Keys to an Accelerated Life

Joshua 6:1-5 (NIV) 1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. 2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."

Keys to an Accelerated Life

Intro:

Illustration: Keys to the hotel

I was trying to open yesterday doors with today's keys!!!!

You can't win today's wars with yesterday weapons!!

You can't do today's task with yesterday tools!!!

God has called us as a ministry to a deeper level of commitment and a higher level of ministry!

Five things they was given:

Joshua 1:

Possession: v3 "Every place your foot tread... that have i given unto you.

Power: v5 "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee".

Presence: v5 As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee... with thee whithersoever thou goest".

Property: v6 "unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land".

Prosperity: v8"Thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest... good success".

Now we come to chapter 6,

If you go in to the next level,

1. Their Struggle with the Wall.

Joshua 6:1 (NIV) Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

What do you do when you get to your place of promise and your place is in prison.

First thing I want to tell you about the wall…

The Wall is known

Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites.

Jericho is known as the oldest city in the world, in Joshua’s day, Jericho was locked up tight as a drum. It was straightly “shut up.” In the Hebrew this reads was “closed and closed.” It was closed with iron gates, reinforced with copper bolts. Jericho thought it was secure, only to find out later that it was insecure.

Scholars tell us that this city was surrounded by two great stone walls.

The area of the city was eight to nine acres. It was surrounded by double walls 25–30 feet high with an outer wall six feet thick. The inner walls were twelve feet thick with fifteen feet between each wall. Jericho was a big obstacle for Israel. Jericho was a big hindrance to Israel. It stood as an obstacle between them and the rest of the Promised Land. Before they could go deeper into the land the Lord had given to them, Jericho had to be defeated.

That city stood before them as a barrier between them and God’s best for them. If they were going to get all that God had for them, those wall had to be torn down!

You might not even realize it today, but many of us have walls in our lives. These walls stand between us and our receiving God’s best for our lives.

Not only,

The Wall is Known

The Wall is Negated {abolish,dissolve,cancel}

Joshua 6:2 (NIV) See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

As Joshua and all the men of war stood looking at those walls around that great city, God had a word of comfort for their hearts! Here, God promises Israel the victory before they ever attack Jericho! He lets them know about the conclusion before they ever enter into their battle! God had already given them the victory!!

God said, “I have given thee Jericho.”

QUOTE: Someone once said, "Don't tell God how big the wall is, tell the wall how big your God is."

When God spoke to Joshua concerning Jericho, God said, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand.”

In the heart and mind of God, the city of Jericho was already defeated. It is completed in the heart and mind of the child of God when we decide to follow God’s plans. Anything God assigns to our hearts and hands will be completed when we follow his plans.

The Wall is Necessary

Let me tell you why you need a wall…….because you need a breakthrough…. You needed a wall to have a testimony......

Submissive To God’s Power—Israel was about to learn the truth that victory was in the Lord and not in themselves. They were about to participate in the strangest victory in history.

As we face our obstacles, whatever they may be we can do so with confidence, because we have the Lord’s promises :

As we face the walled cities in our lives, we need to learn to believe the Lord, to take Him at His Word and trust Him for our victories!

Romans 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Not only we see,

1.Their Struggle with the Wall.

2.Their Strategy To Win With.

Here is the plan

It's designed by the lord.

v 2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, v3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. v4b On the seventh day, march around the city seven times.

It's designed by the Lord.

It's directed from the leader.

v6 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.

It's done by the laity.{people}

v7 And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.

They simply did it God’s way. They might have been tempted to fight. After all, the people of Jericho were terrified of the Israelites! Yet, they just walked! That is all God said to do!

Not only we see,

1.Their Struggle with the Wall.

2.Their Strategy To Win With.

3. Their Season of Waiting

Be quiet while waiting.

v10 But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!"

The only sound that would be heard by the Jericho residents was the sound of marching feet and the horns blown by the priests.

Be committed while waiting

v11 So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

Not only we see,

1.Their Struggle with the Wall.

2.Their Strategy To Win With.

3. Their Season of Waiting.

4. Their Strength to Worship.

Joshua 6:12-16 (NIV) 12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORDand blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. 15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!

There can be no victory for the Lord in public unless we experience worship of the Lord in private. Joshua fell on his face in worship; he took off his shoes in humility; and he turned all his plans over to his Commander when he said, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” As Christian soldiers (2 Tim. 2:3; Eph. 6:10ff), we must submit to Christ and listen to His orders in the Word. Christ gave to Joshua the exact orders for overcoming the city (6:2–5), and all he had to do was obey by faith. “I have given Jericho to you!” Christ promised. But the people had to step out by faith and claim the victory.