Whose Side Are You On?

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PART 1

Joshua 5:13-15
13. When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”
14. “Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the LORD’s army.” At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”
15. The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.

Are You friend or foe?

This story of Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land used to baffle me.  Specifically that God gave Joshua directions to go conquer the land, and yet, does not say He is for us.  Then the Commander of the Lord’s Army appears with a sword in hand.  Joshua then asked a question; Are you friend or foe?  In the Amplified Bible it states it this way:

V13-14 And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? And He said, No [neither],

This was the confusing part, God tells Joshua to go and conquer Jericho and then He (Jesus) appears and when He was asked; “who is God for?”  Jesus answered neither!  I do not know about you but that would set me back a little if I were in Joshua’s shoes.  You would think if God told you to conquer the land, He would definitely be on your side!  Right?  NOT SO FAST!

After much meditation on this, the Spirit of God showed me what was happening here.  You see, Joshua asked the wrong question or made the wrong observation, the same as I did.  The question is not “Is God for us or for them.”  When it comes to God, the question should be; Whose side are YOU on?   This is a far more important question to ask!

Let me clarify a little more, actually, God just gave me a deeper revelation just as I am writing this. God has no favorites!  Romans 2:11: For God does not show favoritism. (NLT)  The correct question was;  “who was on God’s side?”  Jericho or Israel?

We can see that this was made VERY clear by Joshua’s REACTION.  Joshua showed that he understood what the Lord was saying to him by his response.

V 14 And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, What says my Lord to His servant?  

Jesus was not there to serve Joshua but to be served.  He was the Commander.  Joshua knew who was standing before him.  He fell down and worshipped.  Joshua would have never done this for any ordinary man, for the law states we shall not worship anyone but God.  Then Joshua because of his quick observation received something as great as Moses received. The next verse state this.

V15. And the Prince of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, Lose your shoes from off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. [as stated in Exod. 3:5. to Moses at the burning bush]   

When Joshua heard these words as he looked at the “Commander of the Lord’s Armies,”  he must have known these words from his great mentor Moses.  Moses must have shared the story of his meeting with the Eternal God and his experience 100’s of times.  NOW Joshua is hearing and seeing this same person who spoke those words to Moses.  This time God was in His human form, (Jesus) What a thrill for Joshua!  God had spoken to Joshua earlier in Chapter 1 of the book of Joshua but here was God, standing in his presence.  It is one thing to hear the voice of God but it is quite another thing for God to stand physically in front of you.

I know firsthand, I had the same pleasure on June 10, 1985.  Jesus appeared to me and saved me from my addictions and set me on a new path of serving Him.  Back to Joshua.

Joshua knew who was standing before him and he decided right there to bow in worship and declare his allegiance to the Lord.  He was on God’s side and he was God’s servant!

Another Example in the Book of Joshua

Earlier in Joshua 2, we read about Rahab, the prostitute.  She made the very same decision.  She decided to turn against her own people, her king and the city of Jericho to serve the Lord.  Even when the king questioned her and it could have cost her, her family, and the spies lives, she stayed faithful to the Lord.  Not only that, she did not even know the Lord!  She had only heard the stories of Eygpt and other conquests many years earlier. She decided no matter what, she would serve the Lord even though she was not an Israelite.  She decided to turn against the only world she knew and by faith serve the God of Israel.

God rewarded her by not only saving her and her family.  Rahab went on to be the great-grandmother of King David and was also in the genealogy of Jesus (The Gospel of Matthew.  Chapter 1:5)

 

PART 2

Personal Application

Studying American history, you will find that this question of (Whose side is God on?) comes up a lot.  There was no time in history that this question was asked more than in the Civil War.  The North and the South were brothers and were also filled with Christian leaders who were in charge.  Examples were the Northern leader Abraham Lincoln with Ulysses S. Grant as his right-hand man and then the Southern leaders of General Robert E Lee and General Stonewall Jackson, who were famous for their Christian leadership even though they actually opposed each other.  All had asked the same question;  Whose side was God on?  The answer was: Neither!  The answer was the same as it was for Joshua.

Another time in history was a time that greatly confused the nation of Israel.  The Messiah appears and is walking the land.  Soon the Jewish followers received a hard lesson in their experience with Jesus.  Was not the Messiah here for Israel and also here to destroy the yoke of bondage that was being applied by the Roman occupying army?  Jesus’ actions confused and infuriated the zealous Jews that were opposing Rome.  How could Jesus the Messiah, heal a Roman Centurions servant, speak to a Samaritan woman and cast demons out of the daughter of a greek woman?  How could He tell the Jewish followers to love their enemies and to carry their packs not the legal one mile, but two!  Whose side was the this Messiah on anyway?

We must have the understanding that God is for everyone!  We are all His children on this planet.  Today’s Christians are no different than those of old, even with all the cultural issues we face today.  Christians have in the back of our minds, of course, that God is for us!  After-all the Bible declares that!  If God is for us, who could be against us.  Right?  Once again the answer is neither!  Yes!  God is for you in your personal life but never at the expense of another person or their harm.

God is not for the Christian and against the homosexuals, drug addicts, dealers or even the liberal agenda.  God is so far above our petty policial and social issues that separate us as a people.  God has a far greater agenda then we could even begin to comprehend.

John 3:16 screams at us: FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD (not the Christians only) and to verify that, I John 2:2 states; And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only (Christians) but also for the whole world.

2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Whose side are you on?

When Joshua asked that question and got his answer, he responded correctly.  He completely understood the answer given by the Commander.  He then bowed and worshipped the King of Kings.  His response was; I am here to serve you, Lord!  I am at your command. 

I believe that most Christians reading this, would jump to say; “His will, not mine be done!”   We know this intellectually and theologically.  But our everyday actions might just prove otherwise.

 Christianity-Hedonism 

I believe so many will claim this until push comes to shove!  Our wants and desires against the Lords. Our desires to be happy and to be prosperous and enjoy the pleasure of the American dream at any cost.  So many of us are not into flagrant evil or sins but we as Americans have become extremely consumeristic and self-serving and drowning in materialism.  Even the church has an undercurrent of self-centeredness, self-serving ideas which are a brand of hedonism (the pursuit of pleasure, sensual self-indulgence).

How many times do we hear: I got to go to church and get my battery recharged!  or as one popular Christian song states:  I got to go get my worship on!  The acts of worship and going to church are not about us!  We are there corporately, to give thanks and to worship the King of this Universe.  The act of meeting for the church is all about HIM!  I do understand, when we do worship there is a wonderful kickback for us, but that is not it’s a primary function!  Taking time from our busy lives to worship and give thanks to God is the main reason for going to church.  Unfortunately, we have reduced God down to a spiritual blessing Santa Claus, who is here to serve us and our desires, and not vice versa!

What the church is really about, we throughout the window!  The equipping the saints for ministry.

 

PART 3

 

Ephesians 4:11-12: And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

Service

Where do we go to see these people or to have equipping time?  In Church!  But if you ever have been involved in a church, you will know in most churches that 10% of people serve and 90% are there as spectators, to get what they came for at that church.  Some come for the feeling it gives them, for a religious duty or tradition or any other reason people go to church.

If we study the dynamics and the statistics of those who do come, we can see it is not about serving God and/or His plan for this world.  Just watch when the Pastor asks for help in service and the running of the church.  The response is not good except for the 10% who you see in multiple areas of service in the church due to the lack of support.

How many of us have a God-given call on our lives but will not pursue it due to the fact it will cost us way too much, or how many have been called and then quit due to the price being too high.  I have witnessed this in Bible College.  In ten years, I saw the majority of those who were called to change the world quit ministry because of the many hardships that are involved.

  Finances

Another area is money and giving.  Studies show that only 2-3% give a tithe offering in most churches.  We know that where you sow your treasures, that is where your heart will be.  Sadly, many place their treasures in their own desires and in their toys. How many who claim to be Christians only tip their church or don’t even give a dime to global missions, but they can go on trips regularly, buy cars, motorcycles or boats and do home improvements.  They do very little if anything to spread the gospel in foreign countries and foreign missions.

Our Time

How can we claim to be Christians, when the only time we have anything to do with God is on Sunday, while the rest of the week is for ourselves, to serve our own wills, our own desires, and goals? How many have a regular daily devotional time or Bible time?  When do we actually spend time with God?  When do we seek Him, to try and know Him and search His plan for our lives?  We see these “Christians” on Sunday, but who do they serve from Monday to Saturday?
So I will leave you with this question:
Whose side are you on?  Who do you serve?  Is God here to serve you or are you here to serve Him? 
I personally believe that in these “last days,” we as Christians, need to step back, reevaluate and see who serves who in this thing we call Christianity?  Like I have said before, many of us are not into evil or active flagrant sins but we have an undercurrent that says this is about accomplishing my will,  my personal goals and success, and it is not about us serving Him and accomplishing His will for the planet and our own life.
The final results
Do a Google search and you will see that between 6000-10,000 churches in the United States close every year.  Most of the Christian money in the World is in the U.S and of that only 2-3 % is given to the work of the Gospel.  The United States has moved into a Post Christian nation which is rapidly joining the rest of the world.
Today we have more money, more T.V., and more satellites to spread the Gospel than at any other time in history.  However, look at the statistics in every area of Christianity and it is pitiful.  We are failing miserably.  It Is easy to see.  If 95% of all God’s money is in the United States and His people only give 2-3% back…that means we are spending over 90% of God’s money on ourselves.
Have you ever wondered what God thinks about that?  Read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14.  A man gave one of his servants 5 talents, then another 2 talents and then the final servant 1 talent.  Now, jump down to verse 24 and you will see that one of the servants only gave back the one talent he was entrusted with.  The master did not even get the interest on his money.
What do you think God will say when He returns and asks His servants today what they did with His money?  Read the reaction of the master to the servant who made excuses and hands him back his 1 talent.  What do you think God will say to us when he takes account and we say thanks Lord, I took a great vacation with your money.  Or better yet, thank you, Lord, how do you like my new house and new cars?  Lord, don’t you believe we made a good investment with your money?
The United States has become a Post-Christian nation.  We have joined the rest of the world.  Just look at England and the rest of Europe, where once the Gospel was powerful.  So I ask you again WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

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