Standing on the Promises: Surrender and Trust: A Path to Deeper Faith | Joshua 5

1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado.

Will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand.

And Joshua went to him and said to him, are you for us or for our adversaries?

And he said no, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord.

Now I have come.

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to him what does my Lord say to his servant?

And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.

And Joshua did so.

Praise God for a great group of first and second graders, for a few that would read our passage for us this morning Before we get started.

I also want to praise God for one other thing, well, for many, many things, but one other thing I'll mention in this moment that across town right now, west Side Baptist Church.

Exciting morning for them as they are celebrating 100 years, their 100th anniversary as a church, and I praise God for their pastor, cody, for his wife, elizabeth, who works in Livingwell on our campus, and for this church body.

A church doesn't accidentally make it 100 years.

You only do that if you are founded on the gospel and proclaiming the gospel and seeing people come to know the Lord.

So I praise God this morning for Westside, for their pastor and for 100 years of God's faithfulness there.

Let's pray together as we begin our time.

Lord Jesus, we do lift up Westside.

What a gift they are to our community, to many, as they preach the gospel faithfully and have done so for 100 years.

I pray that they would have a day of celebration celebrating what you have done and what you are doing in that church body.

I pray now as we in this room dive into your word, god.

I pray that you would teach us, transform us, lord, we need to hear from you.

We ask that we would, in Christ's name, amen.

Well, as the sports season kind of resets in about a week, college football, high school football, it is all starting up.

It's an exciting time of year.

I will say it's probably my second most favorite time in the sports calendar.

My first, you know, favorite time in the sports calendar really only comes every few years in this state, a little bit more than I wish it did.

But my favorite time is the college athletic coaching search.

If you're tied into this, you have men and women who just for a few weeks just forego their day job and suddenly they are flight trackers.

Suddenly they're online and they see that a plane has left Drakefield and Fayetteville and has arrived in Lexington, kentucky.

And what could that mean?

What does that mean?

They are parsing the social media posts of an athletic director, trying to crack the secret code of what this means, of who's going to arrive on campus, who's going to be the next guy in charge.

And I think that's at the heart of it, that during these times we just go all out because we want any indication of who's going to be running the show?

Who's going to be in charge?

Who's going to be leading the troops on Saturday afternoons?

Who's in charge?

That's what we want to know as we come to Joshua 5 this morning.

Well, as we come to Joshua 5 this morning, the question we've got to ask is who's in charge?

Who has authority?

Who is calling the shots?

And this morning I want us to see that in every way, we have a God.

Who's in charge?

Who has authority?

In Joshua 1 through 5, as we've walked through this text, we see in chapter 1 that Joshua has been raised up and has taken the place of his mentor, moses, and God has called him be strong and courageous.

Chapter 2, sending out spies into Jericho and Rahab probably an unlikely individual helps them and sees the work of God at play.

And in chapter 3, just a few weeks ago, we saw the miracle of God as he stopped the waters, and so the river would not flow during flood season, so that the people of God could cross the river into the promised land.

We saw last week when they arrived.

The first thing they do is they stop and they remember.

They set up this memorial to remember all that God has done.

At the beginning of chapter 5, which we won't get to walk through.

But quick summary, it's a time of consecration for the people of God.

God calls all of the men of Israel of a certain age to be circumcised.

Which is this outward sign of an inward relationship, a time of consecration for the people of God before they head into the promised land or, excuse me, head into the conquest of the promised land.

Now, next week, in chapter 6, they head in to Jericho and things get really, really exciting.

But right here there's three very strange verses.

And how do they fit?

What do they mean?

Why are they there?

Who's in charge?

That's what I want us to see this morning.

So look with me in verse 13.

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand.

And Joshua went to him and said to him are you for us or for our adversaries?

Reading between the lines of scripture, we get this idea that Joshua, this leader, is really taking some time on his own to prepare for what is ahead.

We imagine him maybe up on this hillside looking over into Jericho from far off, maybe scheming and forming a plan of action, thinking up how am I going to lead these people into Jericho, into a conquest of all that is ahead in the promised land.

And as he arrives to take a look around and have a moment alone, before all of this action, he sees an individual standing there and suddenly there's something very different about this individual.

It'd be one thing if this was an individual that just had a sword by his side, but what we see very clearly, this is an individual who has a drawn sword, which that could be good news If you're on my side.

It could be really really bad news if that sword heads my direction.

Who is this person?

Why is he here, what's he up to and why does he have a drawn sword in his hand?

These are the questions that are going on in Joshua's mind, we would imagine, and so he asked the question very simply are you for us or are you for our adversaries?

More simply, are you for us or against us?

Now, church, family.

I can do the math and I know there's only two answers to this question.

There's two.

Answer number one this individual can say Joshua, I am for you.

Answer number two is this Joshua, I am against you.

So 14, what answer do we get?

And he said no, are you for us or for our adversaries?

And he said no.

He said neither.

But I am the commander of the army of the Lord.

And now I have come, and Joshua fell on his face to the earth in worship and said to him what does my Lord say to his servant?

Are you for us or against us?

Apparently, there is a third answer at play.

Neither Are you on our side or their side.

Here's your answer.

I'm my own side.

There's power and there's authority in this answer.

There's power and there's authority in this answer.

There's this understanding that this commander of the army of the lord is is wholly different from me.

He seems to be playing his own game in this moment.

Are you for us or against us?

Neither, but here's who.

I am the commander of the army of the Lord.

And then again, joshua falls to his face and worships.

But here's what's so interesting In Revelation, chapter 19,.

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

There's this moment where John, our author, has this vision and he arrives kind of at the end of all things, the culmination and consummation of all that we've waited for in the last days, when Christ Jesus is returning and it's the marriage supper of the Lamb, this exciting moment, and John's here in this vision, and there's this angelic being that invites John and says welcome to the wedding supper of the Lamb.

And John is overwhelmed and, in front of this angelic being, john falls to his face and begins to worship this angelic being.

And this angel stops John and says don't do that.

And says this I'm a servant of God just like you.

And he redirects John and says hey, worship him, don't worship me, I'm just like you.

He redirects, worship him.

And yet, in this moment for Joshua, he falls on his face to the earth and he worships, and yet there's no rebuke, there's no redirection.

Who is this commander of the armies of the Lord that is willing to receive worship?

I believe it's God himself on that hillside.

I believe the text makes that very clear.

We see this moment, these moments in the Old Testament, when the pre-incarnate person of God himself comes down.

Genesis 32,.

Jacob is at the river Jabbok at night and he's wrestling with an individual.

And all of a sudden we figure out the story he's wrestling with God.

And now, here again, we see this moment where God has come to Joshua.

The commander of the army of the Lord, God himself, is here and in this moment, he, and he alone, is the authority.

And if we don't believe he's the authority, if we don't believe this is God here, look at verse 15.

And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.

And Joshua did so.

These words may sound familiar to you from Exodus, chapter 3, when Joshua's mentor is on the mountain there and he sees a bush that is burning yet not consumed.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

And he goes closer and Yahweh himself, god, is there, the one who says I am who I am.

He's there, and what does he tell Moses?

Take off your sandals from your feet, for this is a holy place, this is holy ground.

Clearly, this is a place that is different, that is holy.

Clearly, something big is at play.

There is a powerful one in the presence of Joshua.

He's big, he's mighty, he has authority.

He is the commander of the armies of the Lord.

This is God himself.

And so when we ask a question like God, are you for us or for your adversaries, really the answer God says is I am God, joshua, are you with me?

I am God, joshua, are you with me?

The question is for you.

I'm here, I'm strong, I'm able, I have the authority.

There's no question about it.

Joshua, are you with me?

We're tempted sometimes, aren't we, to lessen, maybe in our own thinking, the bigness Is that a word?

The bigness of God, the power of God, the authority of God?

We're tempted to treat him like something that I can just kind of put in my backpack and take with me.

He can just fit in my pocket and you know, he's just my co-pilot that travels with me.

We're tempted to lessen the bigness, the power, the authority of God.

Sometimes I think this.

I think we treat God sometimes almost just like the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae that is our lives I may make you hungry a little bit the cherry on top.

That.

Really.

The idea is this that I have carefully crafted the ice cream sundae here and I have put the ice cream in and selected the perfect sprinkles and toppings and chocolate syrup, and I've kind of done it.

But I'd love to just take it over the top and God can just come and be the cherry on top and he'll give me some good advice or some good suggestions and I'll take what I want from him.

God, thank you for the advice, all that, but he's just the cherry on top that takes that sundae from a nine to a 10.

I want to tell you this morning, god is not the cherry on top, god is the ice cream parlor.

God is the one that created a world where, at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the ingredients freeze so that ice cream is even possible.

God is bigger than what we think.

Sometimes we even think that, you know, god is playing chess, of course, but at least I'm playing a pretty good game of checkers.

Church family, I'm playing Candyland, while God holds galaxies together.

He is a big God.

He is other, he is different.

He has the authority.

I do not, and the question I have is not God, are you going to come down here and meet my desires and my demands?

My question is this God, am I with you?

Am I walking with you?

Is Israel going to fight with you?

Will we follow you?

Church family, do we give God the authority he deserves in our lives?

How might we do that?

Do we give his word authority in our lives?

How might we do that?

Do we give his word authority in our lives when this word is the authority, and no matter what culture or our world wants to say or claim this is what we follow, what God has given us.

Is this the authority in our lives?

That I'm glad and we should always do this, that kind of take our microscope and study the text closely.

Never cease to do that, study this deeply, but also do this.

Let the word be the microscope looking at my life, looking at me, looking at those places in my life that I am not following this word and I need to come under the authority of this word.

Do we give his word the authority?

Do we give his commands authority in my life, as he calls me and shows me from his word how to live, how to serve him, how to obey him?

Do I give those commands the authority?

Do I give his direction in my life the authority as an individual, as a church, saying God, where you go, we will go, when you stop, we will stop.

But you are in charge here.

And I'd ask this in what areas of our own lives?

And think about this for yourselves are we really withholding that authority?

Are we compartmentalizing the things in our lives and saying God, you can have this and you can have this.

God, you can have most everything.

But if I could just keep this.

This can be mine.

If I can just hold on to control here, if I could just be in charge of my finances here, if I could just be in charge of the career or the direction, whatever it is.

Fill in the blank, god, if I could just have this, you can have everything else.

And God says I'm the authority.

Are you with me?

I want us to see church family on a hillside outside of Jericho or in our own homes.

There is an authority in our lives and that authority is the Lord, god.

And where he goes, it's our job to follow what he says.

It's our job to obey and to trust, because he's bigger, because he's mighty, because he's able, because he's the authoritative one.

But I want us to see this also because he's good, because this big, mighty, powerful one comes near to us.

So not only do I want to see that God is our ultimate authority, but also God alone is our ultimate savior.

Look back with me at chapter 5, verses 13 through 15.

Two specific phrases from the commander of the army of the Lord, from God himself, really stick out Again in verse 14, and he said no, but I'm the commander of the army of the Lord.

Translation I'm the big one, I'm the power, I'm the authority, I'm the one here who is mighty and can do whatever I please.

But then continue.

Now I have come.

Think about this for a minute.

Joshua is seeing a God that is mighty, powerful, big, authoritative, but also this.

But now I've come, and so there is that bigness, but we also see closeness.

There is a willingness to be near, there is an intimacy that the commander of the army of the Lord has invited Joshua to.

There's this understanding that what is ahead?

Yeah, it's big, and we're heading into Jericho next week in chapter 6.

There's a lot going, but I'm here.

But I'm here, but the big one has come close.

I'm the commander of the army of the Lord, and now I am here.

And then this phrase in verse 15, take off your sandals from your feet, for the place you are standing is holy.

Now, here's what's interesting about this this is a holy place.

There is a way to come into the presence.

In this moment.

There is a responsibility and obligation by Joshua to take off the shoes and come into this place in a certain way.

But what is implied here?

Come into this place in a certain way, but what is implied here.

You can still come in this place.

Notice, the commander of the army of the Lord doesn't say to Joshua hey, joshua, take off your sandals and then get as far away from here as possible, because you have no business being here.

Where I am in this holy place, no, no, take off your shoes.

This place is holy.

This holy place, no, no, take off your shoes.

This place is holy.

But Joshua is there.

There is a closeness and a nearness.

The big one, the powerful one, is close and we'll see this closeness all through the book of Joshua and we'll see this closeness all through the book of Joshua.

And when Israel understands, rightly, that closeness and is willing to align themselves with that closeness of God, things go really, really well.

We'll see in a few weeks, when Israel chooses not to align themselves with this God and this powerful one, things do not go so well.

But there is might, there is power in the commander of the army of the Lord.

But here's another piece of good news there is also this closeness, but that's not just the story of Joshua 5.

It's not just the story of Joshua, the book, it's the story of all of Scripture, is it not?

That the big one has come close, that the mighty powerful one is here, cs Lewis, the author, the thinker, just all around, incredible individual spent about half of his life as an atheist, running as far from the Lord as possible.

He not only didn't believe in God, he hated the God he didn't believe in.

He wanted nothing to do with him.

Why?

Because at a very early age he prayed and prayed that his mother would be healed of cancer.

And when that didn't happen, at least on this side of eternity, he was a little boy looking up at God, saying why would you do this?

What kind of God doesn't answer the prayers of a little boy praying for his mother?

And so he ran as far away from the Lord as possible.

Yet later in life, through certain conversations, through the time of the Lord working on his heart, he comes to know the Lord.

And later on, in his spiritual autobiography, surprised by Joy, he says something profound.

He says this that before I knew God, I didn't think a human could know God any more than Hamlet could know Shakespeare.

I didn't think a human could know God any more than Hamlet could know Shakespeare, any more than the character within the play could know the author of the play.

How is this even possible, that we could know this God?

And yet, as he continues to process his faith and continues to write, surprised by Joy, he says this if Hamlet could know Shakespeare, it would have to be fully Shakespeare's doing.

To be fully Shakespeare's doing, as Shakespeare writes himself into the story Church family.

I want you to see something that, 2,000 years ago, in a small little town five miles outside of Jerusalem, with a teenage mother and a humble carpenter for a father, with only these humble shepherds, to come and celebrate the God who hung the stars and holds galaxies in place and the God who tells the ocean tides you can go this far and no further the God who created the mountains and the valleys and the oceans and everything you see and everything you don't see, that God of all history and eternity.

What did he do?

Wrote himself into the story of creation.

The author writing himself into the story so that broken people like you and me could know him.

This is the story of a big, mighty, powerful God coming for us.

And then the story continues.

That this very God we see Philippians 2, the one who was obedient to death, this humble nature of this Savior, the very God who, before the foundation of the world had in his mind the very tree that he would create, that he would be nailed to the very God who created in their mother's wombs the very individuals that would nail him to the cross in their mother's wombs, the very individuals that would nail him to the cross.

This really big God came for us and died upon the cross and bore our sins upon himself.

This is what our God has done, the one who still, just like in Joshua, fights our battles, our ultimate battle in our need for salvation, because we are broken and sinful.

The big God has come for us and he was laid into the grave.

But remember, our God is not just near.

Our God is powerful and early Sunday morning, with all power and authority, even having the power and authority over sin, death and hell, rose from the grave victorious, because we have a God who is very near to us, but is also very high and lifted up and big and powerful.

And this is who he is and this is our story.

And you and I can have life.

Why?

Because we're so impressive, because we can earn our way to him, or we can surely pay for our sins with enough good things that we do?

Surely we can, no, no, no.

We can have life because a really big God came for us and did what only he can do and invited us to him.

I quoted him once.

I'll quote him again.

Cs Lewis in Narnian Chronicles, the Voyage of the Dawn Treader Maybe you've read it, maybe you haven't.

There's a little boy named Eustace Scrubb.

He's an absolute brat.

He's the worst, terrible attitude.

He's on this adventure long story short, because he's such a brat.

Remember, this is a fun kid's story.

He's turned into a dragon because he's a brat.

And then there's this lion.

He doesn't know it's Aslan, the great Christ figure in the story that helps get these scales removed so he can be a boy again.

He goes back, he's telling everybody what happens and he saw this lion and one of the boys, scales removed so he can be a boy again.

He goes back, he's telling everybody what happens and he saw this lion and one of the boys there named Edmund says you must have seen Aslan.

And immediately Eustace is just blown away.

That name, it triggers something in him.

And he says Edmund, do you know Aslan?

And Edmund's response is this well, he knows me, he knows me.

The beauty of the gospel is that we who are utterly unworthy and completely unable to find our way to him.

He has come to us and he knows us and he has made us his own.

And I wonder this morning for you do you know Jesus his own?

And I wonder this morning for you do you know Jesus?

Does Jesus know you?

Do you know that your sins are forgiven?

Do you know that he's not only the Lord of the universe but the Lord of your life?

If you don't, I pray you wouldn't leave these doors until you do know, and I'd love to introduce you to him.

I also wonder this, as we respond this morning in your own life, where are you withholding authority from God?

Where are you looking at the big, mighty God of the universe and saying, god, I can take it from God.

Where are you looking at the big, mighty God of the universe and saying, god, I can take it from here?

Where are you saying, god, I know you can handle a lot of things, but if I could hold on to this, what is it that you're holding back?

And whatever it is, I pray now, I pray today, I pray that you would get with the Lord and say, god, you have to take it.

I give it to you.

I acknowledge that you and you alone are the authority in my life.

However, you need to respond this morning.

I pray that you would, because we have a God who is mighty, who is the authority, who is big and who has come for us.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus, thank you for your word, thank you for your goodness to us, thank you that you love us.

Lord, we couldn't earn it, we don't deserve it, but you have come for us to forgive sins, to give us life.

What a gift.

And so, lord, if there's one that needs to come to know you this morning, lord, would they?

If there's one that needs to come church, join this church family this morning.

God, I pray that they would.

If there's one that just needs prayer to have a conversation, lord, let them come down.

I stand ready to pray Whatever is needed in this room this morning.

God, would you have your way?

If there's one that just needs to sit in prayer and just hand things over to you and say God, I've just been trying to do it on my own, would they take time to do that?

Reveal those places in our hearts where we are withholding the authority that is rightly yours.

Thank you for your love, for your grace.

Thank you that you are big and mighty, but you came for us.

I pray this in Christ's name Amen.