love and under all
riches of the assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the
mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Rahab believed in
Christ and believed on Christ. I'll tell you that. She was saved
by faith. That's what it tells you. over
there in Hebrews chapter 11. And I say this in light of verse
27 of Joshua chapter 6, where it says, So the Lord was with
Joshua. That's Jesus. He's the picture. So the Lord was with Joshua,
and His fame was noise throughout all the country. The revelation
of Christ as He appeared to Israel was with Joshua. And that's the
message and reason for this book and all that we do. Joshua is
a type of Christ bearing his name. And Israel will be partakers
of the inheritance by this man Joshua. And here's another verse
that describes these things in Acts chapter 4 verse 10. Be it
known unto all you and all the people of Israel that by the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth Whom you crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand before
you hope." What's it all about? It's about the person of Christ.
That's what this whole thing, this whole battle, everything
that's taking place in God's providence at this hour is talking
about His Son. It's exalting His Son so that
we might look to Him and have hope. He said, This is the stone which
was set at nought of you builders, which has become the head of
the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there
is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. And then what about this verse
over in Revelation chapter 5. You remember I studied in Revelation
5. He pictures one sitting on the throne. This is God the Father.
And he has a book. And this book is all God's decrees. This book is everything that
God has purposed to do, salvation of sinners through the glory
of His name. And none was found worthy to even look on the book,
let alone take it. But here was one as of a lamb
slain, and he came and not only looked on the book, but he took
the book and opened the seal to the book. And this is what
it says about him. He said, I beheld, and lo, in
the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst
of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven
horns. Those were the horns that they
were blowing on. Horns of the gospel. His power. And seven eyes, which are the
seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. And he came
and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on
the throne. And when he had taken the book,
the four beasts, the four and twenty elders, everybody, everybody
in glory, fell down before the Lamb, every one of them having
hearts and golden vows full of odors, which are the prayers
of the saints. And they sung a new song saying,
Worthy is the Lamb. Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof. and was slain, and hath redeemed
us unto God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation, and made us kings and priests unto our
God. And then in Revelation 19, 11,
he said, I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and
he that sat on him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness
doth he judge and make war. Was that a righteous act when
he took Absolutely, God doesn't do any other kind of action. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. He was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And
the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations,
and he should rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth
the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God. And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
What's this battle all about? It's about Christ. That's what
it's about, and the salvation of sinners. Is there anything we can do to
not be numbered in the slain of Jericho? Yes, there is. You can hear with your ear what's
about to take place, and you can believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's exactly, those spies, they made known the intention,
their presence made known the intentions of the God of Israel,
And Rahab understood, by the grace of God, understood what
they were there for and was kind to them. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
he said, and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. He's showing us all things right
here in this battle. The whole of the work of God
is taking place. And he's showing us in a way
that we should be able to form a picture in our minds of exactly
what's going on. May the Lord grant every one
of us here that revelation. We might see him and praise him
and thank him for all things.