A CHILD IS BORN
The Mighty God – He Can Help…
Isaiah 9:6
Introduction:
Some 15 or 16 years ago when I was still living in MO and desiring to become a pastor, I was involved in a ministry in my church where we would speak at small churches throughout the Midwest.
Typically, we would travel to small towns on Saturday and stay with a family from the church.
One particular Saturday evening I was sitting in the home of a family in a small southern MO town when their young son entered wearing a mask and cape. He proceeded to start tearing a sheet of paper as he said, “I’m strong!” I took the paper doubled it and asked him to tear it again. I repeated this until he stood before me unable to tear the paper. What started as an apparent display of strength soon became an unconquerable task.
In life we are frequently faced with situations that require strength – some less, some more. It is a certainty that we will face a situation that is beyond our physical, emotional and possibly spiritual capacity. Try as we may we will not be able to overcome. It’s at times like these that we will need an alternative source of might. A power source that far exceeds our strength.
Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
This prophecy of Jesus’ birth tells us that this child would not be ordinary, but extraordinary. He would bear four unbelievable names – wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Last week – Wonderful Counselor, this week – Jesus is the Mighty God (God Almighty)
Jesus was God in the flesh and he possessed unbelievable strength. His strength wasn’t necessarily measured in his brawn. His strength came from a place deep within and from a source that is available to each of us this morning. Jesus faced unimaginable circumstances and yet he was able to overcome. As we face difficult circumstances we too can be confident that the Mighty God is on our side and will help us to overcome. We are all engaged in a great spiritual warfare. We don’t fight this warfare with physical weapons or with the power of our own might.
2 Corinthians 10:4 “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)”
Each of us faces “strongholds” in our life – areas that appear unconquerable. It could be an addiction, attitude, character flaw, some area of sin. We may have battled it for years to no avail. This morning I want to tell you that through God’s might you can finally have victory over your stronghold. To see how I want to look at the most famous stronghold in the Old Testament and see how it was overcome – the city of Jericho.
Israel is on the brink of entering the Promised Land and yet before they can enter they have to face this stronghold.
Jericho was the most fortified city of it’s day. It was surrounded by a double wall. The outer wall had a stone retaining wall at its base. The retaining wall was some 12–15 feet high. On top of that was a mudbrick wall six feet thick and about 20–26 feet high. At the crest of the embankment was a similar mudbrick wall whose base was roughly 46 feet above the ground level outside the retaining wall.
Israel had certainly never faced anything like this before. It was beyond them. As they examined the city what did they see...
Joshua 6:1 “Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.”
No way in, no way out. It looked impossible from a human perspective. And yet God Almighty was ready to do a miracle. He’s ready to do a miracle in your life as well, if we will learn from this story how to battle our strongholds. Before we get into the practical steps we can take we need to make a mental shift.
Joshua 6:2 “And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.”
In God’s mind the victory was a given. The same is true in our situation and so we must understand…
You Are Already Victorious
You must enter this battle with that mentality – God has already given me the victory. In athletics they call this visualization – see yourself accomplishing your task. At times that won’t appear to be the case, but we must remain positive. We must have faith. The walls of Jericho were brought down by faith.
Hebrews 11:30 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.”
That faith resulted in action. When we lack faith we have a defeated attitude and we will not act – what’s the point! However, when we have faith that God will intercede on our behalf we act in faith because we are certain of victory.
I John 5:4 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
God has given us the victory – we must simply act in faith as though the victory were already ours.
As Joshua and the children of Israel prepared to face Jericho, God gave them some very specific instructions regarding how they were to march around the city. He was very particular about the order of His parade – first were the men of war, then 7 priest with trumpets, then priest carrying the ark of the covenant, and finally the rereward (gathering). From this order I think we can learn four steps of faith we need to take in order defeat our stronghold.
The first group that Joshua sends around the stronghold are the armed men of war.
Joshua 6:3 “And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.”
The first group – men of war – shows us that we need to…
Fight the Good Fight
Please understand we are engaged in an intense spiritual warfare. Our enemy is formidable and desires nothing more than to see us live defeated ineffective lives. As we enter each day we must do so with the mentality of a battle tested soldier.
2 Timothy 2:3 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
As we face our strongholds we must be prepared for a battle. Our strongholds won’t go down without a fight. After the men of war was a group of seven priests with seven trumpets.
Joshua 6:4 “And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns:…”
Israel’s priests were from one particular tribe, the Levites. The Levites were a tribe which God had set apart or separated from the others for His purposes. They had dedicated themselves to the service of God. It is in their separation that we find our next faith action step…
Separate Yourself
With each stronghold there is a separation that must occur. There is an action that must cease. Something we must stop doing. Strongholds don’t just spring up in our life; they are built over time through our actions. In order for God to show himself mighty on our behalf we must endeavor to separate ourselves from that thing that is causing us to fail.
Romans 13:14 “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
This action step undoubtedly requires tough decisions. However, if we desire to defeat our stronghold tough decisions must be made. Our separation must be done in conjunction with our next faith action step…
Draw Near to Jesus
The next member of Israel’s parade around Jericho was the Ark of the Covenant carried by several priests.
Joshua 6:6 “And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.”
The Ark was the central item in Israel’s worship. It was the equivalent of Jesus for the believer. It is never enough to separate from something; we must be separated unto something.
Romans 1:1 “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,”
Separation from something creates a void in my life and nature hates a vacuum. If I don’t fill it with good things it will undoubtedly be filled with something else. This is commonly called the principle of putting off and putting on.
Ephesians 4:22-24 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
If I’m going to overcome my strongholds through God’s might I need to draw near to him and become closer to him than ever before. The final group is called the “rereward”, which means “gathering”. Basically, it was everyone else.
Joshua 6:9 “And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark,…”
They teach us to…
Lean on Others
God’s might is displayed through the church as we support one another in the battle against strongholds. We are God’s physical arms. There is great confidence and comfort in knowing that you are not in this alone. That someone has your back. As I said last week, the church is the world’s largest support group. We are fellow struggles trying our best to make it through. However, we can do much more than just make it through life. We can thrive if we will implement these things and defeat our strongholds. We must band together to gain the victory.
Fight the good fight
Separate Yourself
Draw Near to Jesus
Lean on Others
Challenge:
I want to share one last verse from Joshua 6.
Joshua 6:27 “So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.”
Joshua = Jesus (same name)
When we follow these steps, and God shows himself strong on our behalf it is for his glory.
At the birth of Jesus many people came to see the newborn babe. They came from differing backgrounds and for different reasons, but regardless of their reason Jesus could help. He is the mighty God. You came to church this morning for a reason – we all carted some baggage in with us.
Regardless of your reason, Jesus can help. He is the mighty God. He can help you pull down your stronghold.
Prayer – raise hands
Rarely do I look at a piece of paper without thinking of that little boy tearing it and declaring how strong he was. It serves as a reminder to me of my weakness and God’s incredible might.
It doesn’t take much for me to be at the end of my strength capacity, but when I reach it God is there to take over and help me overcome. Take a blank sheet of paper.
