Overcoming or Overcome? | Sunday Message

Hey there. Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie encouraging you.

If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. We'll learn more about him and his plan for our lives. So we bless, or rather we ask you to bless this time as we open your word. You've told us in scripture, he that has ears to hear, let him listen. Lord, we're paying attention now.

We're giving our attention with our intention, not wanting to merely be hearers of the word, but doers as well. So we commit this time to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

You can all be seated. Okay, grab your Bibles and turn to Joshua chapter five, and the title of my message is Overcoming or Overcome. Well, I woke up yesterday morning, and I was shocked to read the headline, Israel is at War. And this is near the anniversary of the last time Israel was officially at war in what is known as the Yom Kippur War back in 1973, when she was attacked by Egypt, Syria, and others.

But this was a different kind of war. Thousands of rockets rained on Israel from multiple directions, and Hamas gunmen invaded by land, sea, and sky. And hundreds of people have been murdered and kidnapped, and they were using what we might describe as ISIS-like methods, because they specifically targeted young women, young children. And they launched massive indiscriminate rocket fire towards civilian population centers, as well as a terrorist infiltration of cities and settlements close to the Gaza border.

They went literally home to home, door to door, looking for the young and for the elderly. Some of the women they took as hostages literally were survivors of the Holocaust. And when it's all said and done, and this number tragically will only get larger, there are 600 dead, 2,000 wounded, and this is simply without precedent, causing Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to say, we are now at war. Who is Hamas? They're a terrorist organization funded by Iran.

That's not a secret. In fact, the leader of Hamas, a PR person from Hamas, came out and said, oh yes, this was funded by Iran. So this is something that's an established fact, and Iran has long stated their objective which is to destroy Israel. In fact, an Iranian leader celebrated the attacks, putting out this message, we stand by the Palestinian fires until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem is completed.

And Iran has also signaled that they are developing a nuclear weapon. In the past, they have threatened to, in their own verbiage, wipe Israel off the face of the map. One leader of Iran said, quote, Interesting how it always comes back to Jerusalem. The Bible predicted thousands of years ago that the end time events would revolve around Jerusalem, not Irvine. Not Riverside, not San Francisco, not Los Angeles, not Moscow, not Paris, but Jerusalem, this tiny little city, and this tiny sliver of land will play a key role in the events of the last days. It's the focal point of end times events. It's amazing when you think about it because in Zechariah 12, God says, I will make Jerusalem and Judah like an intoxicating drink to all the nearby nations that send their armies to besiege Jerusalem. On that day, I'll make Jerusalem a heavy stone, a burden for the world, and none of the nations who try will be able to lift it. But here's where it gets interesting for students of Bible prophecy. The Bible tells us in the end times that Israel would be scattered and regathered.

This has happened. You want to talk about signs of the times, the super sign of the last days, and really the sign that sets the prophetic clock ticking is the regathering of the nation Israel into their homeland. The people who lost six million of their people to the Nazis would somehow regather in their homeland, but it happened against all odds. And on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation.

I'm proud to say the United States was the first nation to acknowledge that. In 1938, the Bible speaks of the regathering of Israel, and then it speaks of a large force from her north attacking her. That force is identified as Magog.

Who is Magog? Listen, no one can say with absolute certainty. But many Bible students and prophecy teachers believe it's modern day Russia.

I think you can make a very good case for that. Do you ever want to invade Israel? Well, there's another thing the Bible says about Magog, if she is indeed Russia, and that one of her allies that will march with her is Persia. Persia is the ancient name for modern Iran. So the Bible predicted hundreds of years ago that this large force from the north of Israel would attack her after she was regathered, and one of the allies that would attack Israel with Mother Russia or Magog, whoever it is, would be Iran.

Or Persia. And it's only recently that the Iranians and the Russians have developed a special connection. Not once in the past 2,500 years has Russia formed a military alliance with Persia, Iran, but they have now signed billion dollar deals to some missiles to Iran, and the Iranians have helped the Russians, providing them with drones, weaponized drones to use in the Ukraine war.

You probably heard about that. Prime Minister Netanyahu said of this, Iran and Russia are very disturbing to us. Iran supplying Russia with drones, Russia helping Iran with nuclear weapons. The only way to stop Iran is with a credible military threat. So how do you stop something like this? Literally there are hostages from Israel, old women, little children, young women, and soldiers as well, because these civilians were actually targeted in this attack.

How do you deal with this? It's very tricky. Let's just say for the sake of a point that Israel decided to strike out at Iran specifically, because they're funding all of this. What would that produce? Well it could produce a conflict we read about in Ezekiel, where suddenly, because the Bible says that Magog will come against her will, the Bible describes hooks in her jaws pulling her forward, almost as though Magog is coming in reluctantly along with her ally Persia or Iran. I'm not saying this is gonna lead to the Ezekiel 37, 38 scenario, but I'm saying it's very interesting. If you get up in the morning and read this headline, Russia attacks Israel, fasten your seatbelt. You're seeing Bible prophecy fulfilled in your lifetime, in real time, before your very eyes.

Look at the water. He didn't say that, did he? He said when you see these things begin to happen, look up, because your redemption is drawing near. That's what we need to be doing, looking up. So I'm gonna ask you to join me in prayer right now, because the Bible tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That terrorism stops, and that they're able to get their hostages back.

But that is not gonna replace the hundreds of lives that were lost in this unprecedented attack. Let's pray. Father, you've told us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and we do that right now. Lord, these are your people, the Jewish people that you've regathered in the land, according to what your word predicted. And now, Lord, we see them under attack, and you've described them as the apple of your eye.

And you've said that you will bless those that bless them and curse those that curse them. We pray for your protective hand to be on the nation of Israel. Give wisdom to her leaders. Help them to get back their hostages.

Help this insanity to stop and to intervene in that part of our world right now. We specifically focus our prayers on that, and as your word tells us, we do pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And we ask all of this in Jesus' name.

Amen. So it just so happens we're in the book of Joshua, and we're looking at the story of how Israel came into that land in the first place. The land that God had given them.

Make no mistake about it. God has given to the Jewish people the land of Israel, and He's given to them Jerusalem as their capital. But here now in the book of Joshua, the wilderness wanderings have come to an end. That first generation that doubted God are not entering into the promised land, but their children are.

They're poised now to enter into Canaan's land, the land flowing with milk and honey, the promised land, modern day Israel. And so that's where we pick this story up, and this is something that speaks to us because we might wonder why do we have such a place given in the word of God giving us a record of the military victories and sometime defeats of the Israeli army and the conquest of Canaan. Answer, because we too are at war. We're in a spiritual battle. The moment you become a Christian, you enter into this war. It's not a choice of being in the war or not being in the war. It's just a choice of winning or losing, gaining ground or losing ground, being overcome or overcoming.

It's really up to us. It's been said the Christian life, or conversion rather, has made our hearts a battlefield. And the Christian life is not a playground.

It is indeed a battleground. Why? Because the devil doesn't want you to follow Christ. So the moment you put your faith in Him, He's going to oppose you. He's going to tempt you. He's going to harass you. He's going to try to pull you away from this commitment that you have made.

But thankfully, God won't give us more than we can handle because 1 Corinthians 10, 13 promises that when the temptations come our way, there's always a way of escape that we may be able to bear it, but the battle will indeed rage on in life. How did Satan even become Satan? Why would a loving God create someone as horrible as the devil?

Answer. He didn't. The Lord created a magnificent spirit being, an angelic creature known as Lucifer, the son of the morning. But Lucifer rebelled against God. You know, it's interesting the Bible never tells us how old Lucifer was when he did rebel against God.

I figure he was around 16 years old. It was teenage rebellion. The Lord told him to submit and worship and Lucifer said, whatever. I heard one comedian make this statement, quote, I believe teenagers are God's revenge on mankind. He said, I think one day the good Lord looked down at creation and said, let's see how they like it to create someone in their own image who denies their existence.

Good point. So we don't know anything about that, of course, but the devil rebels against God and he took one third of the angels with him. Those fallen angels are now what we would call demons. So one third of the angelic forces sided with Lucifer and the other two thirds, or two fards, I don't know what I was even saying. The other two thirds are on the Lord's side, on our side. And what is the purpose of demons?

It seems to be twofold. They want to hinder the purposes of God and extend the power of Satan. So we're in a war. And when you're in a spiritual war, you need to put on spiritual armor. And Ephesians 6 tells us this, put on all of God's armor so you will be able to stand firm against the strategies of the devil. For we're not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in the dark world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the attack of the enemy in the day of evil. Here's the thing. The devil usually comes to us in the realm of our mind and imagination. He comes and says, take it out for a spin.

Take this free sample. Try this thought on for size. Of course, you would never act on this thought, but take a trip to Fantasy Island and just pretend you would do it because he knows that's the first step to actually doing it. And that's how he's going to come to you.

That's how he's often going to tempt you. 2 Corinthians 11, 3 says, I'm afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your mind should somehow be led astray from your sincere devotion to Christ. So in your mind, the hardest part of the spiritual battle is winning the battle of the mind. The Bible says in Proverbs 23, 7, as a man thinks, so is he because the thought can then give way to action. That's why we must guard our minds. Every day we think thousands of thoughts. Experts say our brain processes around 70,000 thoughts every single day. Think about that. 70,000 thoughts.

That's basically 35 to 45 thoughts per minute running through your mind, right? And in our minds, we think of the future. We think about the past. We resolve conflicts.

We dream. And of course, we can allow our imaginations to be misled. We must guard ourselves there. 2 Corinthians 10 says from the Phillips translation, the very weapons we use are not those of human warfare, but powerful in God's warfare through the destruction of the enemy's strongholds. Our battle is to bring down every deceptive fantasy and every imposing defense that men erect against the knowledge of God. We fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ.

Listen to this. You are the air controller of your mind. So the air controller decides what flight takes off and when, what flight lands, what altitude they have.

And that's their job. You are the air controller of your mind. You decide what thought comes in and you decide what thought stays out. And just because you have a bad thought come to your mind, whatever it may be, doesn't mean you've sinned. The sin of temptation is not in the bait, it's in the bite, see. Just because I have a piece of bait dangled in front of me doesn't mean I've sinned. It's when I eat it, when I bite the hook, when I take the bait. And in the same way, just because a bad thought comes to you, you can reject it. You can say, I reject that in the name of Jesus Christ.

Get behind me, Satan, as Jesus said when he was being tempted in the wilderness by the devil. Reminds me of a story of a lady that loved to shop. And don't they all? No, they don't.

They don't all. My wife doesn't like to shop, believe it or not. I think I like to shop more than my wife does.

Isn't that a weird admission from a man? But anyway, so this lady, she loved to shop and every time she went to the mall, she bought something. So she's on her way to the mall and her husband says, honey, where are you going?

She goes, I'm going to go to the mall. No, no, no. We can't afford any more clothes. Every time you go, you buy a new outfit. I'm not going to this time. I'm just going to browse and window shop. No, no, you'll always buy something.

No, I won't this time. Okay, she comes back two hours later with a brand new dress. He says, I told you you would buy something. She said, but you don't know what happened. He said, okay, what happened? She said, I'm walking through the mall. I see this really cute outfit on a mannequin in the window.

And so yes, I do walk into the store and yes, I tried it on. Okay. And guess what happened then? What? She said, the devil himself appeared to me.

What? Satan appeared to me in the dressing room. What did he say? She said, he said, you look good in that outfit. He said, you should have said to the devil, get behind me, Satan. She said, I did.

And then he said, hey, it looks good from the back too. Don't have conversations with the devil. See, that's the problem. Capture every thought.

You decide. Because thoughts give way to actions. It's been said, sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit.

Sow a habit, reap a character. So it starts with the thought. So coming back to our story, here they are, Israel, ready to enter the promised land.

But there's one problem. The Jordan River. So God's going to do a miracle just for them. Oh yeah, he did a miracle for their parents when he parted the Red Sea, but they weren't around for that. So the Lord says, I'm going to do a miracle just for you. And the mighty Jordan River in flood season opens up as they step into the water and get their feet wet. They get over to the other side now. Now they're officially in the promised land.

And they erect a bunch of stones as a memory of what God did. And now this next event happens in Joshua chapter 5 verse 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?

Neither one, he replied. I am the commander of the Lord's army. And Joshua fell at his feet to the crown and reverence. I am at your command, Joshua said. What do you want your servant to do? The commander of the Lord's army replied, take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy. And Joshua did as he was told. Wow.

That brings us to point number one if you're taking notes. To enter the land of promises, we must encounter and follow Jesus Christ. We must encounter and follow Jesus Christ. Here is this massive strapping soldier with a large sword. I kind of am impressed by the boldness of Joshua.

He walks right up to him. Okay, are you friend or foe? What are you going to fight this dude? Joshua is pretty courageous. I am the commander of the Lord's army.

Oh, well, since you said that, what do you want your servant to do? Now, who was this powerful soldier that Joshua encountered? Was it an angel?

It could have been. I actually think it was Jesus Christ himself. That is called a Christophany. When Christ appears in the Old Testament, we call them Christophanies. And there are many appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament. And I think this is one of them.

Why do I think it? Because he is commanded to take off his sandals because he is standing on holy ground. This is reminiscent of the encounter that Moses had with God at the burning bush. Remember, and the Lord said, take off your sandals.

Same thing. So this was Joshua's encounter with the Lord. I believe Jesus himself reminding us. The first step to winning in this spiritual battle is to stand as close to Christ as you possibly can.

Be as close to him as you possibly can. Have you ever walked in someone's shadow? You have to stay really close to be in their shadow, right? And that is what we want to be.

We want to be in the presence of God, in the shadow of the Almighty. I remember years ago I was living on the East Coast in New Jersey. And I was given a gift of two cap guns and little holsters and a little cowboy hat. And I was feeling pretty cool walking down the street firing off my cap guns. And a bunch of hoodlums come up to me.

They are a little bit bigger and older than me. They started laughing at me, pushed me to the ground, and stole my cap guns. So I went home and I got my brother who was five years older and quite a bit bigger. And I said, help me get those guns back. So I went back and found that group of kids and went up to them. And all of a sudden I was pretty bold and pretty tough. I said, give me my guns. I pulled them back. Strapped on my holster again. Walked off in a cowboyish way, you know. Why was I so brave?

Because I had my brother with me. If they tried anything they would have to face him. In the same way in spiritual battle I go in standing close to the Lord. I am no match for the devil. I am not even a match for a demon. But if I stand close to the Lord and stand in the Lord and in the power of His might, I don't have to be afraid because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

Right? So now we come to Jericho. And the Lord is going to give him the battle plan.

And it is pretty interesting. I wonder what Joshua is thinking. Okay, Lord, how are we going to do this?

First city, how is it going to go down? Put a bunch of ladders up. We will scale the walls. Attack them in force.

Overwhelm them with force. The Lord said I had something a little different in mind. Joshua chapter 6. Starting at verse 1.

I am reading from the New Living Translation. Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut. Because the people were afraid of the Israelites.

No one was allowed to go out or in. And the Lord said to Joshua, I have given you Jericho the king and all of its mighty warriors. Your entire army is to march around the city once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the ark each carrying a ram's horn.

On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times. And then the priests blow their horns. And when the people hear the priests give long blasts on the horns. Then you give a mighty shout and the walls of the city will collapse.

And then you can just charge right into the city. Do you think God ever just tries to mess with our minds a little bit? I mean what kind of a battle plan is this? It is God's battle plan. And there was a reason for it.

Bringing me to point number two. God will work in different ways in different situations so we look to Him. Again God will work in different ways and in different situations so we look to Him. And this was the kind of a thing where if God didn't come through they were in big trouble. It reminds us of the story of Gideon. Here is Gideon who God chooses to lead Israel into battle against their enemies.

The Midianites that have been oppressing them. First of all Gideon's army wasn't that large but the Lord said your army is too big. Say to your soldiers if you are fearful and afraid go home. And most of his army went home. He is left with three hundred men. Now he is vastly outnumbered. And the Lord says here is the battle plan.

Here is how you will defeat the Midianites. I want you all to get a little torch you know. Light the flame.

Put a clay pot around it. Then you run down this hill and you scream the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And you crack the pot open and they see the flame and they will all die. Crack the pot.

I think I am a crack pot if I do this. And that is exactly what they did and the Midianites were so freaked out and disoriented. They thought they were already under attack and they attacked each other. And that is how the battle was won. And the Lord often does things like this.

He uses human weakness to display His strength. To us it might seem random. But there is a method to the madness if you will because it is not madness at all. It is just God's way of keeping us looking to Him. Are you in a situation where there is no way out but God? In other words if God doesn't come through for you there is no way out for you. If you are understand God specializes in taking circumstances like that and using them for His glory. Think of the various ways that Jesus healed people.

He was always changing it. Sometimes He would touch the person and they would be healed. Other times the person would touch Him and they would be healed. On even other occasions He would speak the Word and they would be healed.

One guy who was blind saw Jesus spit in the dirt and then wipe the dirt mixed with spit in the guy's eye. How weird is that? Can you imagine if you came for prayer, Pastor Greg would you pray for me? Sure. Hold on. Wait. What?

It is in the Bible. Deal with it. I won't do that.

Don't worry. But why does God do this? So we will see it is God doing it. Because we are so prone to give the credit.

Oh the doctor did it or my bank account did it or my friend came through for me or something else happened. The Lord will put you in a situation where you have to say that was the Lord and you give Him the glory. Take Naaman as an example. Naaman was a powerful Syrian general admired and respected by his troops. But he had a problem. He was a leper. Leprosy was a lethal fatal disease. It slowly destroyed your body.

There was no cure for it. But he heard that there was a prophet in Israel named Elisha that God did miracles through. And he was told if he went to Elisha he could be healed of his leprosy. So General Naaman shows up at the doorstep of Elisha. You can just see Naaman in this beautiful chariot surrounded by bodyguards. And they knock on the door. General Naaman is here. Elisha doesn't even come to the door. He sends out his servant Gehazi.

Hey what's up? Elisha says if you want to be healed go to the Jordan River. Immerse yourself seven times you will be healed.

God bless. Bye. Shut the door. Naaman is thinking does he know who I am? I am General Naaman. I am not going to go immerse myself in the dirty Jordan River.

We have better rivers back in Syria. But then he thinks well what have I got to lose? So he goes down to the Jordan River and with all of his men watching he reveals what they have never seen before. He takes off his helmet. He takes off his breastplate. He peels off the rest of his armor and they realize he is a leper.

They didn't know that about him. He had to humble himself. And then he goes into that Jordan River and he immerses himself the first time.

Comes up. Still a leper. He does it the second time. Still a leper. The third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth time. Still a leper.

The seventh time down he comes up. No longer a leper. Healed just as God said. In fact the Bible says he had the skin like that of a newborn baby. Have you ever looked at a newborn baby's skin? So beautiful. Have you ever looked at your skin? Not so beautiful. Especially in a magnifying glass. Oh that is horrifying.

Right? Why this unusual and humbling prescription? Because Naaman was a proud man and God wanted him to strip off his armor that he normally hid behind and expose himself as a leper. The same reason that God wants us to confess our sins.

Listen. We don't come to Christ because we are good people and we want to be a little bit better. We come to Christ because we are sinful people and we need a Savior. And that is the only way we can be forgiven.

Bringing me to point number three. God had them walk around Jericho to show how they needed him. God had them walk around Jericho so they would see how much they needed him.

They walked around that city in total 13 times. That is a lot of time to look at your obstacle. Whoa. Look at those walls. Look at those soldiers up there. This is a big problem.

They went around it again and again and again. And sometimes we have to realize that our problem is so big we can't solve it on our own. It is like if God doesn't come through I am in trouble. Just take the Christian life. The Christian life is not hard. It is impossible.

Isn't it? It is impossible to be a Christian without the help of God. Without the work of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing. But then the apostle Paul said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

So yes it is impossible through human effort but it is entirely possible with the help of God's Holy Spirit changing you each and every day. But sometimes God will allow us to look at our big problems so we will see that our God is even bigger. And maybe you are facing a big problem right now. Something you have tried to overcome. It is a broken marriage.

And your marriage is hanging by a thread and the thread is on fire. Maybe it is an addiction to gambling. To drugs. To pornography. To alcohol.

To hostess ding dongs. I don't know. Whatever it is.

Something. You have tried to conquer it. You have tried to beat it. You have tried to overcome it.

And it takes you down again and again and again. It is time for you to call out to God and say God I can't do it on my own. Help me.

Have you done that yet? Bring your problem to God. That is what Israel had to do. It was too big for them in their own strength. You wonder what the inhabitants of Jericho were thinking about all of this. Was this a joke to them? I mean they knew the Jews God was powerful because they locked the city up. We don't want those people coming in here. And as they marched around again and again.

Seven times, eight times, nine times, ten times, thirteen times in total. They may have wondered why do these people do this? Why do they live the way that they live? Why do they walk the way they walk? Nonbelievers look at us and wonder the same thing. Why do you Christians do what you do? Why are you the way that you are?

It doesn't make any sense to me. But then they might also ask how is it that you were able to come to that problem with such joy? How is it that you have a marriage that has lasted so long?

How did you raise such amazing kids? That is not even possible. Oh it is possible. And they wonder but it is even worse when nonbelievers say why aren't you the way that you should be? Have you ever been corrected by a nonbeliever? That is really humbling. When a nonbeliever will say aren't you a Christian? And will say why yes I am. See how big my Bible is?

And it is green. Why? I don't know but it is.

So you are a Christian. Why do you lose your temper all the time? Why are you always gossiping about people? Why do you drive like a psychopath? Why do you sleep with your boyfriend or girlfriend when you are not married?

Why are you getting drunk? I thought Christians weren't supposed to do that. Well you know let me just shut up. They are right.

You are wrong. You just got busted. I remember years ago I got busted. I was new in the ministry.

We had just started our church. And I went to a pizza place in Newport Beach. It used to be called Steve's Original Pizza.

Does anyone remember it? Okay a few of you. It is pretty good pizza. Now it is a Taco Bell.

But anyway. So I hadn't been there for a few years and I had a friend named Eric who was a musician. And so I said I am going to take you to a killer pizza place. I used to go here when I was a kid. So we would get our table and we were waiting for our pizza. And the funny thing is it hadn't changed at all since I went there as a kid. Same bizarre mural on the wall. Everything was the same. And as we were waiting for the pizza I looked at the guy next to me.

The other table. And I thought I recognize this guy. You know how some people never change physically in their face. Like they look the same as a baby. As a teenager. As an adult. And as an older person.

They always look like themselves and other people change radically. You can't even tell that adult was once that child. This was that guy. His name was Paul. I said excuse me is your name Paul?

And he says well yes it is. Who are you? I said I'm Greg Laurie. Well I looked a lot different. Because when I was in high school I had blonde hair parted on the side. Surfer style. Kind of always doing this you know. I still do it in my dreams. But then I had hair parted down the middle.

Down to my shoulders with a long beard. He goes why do you look a lot different? Yeah well I'll tell you I'm a lot different in a lot of ways Paul. He said really I said yes Paul? I'm a Christian now.

Really? You're a Christian? Oh yes. Not only that Paul. I'm the pastor of a church.

He's thinking who are they giving churches to these days? Why? He said Greg I remember you in high school. You were always getting in trouble. You were always being sent to the principal's office for discipline. You were disrupting classes. Making jokes. Insulting people.

And always doing pranks. I can't believe that you're a Christian. No I'm not a Christian. I'm not like that anymore Paul. I'm a changed person. Okay Greg well that's great. I can see you seem happier. Yes I'm much happier.

Feeling very good about myself. So my friend Eric went to the restroom. And our pizza arrived and I had a devious thought. Wouldn't it be funny to take those red pepper flakes.

You know the ones at pizza places. And pour all over his side of the pizza. Then when he eats it it'll burn his mouth. So I'm pouring the pepper. I forgot about Paul. I'm pouring the pepper flakes. Paul watches me do this.

He actually says haven't changed much have you Greg. Busted. So I felt it was only appropriate I spin the pizza around. And I ate the hot pizza. I actually kind of liked it though.

I like spicy things. But anyway I digress. The point is it's hard to be called out by a non-believer isn't it. So here are the Israelites marching around.

And listen to this. The Canaanites could have believed and been spared but they refused. God would have forgiven them. God forgave Nineveh of their sin sending Jonah to preach to them. God would have forgiven Sodom and Gomorrah if they repented. He was looking just for a few righteous people there.

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked the Bible says. God didn't want to judge these people. They could have believed. They'd heard all about Israel. Their reputation preceded them.

Forty years ago they crossed the Red Sea. They knew about that. They knew that God fed the Israelites with manna. And led them with a cloud by day and a fire by night. And more recently they knew that they had crossed the Jordan River. They knew they were coming their way and now they are marching around their city.

Sounds to me like a good time to repent. Because they sealed up the gates knowing the danger. But they didn't believe. And so they faced the judgment that ultimately came upon them. These were extremely wicked people. These were people that sacrificed their children to their false gods.

And they watched them march around again and again and again. They shouldn't have opposed God's people. It is a bad idea to attack God's people. Nations of the world have learned this the hard way. Those that have raised their hand against the Jewish people.

Against the nation Israel. Look at the nations that have done it. Egypt. Rome.

More recently Germany. And soon Iran. God has made a promise where He says to Abraham. I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you. That is why it is always a good idea to support the nation of Israel.

Point number five. They overcame their enemy by faith not by feeling. They overcame their enemy by faith not by feeling.

Giving commentary on the battle of Jericho. Hebrews 11 30 says, By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were surrounded for seven days. By faith. Israel had to march by faith.

Not by their emotions. Faith doesn't believe God can do it. Faith believes that God will do it. Faith sees invisible things. Faith doesn't just see what is there.

It sees what could be there. Because according to Hebrews 11 faith is a substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. But it is not just faith it is also patience. Because Hebrews 6 12 says, We don't want to have you become lazy. But instead through faith and patience you will inherit what God has promised. We need patience. Sometimes God doesn't come through for us as quickly as we want him to. But we need to keep having faith.

And we need to have patience for the work that he is going to do. Because listen you might be at the verge of quitting. You might say I have given up in this marriage and nothing can be done.

Really? Well we have irreconcilable differences. May I very politely say shut up. Every marriage has irreconcilable differences.

I have told you this before. I have had irreconcilable differences with my wife for 50 years. She sees it one way I see it another way.

It is irreconcilable. Right? She is neat I am messy.

She is cute I am fat. What can you do? Huh? The point is you don't dissolve a marriage when you have a disagreement. You work through it. You learn to forgive.

You learn to resolve your conflict. But people will give up so quickly. Oh I have given up. I have given up on my child. They will never come back to the Lord.

Won't they? Keep praying for them. I have given up on this ministry. I have tried. It just hasn't happened the way I wanted it to. Hang in there. Because the moment you are ready to quit may be the moment right before the miracle happens. It might be coming.

It might be right around the corner. Galatians 6 9 says don't be tired of what is right. Doing what is right.

But after a while you will reap a harvest of blessing if you don't get discouraged and give up. So they blow their trumpets. They give out their shout. And what happens? The walls of Jericho collapse in a mighty heap and Israel goes in and they conquer their enemies. Loud shouts. Blasting trumpets.

Remind you of anything else? The Bible speaks of an event that will come. Often referred to as the rapture of the church. In 1 Thessalonians 4 it says the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and we which are alive and remaining shall be caught up together with them in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Listen. One day this world system, this wicked culture will collapse. Revelation 11 15 says the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord. Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away. The Jericho's if you will will fall. And the word of God will prevail. You can be sure of that. That's chapter 12.

We have our pretty bleak scenario. The apostle James had been arrested and executed by the wicked king Herod. Then he arrested Simon Peter.

It didn't look good. So the church started praying. And we read in Acts 12 constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

I love that. So much truth packed in that little verse. Constant prayer. Not just one single prayer. Constant prayer.

Offered to God for him by the church. They prayed together. They prayed with passion.

They didn't give up. They're praying. They're praying. They're praying.

They're praying. What does God do? He sends an angel and delivers Peter from that prison.

The door of the prison opened all on its own. Just like when you're going to the supermarket right? Amazing. He walks out. He's free. So think about how that story starts and how it ends. It starts with Herod triumphing. James dead and Peter in prison. It ends with Peter free and the word of God triumphing. Because Herod ended up dying after that. God judged his king for what he did. I know it seems at times in our culture like evil is prevailing and evil will even win.

It won't. We win in the end. The Bible is clear about this. We're in a spiritual battle. And in a spiritual battle you fight with spiritual weapons. So put on the armor of God. Don't retreat. Rather attack. And the best way to attack is with the message of the gospel. Because this kingdom can come one person at a time.

Listen. My job is not to turn vegetarians into meat eaters. It's not to turn Prius drivers into anything else. It's not to turn Democrats into Republicans or liberals into conservatives. My job is to call sinners to Christ so they can be forgiven of their sin. That is the objective of the church. That's what we should be focusing our energies on.

I know lots of wicked conservatives and Republicans as well as wicked Democrats and liberals. Everybody needs Jesus. That's our message to this lost and dark world.

I've just offended everyone and I love it. Except those that believe the Bible. Jesus taught us to pray, our Father who art in heaven, how it would be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. One day his kingdom will come and it will come when Christ returns in the second coming. But before that we have the rapture. Looping back to what I talked about in the beginning.

In this conflict with Israel and Magog attacking her. Could this be the moment when the rapture of the church happens? I'm not a date setter. Jesus says, no one knows the day or the hour when the Son of Man will return. If you were to translate that from the original language it would say, no man knows the day or the hour when the Son of Man will return. And what it actually means is no man knows the day or the hour when the Son of Man.

Because people get all psyched up about blood moons and ashes of red heifers. And this or that happening, this is it, this is it, I'm on my rooftop from this point on. The rapture may happen in ten years. It may happen in twenty years.

And it may happen in ten minutes. I don't know when the Lord is going to come back. I don't know what I'm supposed to do while I'm waiting for him to come back. And he told me to occupy till he comes. And what that means is I am to do everything I can to extend his kingdom and to call people to Christ based on me living a godly life. This is what I'm here to do.

To shine is his light in a dark world. And if the Lord calls me home through death or the rapture it's all good. I don't care how I get there. You know, if it's a taxi. If it's a Prius even. I don't believe there will be any Priuses in heaven. I hate Priuses. It's not the car. It's the way people drive them.

What is the problem? Go faster. That's it. I'm done with that. But I digress.

In cats driving Priuses don't get me started. But we need to be ready because Jesus could come back today. Are we seeing a wake up call? Is what is happening around us right now the Lord saying, Pay attention people.

I predicted this in my word. Are you ready to meet me? He's coming for those who are watching and waiting.

We're going to pray in a moment. I want to extend an invitation to anybody who is not sure if their sin is forgiven. Anyone who does not have the confidence that they would be ready to go if the Lord called us home in the rapture of the church.

Which could happen at any moment. Anyone who is afraid to die. Anyone who is looking for the meaning and purpose of life. Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sin. And he rose again from the dead. And now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and says, If you will hear my voice and open the door I will come in. He wants to come into your life. But he won't force his way in.

You need to open that door and he will come in. Let's pray. Father I pray that your Holy Spirit will work on the hearts of every person here and every person watching and listening wherever they are. If they don't know you yet Lord let this be the moment they believe. The moment they receive the forgiveness of their sins. The moment that they get themselves ready for your return. So speak to their hearts we ask now in Jesus name.

Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying together. Maybe you are not sure if Christ is living in your life. You are not sure if you are ready for his return. Listen if you want your sin forgiven. If you want to know that when you die you will go to heaven. If you want to be ready for the Lord's return.

Or you have fallen away from him and you want to come back to him. Why don't you raise your hand up right now and I would like to pray for you. Just raise your hand up saying I need Jesus today. Pray for me. God bless you.

Lift your hand up high where I can see it. Wherever you are. God bless you. God bless you.

Anybody else? God bless you. He will come into your life and forgive you of all of your sin. But you must admit you are a sinner. Name it had to peel off his armor. You are going to have to admit your need for God.

But that is your first step to getting right with him. God bless you. Some of you are watching this screen and I can't see you there. But the Lord sees you. You could raise your hand as well wherever you are saying I need Jesus right now. Now I am going to ask every one of you that raised your hand if you would please. I want you to stand to your feet and I am going to lead you in a prayer.

Just stand up. If you will raise your hand even if you did not. You want Christ to come into your life. You want to be ready for his return.

Maybe you want to make a recommitment to him. Stand up and let me lead you in this prayer. God bless you. By the way others are standing so you won't be standing alone. Stand up if you need to do this. This is your moment to get right with the Lord. This is your wake up call. Don't miss it.

There might be a few more. You just stand up and we are all going to pray together. I will wait one more moment.

Stand up. God bless you. Anybody else? God bless you. God bless you.

Amen. I will wait one more moment and then we will pray. Stand up. And pray with me to ask Christ to come into your life.

You will not regret this decision. All right all of you standing I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me. Again as I pray. Pray this out loud. And this prayer is where you are asking Christ to come into your life.

Pray these words if you would. Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you are the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin.

And rose again from the dead. I turn now from my sin. And I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Be my Savior and my Lord. Be my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer. And answering this prayer.

In Jesus name I pray. Amen. God bless each one of you. Amen. God bless you. Hey everybody thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to Harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally go to Harvest.org and click on Know God.