for us tonight is probably one
of the most interesting and instructive incidents in the whole book of
Joshua. And my prayer is that God might
allow us once again to see the wondrous story of salvation and
redemption and fulfillment of God's promises to His covenant
people. So many wonderful promises in
the Word of God for His people. I was thinking today about Romans
8.28. All things work together, not
for the world. It's very specific. All things
work together for the good of them who love God. Thee called, according to His
purpose. But if you're a child of God,
we ought to be most happy and joyous that God, who loved us
and gave Himself for us, who cannot lie, He's not a man that
He should lie, that He can lie. God cannot lie. He has made us
exceedingly precious promises that He will fulfill. And we
can be confident of those things. Now everything that has transpired
so far in our study of Joshua to this point, we know happened
according to the divine purpose of God. Everything happens according
to the divine purpose of God. And I pray that these studies
have been profitable to your soul. I know they have mine.
And I believe that God has shown us some beautiful, beautiful
pictures and revelations of Christ in this Old Testament book. We
saw in chapter 1 that Moses died, and then God called Joshua. We'll
never enter into the kingdom of God by the law of God, which
Moses represented. It's by Christ. Joshua, the one
who bears the same name as Christ himself that leads us into God's
land of promise. We've seen how God divinely intervened
in the crossing of Jordan and how he sent the priests before
the people carrying the Ark of the Covenant, which again pictures
and shows us redemption by Christ and Christ alone. Everything
had come to pass, as I said, providentially for the children
of God. The people of God now face the
taking of Jericho. And the Canaanites must be disposed
of if Israel was to inherit this God-promised heritage. Now, let me say this. In the
revelation of our studies thus far in the book of Joshua, it's
important for us to see how these things relate to God's elect
people today. If we don't see how these things
profit us spiritually, then we Have done nothing more than just
read some wonderful stories and truths of the scripture Israel
had already attained a great encouragement and in the crossing
and passing over Jordan they'd seen the powerful hand of God
and the drying up as I said of the flooded river and that they
passed on dry ground and there's no mention in any of the studies
or any of the scriptures that we've covered thus far, that
of any being lost, none of Israel was lost. And so it is with God's
people who are in Christ. Not one for whom Christ died
shall ever perish, be lost. This is the Father's will, our
Lord Jesus said, which has sent me. God sent him. that of all,
all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. I should lose it,
but raise it up again at the last day." And when the people
of Israel passed safely across the River Jordan, they attended
to the important duty of circumcision, as we saw in a couple studies
back. And that circumcision pictured
again the removing of the desperately wicked heart of the sinner and
giving them a new heart to walk in newness of life. Unless God
does a heart work on the sinner, there's no hope or help for him.
We know that physical circumcision was a sign, it was a declaration
from the chosen nation of Israel that they belong to Jehovah God
alone. And spiritual circumcision, that
circumcision of the heart, which Romans and many other passages
of Scripture talks about, it's a declaration from God that His
elect belong to Him and Him alone. What a beautiful picture that
is. We saw in a study on Sunday in
Jeremiah 24, a few Sundays back, our Lord said, I'll give them
a new heart. That word give, I gave, I give,
shows us most assuredly that salvation is a gift from God
and God alone. He said, I'll give them a new
heart to know me. Salvation is knowing a person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're going to know me
and they're going to know that I'm the Lord. They're going to know
that salvation is by me and me alone. Not in any works of righteousness
that they do. And the wonderful words that
they shall be my people. And I'll be their God. And they shall return unto me
with their whole heart. We saw also last week how they
had kept the Passover. The Passover again, a beautiful
picture and representation of their trust in Jehovah alone
and the sin atoning covering of blood by Christ. All who were
under the blood of Christ. in that Passover before they
left Egypt were saved. And friends, all who are under
the blood of Christ shall be saved. Now, with all these things
accomplished, they must go forward. Oh, how beautifully this represents
the believer's life. And that's what I hope that by
God's grace we can see tonight. Having been saved by divine and
sovereign deliverance, our crossing Jordan in Christ, we, like Israel
of old, now enter into a new life. The child of God has been
made to obediently heave the command of God and we now engage
in spiritual warfare just like they were to engage in physical
warfare. And we glorify God as soldiers
of Christ. Last week we saw in chapter 5
how Joshua was alone near Jericho. We see a beautiful picture there. I'm sure, now the scriptures
doesn't say, but I'm sure that he was alone praying unto God. It doesn't mention anyone being
with him. And it said that he was near Jericho. And I'm convinced
he was there praying to his great God that he was seeking guidance
for the task that lied ahead. And what comfort we found in
those words there at the end of chapter 5. And we see that
the Lord again answers his prayer. We saw that Joshua was confronted
with none other. than Christ himself. And it says
he had his sword drawn in his hand. Look at verse 13 in chapter
5, And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he
lifted up his eyes, and he looked, and behold, there stood a man
over against him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua
went unto him, and he said unto him, Art thou for us, or for
our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain
of the hosts of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his
face to the earth, and did worship. And he said unto him, What saith
my Lord unto his servant? I don't think there's any doubt
there who that was. And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua..." He's the captain of our salvation,
is he not, friends? "...he said unto Joshua, Loose
thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place where thou standest
is holy. And Joshua did so." God's people
can be assured of this. And I find great comfort in this,
that an all-sufficient leader captain of our souls, would take
charge of Israel's hosts and lead them to complete victory. That captain is Christ. God's people can always be assured
that they'll find comfort. Here's another beautiful truth.
We can find comfort when we stand before God in prayer. When we
come into God's throne of grace to find help and mercy in time
of need, God is always faithful. He doesn't always give us what
we ask for because He knows what's best for us. But He always, always
gives us what we need. And I'm so grateful for that.
As we stand before God in prayer, being on holy ground before the
throne of the grace of God. That's holy ground. Holy Graham
now in verse 1 we see now Jericho was straightly shut up and notice
those next words Because of the children of Israel and none went
out and none came in Jericho was a key city With a powerful
fortress high walls of security And it was straightly shut up.
Why was it shut up? It says none went in and none
went out and none came in. But notice why. It's because
of the children of Israel. Now, how is that? Well, look
back at chapter 2, verse 11. You remember when the two spies
were in the home of Rahab, in verse 11, she said, and as soon
as we had heard these things, talking about the deliverance
of the people of Israel out of Egypt, and the crossing of the
Red Sea, and the deliverance from Pharaoh's army, she said,
our hearts didn't melt, and neither did there remain any more courage
in any man. Because of you, was it because
Israel was a great fighting nation? No, it was because of their God. They had heard how their God
had delivered them. Because of you, for the Lord
your God, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Look at chapter 5, verse 1. 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, and neither was
their spirit in them any more." Why? Because of the children
of Israel. because of the God in whom they
served. Because of these things, the
Canaanites had heard of Israel's God, their hearts were melted,
their spirits were disheartened. For all men who hear the truth
of the power of Almighty God will fear." God had caused the
people of Jericho to be captives in their own city. Although they
had once considered their city and the mighty walls to be impregnable,
they now hid behind them in fear. How futile are the efforts of
those who oppose God. And what a picture we have of
that here. How worthless are the refuges
of which people vainly seek shelter. Verse 2, and the Lord said unto
Joshua in chapter 6, See, I have given in divine hand Jericho. They hadn't taken it yet, but
yet God said, I've given it to you. and the king thereof, and
the mighty men of valor." In this amazing story, we're taught
how the people of God are to act if they would have God show
Himself strong on their behalf. You see, all the carnal scheming
and worldly methods are given no place. Faith, obedience, courage,
patience must be exercised. That's how we gain the victory.
It's in Christ, faith in Him, obedience to Him, courage because
of Him, and patience. If we are ever to obtain the
victory over our enemies, this is how. And oh, may we take to
heart the words of our Lord here when He says, See I have given
unto thy hands. Speaking to Joshua. Nothing comes
from our sinful hands. Nothing. All that we have, all
that we are, is given unto us. Jericho was for the taking only
because the Lord had given it unto Joshua's hands. Christ our
Lord, with whom Joshua bears the same name, has been given
all things as the Redeemer of his people. He said that Himself. In John 3, verse 35, He said,
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given what? All things. All things into His hand. John
13, verse 3 says, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all
things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went
to God. All things are in His hands.
And this verse might be better translated, by His hand. All
the doctrines of the Gospel, all the gifts of the Spirit,
grace and glory are given into His hands and by His hand, because
He's God. He's God in the flesh. He's a
divine person and He is surely fit to be entrusted with these
things. All His elect are chosen in Him,
redeemed by Him, kept by Him. We are His bride, His spouse,
His sheep for whom He lived and died. And He affectionately calls
us and brings us unto Himself. This is in His hands. This whole
thing is in His hands. Oh yeah, you look at the news
today, my, what despair there is in the world. People worried. People concerned. We're not the child of God. I've
never seen, David said, I've never seen the righteous forsaken. I've never seen His people begging
for bread. We're in His hands. And everything's
going to be alright. I can assure you of that. all
temporal things, all things of nature, all things of providence,
the light of our fallen nature and state before God. All the
gifts and good things are given by the Father to His beloved
Son. And that's why Paul wrote in
1 Corinthians, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness
thereof. We should rejoice, especially
because all eternal things are His to give. All that the Father
giveth me, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me and
Him that cometh to me, I'm not going to cast it out. I died
for Him. I shed my blood for Him. No, they won't be cast out. God
gave Joshua the land. And notice also that He gave
him the king's. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. And they're His to give, are
they not? What did our Lord say? He said,
is it not lawful? Is it not lawful? Is it not right? Is it not fair? for me to do
what I will with my own? Another thing worthy of our attention
here, I believe, friends, is the implied truth of man's responsibility. Though it's true that the Canaanites
must be removed and defeated in order for God's people to
promise to inherit this land, let me tell you that the Canaanites
were utterly responsible for their demise. If you'll hold
your place here again in Joshua and turn back to Deuteronomy
chapter 18 with me. Deuteronomy 18. Look at verse 9. Again, here we find the instructions
and command of God Himself. And He says in verse 9, When
thou art coming to the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among
you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through
the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an
enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar
spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer, And notice verse 12, For all
that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord. And because of
these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out before
thee. Because of these abominations. the Lord thy God to drive them
out. It's because of man's rebellious
abominations of sin that the Lord drives them out before Him.
Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were
evil. The book of John tells us. The Scriptures are clear that
God is sovereign. And if a man or a woman is redeemed,
it's the Lord's doing. But yet they're without excuse.
Without excuse. Because all men are responsible. And if a man winds up in hell,
it will be his own fault. He's responsible. In verse 3,
back in chapter 6, the Lord gives Joshua the instructions for the
taking of Jericho. And you shall come past the city,
all you men of war, and you go around about the city once. And
thou shalt do this six days. And seven priests shall bear
the ark. Oh, there's Christ again. Seven
trumpets of ram's horns. And the seventh day ye shall
come past the city seven times. And the priests shall blow with
the trumpets. And it, notice these words, and
it shall. 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." Now in future studies,
it's my intention to go into more detail concerning these
verses. But tonight, I want to basically
close with one glorious thought. And I want you to think about
this, and I want you to meditate on it after we leave here tonight. The Lord God Almighty uses one
means, one means to conquer and break down the walls of enmity. One means to save sinners. It's the sounding of the one
glorious gospel note, blown by what is called the foolishness
of preaching. We blow one note. One note. We make a long blast of one note,
like it says in verse 5 here. Our Lord told Joshua, when the
long blast of the ram's horn is blown, and when you hear the
sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great
shout. They blew one note. One note. You've heard and seen in old
movies where they blow that big ram's horn, how it just makes
one long sustaining sound. But it's just one note. One note. I found it interesting also that
a ram's horn comes from a male sheep. Christ was a lamb slain
before the foundation. of the world and he is the sacrificial
lamb and substitute for his people. I heard Brother Paul Mahan say
in a message, he said, a female sheep is called a ewe, e-w-e. He said, there's no power in
a ewe, e-w-e. And friends, there's no power
in you, y-o-u. That ram's horn blew the one
note of redemption. which is Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. The Lamb slain in the room instead
of His people. Substitution. That is the Gospel. The Gospel message is a message
of repetition. And yet, God's people never get
tired of hearing it. Never get tired of hearing that
one note. And you know what? That one single
note blown again and again and again becomes a beautiful symphony
in the ears of a believer. Nothing more beautiful than just
that one note. Time and time again they want
to hear it. It's that one note that every
true gospel preacher blasts long and hard every time that he blows. That kind of gives a new meaning,
I thought about this, to being a blowhard. I've been called
that before. Blowhard, that one long sustaining
note of redemption. They blew that one note on the
first day. They blew that one note on the
second day. They blew it again on the 3rd, and the 4th, and
the 5th, and the 6th, and on the 7th day. Day in and day out. Now you think about this. Here
are those people of Jericho, captive in their own city. Nobody
went in, nobody went out. And every day for seven days,
they heard that one note blown by the ram's horn. Oh, how monotonous
it must have been to them. I'm sure they just, what is that? There it is again, again today. And today, and today, how tedious,
how repetitious, lacking in variety it must have been. Men by nature
want to hear a variety of things in preaching. You know that.
By nature they do. Men want you to tell them how
to live. They want you to tell them how to be good husbands. People want to know how to be
good wives, good mothers, good parents. Even want to know how
to be better believers, better Christians. Want to hear a variety
of things, but not shout at God. He wants to hear one thing. Tell
me again the wondrous story of how Christ died for sinners. That takes care of everything
else. That's all we want to hear. That's all we want to hear. Just
one note. Just blow that one note. Oh may God continue to
make it so here in this place. Now look down at verse 10 just
for a second. 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 I tell you, until I bid you to shout, and then you shout."
The words of men make no difference concerning our redemption. If
you only hear the preacher Dear friends, it won't profit your
soul a thing. You must hear that one note of
God's trumpet. That one note will become a beautiful
symphony, as I said, to the God-opened ear. Christ, Christ, Christ. Blow that note again and again
and again. Ring it on the first time. Ringing
on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. That's how the walls
of the believer's enemies come tumbling down. Oh, when we hear
the message of Christ, we see that He has the victory over
death. He has the victory over the grave.
He has the victory over sin. I may have told you this little
story, but many of you know there's a little auction down the street
here, and I don't know what my attraction is. I guess I'm a
treasure hunter. I want to try to find something
for nothing. But I went down to that little
auction one Sunday afternoon, and I remember this so vividly. They had an old dinner bell there. You've seen those triangular
dinner bells. And olden times, they used the
dinner bell and rang loudly one note. That dinner bell just rang
one note. Didn't matter how hard you hit
it, how often you hit it. If you went from side to side
to side, it rang one note. And they would loudly ring this
dinner bell across the work fields to call the laborers to eat. And as the auctioneer held up
that dinner bell to sell it, he began to ring it. And he didn't
stop for quite a while. And I'm going to tell you, it
flat got on my nerves. I felt like saying, if you don't
put that bell down, I'm going to buy it and throw it out the
front door. And now I begin to think. It
must have been how the people of Jericho felt when they heard
that one note blown. And yet, that one note to the
child of God is the most beautiful thing they've ever heard. And
you know what? It's the one note of the dinner
bell that calls God's people to feast at this table. I hope that you see that. I hope that you rejoice in that. And the Lord willing, we're going
to look at the taking of Jericho in further detail. I'll tell
you one other thing that just come to mind. To most of the
people of Jericho, that blowing of the ram's horn, that one note,
I'm sure it became extremely, as I said, monotonous and irritating. But there was one family in Jericho
that loved the sound of that. I bet you know who it was. Rahab
and her family. That one note to them was a beautiful
symphony also. That was the sound that God was
going to deliver her and her family as promised.