Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): Today on Telling the Truth, Jill Briscoe continues her series about staying strong and courageous in spiritual battle. Jill starts in just a moment. In their new five-message series, Fighting Unseen Forces, Stuart and Jill show you straight from God’s Word how you can stand strong against your spiritual enemy and live victoriously in Christ.

We'll send you a copy of this resource as our thanks for your support today to help others experience the life of abundance God wants them to have in Jesus. So call today to request your copy of Fighting Unseen Forces at 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, let's head to Jill and her message, The Man with the Sword.

Jill Briscoe: Well, we're going to talk about angels today. But I want to turn you to the book of Joshua and introduce you to the story as it were halfway through. I'd love to go back and start at Chapter 1, but I'm not going to. We're going to be in Chapter 5 and I will fill you in a little bit of the background before we begin.

This particular story of Joshua might not be one of the most famous and most familiar stories to you. I think every time you say Joshua, you think the Battle of Jericho, right? And we will be talking about the Battle of Jericho. But as you have your Bible open at Chapter 5, let me just fill you in a little bit of the background.

Joshua was a teenager when he lived in Egypt as a slave. And he knew what it was to make bricks without straw. One of the things that Pharaoh did to the slaves, the children of Israel, was to punish them by telling them they had to find their own straw, which doesn't sound much to us, but meant incredible heartache and labor for them. Up to that point, Pharaoh had provided the straw.

This strong young man built his body under the hot sun, slaving. He was obviously extremely strong physically, extremely gifted physically. He was to become the leader of Israel's army for 40 years and to take the children of Israel into the promised land. His roots were deep in his history of the captivity in Egypt. He had also been part of the redemption of the Passover, of that incredible night when the Passover lamb had been slain and the firstborn in Egypt in each home had died.

In desperation, Pharaoh let them go—a million and a quarter of them. Joshua was at Moses' side as his aide, his young aide. So not only was he physically incredibly gifted and able, but he was spiritually in tune with everything that was happening. He experienced coming out of Egypt and the Red Sea parting and the whole of the Egyptian army being drowned in the sea. He saw it with his own eyes.

Then you come into that period of 40 years where he was very close to Moses. He was on the mountain when Moses received the Ten Commandments. Here is a man steeped in everything that God has in mind in His purposes for the world. Then you come to the awful 40 years of rebellion in the wilderness and God at one point saying to Moses, "This whole generation will die in the wilderness. Not one of them will set foot in the land that I brought them out to possess because of their behavior, because they've gone away from Me." And Moses, what is more, nor would he.

I don't know whether Joshua knew that God had told Moses he would not go into the promised land. Probably he had. But I don't think Joshua had ever reckoned that he would be the one to stand in Moses' sandals. If you can imagine yourself in that position—yes, second in command—but to think, "I'm going to stand in Moses' sandals? I'm the one?" This whole Exodus had been toward overcoming the enemies in the promised land. And now here is Joshua, overwhelmed.

I want to just re-read 1, 2, 3, and 4, then it will bring you up to where we are. In Chapter 1, he is overwhelmed with inadequacy. I think all of us can relate to that. I'm sure there's been times in your life, there certainly has in my life, when I have felt totally inadequate. Standing in Moses' sandals is not a pretty place to be.

God encourages him and says, "I've commissioned you." In fact, the commissioning had happened in Moses' time. Moses had brought Joshua out and laid his hands on him in sight of all the elders and the whole of Israel. God had given him that physical exposure, that visible sign to Israel that he was to be the leader.

But here again at the beginning of the book, Moses is dead. God again reaffirms, "You're My man. Be strong, be of good courage. Don't be scared." Which tells you he was scared and he didn't have courage. They are feet on the River Jordan. The other side is the promised land. God does a Red Sea again and the Jordan splits, which is a pretty hefty river at that point. It's a big river and it's a deep river.

As the priests take the ark of God and their feet touch the waters, it stands up on either side and Israel moves ahead. They arrive within the sight of Jericho. I have stood there. You come into this plain of the desert from a hill—not too big a hill—but you're up here and you look down into this shimmering desert where the ruins of Jericho are.

I can just imagine Joshua coming to that hill where our bus stopped and we all got out and relived what it must have been like for him to see the biggest battle of his life. Because it was the first, it was the symbolic thing here. Again, he was totally overwhelmed. Israel had prepared themselves. They had not been marked with the sign of circumcision in that whole generation that had fallen away from God.

He does a very un-commander-like thing. He circumcises every male and puts them out of action. However, he does it because they need to get the mark in their flesh which speaks of the mark in their heart. Paul says in the New Testament, "A Jew isn't a Jew because he's circumcised in his flesh. It's a mark of the heart, of the character that shows a Jew is a Jew."

What was happening here was God was saying, "You really got away from Me in the desert. Let's get everything sorted out." So they are circumcised, then they are consecrated, and then they have the Passover. This is all before they tackle Jericho. Now they're ready and they're all having a sleep because tomorrow they're going to win the battle. Verse 13, "When Joshua was near Jericho," maybe on that very place that we stopped to look down on that hill to have a look at what was ahead and the challenge that faced him.

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 facedown to 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're standing is holy." And Joshua did so. Then Verse 2, the Lord says to Joshua... this conversation goes on. Ignore Chapter 6, that's just there. The whole story hangs together right into the next chapter. This man with the sword is the person we're going to be talking about.

For some of us, life is a battle. Everybody in the world is facing a battle of some sort. Some have a little tiny Jericho and some have a great big Jericho. Maybe it's a battle simply to stay alive. When we were in Hong Kong a few years ago, we were in there with the Salvation Army, the only safe way to go in. We were in there with some officers of the Salvation Army and we went into some places where people have lived and died and will, the whole of their family for a few generations. Forty people on a king-size bed. That's how much space they have to live and die their whole lives. You have to sleep in shifts.

It's an incredible situation and that isn't just one little piece. That's a whole city. There are places in the world, many places in the world, where people are having a Jericho just to stay alive. For others, they are battling perhaps with sickness. That's their Jericho. For others, the battle might be a relationship, a broken marriage or a breaking marriage. Life is a battle.

For some, it might be age. Well, that's a battle. It really can be a battle. I was looking in the store the other day and saw a great big advert for turtle cream. Who wants to look like a turtle? That's what my immediate question of the salesgirl was. This beauty cream—they should have chosen a more nice animal, I guess—but anyway, I didn't buy any. But for some, it is a battle. Age is a battle and all that it brings.

For some, losing a job, that's their Jericho. For some, it is a personal passion. For some, it is temptation that they cannot overcome. All their lives, they've given up. They've just been going round and round and round Jericho all their lives. Too big, too strong. So they'll just live their lives and let it be there in the middle of their lives.

Guest (Male): Today on Telling the Truth, Jill Briscoe is talking about how God helps us fight and win our battles, especially emotional ones. Much more from Jill on the way.

You can't always see it raging around you, but every day you're locked in a battle that threatens your spiritual, emotional, and relational well-being. Spiritual warfare is very real and you can't afford to sit this fight out. Your spiritual enemy will stop at nothing to keep you from experiencing the abundant and impactful life you're called to in Christ.

But you can stand strong in Jesus and the power of His Spirit. Stuart and Jill want to show you how straight from God's Word by sending you their new five-message series, Fighting Unseen Forces. We'll send you this encouraging series as thanks for your gift to help people around the world hear the message of Jesus through broadcasts like this one today.

Your gift of support helps Telling the Truth carry the message of God's love to people across the globe so they can experience life in Christ. Call today to request your copy of Fighting Unseen Forces when you give: 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388 or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org.

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Jill Briscoe: What Joshua needed to realize was that this was a bigger battle he was about to fight than the Battle of Jericho. When he saw this angel, he walks up to him and he says, "Who are you for? You on our side or are you on their side?" And the man with the sword simply said, "I'm not on your side and I'm not on their side. There's a bigger battle that I've come to tell you about. Little Jericho's part of it, but I haven't come to take sides. I've come to take over."

I haven't come to take sides. I've come to take over. There is a battle going on in the universe that is far bigger and our little Jerichos just happen to be in that big plan. We're living in a war zone, folks. We're living in a war zone that is far more than this little problem that I have in my life.

When I was a small child, I lived in Liverpool in the middle of a war. Night after night, we were bombed. As a little girl of five, that was it for me. That was the war. My war was confined to my experience and my war was confined to my problem. My Jericho was to avoid getting killed every night.

So we'd run down the tennis court and burrow underneath where my dad had built an air-raid shelter under the ground and sit there. For probably two years of the war, I never slept in a bed. I'd sleep on the kitchen floor until the first air-raid siren went, which was about 7:00, as soon as it got dark, and that would be it for the night. Down we'd go and we'd have our little rations and we would sit there and try and sleep until we came back again.

But of course, there was a lot bigger war than that going on. As far as I was concerned, if you said to me, "Where's the war?" I would have said the war is here in this little square foot. But out there, there was a battle of the whole world against Nazism at that point.

What we need to realize is that yes, it's pretty grim being bombed. It's pretty grim sitting in your little air-raid shelter. That's a big war. That's a big Jericho. But hey, there's a far bigger war going on. It's the battle between God and Satan, between good and evil, between the devil and the fallen angels. One-third of the angels fell and followed Satan in his rebellion. The battle is against God and the good angels, the two-thirds, the zillions and zillions and zillions of angels.

It's a battle against what the Bible calls principalities, powers, rulers, and authorities on the good side and on the bad side. This is the bigger war. When Joshua was met with the man with the sword, the first thing he learned was he was in a bigger war than he ever realized.

In the New Testament, we learn about the Captain of our salvation. Same Captain. He is a divine being. Secondly, he is a divine protector. He is the God of battles. He has a drawn sword in his hand. There's a wonderful phrase in the Old Testament, "the sword of the Lord." When Gideon, like Joshua, was shaking in his sandals at what God asked him to do.

God asked him to take an army and go and fight against people that looked like grasshoppers, there were so many of them. He gets as many men as he can—thousands—and off he goes. God says, "Too many. Get rid of all but 300." Well, that's encouraging, isn't it? God says, "I want you to know that I'm going to win this battle. And if you've got a lot of men, you might think you've done it. But let's get you down to 300 men."

Then they surround them and they have their little lamps and their little pots, if you remember the story. God says, "Now tell them to break the pot at a certain time in the middle of the night and to blow the trumpets." He's got the men surrounding the army and to shout, "The sword of the Lord and Gideon! The sword of the Lord and Gideon!" What that was saying was, "Our God is Commander of the hosts of heaven."

Well, what happened, of course, is they woke up, they were confused, they looked around, they peered as if they were surrounded, and they fell on each other and killed each other all off, and that was the end of the battle. 2 Chronicles 32, the story of Hezekiah. That's the best. You have to read that. It is an incredible thing. The King of Assyria comes and Hezekiah is told to say that the Lord will fight for us. All sorts of wonderful things happen and angels are involved there again.

Then Psalm 34:7 says the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him. So we need to lift up our eyes and really believe in angels. You need to know what the scripture says about angels. You need to read Ephesians 6 where Paul talks about us fighting against principalities and powers and authorities.

We don't quite know what and who these principalities and authorities are and it's dangerous to be too specific, only to know there are spiritual beings that we cannot possibly understand because it's out of our realm. It's like describing colors to a blind man. But they are there, the scripture says.

So we need to lift up our eyes. We do not need to worship these people and we need to see the man with the sword, the Angel of the Lord. If you've got a King James Bible, you'll find that Angel is capitalized every time "the Angel of the Lord," this particular appears. You'll find a capital "A." You will not find it in the NIV or any of the other things. So that's the way you'll know. This is the divine presence who is with us in trouble.

It was the Angel of the Lord who came to Hagar, pregnant, afraid, standing in the middle of a desert, having been treated harshly by Sarai, running away to certain death. No question about it. The Angel of the Lord found her by this well. He said, "Where've you come from? Where are you going?" It wasn't that he didn't know. He started this dialogue.

He said, "The only way you're going to be safe is to go back to your mistress and submit to her. I'll look after you there and the baby." She met the Angel of the Lord and she called him the one who sees me. She had that personal encounter with God through the manifestation of this second person of the Trinity.

Take off your shoes. Lift up your eyes, take off your shoes. If you're going to win your battle, whatever it is, you're going to have to be holy. Holiness is a great weapon against whatever you're facing. That means you have to do right. You have to think scripturally about your problem. You have to do what's right according to what the Bible says about it.

That's all involved in taking off your shoes. Being holy is a lot more than doing without sweets for Lent. Being holy is being like Christ. Being holy is obedient. Being holy is doing it God's way. Being holy is fighting the battle that God has said needs to be fought. And in the little things as well as the big things.

Guest (Male): Jill Briscoe in her message, The Man with the Sword, about how to fight and win your spiritual battles with the help of God. She's back in a moment to offer one parting insight. Between the pressures of paying bills, taking care of your family, and keeping up with a chaotic calendar, it’s easy to feel outnumbered and overmatched.

Those are just the visible challenges you face each day. The unseen forces of evil can make life seem even more overwhelming, threatening your spiritual, emotional, and relational well-being. But you're not without help and hope. In their new five-message series, Fighting Unseen Forces, Stuart and Jill Briscoe show you how you can live victoriously knowing that with Christ and His Spirit, you’re never alone.

This new series is our thanks for your gift of support to help more people experience life through the resources and teaching of Telling the Truth. Generous friends like you keep broadcasts like this one today going, even reaching people in places that are closed to the gospel. If you haven't given before, now is a great time to jump in and help keep God's Word going out around the world to you and many others.

Remember to request your copy of Fighting Unseen Forces when you call and give. Just call 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388 or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Now to close out today's message, it's Jill Briscoe.

Jill Briscoe: I was getting some groceries the other day and I was in a tearing rush as usual. As I took my cart to the back of the car, I looked down and on the bottom of it, there was two items that I realized I had not put through. I was late for an appointment and I just stood there wavering.

In the end, I just picked it up and went back and said to the clerk, "I'm sorry, these were on the back. I haven't paid for them." And she looked totally... she said, "Oh, I'm sure you did." And I said, "No, I'm sure I didn't." Actually, when I got home, I had.

However, I would rather pay the extra and I'm sure I can't be bothered to take it back because that's being holy. It's being truthful. That's being honest. It's not ripping somebody off. So being holy means being holy in the little things.

I remember when I was first saved, I really maybe even went overboard. In England, you have to pay a penny for the loo. I remember I was a week old in the Lord and I knew that I had to be holy. I remember not having a penny and doing what I'd done for 18 years as the lady came out, starting to go in.

I thought, "No, I can't do that." So I let the door close and she looked at me and said, "What are you doing?" And I said, "I don't have a penny." And she said, "But I held the door open for you." I said, "I can't do that. That's dishonest." She must have thought I was absolutely crazy. And maybe I was.

But it was born in on me from the day I found Christ. To be truthful, to be honest, to be clean, to be holy. And when we do that, when we take off our shoes, when we stand on holy ground, when we think holy thoughts, when we behave holy, then we're going to win our battles. Then we're going to hear the instructions of the Lord. Then we're going to know what to do.

Guest (Male): Jill Briscoe on today's Telling the Truth. Before we go, we want to remind you that this month, when you give to support Telling the Truth broadcasts like this one, we'll send you Stuart and Jill Briscoe's five-message series, Fighting Unseen Forces. This powerful new series will help you stand strong in Christ and in the power of His Spirit against the enemy so you can live victoriously each day. Please request your series when you call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388 or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org.

We're so glad you listened to today's message and hope you've been encouraged. Join us next time as Stuart and Jill share more biblical truth to help you experience life. That's right here on Telling the Truth.