Gtcotr/ss030815
Give
the account of our Church suing a major oil company for 10 Billion, 800 Million
Dollars. (Deuteronomy 20:10-12)
The
story of Jericho, a very defensible city … and its fall.
Joshua 2:11 And as soon as we
heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more
courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in
heaven above and on earth beneath.
Joshua 5: 1 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on
the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were
by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from
before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart
melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of
Israel.
Joshua 6
1 Now Jericho was securely
shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.
2 And the LORD said to
Joshua: "See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and
the mighty men of valor.
16 And the seventh time it
happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout,
for the LORD has given you the city!”
For
6 days the Children of Israel marched around the city of Jericho without any
resistance. Each afternoon they returned to their camps and spent the night resting
up for tomorrow’s campaign. Not once during the whole event do we hear anything
about the army of Jericho or even one concerned citizen taking their chance to
throw a rock or shoot an arrow. Jericho with all its resources just sat there
defending itself by doing nothing. It is often the truth that, While we do nothing, nothing is getting done!
·
Defense
never wins the game – the very best defense can do is keep us from losing.
·
Defense
never scores a point, levels a target, makes a touchdown or takes a hill.
·
Defense
will keep us protecting the same ground over and over.
·
If
all we have is a good defense and never go on offense, we allow our enemies
time and opportunity to rest and resupply before each assault.
Sometimes
we don’t want to fight but neither do we want to lose. However, posturing
ourselves only to defend ourselves will keep us sitting in stalemate. Victory
will require us to take new ground.
The
Children of God were required to advance and engage their enemies in order take
the Promise Land. 40 years earlier Joshua told the Children of Israel these
very words: “Let us go at once and possess the land …”
The
4 leprous men of 2 Kings 7 made a decision to go out and face the Syrian Army
rather than do nothing about the situation they were in: They simply said: “Why sit we here until we die?”
That
giant Philistine warrior named Goliath taunted and threatened King Saul and the
whole army of Israel for 40 days making them afraid to fight until one young
shepherd boy named David decided enough was enough and ran towards the giant
with only a handful of rocks.
We
cannot defend ourselves against hell, we must choose heaven and prepare
ourselves, our families and friends to go there at all costs.
Three
Reasons People Lose The Battle Before The Fight
1.
They have no fight in them
a. Fearful; Timid;
Tired; or Ill Informed
2.
They are unprepared for the battle
a. Physically;
Mentally; or Spiritually unprepared for the battle
3.
They are on the wrong side
a. Don’t be deceived …
God has a position that He will defend
b. There is always
something you can do to please God
