Derek Greer (0:00)

Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in. Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. Now this may surprise you, but Jericho was not a particularly large city. Actually Jericho was under 10 acres, large or small if you will. But Jericho was older than Athens, older than Thebes. The city was built like a fortress and it was one of the oldest and best defended cities of the ancient world. And right before this point, God had miraculously parted the Jordan. But you know, this is important now to get them out of bondage, God opened the Red Sea and they walked as on dry land, but also to get them into the promise. God also did a very similar miracle and at flood stage he opened the Jordan. And God will do miracles to get you out, but also to get you in. So God had just performed this miracle and everyone in the city knew about it. And despite Jericho's great walls that, that, you know, everyone talked about and its great history, everyone in the city was uneasy. Now the Bible teaches, if God be for you, who can be against you? But the Bible also teaches if God is against you, who can be for you? It is a fearful thing for a person to, for a city, for a nation to fall into the hands of the living God. And it said none went out and none came in. The city was on complete lockdown. Now the Lord just appeared to Joshua at the end of chapter five. It's actually the Lord Jesus Christ. And Joshua wanted to know, are you for us or for against us? And Jesus is like, listen, I'm for the Lord and you need to decide if you for me or against me. But the Lord said to Joshua a one word sentence that almost out of the gate brings us to our focus today. And this one word sentence is, see, now we are only in verse two of chapter six of Joshua, and the walls don't fall down until verse 20. But what God is trying to show us is if you want God to bring down walls in your life, you first got to see it before you see it. But as we go on, we're also going to learn that this type of vision requires the help of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus in the gospel calls the Holy Spirit our helper, says he will teach us and guide us into all things. And the Holy Spirit's job is basically to give us vision to help us see what we cannot see. And there's no better teacher than the Holy Spirit and no Better textbook than God's word. So Jesus says to him, see, watch the way Jesus speaks, though I have given that's past tense, Jericho into your hand now. No wall has fallen, no block has fallen, no soldier has circled the city. But God wanted Joshua to see it as already done. If you want to walk with a God who calls things that are not as though they are, you got to be willing to see things that are not as though they really are. In Isaiah, chapter 46 and 9, God explains His omniscience. And this is the way he does it. He says, for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me. God doesn't have a confidence problem, by the way. And then he describes the thing that makes him uniquely God. Declaring the end. For from the beginning, according to scripture, God is a reverse planner. His work in our lives always begins with the end in mind. Now we're disappointed. We're, you know, sad and upset and bent out, you know, in the lips. Because we often focus on the pain of the present and the hurt of the past. But God's focus is the results. In the end, God doesn't think the way we think. He said another place in Isaiah, my ways are not your ways, My thoughts are not your thoughts. You understand? As high as the heavens are above the earth, are my ways above your ways. Second Corinthians picks up on this idea, and Paul says it another way. For our light and momentary affliction, which is but for a moment, anything compared or divided by eternity equals zero. So as much as you think you got to go through in life, when you compare that to eternity, it's absolutely nothing. So as much as Paul had to go through, he said it was but for a moment. But watch what he understood, and it is working for us. Your momentary affliction is working for you. Watch this. A more exceeding weight in glory. And what we see here is God doesn't promise that it will always be easy. He just promises that in the end it will be worth it. Back to Joshua 6 and 2. So God begins this portion of scripture with this one word sentence, see? And in order for them to do what God wanted them to do, they had to see first. He said, see, I have given. Past tense again. No stone had fallen out the wall. They hadn't circled the cities. Nothing tremendous had happened yet. But see it now that I have already given Jericho into your hand, its king and the mighty men of valor. So God wanted Joshua to see himself defeating the whole kit and caboodle. He wanted Joshua to see himself taking the city, defeating all its political leaders and its army through the power of God. Now, the reason many of us find ourselves depressed and often confused is because we don't see ourselves winning. We feel hopeless, we feel trapped. We see no way out, not because of the circumstances as much as what we see on the inside. Romans 15 and verse 13 has helped me over the years. Paul says, by the Holy Spirit. Now may the God of hope. We could spend the rest of the morning talking about that. God is a God of hope. If you think you're hearing from God and there's no hope, it's not God. God specializes in hope. Hope is what God brings and what he does. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy. Now we see in this verse that joy comes from hope. So if we lose hope, that's when despair and depression follows. Now you may not know this about me, but my wife does. And anyone that knows me well does. I fight discouragement regularly. It tries to visit me, if not monthly, weekly, if not weekly, daily. Some days it feels like hourly. But I fight so hard because I've lived long enough to know what depression is like. I know how easy it is to fall into it and how hard it is to climb out of it once you find yourself in that situation. So every time I start to lose my joy, I immediately check my hope. I've learned we must accept finite disappointments, but never lose infinite hope. All Bible hope is is the expectation that somehow, despite what just happened, despite what they just said, despite what you just saw, somehow God is going to work all things together for good. Hope is knowing that if I just hang on, morning's coming. Hope is the understanding. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy will come in the morning. Hope is recognizing that whatever you're facing is temporary. But God's word is eternal, invisible and more powerful than any weapon on the planet. And if I just hold on to that word, hide it in my heart, I'm going to get to the other side of whatever I'm dealing with in my life. And Paul said this. He said, watch the te now, not after everything's all right in the midst of the battle, when folks are still acting ugly. Now may the God of hope watch this, not just a little bit, fill you with all joy. God sized hope will fill you to overflowing. May the God of hope fill you Watch this with all joy. So we see hope that comes from God will what fill you and peace in believing. Now notice joy and peace are Connected. Lose hope, lose joy. Lose joy, lose peace. But it all starts with hope, that you may abound in hope. Now, the only way we can abound or flourish in hope in such a dark world is if we see things differently. And the only way you're going to see it before you see it and see life differently than your neighbor is included in this final clause. By the power of the Holy Spirit. This type of sight, this type of vision in the midst of a crisis, in the midst of a trial, in the midst of a challenge is not something you can naturally manufacture on your own. It requires a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Now, I know we sing songs about this, and we mean well when we sing it, and I'm not criticizing you for saying it, but I want to tell you this. No one really needs more of the Holy Spirit. He just needs more of us. And if we would yield who we are and what we have to him, he is already more than sufficient. More than enough. Back to Joshua 6:3. He said, you shall march around this city, all you men of war, and you shall all go around the city once. And this you should do for six days. So I want you to put yourself in their shoes. To the outside and watching world. They look silly. They look foolish. Your worship may look silly. Your worship may look foolish. Your tithing, your giving, your serving, your decisions may look silly. It may look foolish. But when you see it on the inside, you. You march to the rhythm of a different drummer. You hear what I'm saying? Now, people may criticize our faith, but they won't be able to criticize our results. I am preaching good right there. I want you to tell your neighbor, laugh at me now. But in a few years, you're gonna come to me asking for advice. Come on, tell your neighbor, laugh at me now. Get the laugh out right now. But just give me a little while. You gonna come to me for advice. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark. Now, I'm a thinking person, and that's part of my problem. I'm very analytical, and it gets in my way at times. So any reasonable person that just got these directions from the Lord is going to say, you know, in their minds, well, tell me, how is walking around walls and blowing horns going to win a military battle against the most fortified city in this part of the world? But First Corinthians, chapter 1 and 18 tells us. It says, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are saved, it is the power of God. So would you stop trying so hard to be like everybody else? You don't even like everybody. So as silly as you may look at times, as different as we may seem at times, God's plan always wins. Always wins, always lasts, always gets the final word. Joshua 6 and 4. But the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times. And what we see here is when you walk with God, follow his instructions, the results will not always be instant. They had to keep at it for days before they saw results. So it's on the seventh day, you're going to go around seven times. And the priests shall blow the trumpets and it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout, then the wall of the city will fall down and the people shall go up, every man straight before him. Now I would like you to imagine what it was like for Joshua to tell this to his generals. We're going to face the most fortified city in the ancient world, the oldest city in the ancient world. And what God told us to do, just walk around it on the last day, we gotta do it seven times. And just out of nowhere the walls are gonna fall. And what you need to realize this is really the final exam for the children of Israel. They had been in the wilderness for 40 years and they refused to listen. But finally this new generation learned. Obeying God's word is the most powerful weapon in all of our arsenal. And if it makes you look silly for a little while, look silly, because in the end it will speak and not lie. So it was when Joshua had spoken to the people that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of the rams horns before the Lord advanced and blew the trumpets and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord followed them. Verse 9. The Armed Men went before the priests who blew the trumpets and the rear guard came after the ark while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. A little bit wordy there, but simply what is being written here. The Ark of the Covenant was protected by the people from the front and behind. And we must protect the presence of God in our lives above all else. I keep saying on Sunday and I'm gonna keep saying it till you get it. Peace is not the absence of trouble, it is the presence of God. But watch this. Verse 10. Joshua is smart. He had commanded the people saying, you shall not shout. He's like, if y'all don't get that, let me say it. Another way. Or make any noise. I don't want to hear. Mm. I don't want to hear nothing. I don't want to hear the slightest grumble. Any noise with your voice. They say if you didn't get that, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth. You see, their fathers had died in the wilderness. Because of their constant griping, complaining and criticizing, both God and. And Moses and Joshua refused to let this happen on his watch. And what I've learned in my life is particularly when my emotions want to run away with me, sometimes you just gotta shush. You gotta learn to stop talking yourself out of the miracle that God has for you. You have to caution yourself again about overthinking and just hide it in your heart. You know, that's what Mary did. That's what made Mary so wise. The angel spoke to her and she hid it in her heart. And then Jesus would say certain things and then she would hide it. The Bible said in her heart. Why should we hide God's word in his heart? Because he who promised is faithful. Faithful. He said, you shall not shout or make any noise with your voice. So this is not nothing nor a word. Proceed until the day I say to you, shout and then you shall. What? Shout. See, I have learned the hard way that silence is an answer to when I want to flip out and lose it. God said to Moses, he said, be still and see the salvation of your Lord. He said, moses, stop crying out to me. Just be still, shut up and watch me do what only I can do. Isaiah in 3015, he says this in quiet and confidence shall be your strength. Sometimes people are doing all that talking because they really don't have confidence. But there's a quiet confidence that God wants to give each of us. But watch this. Quiet and confident shall be your. But you would not. You just had to keep talking. You just had to let your opinion be heard. You just had to let everyone you know understand how rational and logical you were and release all your fears into the atmosphere. But when it comes to second guessing God, never miss a good chance to shut up. 6:14. So watch this. I think this was a bigger miracle than him parting the Red Sea. What I'm about to read. So they did. For six days, God's big mouth. People stayed quiet. Did not murmur, did not complain, did not second guess for a whole six days. Now the Bible teaches that faith speaks, but we also learned, particularly from Jairus. Real faith also knows when to be quiet. And there are times you just don't put Your emotions on blast. Just because you feel it, you don't have to say it. And just be still and see the salvation of your God. So as they walked around the walls, God was trying to bring a level of peace and tranquility into their hearts and lives. You remember when Jesus spoke to the storm, if he was upset, he couldn't have said what he said. He said, peace, be still, the peace on the inside of him. He wanted to get out on the storm. But often the storm raging on the inside of us just shoots out of us and all it does is add to the storm. But he said, peace be. He was sleeping on a pillow. He wasn't upset, he wasn't nervous. He had a peace that passed understanding. And God wants to give you such a peace that in the midst of your turmoil, you can speak peace, peace into your situation. But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early about the dawning of the day and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. So they quietly circled the city for six days. Then on the seventh day, they circled the city seven times. And here's the question. Can you keep circling the situation the Lord has already given you a victory in, but you can't see it without complaining. And with no signs of change, can you keep your mouth shut when it's not going exactly how you would do it? Your situation is still right there staring you in the face without, you know, saying, God, I thought you loved me. I thought, I thought you cared for me. You love everybody else but me. God, how could I be in this situation? God says, would you just trust me? I got you. Don't be like Mama and them. They perished in the wilderness over there. All that talk. Would you just shush up and trust your God? On that day only, they marched around this city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, I don't know what number time it will happen for you. I don't know for you if it will be the first day, the second day, the third day, the seventh day. I don't know if it'll be the first time, the second time, the 55th time. But what I do know is if you keep trusting him and obeying, it's gonna happen. God's timing is perfect. And the seventh time it happened when the priests blew the trumpets that Joshua said to the people, shout, for the Lord has given you. Now watch this. Not the Lord will give you. Past tense. You need to look at that child. Say, no, Lord's already fixed it. God has already handled that situation. I know what I see with my eyes, but I see something different on the inside. My children will live and not die and proclaim the works of God. Great is the peace of my children, for they are taught of the Lord. Meaning God knows how to find your child. When the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to people, shout for. For the Lord has given you the city. If you really believe that, God has already given you victory. If you believe that God's already done it for you. A Sunday shout only makes sense. A Sunday shout only makes sense. Come on, give him praise. God, you are faithful. God, you are holy. God, you are just. And you'll do it again. You'll do it again. You'll do it again. You did it back then, and you'll do it again. You did it back then, and you'll do it again. You did it back then. You'll do it again. You did it back then. I see you doing it again. That's all right. I'm going to give you a minute. Because some walls about to come down. Some walls about to come down. You're about to get free. You're about to. Verse 20. So the people shouted. They released a shout because they saw it before they saw it. And you will find your shout if you will see it before you see it. So the people shouted. Priests blew the trumpets. And it happened. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they took their shout to the next level. It's amazing how much stronger we become when others join their praise alongside our praise. Just two or three of us are gathered together and there he is in the midst. And it's just a strength when you add your praise to my praise and her praise, and her praise. And when we do it together, walls start to come down. Folks don't understand. They might make fun of us, but the walls in our lives are coming down and theirs are still up. Pay attention to what I'm saying this morning. So when they heard the sound of the trumpet, they went from a shout to a great shout. The people shouted with a great shout. They began to act like the victors and the winners. God called and created them to be before they saw the victory. Don't wait till the battle is over. Shout now, now, now. Here is the place to shout. See it before you see it. Know that wall is coming down. You will step into your promise. It will be as God said, said. You see, your shout is connected to your depression. It's connected to your discouragement. It's connected to your promise. But you got to See it before you see it. And if you see it, you'll shout. If you see it, you'll dance. I'm going to say a scripture that I've been saying almost every other Sunday, that hopefully this Sunday you finally get it. The Bible says Jesus, for the joy set before him, endured the cross and it saved. That means while they were beating him, all the pain he was in, he saw something on the inside. He saw the world changed because of his sacrifice. He saw you and I born again, filled with his spirit in relationship with God. What kept him on the cross is what he saw in our life. He had a hope on the inside. He saw it before he saw it. We weren't even born yet. But he saw you for the joy set before. Where does joy come from? Hope. He had an expectation that what he was going through was going to change the world. And what you're going through can change your life if you just stay the course. He endured the shame. The cross looks silly to everybody, just like your worship looks silly to people. But he endured the cross for the joy set before him. On the inside. He saw something that made him happy despite how bad he hurt. And God wants you, if you are a child of God, to see something, no matter how bad it hurts, that you could see. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. If I just hang on till morning, I'm going to be okay. This situation is going to work itself out because my God is faithful. I see it on the inside. I don't know how, but I know he will. He will do it. And we are right there. Final verse. And the people shouted with a great shout that the wall fell down flat. Even the darkest hour only has 60 minutes. Trouble can't last always. But if you want the walls to come down, you got to get your roar back. You gotta rebel against your doubts and your fears. You gotta resist the images of the worst case because you know God is on your case. At first the people shouted, but then there was a great shout. And then with that great shout, the walls fell down. My prayer is that you find your shout and you can see victory before you see it. You can see God performing his promise before you see it. If you see it before you see it, your walls will come tumbling down. Give God a hallelujah. Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember you have what it takes in Christ to live by. 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