5, Joshua chapter 5, and we'll read from verse 13. Joshua chapter 5, verse 13. This is what God says. Now, when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, Are you for us or for our enemies? Neither he replied, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. Then Joshua fell face down on the ground in reverence and asked him, What message does my Lord have for his servant? The commander of the Lord's army replied, Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the Lord said to Joshua, See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March round the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Make seven priests carry trumpets of ram's horn in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpet, make the whole army give a loud shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up against The army will go up, everyone straight in. So Joshua, son of Nun, called the priests and said to them, take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and make seven priests carry trumpets in front of it. And he ordered the army, advance, march round the city with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord. When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forwards, blowing the trumpets, and the ark of the Lord's covenant followed them, the armed guard marched ahead of the priest who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding, but Joshua had commanded the army, Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, Do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout, then shout. So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there. Amen, and we know God will add his blessing. Chapter 5, verse 14 says, As commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. You notice that the word Lord is in capital letters. This was Jehovah, Yahweh, the most high almighty God of the Israelites. You'll notice too, secondly, the commander of the Lord's army didn't tell him to get up. He was on his knees. But the captain of the Lord's army said, take off your shoes for the place where you are standing is holy ground. That's the name and the same thing God said to Moses at the burning bush. If he had been an angel, the angel would have made Joshua get up because the angel would not have taken any glory or praise that was due to God. So that's the two things. The Lord's name is in capitals and he told him to take his sandals off. And then thirdly, in Septuagint 6, verse 2, Now this is the Lord himself speaking. This isn't the Lord, the captain of the Lord's army or anything else. This is God. This is what's called a theophany. Now I've explained this before as an appearance of God. Now we know Jesus Christ was God the Son in human form. So when Joshua saw this man before him, it was God the Son in a human form. Some form that Joshua would recognize. It wasn't an animal. It wasn't an alien from outer space. It was someone in human form. So standing before Joshua was God the Son who took on the appearance of a man as mediator between God and man. Now, we know he looked like a man. He had a sword in his hand, and he was probably dressed as a soldier. But do you notice Joshua's courage? He never saw this man before. As far as Joshua was concerned, he was probably an enemy soldier, and Joshua went up to him. I think I would have stepped back and made myself scarce, fight or flight. You'll also notice that Joshua's directness. Are you for us or for our enemies? I'll put that up as well. Are you for us or for our enemies? Black or white, straight to the point, no discussion, no niceties, no gray areas, no compromises. Are you for us or for our enemies? Too often in the church today there's discussion, there's considerations, there's common ground, but they often lead to compromise. Go back a few years when women bishops were ordained. The Church of England got it wrong when they allowed women to become vicars. God has ordained that man are the preachers and men are an authority of the church. So why did they even discuss it? It's the same with homosexuals. It's unbiblical and ungodly, black and white. Why discuss it? Scripture tells us it's wrong for men to wear women's clothes, and women wear men's clothes. And yet when we see the trans culture, they're outrightly blatant in their dress. Even evangelical churches get together with other churches and forget their differences. Just this once, It's for a good cause. The problem is, there's no good cause if the church has to compromise, because it only weakens their gospel witness. Individuals do it too. They're asked to go to a meeting, and when they arrive, the speaker is someone who has criticized the church on a previous occasion, or they don't preach what they know to be the truth. But to be gracious, to save face, the person stares and says nothing. But he says to himself, I just won't come back. But that's compromise. And they're open for criticism. Because the problem could come back in a month's time. And when they say they're not going, the answer is, but you did it a month ago. Scripture says, Come apart and be ye separate. Have nothing to do with them. Make it black and white. No compromise. We have a good saying here in Ulster. No surrender. But it's necessary when the world would seek to make us conform to the way it wants, and not what God wants. Joshua didn't find common ground, either for us or against us. His only compromise came when he realized who he was talking to. Joshua was the commander of the Israelite army, but this was the commander of the Lord's army. This was God himself. So Joshua got down on his knees. Many years ago, I was praying with an older, gracious, retired Anglican vicar. And in the prayer, I said, Lord, we thank you we can come into your presence. And when we'd finished praying, he gently rebuked me, and he said, we're always in God's presence. And I couldn't argue with him. He was right. Every day, every time I pray for the last 30 years, I say, thank you, Lord. We can come into your presence in this fashion. There's a big difference. But when we come into that special presence of God, do we recognize that's where we are? Do we clearly know without a shadow of a doubt who we're standing before? The holy, righteous, almighty, living God. And when you're in the right position and in the right condition spiritually, that God meets with you and gives you direction. Now, I don't mean kneeling. or lying prostrate, physically humbling yourself before God, but having the right attitude and humility of heart. If you're far from God, you won't hear the direction God is sending you. You won't see the flicker of God's eye as he guides you. You won't be close enough to feel the pride. You won't hear the call to serve. Joshua went up to the man. fell on his knees, and only then he was in the right position for God to talk and for Joshua to listen. Now that Joshua was prepared spiritually, God gave him his practical instructions, how to serve the Lord, how to overcome the enemy, how to be victorious in battle. And the answer is very simple. Just do as God tells you, and victory is secure. Sometimes the instruction seems to be quite absurd, but that doesn't matter, because the battle isn't yours, it's God's, and he knows the beginning from the end. You want me to do what, Lord? You want me to take these people and make them walk around the city of Jericho every day for a week? And at seven on the seventh day? What way is that to fight a battle, Lord? When Lila and I were in America for the first time, satellite navigation, would you believe, was in its infancy. That's how far it's come on in the last year since then. It was like a little box that you plugged into your cigarette lighter. And you had to insert a little card, not even an inch square. And that little card were all the streets and roads and highways of America. In fact, it had USA and Canada. When we went somewhere, we simply punched in the address and followed the instructions Mandy gave us. Now Mandy was the American voice on the sat-nav. And do you know Mandy never once failed. She never got us lost and always got us to our destination in that great country. I've listened to Jane here in Great Britain and she always gets me to my destination too. However, there have been times when Jane has told me after 400 yards, take the next right. And when I arrive at 350 yards, I start to wonder if she gave me the right direction because that little road just doesn't look right. So I've driven past the exit and started to find the way myself. Now, of course, being a man, I don't ask for directions. I can get there myself. But it's usually a half an hour wasted, and 20 miles longer on the journey. More often than not, I eventually come round in a circle, back to the road Jane told me to take, and would you believe it, it was the right road. Very often, it's the same with God. We're quite prepared to take instruction when it's straightforward. I want you to be a deacon. I want you to go on the church cleaning route. I want you to give someone a lift to church. But when it's not what you want it to be, go your own way. I want you to go to Mrs. Smith and offer her some help. She'll tell you how when you ask her. I want you to go up to the high street and do an open air and give out tracts. And what we do is we question the instruction. You want me to do what, Lord? And we refuse. because we're not sure it's right. And then we try to work it out for ourselves. Nah, that couldn't be for me. That's for Bill or John. And we get more and more lost, and we get further away from what we should be doing for God. Thankfully, we have a gracious God, a bit like Mandy and Jane on the sat-nav. He waits for us to come back to where we went off the path and got it wrong, and he gently shows us the way again. And would you believe it, it wasn't as crazy or as hard or as bad as we thought it would be in the first place. But time has been wasted. Joshua didn't waste any time. His instructions were to gather the people and with the Ark of the Covenant following behind, with seven priests blowing horns, the army and the people followed behind the Ark. They were to walk around the city one day a week for six days and seven times the seventh day. Now, what way was that to fight a battle? It was as if that wasn't bad enough. The people weren't allowed to talk. Now, that's just stupid, Lord. You can't expect people to be quiet, but they did. Very effective, very frightening, very masculine and brave. But you'll notice, Joshua didn't argue with God. He didn't question. He didn't call in his generals to see if it made sense. He obeyed. He told the generals and the priests what had to be done. He told the people what they had to do, and off they went, just as God had said. I remember in November, in one year in Bridge North, God told us as a church to have a sabbatical year of rest from outreach. That's a stupid thing. Christians don't stop doing outreach, but we believe that's what God told us to do. Every year, we did our children's meetings and other means of outreach, like Holiday Bible Club, open hour meetings, music weekends, among others. So we took the break, except the children's meeting, and the rest of it is good. We were quite happy towards the end of the year. But during the year, we did some training in other areas of outreach and preparation, for the following year. A year later, one of the deacons sent me a copy of an email he got from the leader of OM, Operation Mobilization, who had a headquarters in Hales, Owen, which was about 20 miles away from Bridge North. And he said they were looking for a host church over the New Year period, between Christmas and just after the New Year. I replied to the deacon to reply to the OM leader and tell him to pencil us in. But I would have to talk to the elders and the church. Two days later, I brought the idea to the elders, fully expecting them to say, do you not think it's a bit late, Jackie? I sort of expected, that's a crazy time of the year to do outreach. But as soon as I put it to them, they agreed to it. which goes to prove they were as crazy as I was. Two nights after that, we took it to a members' meeting, and lo and behold, it was agreed by them as well, all within a week. Another church in Walsall, another 20 miles away, was involved, and some of our church went to the church at Walsall on the first Sunday evening to the Getting to Know You gathering. The Walsall pastor and then the O.M. leader said they didn't understand how a church could decide in just a week to do a week of outreach over the holiday period. Events transpired to prove that we were right because we believed God had put it onto our lap. Not just when O.M. emailed the deacon. God started preparing us for it when he told us to have a Sabbath rest a year and a half before. Now, we could say, you want us to do what, Lord? That's crazy, Lord. We couldn't do it in such a short time. But we didn't. We listened to God, we heard the call, and off we went. And just like the city of Jericho, subsequent events proved we were right to obey. Joshua set off with people and they walked around the city. Joshua knew he was right because he was depending on God's instructions. But neither the priests nor the people knew why they were on the route march around the city. They should have been making detailed battle plans and preparing the men of war. We were fortunate when we got that call, God had been preparing us. But I wonder what would have happened if I told the elders we were going to close the church and build another one up on the local housing estate. Where have you heard that before? I think you would have got some strange looks from the elders and a doctor called to check me out. But God does ask us to do some strange things. But some people have the insight or the courage to follow through with God. There's a true story of a pastor in Belfast who was busy getting on with the work of preaching and teaching in his own church. And one day he believed God told him to give away his house and even told him the man to give it to. So the pastor went to see the man, and he gave him the keys. What the pastor didn't know was that the man was, he gave it to, was out of work, was behind on his rent, and about to be evicted. But of course, that left the pastor without a home. Can you imagine his church when they heard about what he had done? Can you imagine his wife and family when he told them? But she was as crazy as he was. If you believe God told you to do it, then do it. Two months later, the paperwork was drawn up and the deal was complete. The unemployed man was about to move in and the pastor move out, when a wealthy man called on the pastor and give him the keys to a very, very large house on the coast between Bangor and Donegady. The pastor obviously wondered why God had started all this. But within weeks, the pastor's new house was giving respite care to missionaries and disabled people who needed a break. It developed into a completely new ministry for the pastor. It was a crazy idea. People advised him against it. People criticized him for being so foolhardy. But God had called, he obeyed, and God rewarded him. And as a reward for stepping out in faith, God rewarded Joshua and the children of Israel. Joshua was esteemed in the eyes of the people. The children of Israel won their first battle in Canaan, and God was magnified because someone followed the word of the Lord. I don't know what God has for you in the future, so don't be thinking I'm suggesting you sell your house in the next week. But I wonder, If it's something crazy, would you be willing to obey? I don't know what God's saying to people tonight. It may be crazy for you, but if you believe God, if you believe it's to be from the Lord, then just do it. It doesn't matter what other people may think or say, just do it, and then stand back and watch God vindicate you in the end. One of the hardest questions Christians have to answer is, why does God allow so much bad things to happen in the world? Or, where was God when it happened? And when you consider that in relation to Jericho, why did God suddenly decide to wipe Jericho off the face of the earth? Well, the answer is, He didn't. Remember, the children of Israel were captives in Egypt. God delivered them. He sent plague after plague, warning Pharaoh what would happen, yet nothing ever happened in Goshen, where the Israelites lived. But God gave the Egyptians a dozen opportunities in the form of signs and plagues, telling them to repent and turn to Him, but they didn't. He also gave the Canaanites in Jericho time to repent. When Israel left Egypt 40 years before, All the surrounding nations knew about their deliverance. They knew Jehovah brought them out, and for the previous 40 years, they had lived in fear of Israel coming to Jericho. But they did nothing. God, in His grace and patience and long-suffering, waited. But they did nothing to escape the punishment. Time and time again, through Scripture, when something terrible happens to a nation, It's only after repeated warnings from God. You remember Jonah? The sin of the Ninevites had reached its peak and God decided to destroy it. But rather than just do it, rather than just destroy it, he sent Jonah to warn them. And when he eventually did go, the people repented and God saved the city and everyone in it. God gave them time to repent. Jericho had the same even longer opportunity, but they didn't take it. Forty years previously, God instructed Moses to deliver his people from Egypt. Have you considered that God could have brought the Israelites to Jericho even then, as soon as they crossed the Red Sea, and within a few days, they could have been at Jericho? It's supposed that God made them wander the wilderness for 40 years to toughen the men for battle in Canaan. But think about it. The men didn't have to fight in Jericho. God delivered the city into their hands. God was giving the lands of Canaan a 40-year probationary period. He gave them time to repent, turn away from their false gods, and turn to Jehovah and worship Him, but they didn't. When they crossed the River Jordan, God brought them across by a miracle, a miracle that was seen by many, many people. The Canaanites and Jericho were warned by God that He was coming to get them, and still they did nothing. I wonder what was going through their minds as the children of Israel started walking around the city on the first day. Curiosity, criticism, laughter, scorn. As the Israelites walked, did they hear the laughter and the criticism? Did they feel stupid? Were they ready to give up? I don't know, but they kept walking. And all the time, God was giving the people of Jericho more time and opportunity to repent. The second time was the same. Round the city once more. The third day the same again. The fourth and fifth and sixth day. But still God gave them time to turn and repent. But the time was getting short and still no response from Jericho. Were they confident in the great thick walls of their city? Were they confident in their army to repel anyone who came through the gates? Because those walls were never going to fall. Were they confident in their gods? Israel's God could never defeat their gods. On the seventh day, the children of Israel got up early and started walking earlier, because they were going to walk around the city seven times. God's time was running out, and still the people of Jericho refused to acknowledge God and repent. Why did God suddenly decide to destroy a whole city? He didn't. He planned it years before. But God was gracious. It is not the will of the Father that any should perish. And he gives plenty of time and plenty of warning. But there comes an end of grace, and God has to act. Thousands of people lost their lives, but it was their own fault. They were given time, but they wasted it. They put their confidence in their own things. Sadly, people are still the same today. It's not the first time I've been laughed at, and I'm sure you've had to share the same criticism, but that doesn't mean we stop warning. We're still living in the day of grace, and as long as God is gracious, we have to minister in this town. You have a ministry in your work, in your street, in your family. Who knows, you just might do something crazy, and somebody might be saved. Because if you remember, God was at work in that city, but not everyone was lost. Remember Rahab, the most unlikely person in the whole city, and because the spy spoke to Rahab, she spoke to her family, and many people were saved. When was the last time you spoke to God, to someone about the Lord Jesus? Oh yeah, it's easy to talk about the weather, to talk about the football match, to talk about the price of potatoes in the supermarket, but how often do we bring the conversation around to the Lord Jesus? Joshua fell down on his knees because he knew he was in the presence of God Almighty. And because he was on his knees, God gave him a job to do. A city was destroyed, but people were saved. One day, God is going to destroy the world, but in the meantime, people need to be saved. Even people in this church this evening, God has given years They've had time to repent, heard the gospel dozens, hundreds of times, and still they could be too late. But like Rahab, they won't be saved until someone tells them. So go home this evening and get down on your knees, maybe not physically, but spiritually, and ask God to show you who he wants you to invite to next week's meeting. But maybe that crazy invitation might just lead to someone being saved. And even if it's not, ask someone else the following week and keep doing it until somebody is saved.