THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOSTS"
“THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOSTS”
(Joshua 5:13-15)
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday Evening Service, 12/26/10
Joshua 5: 13-15: And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand; and Joshua went to him, and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries? 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 to him, what says my Lord to his servant? And the Captain of the Lord’s Host said to Joshua. ‘Loose your shoe from off your foot; for the place whereon you stand is holy.’ And Joshua did so. And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. And you shall compass the city, all you men of war. And go round about the city once. This shall you do six days…”
Jesus Christ is the Captain of our salvation, the Head of the Church.
Eph. 1: 19-23: “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power; Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all.”
Heb. 2:10: “For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through sufferings.
“Captain” is from the Hebrew sar (strong’s #8269), which means “a head person (of any rank or class).” It is translated in the King James Version as “captain (that had rule), chief (captain), general, governor, keeper, Lord, prince, ruler steward.”
In the book, This Present Darkness by Frank E Peretti, when the Lord appears in the battle, he is identified as the General. He is the one who takes out the strongman. Joshua saw Him as “the captain of the Lord’s host,” the leader of all the armies of heaven and earth. Jesus is governor among the nations (Ps. 22:28) “For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He is the governor among the nations.”
Paul knew Him as the wisdom of God, by whom princes, nobles, and the judges of the earth rule. (Prov. 8:15, 1 Cor. 1:30) “But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” Isaiah described Jesus as the Captain of peace (Is. 9: 6-7) and prophesied of His day, “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment” (Is. 32:1; Rev. 19:16).
Jesus is not only our Savior; He also is our Lord and King (Lk. 2:11; Acts 2:36). Sons being brought to glory are under the command of General Jesus, the Captain of our salvation made perfect through sufferings. Like the early disciples, we are witnesses that Jesus is the Captain of life whom God has raised from the dead. (Acts 1:8; 3:15). Our Leader has been exalted to the right hand of God to give repentance and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31). The writer to the Hebrews admonished every believer to look unto Jesus “the author (Captain) and finisher of our faith”. (Heb. 12:2)
The Hosts of Heaven are daily in battle with the evil powers and principalities of satan. Jude admonishes the saints in verse 3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write to you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write to you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.” We must contend for the faith in worship, prayer, appropriation of the Blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. It is the power of praying saints that tip the balance.
In Revelation, the church at Ephesus had Nicolaitanes (who practiced immorality under the guise of spiritual freedom); the church at Smyrna had those worshiping who were of the synagogue of satan; the church at Pergamos had satan’s throne, and they followed the doctrine of Balaam; the church at Thyatira had Jezebel for a prophetess; the church at Sardis had it’s majority in spiritual defile-ment, just a few were faithful; the church at Philadelphia had those of the temple of the devil worshipping with them; the church at Laodicea was like the Pharisees in Matthew 15---they were wretched, poor, blind and naked. Now, if these churches, so soon after their establishment, were told to repent or else, imagine what the Spirit is saying to the ‘system” today? The “system” covers up and excuses what God does not excuse. The “system” hides its constituents, veiling their lives in robes of man’s righteousness, but God sees as no man will allow himself. He sees through the eyes that are not tainted with sin and death.
11 Peter 2:1 begins a message to the church from the man who completely left the “system”. Simon Peter speaks:
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who secretly will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
Notice Simon does not qualify his statement by saying, “There may appear, in your church, some of these folks.” Simon knew, by the spirit, that this is standard procedure for Satan’s invitation. Simon says many in the church will follow these false teachers. The people will be like so much merchandise to these deceivers (sold for a profit). He pictures these demons as natural brute beasts. They speak evil of stuff they don’t even understand. They shall receive the reward of the unrighteous, and so will those who follow them. (It does matter where you give your allegiance.) they prey on the weak. They promise liberty, while they are the servants of corruption.
This goes along with the dream I had last night of the large demon of corruption split wide open. I pulled his belly out of his inward parts.
11 Peter 2:21: “For it had been better for them not have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, tot urn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”
In Jude, verse 4, Jude continues Peter’s description of the “system” operatives. “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Jude says the “system” has planted persons trained (ordained) by satan, who have learned the craft from him, and the “system” embraces them while being unaware of their presence. This is a spiritual matter of discernment, and spiritual discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Few people are using this gift related to their religious affiliation.
Millions worship weekly in temples of the antichrist. Their system is compliant with the world’s economic and political system. Today, there are countries completely engulfed by these systems. Their governments are religious states, and the masses that adhere to their governance make themselves clear that Jesus is not their Lord.
While the Lord marked those who would escape the judgment, they mark those fit for judgment. System is system. While men look for the Antichrist, his system is in place, and it is his system that shall make its choice as to who it wishes for a spokesman. This is the system whose voice behind its scene is Leviathan. What difference will it make in the time of his appearance if the whole world has already bowed to the system? Denial in that hour will be useless, for those who track every move will have all the proof need to exclaim, “You are already a part of this thing.”
1 John 2:18 says: “Little children, it is the last time; and you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists by which we know that it is the last time.”
In verse 19, these antichrists were characterized as being a part of the “religious system”. they once fellowshipped with the saints, but in John’s day, they moved on.
1 John 2:19: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But you have unction from the Holy One, and you know all things.”
John warns that the action moves two directions. The fellowship of saints, filled with the Holy Spirit, had some invaders. Those invaders could not remain in the constant flow of the Holy spirit and the power of early church knowledge. By them leaving the fellowship, some saints questioned why they left. (I am sure they were, like Judas was to the disciples, completely integrated.) Their leaving caused a decline in number, and surely some friends were concerned. This is standard procedure as the Lord continues his sifting and weeding of His church. Had this occurred in recent times and in some churches, a membership committee would have gone to rescue them and bring them back into the fold. The committee might even have warned church leadership that their preachments would have to be changed so as to accommodate those who were offended.
In John’s fellowship, these people left the fellowship because the spiritual temperature was too high for their continuance. Where did they go? If you look around, you will see them in “systems”, in “obscurity” so they can move in and out of the system without drawing attention to their sin. You will see them because they wish to satisfy their hungering for God, but on their terms. They are writing books about their views, their counsel, and their way. Thousands are opening their minds and hearts to the teaching of their easy believism ministry. Their words sound good; their ministries look good because they want them to. Their base is one error, and it is the error of Balaam, whose adherents believed that there is room for everyone, repentant or not. Balaam and Balak backed a system of error. Their error demands that a new “way of thinking” must be formulated. They will claim that without their kind of revelation, it will be impossible to properly interpret the scripture. Here is what the Word says:
1 John 2:27: “But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no like and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him”
Some try to twist this scripture that the Body of Christ no longer needs the Office of the Teacher and Pastor. It simply means that we are able to discern by the anointing truth from error by our faithfulness to read and study the Word for ourselves.
John like any good pastor was always scanning the horizon with an eye for the wolf that might tear his beloved sheep. He says that our dependency is not based on vigilance so much as it is on a close walk with the Holy Spirit. He, who warned of the antichrist and whose epistles are the only place the name is mentioned, says there is a test---it is the test of the Spirit. He declares this is a contest between spirits: The Holy sprit versus the antichrist spirit. He says that this antichrist spirit is already in the world (1 John 4:3). Again, John mentions this spirit in 11 John 7:
“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ comes in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
The writer of Revelations knows his stuff. He is painting a picture of a polluted world. To deny Christ coming in the flesh is to deny the person and work of our Lord. Miracles, Atonement, Saving health, the Resurrection are all associated with His coming in the flesh. Yet there is one other factor that is at the heart of the matter. The deceivers deny that one can have this kind of intimate walk, intimate talk, intimate knowledge of Him and the Father.
His Person as Captain of the Hosts, Captain of our Salvation, Friend, Brother, Lover, Lord, Healer, Deliverer, Father, Creator, Governor; Prince of Peace; Husband, Pastor, Prophet, Priest and King is the greatest threat to the “system”. Everything manifested as antichrist is diametrically opposed to the Person of Jesus. To sleep with His touch, to awaken to His voice, to laugh and weep over the things He laughs and weeps about is a matter of person. (Those in the temple at Jerusalem wrestled with His person, for they could find no fault with Him.)
Revelation’s beast, harlot, and Babylon are all an intricate system under the authority of the spirit of antichrist. The plagues, the great judgments, the seemingly endless judgments that roll out to the earth come from the Temple. The Temple is where the Sons of God (i.e. Sons of Zadok), the Bride of Christ, the royal priesthood, the saints of God minister. It is from their ministry of prayer, intercession, and spiritual power that the “system” receives its judgment. It cannot tolerate that the sons exist let alone that they minister with Jesus, the Captain of the Hosts of Heaven. To deny the Lord is to continually deny the existence of the Sons; nonetheless, both are here to stay!
“And has made us unto our God a kingdom of priests, and we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:10) How will we reign? Through Faith, prayer, praise, worship, The Blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God with a pure heart and holy hands.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V. and Text used by permission from The Sons of Zadok by: Dr. C. R. Oliver; Understanding Types, Shadows and Names by: Kelly Varner