”When God Fights For You” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Joshua

Joshua chapter 10.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

>> [clears throat]

>> I'm going to give you everything I got

this morning and uh

I think we'll make it through all right.

I want to talk to you this morning on

this thought. I want to preach on this

thought for just a little bit this

morning when God fights for you.

When God fights for you.

Joshua chapter 10 and I'm going to pray

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

and ask the Lord to help us today.

And then we'll jump in and

look at our text. Father,

>> [clears throat]

>> in Jesus name, Lord, we come before you

this morning and I need your help.

Uh Lord, I pray that you would help us

today as we open the word of God and and

preach what you have laid on our hearts.

Lord, the text that is before us is a

practical text.

It's one that will help us if we allow

it to. I pray that you would take the

word of God and apply it to the hearts

of the people of God.

Lord, I don't want this to be about me.

I don't want them to to think of how

good of a preacher I am or or how good

of a sermon this is or how good of an

outline this is, but Father, may it may

it all do one point to one goal. May it

all point to Jesus. May it all point

people to you.

I pray that your word would not return

void this morning, but that it would be

exactly what your people need to hear.

That they would we would take it with us

when we leave. We take this message,

apply it to our hearts, and live by it.

Help my voice, Lord, that I might be

able to present your word in in a way in

the best way that I can. Lord, your word

is worthy to be preached and delivered

um to the very best of our ability. And

I just pray that you'd help me to do

that this morning and I'll give you the

glory and the praise for all that you're

going to do. I ask these things in Jesus

name. Amen.

We come to Joshua chapter 10 this

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

morning. The nation of Israel has been

successful in its conquest so far.

They have conquered the city of Jericho.

They then went and conquered the city of

Ai. There was a sin in the camp. You

remember the sin in the camp and they

had to take care of Achan and the sin

and then they went back and they were

able to defeat Ai. And more recently, we

looked at 2 weeks ago, the Gibeonites

entered into the camp and they deceived

Joshua and the children of Israel into

believing that they were from a far

country, that they were from far away.

Well, Joshua and the Israelites don't

pray about it. They don't seek God's

counsel and they enter into a league.

They enter into a covenant with the

Gibeonites, who are their next door

neighbors. Now, this was contrary to

what God had commanded. And because they

did not pray, they uh now were bound by

an agreement. They were now bound by a

covenant. The covenant with the

Gibeonites was twofold. It had two

parts.

First of all, the Gibeonites agreed to

be the servants of Israel. By entering

into this agreement, they were agreeing

to be uh the servants, the slaves of

Israel.

Additionally, the Israelites were

agreeing to protect the Gibeonites.

Uh they were agreeing to if anyone was

to attack the Gibeonites, then the

nation of Israel was going to be there

to protect them and defend them. So,

it's a twofold covenant.

It's an interesting narrative that you

and I are getting ready to read here in

Joshua chapter 10. I want you to think

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

about this for a moment by way of

introduction. You and I are the

Gibeonites.

Joshua, all throughout the book, is

found to be a picture of Christ. And so,

think about the narrative in this way.

When Joshua made an agreement with the

Gibeonites, he did not know who they

were. He did not know that they were

their neighbors. He did not know that

they were going to cause problems. He

did not know who they were. But when

Jesus entered a covenant with me, he

knew exactly who I was. He knew I would

fail him. He knew I would He knew I

would run away from him. He knew I would

fall. He knew I would get discouraged.

He knew I was a mess up. He knew I would

make mistakes. And yet Jesus still

knowing who I was entered into a

covenant with me. That's how much he

loves me. And not only did he enter into

a covenant with me, but he stands by me.

He's agreed to walk with me. He's the

friend that will never leave me nor

forsake me. He's the one who walks with

me through the valley of the shadow of

death. He's the one who comes alongside

and girds us up when we're discouraged.

He's the one who comforts us on the dark

days. He's the one who encourages us on

the discouraging days. He's the one who

gives us strength on the weekdays. He's

the one that prepares our hearts and

minds when we don't want to be a

Christian anymore. When we don't want to

live like a Christian anymore. When

we're discouraged and we're downtrodden

and we're feeling the weight and the

pressure of the devil and our flesh and

this world, here comes Jesus alongside

of us. And if we just spend some time

with our friend, he will walk with us

through it all. But he's not just going

to walk with you.

He's going to fight for you.

And that's the message that I want to

talk to you about today. Is you've got a

friend besides you who is fighting in

your corner.

Look at Joshua chapter 10 and verse

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

number 14.

And there was no day like unto that

before it or after it after it that the

Lord hearkened unto the voice of man.

I want you to underline this next phrase

in your Bible.

For the Lord fought

for Israel.

The Lord fought

for Israel.

I want you to notice four

truths this morning about when God

fights for you. There are four things

that are true that we find right from

this text

that are true when God is fighting for

you. Number one,

we see the adversary.

Look at verse number one of chapter 10.

We're just going to walk through this.

I'll give you an outline as we read

through this this morning.

The adversary. Look at verse number one

of chapter 10. Now it came to pass

that when Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem,

heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had

utterly destroyed it as he had done to

Jericho and her king, so he had done to

Ai and her king, and how the inhabitants

of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and

were among them.

That they feared greatly because Gibeon

was a great city.

As one of the royal cities and because

it was greater than Ai and all the men

thereof were mighty. It's interesting

that Gibeah did not surrender to Israel

because they were weak.

Uh verse two tells us that Gibeah was

very strong. All the men in Gibeah were

mighty men. It was stronger than

Jericho. It was stronger than Ai. So

Gibeah did not give up because they were

weak.

They gave up and surrendered because

they understood they could not fight

against the God of Israel regardless of

how strong they were.

Verse number three, wherefore

Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, sent unto

Hoham, king of Hebron, and Piram, king

of Jarmuth, and uh Japhia, king of

Lachish, and unto Debir, king of Eglon,

saying, "Come up unto me and help me

that we may smite Gibeon."

So now they're looking at Gibeah as a

traitor. Gibeah has turned their back on

the land of Canaan. And Gibeah has

turned around and has now joined forces

with what the Canaanites view as the

enemy.

The nation of Israel is the enemy to the

Canaanites and so Gibeah has joined

forces with Israel. Therefore, now

Gibeah is the enemy.

And so these kings get together, they're

led by Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem.

And he's going to organize these five

kings, this coalition of kings, this

great army, and they're going to go

fight not against Israel, but they're

going to go fight against Gibeah.

They're going to go fight against who

they think these Gibeah is now the

traitor. Look at verse four.

"Come up unto me and help me." This is

what Gibeah says

to to Joshua, "Come Come up unto me and

help me that we may or excuse me, this

is what Adonizedek says to his coalition

of kings,

"Help me that we may smite Gibeon, for

it hath made peace with Joshua and with

the children of Israel." Verse five,

"Therefore, the kings of the Amorites,

the king of Jerusalem, the king of

Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of

Lachish, the king of Eglon gathered

themselves together and went up, they

and all their host and encamped before

Gibeon and made war against it." Here's

where we get this idea sometimes.

Sometimes we think that because we're

Christians and because we live in the

church and because God is fighting for

us, there is no enemy.

Right? We can just come to church and

everything's going to be just right. If

I come to church and I put money in the

offering plate and and I I pay my dues

and I do what I'm supposed to do, then

there's not going to be no enemies in my

life. It's just going to be smooth

sailing because I have God on my side.

And that's could not be further from the

truth. There are pastors and there are

teachers. If my voice cracks this

morning, I'm not going through puberty

again, I promise. I'm just trying to

preach, all right? Y'all hang with me

now. I keep going back and forth. One

minute I sound like I'm going through

puberty, next minute I sound like I just

came inside from smoking a pack of

cigarettes. Y'all just I'm not done

either, all right? I'm just trying to

preach this morning.

Sometimes in life we get this idea that

man,

if if I go with God, if God is for me,

then nobody is going to ever oppose me.

That there won't be any adversary. There

won't be any enemy. Can you think about

the the Gibeonites? The They look at

Israel coming and they say, "We're going

to make peace with Israel. And if we

make peace with Israel and the God of

Israel, then maybe perhaps everyone else

will just be our friends." But what

happens is the people who used to be

their friends now turns against them.

And let me tell you something, friends.

When you decide to go all in with Jesus,

when you decide that you're going to go

with God, that you're going to surrender

yourself to God, when you're going to

become a part of God's people, the

people who used to be your friends are

going to turn against you. The people

who you used to run with are now going

to oppose you. The people who used to to

to you used to have fun with and you

used to go with and you used to enjoy

their company, now all of a sudden you

all have different interests and you're

being pulled towards the the God, the

Yahweh, the one true God, and they're

still serving idols and they're still

serving all the things of their past and

they're still serving their flesh. And

so now you are suddenly at odds with

people who you used to be very close to.

Gibeah was a neighbor to all of these

kings.

They were friends. They joined

coalitions together

in times past, but now Gibeah is the

traitor because they've decided to join

with God's people.

When you decide to go in with all go all

in with God, you're going to face

opposition.

There's going to be an adversary.

Bible tells us that there's a roaring

lion walking about in this world seeking

whom he may devour. And you know he's

not trying to devour people who are

living for the world and living for the

flesh. He's trying to devour people who

have gone all in with God. He's trying

to devour people who who who sitting in

here this morning, who are in church on

a Sunday morning, who may be tired from

vacation Bible school, but you still got

up and you got here. And you said,

"We're going to go worship the Lord on

Sunday because our God is worthy of it."

Guess what? There's a target on your

back. There's an adversary.

And I don't mean to discourage you this

morning, but hard times are coming.

Uh there's going to be opposition.

It blows my mind.

Uh one of the things I have learned as

being a pastor is that every time

somebody comes to me and says, "Pastor,

I'm going to I'm going to start coming

to church every Sunday."

Th- They don't show up for a month.

And I'll be like, "What what?

You said you was going to come every

Sunday and I haven't seen you for 4

weeks. What's going on?" And they'll

say, "Well, you know,

this happened and I got sick and the car

broke down and and and and so-and-so

passed away and and they just go down a

list and every weekend for the last 4

weeks something has come up. You think

that's happenstance? You think that's

just circumstance? No.

There's opposition. When you say, "I'm

going to go with God," there's going to

be opposition. There's going to be an

enemy enemy. There's going to be an

adversary. Here's what I want to

encourage you with. Don't let the

adversary win.

Because just because there's opposition

doesn't mean you give up and give in.

Because God fights for you.

Notice number two. Not only do we see

the adversary,

but I want you to notice number two, the

allies.

Notice the allies in our text in verse

number six.

And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua

and to the camp of Gilgal and saying,

"Slack not thy hand from thy servants.

Come up to us quickly and save us and

help us.

For all the kings of the Amorites that

dwell in the mountains are gathered

together against us. So, Joshua ascended

from Gilgal, he and all the people of

war with him, all the mighty men of

valor. The Gibeonites had entered into

this vassal agreement with the

Israelites. The Gibeonites then were the

servants of Israel, and Israel was

obligated to protect the Gibeonites.

Now, if Joshua

had wanted to,

this would have been an opportunity for

Joshua to give up

on the Gibeonites.

The Gibeonites are surrounded. The

Gibeonites are are up against a great

army.

There's no way that the Gibeonites can

win this on their own. And so, if Joshua

had wanted to get out of this agreement

that he had made, which if you go back

to chapter 9, that the nation of Israel

realizes who they are, and they realize

this was a bad deal.

They realized that they they they got

the short end of the stick here.

And so, if Joshua had wanted to get out

of this,

all he had to do was say, "Sorry, we're

busy right now." and not go help them.

All Joshua had to do is say, "Sorry to

Gibeon, you're on your own here." But,

Joshua was a man of his word. And I'm

just thankful this morning that God has

never said, "Sorry, John, you're on your

own this time." Listen, there have been

times if I was God, I would have wanted

out of the deal he made with me. God got

the short end of the stick when he got

me. But, every time I make a mistake,

every time I get myself in trouble,

every time I find myself up in a mess,

and I cry out to him, there's a God who

is an ally. He's on my side. He's never

said, "You're on your own." He's never

left me. He's never forsaken me. Every

single time he comes through for me

right on time. Aren't you thankful

you've got a heavenly ally this morning

who will never leave you or forsake you.

God is going to fight for you. He'll

help you in your time of need.

But, it I don't want you just to just to

know this morning that you have a

heavenly ally. You have some earthly

allies as well.

Everybody do this for me.

I want you to look around. Everybody

just look around.

Just look all around the building. Go

ahead.

Look all around.

The people you see are not your enemies.

The people you see are not your

competition.

We're not trying to outdo one another in

the Christian life. I'm not trying to be

a better Christian than you. I need you

to help me to live for Jesus, and you

need me to help you live for Jesus. We

are earthly allies together. And when

you get in a mess, and you make a

mistake, and you get yourself in

trouble, don't run from the church, as

far too often people do. No, come with a

humble spirit and say, "I've messed up.

Would somebody in this place help me?

Would somebody in this place pray for

me? Would somebody in this place fight

beside me? I've messed up. I've made a

mistake. I'm surrounded by an enemy, and

I need somebody to help me." You're not

going to find the help you want out

there, but my prayer is that in this

church, when you come in here with a

heavy heart, you can find somebody that

will hold your hands up. You'll find

somebody who will bow and pray with you.

You'll find somebody who will go through

the storm with you. You'll find a friend

who will help you. You have some earthly

allies. It blows my mind why Christians

decide to run from the church house when

times get tough. It blows my mind why

people run from God and run from the

Christians that that they have, when God

has orchestrated and put together a

local church, not so that we can fight

against one another, not because we're

in a competition with one another, but

he has put us together to support one

another, love on one another, and help

one another be the Christians that God

has called us to be. Let me tell you

something, you can't do it alone.

You can't.

You need the people in this place. Don't

be afraid of community. Don't be afraid

of coming together and allowing the

church to lift you up and encourage you

and help you.

There is something special about God's

people

helping one another. You have some

allies.

The Gibeathites had some allies. They

had the people of God who could come

along beside them and help them. Now,

Joshua, he could have

He could have abandoned. He could have

said, "No, I'm out. No, I'm not going to

go help. No, I'm not going to do any of

that." But, Joshua didn't do that.

Now, listen.

I'm preaching and you think it's good

right now, but let me Let me get down to

where you're at for just a moment.

Sometimes

people do come into the church

and they are hurting

and they are broken

and you and I in our self-righteous

attitude, instead of wrapping our arms

around them and accepting them as they

are, we we shun them.

And we say, "Well, you can't dress like

that or you can't talk like that or you

can't look like that. When we come to

church, we have to be a certain way."

No, friends. It's not my job and it's

not your job to clean anybody up.

Our job is to love on them, get them to

Jesus, and Jesus will do the cleaning

up. That's his job. If you and I will

just wrap our arms around them and show

them the love of Christ, then God will

fight for them and he'll lift them up.

It's not my job to clean everybody up

who doesn't talk just like me and walk

just like me. Listen, my job is just to

take care of myself and if I'm being

honest, I got enough sin in my life to

take care of. I ain't got time to worry

about all yours. And you do, too.

Let's just love on people.

Joshua could have said, "No, Gibeon, we

ain't going to come help you." But no,

that's not what he did. Joshua walked

all night long. He's going to hike 20

miles with an army.

He's going to give up a night's sleep.

And he's going to hike through the

mountains

to a little place called Gibeon, to some

people who've wronged him, to some

people who lied to him, to some people

who deceived him, to some people who

backbit him, and he's going to go fight

on their behalf because he wants to show

them what Christ would do.

That's what the church ought to be.

We ought to give up our own comforts,

sacrifice a little bit, and go help the

people who have lied to us, who have

wronged us, who have been deceptive to

us. Well, you don't know what they've

done to me, preacher. You know the best

way to take care of them? Why don't you

call them this afternoon and say, "Hey,

I'm just praying for you. I want you to

know I love you. I want you to know that

if you need anything, I'm here for you."

The Bible says in the book of Proverbs

that one of the best ways that you can

hurt your enemy is to heap is to is to

be good to him. It says, "Just bless

him. Talk nice to him. Go be good to

him." And it's going to hurt his heart.

He's going to be convicted by that.

Maybe you'll be able to restore a

relationship

that you never thought was possible.

Because you say, "You know what? Instead

of fighting against you, I know what

you've done to me, and I know what I

could do right now.

But I'm going to come love on you

instead."

What would happen if the church of Jesus

Christ decided that instead of judging

everyone, we're just going to love on

people?

Do you think it would make a difference?

I believe it would.

Let me give you something else, though.

We've got the adversary, we've got the

allies. Put down number three, the

admonition. Let's continue in our

narrative. Y'all with me still this

morning?

Hang in there, we're almost there.

Verse number eight.

God's going to give Joshua an

admonition.

He said, "And the Lord said unto Joshua,

fear them not, for I have delivered them

into thine hand. There shall not a man

of them stand before thee."

Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly

and went up from Gilgal all night.

God's going to give him an admonition in

verse number eight.

Joshua's going to march all night these

20 miles. He's going to march against

this massive army. By the way, this is

the greatest army that Joshua has faced

up to this point. Jericho was a a

a fortified city, but it was only one

city. And it wasn't a very large city.

Ai was even smaller than Jericho.

Now he's up against not just one city,

but he's up against the armies of five

cities.

Five kings have now come against

Gibeath. This is the greatest army that

Joshua has faced, but he doesn't back up

from it. He doesn't run from it. God

comes to him and says, "Joshua, don't be

afraid of them. I'm going to go with

you. Don't be afraid. I have delivered

them into your hands." God encourages

Joshua. And by the way, friends, the

message of God to us this morning is

don't fear the enemy. I know this is

practical. I know this is simple. And if

I had a voice, I want to preach so hard

to you this morning, but God said no, so

I'm just going to teach. All right, is

that okay?

God is telling us this morning, don't

fear the enemy that's waiting you

outside those doors.

We all have opposition. We all have an

adversary. We all have an enemy. We all

have an anxiety, a worry, a care, a

fear. This morning, the message of God

to Joshua is the same message of God to

you, fear them not. God is a God of

victory. And if we will walk by faith

and fight the good fight of faith, then

God will give us victory. 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15 and verse number 57 says,

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us

the victory through the Lord Jesus

Christ." There is victory for the

Christian.

You don't have to fear the enemy. You

don't have to fear the opposition. I

don't know how it's going to turn out in

this life, but I know how it's going to

turn out in the next life. And even if

the worst thing happens down here and

you die defeated and with regret, when

if you are saved this morning, victory

is yours because at the moment of death,

you will get to leave this world and to

be absent from the body is to be present

with the Lord, the Bible tells us. And

you'll get to be in glory, in a

glorified body, in the presence of your

savior. And I just want to tell you,

it's going to be okay on that day. It's

going to be all right when we see Jesus.

It's going to be okay at the end of it.

You have the victory regardless of what

happens down here. One day, there is

coming a day when you'll be able to sit

at the feet of Jesus and worship him.

And what a day that's going to be. What

a glorious day it's going to be. And God

tells Joshua, Joshua, don't don't fear.

You're going They're going to be

delivered into your hands.

So, we see the message of God. And then

I want you to notice in verse 9, the man

of God.

Joshua therefore came up unto them

suddenly and went up from Gilgal all

night.

Sometimes we get this idea

that because I'm saved and because God

fights on my side, I don't have to fight

anymore.

Uh you and I can just kind of coast

through life and we can kind of live how

we want to live and do what we want to

do because God's already given us the

victory.

And and listen, there are there is

eternal victory for the Christian. If

you're saved, you're you're saved.

You're going to get to heaven. God's

paid the the price of your sin. He's

He's paid it all on Calvary. You're

saved. You can't lose it. You're going

to go to heaven. But what you will miss

are the blessings of the Christian life

now.

If you don't live for God, if you don't

fight now, you'll miss the Let me just

put it in context.

If Joshua had said, "Thanks, Lord.

You say don't fear them. You told me to

that they're delivered. I'm just going

to stay put. I'm not going to walk all

night. I'm going to sleep good tonight.

I'm I'm going to rest well and in the

morning, I'm just going to expect some

great miracle to take place and defeat

them."

No, they would they the Gibeonites would

have lost.

Josh the story would be completely

different and and here's the key, Joshua

would have missed a great miracle of God

that's getting ready to take place.

He would have never saw it if he didn't

gird himself up and go fight. So, I've

come to tell you this morning, yes, God

has said fear don't fear your enemy.

Yes, God has said, "Hey, I'm going to

take care of you." Yes, God has said,

"I'm going to fight beside you." Yes,

God has said, "Victory is yours." But

you got to get up and fight the good

fight of faith.

Don't just lay around all the time and

say, "Woe is me. God's never done

anything for me." Maybe maybe the reason

you've never seen anybody saved is

because you've never went out and

witnessed to anybody.

Maybe the reason you've never had a

visitor in a guest in church with you is

cuz you've never invited anyone to come

to church with you. Maybe the reason

you've never seen God answer prayer is

because you've never had a sleepless

night on your knees asking God to do

something great. Maybe the reason you

don't understand your Bible is because

you've never sat down and actually put

the time in to read it. You just expect

me to explain it to you every week. And

I'll do the best I can, but can I tell

you that's not enough?

Perhaps the reason you're not seeing

spiritual victory is because you're just

sitting back waiting on God to do some

great miracle and you're missing the

miracles of God in your life because

you're not willing to put in a little

work in your Christian life.

There's an admonition from God. Hey

Joshua, I've delivered them into your

hands, but you better get going.

This morning your spiritual victory

might be just around the next corner.

Don't give up now.

This is not the time to sleep in. This

is not the time to get lazy as the

church. This is not the time to give up

and just wait on God to do something. We

ought to pray harder. We ought to preach

harder. We ought to visit harder. We

ought to be evangelized harder. We've

got to be more passionate now than we've

ever been. I believe there are great

miracles for the church ahead. But I

think the church many churches are

missing the miracles of God because we

have gotten in a rut and we're just

going through a religious motion every

week and that's the extent of our

Christian life. And God says I've got so

much more for you if you would just get

up and pray a little bit. If you would

just spend some time with me.

You would experience my presence like

you've never known before.

How about it?

Perhaps the reason we're not seeing

spiritual victory

is because we're not people of God

who are seeking the face of God. I'm

almost done. Let me give you number

four.

We see number one, the adversary. Number

two, the allies.

Number three, the admonition. Number

four, there is the almighty.

God's going to show up and do what only

God can do.

And by the way, when you and I join in a

partnership with God, then God's going

to show up and do what only God can do.

It's not up to you and I to create

something. We just got to get up and do

what God's called us to do. And if we'll

join a partnership with him, he'll take

care of the rest.

Look at what happens.

Verse 10 and 11, we see the might of

God.

Verse number 10, the Lord discomfited

them before Israel. That word means that

he confused them.

The enemies get so confused, they get so

worked up, they don't even know which

way they're going, they don't know

what's happening.

They get all confused and then the

Israel slew them with a great slaughter

at Gibeon.

Chased them along the way that goeth up

to Beth-horon

and smote them at Azekah and Makkedah.

Verse 11, and it came to pass as they

fled before Israel. So, all these these

five cities, this great army, now is

fleeing from Israel.

As they were going down to Beth-horon

that the Lord cast great stones from

heaven upon them

at Azekah and they died. And there were

more which died with hailstones than

they whom the children of Israel slew

with the sword.

So, God sends down these great

hailstones from heaven. Israel comes

into Gibeon.

They've walked all night, they've

marched all night, they begin to battle

with these five kings who have

surrounded Gibeon. God begins to give

them a victory. The kings, the armies

begin to flee away. And as they're

running away from the face of Israel,

God sends hailstones out of heaven. It's

a great hail storm and they begin to hit

these dudes in the head and more of them

died from the hail storm than those

which died by the sword. What is God

doing? He's giving Israel a victory. God

told them he'd give them a victory and

now God is coming through. God is a God

who keeps his promises. And if you'll

partner with Jesus, he'll always come

through. He's a God who fights for you.

But that's not the end of the miracle.

Joshua was fighting with them.

And then they're they're fighting and

they're chasing and they see them

falling and Joshua begins to see the

sun.

He said, "We've only got so many hours

of daylight left.

And God, I've seen what you can do with

the hail.

And the same God who made the hail is

the same God who put the stars and the

sun and the moon in space.

And God, it sure would be nice if I

could get just a few more hours of

daylight out here.

Because I want to make sure I do a

thorough job."

How many of you have ever watched the

sun set on a job and you're thinking,

"I wish I could get a few more hours of

daylight out here."

Well, Joshua is doing the Lord's work.

He begins to pray. Look at what happens

in verse number 12. Then speak Joshua to

the Lord in that day when the Lord

delivered up the Amorites before the

children of Israel and he said in the

sight of Israel, "O sun,

S U N, stand thou still upon Gibeon and

thou moon in the valley of Ajalon."

Verse 13, "And the sun stood still and

the moon stayed until the people had

avenged themselves upon their enemies.

Is not this written in the book of

Jasher?" So, the sun stood still in the

midst of heaven and hastened not to go

down about a whole day.

Now, this is interesting. You can look

up

records in history.

Native Americans have a a day in in

their history books far, far ago that's

written about that they say that where a

night was extra long.

Well, that would make sense because on

our side of the world, it would be night

while Israel was day.

And God makes the sun to just stand

still. How does God do it? Well, we know

now that the world spinning on axis and

there's a sun and there's the moon and

all of this is taking place. And I'll

just be honest, I don't know how God did

it. But if he made it all, I suppose he

can stop it all for a little while.

So God just holds the sun still for a

bit. He makes the day longer so that

Joshua can complete the victory. And

it's a great miracle. But Joshua would

have missed it all if he didn't stay in

the fight.

If he didn't take up for his brothers

who had come and asked for help.

Here's what I think, church, and I'm

done. Ashton, can you come?

Here's what I think

we've missed in a lot of our churches

today.

Here's what I think, let's just Can I

personalize it? Here's what I think I've

missed in my life.

I think I've missed a lot of time.

I think I've missed a lot of daylight

that God wanted to provide for me to

make a difference in the world

because I wasn't even in the fight.

I've missed a lot of opportunities. I've

missed a lot of chances

because I wasn't even in the fight.

How many more miracles could I testify

about

if I had been a little busier about

seeking the face of God and fighting the

evilness of this world? How many more

miracles could I testify about if I had

taken time to pray with that brother or

that sister in Christ?

One prayer could be all it takes to

change a situation. One prayer could be

all it takes to to heal someone

physically.

Oh, how many more miracles could you

testify about this morning

if instead of getting weak and and

instead of getting tired and instead of

living in discouragement, you had risen

up and said, "God, today today I'm going

to fight for somebody. Today I'm going

to fight on my knees for somebody. Today

I'm going to come before you and ask for

your blessing for somebody. Today I'm

going to pray for the church to go

forth. Today I'm going to go invite

somebody to come into a relationship

with Jesus Christ. How many more

testimonies would we have of the

miracles of God if we would actually get

in the fight?

I'm all for church.

And I want you to be in church every

time we have church. I think it's

important.

But I don't ever want you to just come

to church to check the religious box.

And just get in this religious motion

where you just go through the the things

that we do.

Oh, you can come to church your whole

life and never see God do anything.

That's not what I want. I've got a God

who came down to where I was. He knew

how dirty and rotten and sinful I was.

And yet he still came to me and he

wrapped me up in his big old loving arms

and he said, "I want to be your friend

and I want to walk with you and I want

to fight for you. I want to fight with

you. I want to give you victories." How

foolish would it be for me then to take

the hand of that God and just sit down

and say, "Take me to heaven someday,

Lord."

And yet how many churches and Christians

are living right there?

And they're missing all the miracles

that God has for them.

Lost family members who need to be

saved. Are you fighting with the savior

of the world on behalf of them?

Or do we just sit back idle and think,

"God, give us some great miracle."

I don't know about you, church, but I

want to go

with God.

I want to see all that he has for me.

I don't want to leave anything undone.

I want to give him everything that I've

got.

I would rather die young

and give God everything

than to live 125 years

and be a lazy Christian.

There's some miracles

that need to happen in this room right

now.

There's some relationships that you're

thinking about. There's some cares that

you're thinking about. There's some

anxieties that you have.

And God's saying, "Hey, fear them not.

I'm with you.

I can give you victory.

I can walk with you through the valley.

I can come alongside you and help you.

Will you fight alongside?

Will you do the work that God's called

you to do?

He could give you a little more time.

Think about this.

The sun standing still is all a picture

of time.

Joshua said, "I need a little more time

to defeat this."

And maybe you're thinking, "Oh God, if

you just give my

grandkids a little more time.

God, if you'd give my children just a

little more time,

maybe I'd be able to break through to

them.

My marriage, just a little more time,

maybe you can fix it."

God, give our church just a little more

time.

Another chance.

Just hold the sun still.

Give us a little more grace, a little

more mercy, a little more power. We want

to fight. We want to see victory.

Don't give up on them yet, God.

Don't give up on them yet.

Look at the end of the chapter, I'm

done.

Look at verse number 42.

And all these kings and their land did

Joshua take at one time.

Why?

Look at the next phrase.

Because the Lord God of Israel

fought

for Israel.

The only way we're going to have victory

is if we fight with Jesus.

You can't do it on your own.

You need your local church. You need

your body of believers, but most

important, you need Jesus Christ to be

on your side.

She's going to play the piano for just a

few verses this morning, and I want you

to just stand where you're at.

And I don't know what it is in your

life, what adversary you have, but I

know this, there is an adversary, there

is opposition, there are anxieties,

there are worries, and there are cares,

and there are We need some miracles.

I'm just going to invite you to pray.

Would you take just a moment and fight

on behalf of those you love?

You can come and kneel at this altar if

you'd like to.

I want to see God do some miracles.

How many of you would just raise your

hand this morning and say, "Pastor, I've

got a miracle that I need God to do in

my life, and I want to see God do a

miracle." Just lift them up, let's see

them. Say, "I need a miracle in my

life."

Hey, we serve a God who is a

miracle-working God, and if he can give

Joshua more time, he can give you more

time.

If he can defeat Joshua's enemies, he

can defeat your enemies.

Got a God who cares.

Why don't you bring your worry to him

this morning?

Ask him for a miracle [music]

in faith, and let's see what God will

do.