Joshua 10

VERSES 1-3.-It is remarkable now that the king of Jerusalem is awakened-the central place. It is not now the nations waiting for the people to subdue them, but it is opposition; they provoke them to battle.
Verse 4.-See how the people are connected with Gibeon now.
Verses 6-8.-It is interesting to mark the purpose of God, and to see how He delights to succor. Of course this must not be read as a book of war, but as a, moral thing; it is possession of heaven. I have failed now, but this failure is turned to blessing. God says, Do not be afraid; I will give it all into your hand. For the possession of heaven we must have a heavenly man. And a heavenly man is a man sustained by God, supported by heavenly streams, heavenly things; even the manna came down from heaven: " Man did eat angel's food; " a man who is superior to all the varieties of things down here. " The Son of man who is in heaven;" He never lost His heavenly character though He was on earth.
Verses 13, 14.-You see God was determined to destroy them: the day is not to close until possession is obtained. What a wonderful thing! Gibeon was a trap for the rest of the inhabitants now. And it was from Jerusalem the opposition emanated; it was from the head. It was one great effort of the enemy in connection with Gibeon.
It is a grand day when you are a perfectly heavenly man! God says, I-will not let the sun go down until it happens. It is the greatest day in one's life when one is put in divine power superior to everything here. People say, I do not set up for being heavenly, making this an excuse for not being so. But I say, you are heavenly; it is what you are called to. The character of the heavenly man is that he is superior to every man who is not for God; he is to treat them all as dead; and if he be dead himself no one can hurt him.
The thing is, Are you set for being a heavenly man? It, is a great difference as to whether you are trying to get out of the world or trying to get on in it. That is the question to decide. It Makes a wonderful difference to a man which he is doing. Associations grow upon you; you often cannot tell why- you do a thing. People generally give two excuses for themselves in worldliness; one is that they are used to certain things; the other, that they can afford them.
I think it is a very good thing for a person to be honest, and to say: I take the ground of a heavenly man. I may have exposed myself to the sneers of people for making a profession I so little maintain, but still I do make this profession, and I do seek to maintain it. " Hold fast the profession of your hope without wavering." It is your calling. You cannot go back from it, and try to evade the responsibility of it by refusing to accept it. Lot might say he was not a pilgrim nor a stranger; but he came out on that ground, and in the end he was reduced to it, and miserably too. I am sure that in the long run the one who is set upon heaven gets on the best here; and even if I were in prison, I should have the Lord with me.