Preparing for Victory | Sunday Message (Pastor Jonathan Laurie)

You may be facing your own Jericho now—a wall that looks too high, too impossible. But before God tears down walls around you, He often wants to bring down walls within you. See how true victory is claimed in this message.

Notes:

Focus verse - Joshua 5

The Israelites didn’t believe God would provide for them.

God proved He was able to provide,
and He was teaching them to depend on Him.

God proved Himself faithful.

The nation listened to the fearful majority instead of the faithful minority.

Because of unbelief, an eleven-day journey turned into forty years of wandering.

Joshua encounters a Man with a drawn sword—
the Commander of the Lord’s Armies.

Read Joshua 5

1. They Put God First.
Joshua 5:1–3

Joshua 4:13 (NLT)
These armed men—about 40,000 strong—were ready for battle,
and the LORD was with them as they crossed over to the plains of Jericho.

Isaiah 55:8 (ESV)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Isaiah 55:9 (ESV)
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The most important thing Joshua could do as a leader was submit to the Lord.

The cutting away of the flesh is key to a relationship with God.
Our flesh is what hinders intimacy with God.

Romans 2:29 (NLT)
True circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Joshua’s obedience and submission to God was the very secret of their success.

Joshua was not preparing for battle.
He was preparing for victory.

2. They Remembered The Lord’s Faithfulness.
Joshua 5:10–12

The feast that marked their deliverance from Egypt now marks their arrival in the land God promised.

God is victorious.
Deuteronomy 20:4, 1 Corinthians 15:57, Romans 8:37, Proverbs 21:31

Remember God’s victories and remind yourself of what Christ has done for you.

God’s primary goal for the Israelites was to teach them to depend upon Him.

God renews His people’s hearts, reminds them of His faithfulness, and then reveals His presence.

Before the Commander appears, the covenant must be renewed.

3. Joshua Meets Jesus.
Joshua 5:13–15

Exodus 33:15 (NKJV)
"If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.”

Read Joshua 6:1–3

The pathway to success is by dependence on the Lord.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

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