02 The Way 0f Faith: Removing The Barriers Series

Mission: Impossible was a TV series that ran from 1966 –1973 and again from 1988 to 1990.Then 3 movies. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The team is sent on covert missions to combat dictators, evil organizations, crime lords.

- Exciting to watch a small band defeat powerful enemies

Introduction

- Jericho the oldest city in the world.

- The name Jericho means "fragrant."

- Called "the city of palm trees" (Deut. 34:3) many springs made Jericho a green oasis in the middle of the dry Jordan rift area.

- In the winter it became a resort town for people fleeing the colder weather of the Palestinian hill country.

- Jericho is located 5 miles W of the Jordan and 7 miles N of the Dead Sea

- 800 feet below sea level.

- Jericho stood opposite Mount Nebo (32:49).

- One of the few gateways into the Judean Mountains

- Important east west route

- Strongest fortress in all the land of Canaan

Virtually impregnable double wall

- Jericho built upon a mound

- Area of about 10 acres

- Based on the archaeologist’s rule of thumb of 200 persons per acre (2000)

- Surrounded by a great earthen embankment

- People were also living on the embankment between the upper and lower city walls

- With a stone retaining wall at its base.

- The retaining wall was some12–15 feet high.

- Top wall was six feet thick by 20–26 feet

- Joshua 6:20 The Hebrew here carries the suggestion that it ‘fell beneath itself

- Canaanites living in surrounding villages would have fled to Jericho for safety.

- We can assume that there were several thousand people inside the walls when the Israelites came against the city

Your Mission – Remove Barriers

❶ Go In By Faith.

Heb 11:6 - "Without faith it is impossible to please him"

- Faith in God is Essential for salvation

- Essential for the Christian life

- Essential to do God’s work,.

Heb. 11:30 "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down"

Mt. 9:29"- According to your faith be it unto you"

Mk 9:23 "If thou canst believe, all things : possible to him that believeth"

- The hymn writer John Yates had it right: "Faith is

the victory! Faith is ; victory! Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world."

❷. Go In By Following His Plan

- v. 3 – For 6 days go around once

- v. 5 – 7 priest before the ark blowing trumpets

- v. 10 – Go in Silence

- v. 5 – 7th day 7 times blast the trumpets give a shout

- Then the walls would fall

❸. Go In Without Question

- v. 2 See I have given Jericho, the King, It’s power (men of valour)

- Just walk around Jericho – Nothing else

- No reason for this silence.

- The hardest thing for Israel to do was to be silent.

- The grim silence of the people must have been

impressive.

- How long could we do the Lord’s work in silence without questioning?

❹. Go In For God’s Glory.

- When we have faith to follow the Lord victory will

come

- Jos. 6:18-19 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

- Evidence of God’s work & victory was always before them when they worshiped

Conclusion

- In the movie "Return of the Jedi" Luke Skywalker is learning to be a Jedi from the Jedi Master, Yoda. Luke is performing an exercise of mind over matter when he fails the exercise. Yoda tells him to raise his X-Wing fighter from the murky water where it sank upon his arrival on Degoba. He says to Yoda,

- "I’ll try." To which Yoda replies "Do, or do not; there is no ’try.’"

Luke extends his hand to the fighter, and begins to strain in his attempt to raise the fighter out of the water. Luke completely fails to levitate the heavy fighter out of the water. Yoda then quickly levitates the X-Wing fighter and sets it down on dry land.

- Luke said, "I didn’t believe it was possible!" Yoda replies, "That is why you fail."

Do you think things are impossible? That is why you are not saved, why you are not a believer in Christ Jesus, why you are not a Christian: you do not believe.

Be the Man Like Joshua

■ Put your faith in our miracle-working Lord.v.2