Concord Church

"You Have To Trust Process"

 

Am I At War?

A Member's Synopsis of Pastor's Sermons on Joshua.

On February 19 and 22, 2015, Pastor Stan Harris covered Joshua 5:13-15.

Have you said to yourself or thought to yourself the following?

  1. I just can’t win

  2. I am fighting a losing battle

  3. I won’t fight because it is a lost cause.

     

Joshua teaches us that we are at war (Christians today) are in Spiritual Warfare. Why is this you may ask yourself?  As Peter (I Peter 5:8) tells the Body of Christ to be sober [Be alert and of Sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.]

So what do we do?  The Bad news is that the Bible teaches us that we cannot win the battle.  We simply do not have the power to win.  However, the GOOD NEWS is that the battle has already been one. What does Joshua teach us about the battle?  Joshua 5:13-15 says

 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord[a] have for his servant?”

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 so.

Joshua asked “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”  Joshua was advised that the man standing before him was the Commander of the Lord’s army. We must pay special attention to what Joshua did next.  He fell to his knees (surrender and submission).  To be successful in GOD’s army, we must first surrender to him.

As Peter reminds us to be sober, Christians must know that they have been ‘called’ by GOD.  For the mere fact that you seek a deeper relationship and understanding of GOD means that you have been called.  Many people make the mistake of thinking that to be called means it is to preach.  No, we are called to seek GOD.  Next, we are ‘commissioned.’  Please know that many are called but, few are commissioned.  Commissioned into what?  Glad you asked.  We have been commissioned and enlisted in GOD’s army.  Because we are warriors in his army, we must fight the battles that come before us.

So you think to yourself, I must now always fight?  Will the battle ever be WON?  Go back to Joshua Chapter 1:1-5

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

This was Chapter 1.  This is GOOD NEWS Church.  Before we prepare for the battle, GOD has already WON it.  GOD remains us “He will never leave us or forsake us.”   We are Faith Overcomer.  Always remember that we have already overcome.