God's Not On Your Side

God’s Not On Your Side

Josh 5:13-15

(sing “who’s side are you standing on?”)

God is for the …

Republicans – Democrats

Americans – Mexicans

Whites – Blacks

Church of Christ – Baptists

Everyone wants to claim that God is on their side. When they fail, they can hardly believe it because God was supposed to be on their side. As Christians, we need to learn the same lesson Joshua learned about God and then we can find ourselves doing the impossible because we are on God’s side.

PRAYER

I. God’s Not On Your Side

A. Presumption leads to failure

1. 40 years earlier, the Israelites tried to force God to be on their side.

2. He had told them they would wander for until that generation died off, but they still went ahead with an invasion of the Promised Land thinking that God would fight for them.

3. He didn’t and they were beaten badly.

4. Joshua was in danger of presuming the same thing.

5. The difference is that he realized he needed to be on God’s side, not trying to get God on his side.

6. Whenever we try to make God be on our side, things won’t go as we plan.

7. Many Christians believe God is a Republican.

a) Truth is, God doesn’t care about political parities.

b) Republicans and Democrats need to look to see if they are on God’s side.

8. God isn’t even on the side of the Churches of Christ.

a) We need to make sure we as Christians are on God’s side.

b) Our allegiance needs to be first and foremost to Christ, not a name on a building.

c) If, as a church, we are right with God, great! If we are not, then we need to figure out what we need to do to change to fit’s God’s will, not try to fit God into our will.

9. Don’t ever presume that God is on your side. Look to see if you are on God’s side.

B. We need to recognize God’s side

1. Where we get ourselves into trouble is that we get so caught up in our feelings, dreams, and expectations, that we assume God feels the same way as we do about things.

2. We need to be constantly praying and looking to see what God’s side is and do everything we can to make sure we are standing with Him.

3. I love Joshua’s heart. His response to the commander of God’s armies shows why God chose him to lead the Israelites.

a) He challenges the man by asking whose side he was on. The man replies, “neither!” That had to get Joshua’s attention.

b) The next few words shook Joshua to the core. READ vs 14b

c) He saw who this person was and quickly made sure he was on the right side of God.

4. As we live our lives as individuals, as we move forward as a church, let’s always ask if we are on God’s side, not if God is on our side.

5. You can’t go wrong when you approach your life that way.

II. When You Are On God’s Side, Nothing Is Impossible

A. Jericho

1. Joshua was marching towards one of the most fortified cities in the world.

2. He was a good general, but how in the world could he take this city?

3. He couldn’t do it by surprise, chapter 6 tells us the city was already shut tight.

4. He would grow old and die trying to besiege it.

5. He didn’t have enough men or siege equipment to take the city by force.

B. Our Jericho

1. Ever felt that way about something in your life?

2. At this workshop I was at last week, one of the speakers made a point that was so true it hurt. The workshop was on the theme, Imagine. The speaker said, imagination and dreams end in the reality of board and committee meetings.

3. Dreams of doing something great are stopped cold with the comment, “we don’t have the money for something like that.”

4. Imagination is killed in the practical realism of “we have never done something like that before.”

5. Modern Christians really don’t have faith anymore. Our faith only goes as far as our practicality.

C. God’s solution

1. Let’s look at our story again

2. God gives Joshua a plan, march around the city a lot and then blow your horns and then the walls will fall down.

3. I mean, let’s face it, if someone gave us that advise today and said it was from God, we would laugh him or her right out of the church.

4. Joshua followed God’s solution, and the impossible was accomplished.

D. Imagine what could happen if we followed God’s solution