Making An Impact For God Sermon Viii: From Fearfulness To Faithfulness Series

WHAT THE LORD PROMISES HE DELIVERS NOTWITHSTANDING ENEMIES FROM WITHOUT

“Fear must not win” reverberated across America this week as Christian ministers of all denominations voiced outrage, yes, but also courage in the name of the Lord, and on behalf of their congregations, in response to the heartbreaking tragedy that befell innocent victims of a gunman’s insanity while they engaged in worship and Bible study at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

Justice must and will be done in this and all other cases of violence that are carried out by enemies of God and His people - regardless of race, creed, color, nationality or any other worldly distinction concocted by Satan and his cohorts to disrupt, devastate and eventually destroy God’s plan for bringing all mankind into the realm of His kingdom of peace over which Christ shall reign forever and ever.

Enemies of God have existed since the fall from favor with God of the evil one, and the subsequent fall from God’s presence of sinful humanity; it happened when God’s prized possessions succumbed to the deceit of Satan, bringing upon themselves shame and upon the human race disgrace in need of God’s grace.

Because of His love, God took initiative to repossess and restore His own . . . to dispossess and disinherit enemies of His plan. BUT, insane individuals, criminal gangs, disrupters of the peace, rulers of darkness, religious fanatics, and wolves in sheep’s’ clothing, not to mention other powerful foes are hell bent on destruction of God’s plan via intimidation if not annihilation of God’s own . . . !

Plain and simple: Get on board with God’s plan to repossess and restore (receive God’s reward) or suffer consequences of dispossession and disinheritance (reap what you sow) – both the receiving and the reaping promised by the Lord God – Maker, Father, Redeemer and Judge of all mankind!

Even though we find it troublesome, the command given to Joshua’s army to dispossess Jericho and to spare none but Rahab and her family should not be shocking to us - given the fact that the Canaanites had been warned time and time again, and had been given four generations to accept the one and only LORD God, thereby doing away with idol worship and atrocities associated with idolatry.

But no! Repeatedly God’s enemy sought to do away with the people of God which, in the enemy’s thinking, would do away with the plan of God --- the most naïve miscalculation in biblical history after the fall! Attempt to do away with the plan of God by doing away with His people, and find yourself in trouble – big time! Enemies of God will get what’s coming to them! The Canaanites had established themselves as enemies of God. God declared war against them; and when God declares war, victory is certain – Joshua 6:1-5 . . .

Jericho was a fortified city – with not one but two walls – the outer wall, six feet thick, and the inner wall, twelve feet thick. Wow! That, to me, is like saying, “If it’s not one thing, it’s another!” Sort of like life, right? Enemies to be fought and walls to be torn down!

The key words in this charge to Joshua are “See, I have.” The root word is “envision”. How much faith does it take for you to envision God’s victory over evil - as did Joshua and Caleb . . . Moses . . . Winston Churchill . . . Martin Luther King? All these servants of God lived and breathed the vision of peace God gave them.

Do you have a vision of peace? Of course you do! “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight” O Little Town of Bethlehem. Your hope has come, your vision of peace, with no more battles to fight, no more heavy burdens to bear, has become a reality – in Christ Jesus Prince of Peace - if you trust and obey.

“I have delivered Jericho” and thus the Promised Land “into your hands,” O People of Israel. Your time has come. With God in charge, how can you lose? Forget God, and there will be consequences to bear. Remember and reverence Him who delivered you from bondage, and you’ll be glad you did.

“As it is written,” O People of God yesterday, today and forever, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind conceived, all that God has prepared for those who love Him!” Keep on loving God . . . all people for whom Christ died . . . living for Jesus. Great is your reward in heaven!

“Fortified” matters not when the LORD God is in command - as He must be if God’s people are to go on to victory without further delay – Joshua 6:12-16 . . .