(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Amen, Joshua chapter five. So we're finally across the Jordan River in Joshua chapter five, I've preached on, it's a short chapter here, I've preached already on most of the, about the first half of this chapter, so the sermon tonight is gonna focus heavily on the last part of Joshua chapter five, but we can go ahead and just step through verse by verse, even at the beginning of Joshua chapter five in verse number one, so they've crossed the Jordan, God parted the rivers, and everybody walked through, and then the priests came out and the rivers came back down, of course they set up a monument of 12 stones in the midst, in the middle of the river, and then they set up a monument of the 12 stones that each man of the tribes of Israel took out of the river, and they set that up in Gilgal. Now in Joshua chapter five in verse number one, the Bible says, now they're in the promised land, and it came to pass when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was their spirit in them anymore because of the children of Israel. So basically, what this is saying here, that the westward people, even beyond Jericho, even all the way to the sea, have now heard of this event, and they are terrified of the children of Israel, and we will get to the significance of that a little bit later, but basically, this is not something that has just gone unnoticed. Here the Israelites have come across the river, and they're on their way to Jericho, but everybody has heard of this at this point. Verse number two, and the Lord said unto Joshua, make these sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. Meaning, this is what we've talked about last week, that basically, or the week before, the children were not circumcised as their parents were as they came out of Egypt, and this is when that happens. This is God setting apart his people, God showing that separation of his people, it's symbolic of that, and then in the next few verses, and Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins, and this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise. All the people that came out of Egypt that were males, all the men of war died in the wilderness, by the way, after they came out of Egypt. So of course they're all dead, the people that came out of Egypt. Now all the people that came out were circumcised, but all the people that were born in the wilderness, by the way, as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness to all the people that were men of war which came out of Egypt were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord. This was the spies that were afraid, and had no faith in God, we've talked about this, and tell whom the Lord swear that he would not show them the land which the Lord swear unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. And their children whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised. So these are the children now, for they were uncircumcised, and they had not circumcised them, by the way, in the wilderness, meaning verse number eight. And it came to pass when they had done circumcising all the people that they abode in their places in the camp till they were whole, till they were healed. And the Lord said unto Joshua, this day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you, where the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month that even in the plains of Jericho. So here they are on the side, they're right next to Jericho in this place called Gilgal, they've all been circumcised. Gilgal is actually kind of a, it holds a special place in the Bible, just a couple interesting things. Turn to First Samuel chapter 13. First Samuel chapter 13. This is where Saul actually, Saul was actually told to go to Gilgal by Samuel. Gilgal holds a special religious significance to the children of Israel. When Saul, the first king of Israel, was crowned king, Samuel told him to go to Gilgal, and that's actually where Saul ended up losing the kingdom. So we saw last week that Saul actually, he didn't destroy the army that he was supposed to destroy, he kept the livestock and things like that, but Saul actually lost the kingdom before that. But the Bible says that in First Samuel chapter 13, that that's where Saul actually really first upset the Lord, where the Lord said, you're not gonna be the king. Look at First Samuel chapter 13 and verse number eight. The Bible says, and he tarried seven days according to the set time that Samuel had appointed, but Samuel came not to Gilgal. So here they are, they're waiting at Gilgal for Samuel so he can come and do the sacrifice, and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, bring hither a burnt offering to me and peace offerings, and he offered the burnt offering. So the priest didn't show up, and Saul just took things into his own hands, and he just did the sacrifice himself. And then Samuel said in verse 11, what has thou done when he showed up? Saul said, because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou cannot come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash. Therefore I said, the Philistines will come down upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord. I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. Verse 13, and Samuel said to Saul, thou hast done foolishly. Thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee, for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue. And then he goes on to say that he's chosen, a man after his own heart, which was David. So, I mean, Gilgal has some significance. That's all I'm saying here, and they actually, it ended up being a place where Saul ended up losing the kingdom of Israel as the first king. Turn and look at verse number 11 of Joshua chapter five. Verse number 11 of Joshua chapter five. So they kept the Passover, and then something significant happens when they keep the Passover as well. It says they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn in the self same day. Turn to Exodus chapter 13. So the significant thing here is, and if you're reading the Bible, you maybe have forgotten that at this point, God was still feeding them manna every single day. God was still providing for their daily sustenance as he started doing in Exodus chapter 16. And this is the first time that they actually ate of the land that they were in. Look at Exodus 16 and verse 31. And the Bible says, and the house of Israel called the name thereof manna. And it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. So of course they were complaining that they were all gonna die. It's like, what did you bring us out here just to die? And Moses said, this is the thing with the Lord command us, fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations, your families, that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, take a pot and put an omer full of manna therein to lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept. This is another monument, another memorial. And the children of Israel did eat manna 40 years. Until they came to the land inhabited, they did eat manna. Until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. So this is the point right here where they stopped eating manna and they started eating of the fruit of the land. Look at verse number 12 of Joshua chapter five. So now they're eating, God is not providing the manna, they're eating of the land, they're moving into the land. And the Bible says in verse 12, and the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land. Neither had the children of Israel manna anymore, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. So a lot of these things up to this point, I've mentioned in Joshua chapter four, you know, the circumcision, God separating his people, the memorials that they set up in Gilgal, the significance of Gilgal, God wanting his people. You know, it was a symbol. As the people came into the land of all these heathen, not only was there gonna be battles, but there's danger that they would mix with the people of the land. And God is showing that he wants them to be separate. Now we get into a very significant event in Joshua chapter five, which is gonna be the main focus of the sermon this evening. Look at verse number 13. Now something happens, something significant happens to Joshua here, and look at what the Bible says in verse 13. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him and said unto him, art thou for us or for our adversaries? So here Joshua sees a man standing there with a sword, and he says, are you with us or against us? Basically is what he says to this man. Verse 14, and he said, nay. But as captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto him, what sayeth my Lord unto his servant? So first of all, I'm not gonna talk about this tonight, but did this guy really answer the question? He didn't really answer the question. Basically, Joshua went up to this man, and we're gonna talk about for the next several minutes who this man was, and the Bible says that Joshua says, are you for us or for our adversaries? Are you for us or for our enemies? And he says, no, I'm the captain of the army of the Lord, basically is what he says, okay, and I'm paraphrasing, but he says, I am the captain of the host, host meaning the army of the Lord, am I now come. So he basically says, you know, I mean, he says, listen, you don't understand, this is who I am. Okay, he doesn't say I'm for you, he doesn't say I'm against you. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto him, what sayeth my Lord unto his servant? So look at verse 15, and the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off thy foot for the place wherein thou standest is holy, and Joshua did so. So first of all, I wanna look at who was this? Okay, let me, before I get into this, let me just say this. I'm gonna give you a case tonight for who this was, okay? Now, one thing that I hope that you all understand about me and from the preaching over the last year and a half is I am very aware when the Bible says something and when it doesn't, okay? And, you know, I am going to go and I'm gonna show you a case for why I believe, why I believe who this is, okay? But the Bible does not say this is who this is, okay? So that's very important that we realize, you know, that, you know, the Bible says specific things in specific places, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you kinda have to piece things together, and I hope I can do that for you this evening, but let me just say that, you know, a lot of people have, you know, different opinions about, you know, this, what I'm about to tell you, okay? So, but I, you know, I think I'm pretty clear on it, and I'm gonna show you why, but first of all, let's look at who this was. Let's look at the case of who this man was standing in front of Joshua. First of all, turn to Exodus chapter three. A similar event happened with Moses, okay? A very similar event happened with Moses. If you know anything about God from reading the Bible, God likes to, you know, do things the same way, again and again. You'll see God repeat patterns again and again in the Bible. It would make sense that something that happened with Moses would also happen with Joshua, the man that God chose to replace Moses. Moses wasn't, Joshua, excuse me, he wasn't chosen by the people. He was chosen by God to leave the people after Moses was gone. So something happens to Moses we're gonna look at, and it's a very similar event, and I'll point out those similarities for you. Another reason, by the way, you need to have a King James Bible, because these words in the Bible and these things that happen are very specific, and it's important that we don't change the words of the Bible, or it could end up meaning something very different. Look at Exodus chapter three in verse number one. Now Moses, this is before, this is Moses getting called by the burning bush, if you remember that. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. So Moses had left, he wasn't in Egypt, he was just kinda living life with his father-in-law, kinda being a shepherd, a goat herder, right, or whatever. You know, he kept a sheep herder. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and a flame out of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. So here he's seeing, you know, kind of a miracle. He sees this bush that's on fire, but it's just a flame and it's not burning up the bush. He knows something significant has happened here, and he says, and Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burnt. He's like, I'm gonna check this out a little bit further. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush. So God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here I am. And he said, draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standeth is holy ground. Does that sound familiar? So basically the same thing that, almost exactly the same thing that the man talking to Joshua said to Joshua was said to Moses by God himself. So God told Moses, he said, don't come any closer, but take off your shoes because where you're standing is holy. And that's very similar to what the man standing in front of Joshua said to him. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God. So we see that God spoke out of the fire, out of the burning bush to Moses and God, turn to Exodus chapter 33. And Moses was afraid. Moses was afraid, why? He was afraid because he knew this was God speaking to him and he was afraid to look at God. And it's interesting that God said, don't come any closer, don't come any closer. And he was afraid to look at God because he knew that anybody that would look upon God would die. And look at Exodus chapter 33 in verse number 20. The same thing God says to Moses later on in his life. And he said, thou canst not see my face. This is God talking to Moses. For there shall no man see me and live. This is God the father talking to Moses. And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me and thou shalt stand upon a rock and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by that I will put thee in a cliff of the rock and I will cover thee with my hand while I pass by and I will take away my hand and thou shall see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. So this is God the father talking to Moses saying, you can't look upon me or you'll die. Moses knew this back in Exodus chapter three. This must have been something that was commonly known amongst people because Moses knew in Exodus chapter three. He was worried about it then and he was right because God said, I'm gonna walk by you and I'm gonna allow you to see my back, he said. And he covered up Moses's face as he walked by and Moses saw the back of God, but he couldn't see his face or he would die. So what do we know so far? We know that both the person in Exodus chapter three that talked to Moses out of the bush and the person that talked to Joshua in Joshua chapter five, we know that they both said, take your shoes off because this is holy ground. And we know that the person that talked to Moses was God because the Bible tells us that that was God that spoke to him out of the fire, out of the burning bush. But we know that this could not be God the father standing in front of Joshua, why? Because no one can look at God the father and live because you will die if you look at God the father. So we know it wasn't God the father. Okay, look back at verse 14 of Joshua chapter five. There's more evidence here. So, you know, this guy is God. I think we can make and come to that conclusion at this point that, you know, the pattern matches God. And he said in verse 14, he said, nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship. So number one, there's more evidence that he is God because angels are not to be worshiped. And said unto him, what sayeth my Lord unto his servant? So first of all, he called him Lord capital L. But I mean, just the fact that he did worship him. And this man said, I am captain of the host of the Lord. So we know that this guy is deity. And we know that he's the captain of God's army. And we know that he's not God the father. Otherwise Joshua would be dead. But look, you know, we'll talk about what he said here next week, but he just says, I'm captain of the host of the Lord. So the question is, who is the captain of the host of the Lord? That's the question. Turn to Revelation chapter 19. Turn to Revelation chapter 19. Who is the captain of God's army is the question. Okay, his man is standing there, he is holding a sword. Joshua falls down to worship him, falls down on his knees to worship him. And you know, he says, I'm captain of God's army. Look at Revelation chapter 19. And look at verse number 11. Revelation chapter 19 in verse number 11. This of course speaking about end times, the whole book of Revelation. And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness, he doth judge and make war. You see that? He does what? He judges and he makes war. 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. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. And his name is called the word of God. Well, we know who that is. 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 shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Turn to Revelation chapter 17, just a couple chapters back. So here we see this man, we know it's the word of God, we know who that is. But he's also called King of kings and Lord of lords. And he's the him that judges and makes war. Turn to Revelation 17, look at verse 14. Again, these shall make war with the lamb and the lamb shall overcome them. For he is Lord of lords and King of kings. And they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful. Turn to first Timothy chapter six. So we see that he is Lord of lords, King of kings, he's the lamb, he's the word of God. First Timothy chapter six, look at verse 15. First Timothy chapter six and verse number 15. And the Bible says, which in his times he shall show who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Revelation chapter one, verse number 14. And again, speaking of Jesus Christ, again, in Revelation chapter one and verse number 14, the Bible says his head and his hairs were like wool and white as snow and his eyes were as a flame of fire. The same as in Revelation chapter 19. The point is, is that Jesus Christ is going to lead God's army in Revelation. This is who we are talking about here. His feet were like undefined water His feet were like undefined brass as if they burned in a furnace and his voice as the sound of many waters. Now look at verse number 16 of Joshua chapter five. No, I'm sorry, verse 16 of Revelation chapter one. And he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. Joshua, I believe, it is pretty clear in the Bible was speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the captain of God's army. And that is who Joshua, this is an Old Testament appearance as there's others as well of Jesus Christ himself. Now look, why did God appear? Why did God appear to Joshua is the question. Well, first of all, Joshua feared the Lord here. As soon as Joshua was standing in front of the Lord here, he feared him. Everything that we see, look, everything that we see in scripture about Jesus in his glorified state is a terrifying sight. Every single thing that you see about Jesus in scripture in his glorified state after, you know, not in his state as a man on this earth is terrifying. So whatever this man looked like, you know, and I'm not saying that this man, I don't know what he looked like, but whatever he looked like, Joshua dropped to his knees. Whatever this man looked at, look, look at Philippians chapter two. And as a matter of fact, just some more evidence here, some more evidence, look at Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. Here's some more evidence of who Joshua was talking to. Look at Philippians chapter two and look at verse number five. The Bible says, let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. This is Jesus Christ, this is the word becoming flesh. This was Jesus upon this earth and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath mightily exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of all things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth. So look, this is more evidence that this was Jesus Christ himself, is that Joshua, look, was Joshua somebody that would be intimidated by, I mean, there's a reason we studied Joshua and the type of person he was. Do you think if this was just some big strong guy that Joshua would just be intimidated by some big strong guy with a sword? Joshua knew who this was and he hit his knees. And the Bible says in Philippians 2 that every knee shall bow to Jesus Christ. Look, even the most ardent atheist will bow to Jesus Christ. I mean, look what the Bible says in verse number 10. It says every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in the earth, every man on earth will bow to Jesus Christ. Every knee, even the most, I mean, look, even things under the earth, even the people in hell will bow to Jesus Christ. Look, every knee shall bow to Jesus Christ. Even the most radical scientist out there that you say that guy will never believe in Jesus, even his knee will bow. Turn to Luke chapter 16. You say, how is that possible? How could that happen? Turn to Luke chapter 16. I'll show you exactly how it's gonna happen. Turn to Luke chapter 16. How in the world could even somebody who dies as an atheist goes to hell, how could they end up bowing before Jesus? Look at Luke chapter 16 in verse number 19. Look, this idea, this person of Jesus that we see in the Bible is, I just wanna get this across to you, every single time you read about Jesus in the Bible after he has left this earth is a very serious sight. He's leading an army, his eyes are flames of fire, his hair is white as wool, his vesture, his clothing is dipped in blood. I mean, that is a serious, serious situation. Now look, look at Luke chapter 16 in verse number 19. How in the world could every single knee bow? How could that be true in the Bible? Well, every word of the Bible is true. So I'll show you how that's gonna happen. Look at verse 19. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores. So we have a rich man and a poor man that is at the gate and he's sick and he's got sores, he's at the gate of this rich man, verse 21. In desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. That's heaven. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. So this rich man dies. This rich man, in this story in the Bible of this rich man and this poor man, this rich man dies and right away he wakes up in hell. Right away. He doesn't sleep for a year or a week or whatever or till the end of the world, he right away lifts up his eyes and he's in torments in hell. And not only is he in hell, but he's able to see heaven afar off. He's able to see heaven. Now guess who's in heaven? Guess who's in heaven? Jesus is in heaven. Okay now look, I don't know what you can see when you're in hell. I'm never gonna know. Okay, but the point is this. Once you wake up, no matter what you believed in this life, if you didn't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you die, you are gonna wake up in hell. You're gonna wake up in hell and right at that moment, you're gonna know you were wrong. And then, and then when the end times come and all the things in Revelation play out, turn to Revelation chapter 20. And then we have the thousand year reign of Christ. Because Christ is gonna rule and reign, and we're gonna rule and reign with him by the way, on this earth. Revelation chapter 20 and look at verse number 11. After that happens, you say after the end times, after that thousand years happens, this is what's gonna take place. So think of somebody who died yesterday and wasn't saved and woke up in hell. They're gonna be in hell all the way up to this point right here. Look at verse number 11. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things, which were written in the books according to their works. Look, if you die unsaved, if you die unsaved and you go to hell, at some point, you are going to be brought out of hell and you're gonna be judged according to the works in your life. Look, I'm not gonna be judged by my works, thank God. If you're saved, you're not gonna be judged by your works, you're gonna be rewarded by your works. And look, if you have no works, you're gonna suffer loss, but you're still saved. But you're gonna be judged by your works, the Bible says in Revelation chapter 20. Look at verse number 13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. This is the people coming out of hell. And they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, this is the second death. And as soon as all those people are judged, it's all thrown into the lake of fire. So look, imagine this picture. These people, these people have been in hell for a thousand years at least. If the millennial reign starts tomorrow, which we know it's not going to, these people will have been in hell at that point for a thousand years. Turn to John chapter five. You say, who's sitting on the throne? Turn to John chapter five. Look at John chapter five. They've been in hell for a thousand years and they get out. And now they're standing before the king, the ruler, the one who has the power to do whatever. And they know so. Look at John chapter five and verse number 22. For the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son. Verse 27, now verse 26. For as the father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the son of man. So people, look, people will be brought out of hell, momentarily, to be judged by their works, according to the books, which is the Bible. They're not in the book of life. That book's not gonna help them. They're gonna be judged according to their works. Their works are gonna be put up against the Bible itself, against the law. They're gonna stand before Jesus Christ and he's gonna judge them. And you better believe, after they've been in hell for a thousand years or more, that they're gonna bow down. They're gonna be begging Jesus Christ. Every knee shall bow, especially the ones that didn't believe him on this earth. Especially those knees. And look, here's the thing, but at that point, it will not matter. It doesn't say every knee shall bow and then everyone goes to heaven. It says every knee shall bow. Before Jesus, just as Joshua did. So you say, I mean, this is all very serious. I mean, isn't this all very serious? I mean, you say, this is terrifying to think about this. We all know unsaved people. This is gonna happen to them. It doesn't make me happy to say that. I mean, I wish everybody would be saved. But, I mean, I'm glad I'm saved. I'm glad I'm covered in the blood of Christ. I mean, this Jesus, this judge of the universe, is somebody you don't wanna be on the wrong side of. But I wanna tell you, you know, this evening, as we look at who Jesus is and who was standing in front of Joshua, that there's an agenda to change Jesus today. You think about this man that Joshua ran into. We know the kind of man that Joshua is. We see that Joshua falls on his face. But look, Joshua had a fear for the Lord. A genuine, terrifying fear of God. Look, the men in the Bible, the saved men in the Bible, they were terrified of God. Turn to Psalm chapter 47. Turn to Psalm chapter 47. I mean, you say, oh, I think fear means respect. No, they were terrified of God. They were afraid of God. You should be afraid of God. You're like, but I'm saved. But you should fear the Lord. Saved men were terrified of God. The Bible says in Psalm 47 verse two, it says, for the Lord most high is terrible. He is a great king over all the earth. It doesn't mean terrible like bad. It means terrible like terrifying. That's what it means. It means terrifying. It's like the Lord is terrifying. You want to be on the right side of the Lord. I mean, that goes to why he didn't answer Joshua's question. Look, if you're on the right side of the Lord, that's a great and wonderful thing. If you're not, it's terrible. Because the Lord is terrifying. But you know, here's the thing. This terrible fear of the Lord, we see none of this today. Why is that? I mean, why? I mean, it didn't used to be like this. We see none of this today. Most of you in this room, I think most all of you in this room are soul winners. Do you see fear of the Lord when you're out soul winning? Why are men, why are we not coming to the door of people's houses with a Bible in our hands saying would you like to know how to get to heaven and people not just dropping in front of us saying, what must I do to be saved? Because this is a terrible situation that I'm in. But they don't because they have no fear of the Lord. But they should be asking that. They should be begging to know how to get out of this situation because they're on the wrong side of the Lord. The wrath of this terrible God is upon them. You know, for some reason lately, I don't know between talking to the guys and talking to my kids and talking to my wife and my wife talking to the ladies of the church, this idea of Sunday school has popped up like 17,000 times in the last five weeks. And you know what? Our children's church. This idea has popped up and you know what? There's an agenda today, folks. There's an agenda to change Jesus. There is an agenda to cancel this fear of the Lord amongst the people. Amongst what people? All the people. Even the unsaved people of Jericho were afraid. They were afraid. Rahab said they just, they faint because of you. They were afraid of the people and they were afraid of this God that was with these people. They were terrified. They weren't saved. Look, Satan has an agenda today to take away this fear from the people and it's crept into churches. It's crept into churches. You know we're like the only show in town that doesn't have Sunday school or children's church? It's kind of surprising for people to hear that. You know what I did? I went and I actually looked up like Sunday school lessons. I just looked up like Sunday school lessons with Jesus. And look, I'm gonna, I'll just, look, fear leads to salvation, okay? Fear leads to salvation. It is a prerequisite. Like you can't take calculus until you know how to do algebra. You have to be really good at algebra before you can even start calculus. And you have to take calculus one before you can take calculus two and two before three and three before four and all of this. Look, it's a prerequisite. You must be afraid of God before you can get saved. Every single saved person in this room had fear that they would go to hell. Had fear of the Lord. Now you ask me something. When you teach kids, and we talked about Jesus tonight, and you teach kids, kids, let's talk about Jesus. Go ahead and laugh because it's not Jesus. Kids, kids, let's talk about Jesus. I'm serious. These are like the first ones that popped up. We could do this all night long. Here's even a better one. Kids, remember when Jesus came into Jerusalem as a king and they were laying palm in front of him? I mean, are you kidding me? He's like sitting like side saddle like a woman on a donkey that's like a third his size. Look, it's making a joke of who Jesus is. I mean, what? I mean, could you do a better, I mean, a bigger disservice to our children? I mean, just teach them Santa Claus. It's the same thing. Because that has nothing to do with who Jesus is. Nothing. It's turning the Bible into a cartoon. And they're like, then you know what happens? And everyone's like, I don't know why kids don't stay in church. It's because they realize they grow up and they're like, oh, remember when we used to go to that cartoon place and they taught us the cartoons? That's exactly what happens. I know people that that's happened to. That's why 80% of kids that grow up in the church don't end up staying in the church because they've been taught cartoon Jesus. You know what, when you grow up you don't watch cartoons anymore. Even worldly kids. Turn to Proverbs chapter one. Fear leads to salvation. If you don't have it, you can't be saved. Turn to Proverbs chapter one. You say why, I'll show you why. Turn to Proverbs chapter one. Psalms and then the book of Proverbs. Psalms right in the middle of your Bible and then the very next book over is Proverbs. Proverbs chapter one. Look at verse number seven. Verse number seven of Proverbs chapter one. The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. So there's two things it says here. It says fear of the Lord is the beginning. Like knowledge can't start. There is no beginning to knowledge if you don't fear the Lord. You're not gonna accept the gospel. You're not even gonna start listening to the gospel unless you fear the Lord. I mean why would you? It's not even logical. If you don't have any fear of the Lord, why would I have any interest in someone coming and talking to me about how to not be judged by this Lord that I have no fear in? It's logical. And then it says look if you don't have, if you don't have the fear of the Lord, you're not gonna want knowledge. And by the way, fools despise wisdom and instruction. So if you don't have fear of the Lord, you're a fool. But here's the thing. This stuff, these cartoons, what it is, look it's brilliant, it's brilliant. It's a preemptive attack on the gospel is what it is. That's what Sunday school is. It's a preemptive attack on the gospel. Let's dumb down the Bible. Let's make the Bible a joke. Let's make the Bible a joke to kids so they grow up as an adult and they think back. They think back as adults on those lessons they were taught as children. I do that. You're looking at somebody who went to Sunday school his whole life. And look, I was somebody who when I was a teenager was sitting there thinking like I don't, it doesn't seem like this is a cartoon to me. I had a New King James Bible. And I read that New King James Bible and I read those stories in that New King James Bible. And even in that New King James Bible, I sat there and I read those stories and I'm like, it doesn't seem like this is a precious moments cartoon character right here. It seems more serious than what's happening. You know what I mean? How can you miss that if you're wanting to know what the truth is? Look, you will not fear the Lord. You will have no interest in wisdom and instruction. And look, you have no chance at salvation. There can be no salvation without the fear of the Lord. Turn to Proverbs chapter 14. Look, isn't that what we see today? Isn't that why we go to the door and these people, we see these people with this attitude like, you're not teaching me anything, buddy. Don't we see that? Don't we see that especially people that go to churches? They say, no, no, no. I mean, they're as unsaved as somebody who's never been in a church before. More unsaved because they got all this pride. And they sit there and they have this attitude, you're not teaching me anything, buddy. Look at Proverbs 14 verse 27. You say, I don't know, are you really saying that you have to have the fear of the Lord to be saved? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Look at Proverbs 14, 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. Proverbs 20, or Psalm 25, 14, I'll just read it for you. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him and He will show them His covenant. Look, the fear of the Lord is the fountain of life because it leads you to the gospel and look, everyone who has gotten saved has believed the gospel had this. And it's Satan's agenda to take it away from people before it gets to this point. Where somebody, they want that fear of the Lord taken away, it's a preemptive attack before we even get to the door. I mean, it's smart, it's a smart game he's playing. You look, it's through Sunday school, it's through this liberal Christianity. Not only do they teach it in Sunday school, now they're teaching this joke Jesus to the adults too. And the adults are like, oh. You know, and then the sermons and the preaching, it matches cartoon Jesus. They're creating a fake God. A cartoon God, that's what they're doing. That's why they also have false gospels. Because I mean, they don't need it anyway. None of the people would believe it in the first place. Because you believe a cartoon God and you have no fear of the Lord, you're not gonna believe the gospel. Look, it's sending people to hell. It's very serious. Don't let people tell you, oh, why don't you have, look, because Sunday school's sending people to hell, that's why. I mean, think of science. Just explaining away God, all these people that spend their whole life just explaining away God. You think there's fear of God there? I mean, what in the world? I mean, you sit here and you listen to these scientists and you listen to these super smart people amongst us. And I hear them talk and I'm afraid for them. I mean, you hear them say things and I'm afraid for them. I mean, look, if you don't believe in God, why would you be insulting to God? Why would you be insulting to something you don't believe in? But they're just insulting to God, they're insulting to God's people. Look, here's Stephen Hawking's final words. He wrote a book that was published after his death by his family. You want me to define irony for you, I'll do it here in a second. But look, here's his final words via a book that was published after his death on this earth. There is no God. No one directs the universe. That was the conclusion of celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking, whose final book was published after his death. And it was completed after his family and it presents answers to the questions that Hawking said he received most during his time on earth. And his biggest one was there is no God, no one directs the universe. Now the irony is that at the publishing of those words, he believed in Jesus. When that book was published, Stephen Hawking believed in Jesus and he believed in Jesus, he believes in Jesus now. He's already changed his mind. Turn to Psalm chapter 147. He never even knew, you know what? He never even knew. I mean, I listen to like videos of him giving speeches and lectures and I'm just shocked that people can listen to this. He didn't even know how many stars were in the galaxy. You say, well, who would know that? Well, I mean, he claimed to be so smart. He estimated the stars in the galaxy were between one billion and 300 billion. Well, you know what, sign me up for that job. Well, I can miss by 299 billion and people still worship me and want me to come speak for them. He had no clue how many stars were in the galaxy. He had no clue about what created the galaxy. All he had was stupid theories that, I mean, it shocks me that a five-year-old would listen to, to be honest. Look at Psalm chapter 147. Here's the God that, you know, maybe he should have listened to the God that he insulted so much because God seems to know. Look at Psalm 147 in verse number four. It says, he telleth the number of the stars, but there's more. The Bible says that God knows how many stars there are. He was trying to, Stephen Hawking was trying to estimate the number of stars in one galaxy, in our galaxy. Nobody knows how many galaxies are out there. They can't even tell you how many galaxies are out there that contain billions or whatever, however many million stars, but God knows. It says he telleth the number of the stars, and he calleth them all by their names. He not only knows how many there are, he named them all. But there is no God. No one directs the universe. Look, every knee shall bow. Joshua stood before Jesus Christ, and he bowed his knee. And he bowed down to Jesus. And even the most ardent atheist, even the most wicked reprobate will do the same at some point. But look, the devil has an agenda today. The devil knows this. The devil knows this, and the devil wants, Satan wants as many people as possible to bow that knee at that great white throne. He knows exactly what's gonna happen. He's trying to drag as many people as he can with him, because he's going to the same place, and he knows it. Every knee will bow. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.