I will Not Go Down Without a Fight

I Will Not Go Down Without a Fight

May 2, 2021

Scripture: Joshua 11:5-9

Joshua is one of the characters in the Bible that I can look up to; he had the tremendous responsibility of following in the footsteps of the man called Moses, the man God spoke with face to face.

· Joshua had the great responsibility of stepping up and following in the man's footsteps, who God spoke with face to face.

· Because laid upon Joshua was something Moses was not allowed to do.

· Moses had the assignment of leading the children of Israel out of bondage, but he could not lead them into the promised land

· The mantle that was upon Joshua was to lead the children of Israel into the promised land

One thing we can take with us all from this first part is:

· God has an assignment on all our lives that only you can do

· For forty years, the Children of Israel wandered around trying to find the Promise Land.

· Moses dies, and now it is time for Joshua to take the lead and lead the Children of Israel

For Joshua to lead the Children of Israel to possess the Promise Land, the land of Canaan, the land that God said would be theirs, they would have to fight.

· Let put it another way; if you are going to reach the destination that God has for you, you are going to have to fight!

· If you are going to get where God wants you to be, achieve what God wants you to achieve, you are going to have to fight.

And here we find in the book of Joshua, battle after battle, victory after victory, time after time, they had to fight a total of 31 battles, and the one battle he lost, he went back and won that battle.

· If you are going to achieve what God has called for you to achieve, you are going to have to fight!

· Some things in life require you to put up a fight in order to be victorious.

· And anything worth having in life, you will have to put up a fight!

· People fail to see that when you became a Christian, the Devil saw you, and he realized that you posed a threat to his kingdom.

· So, when the Devil sees you heading in the direction that God has called you to achieve, he puts up a fight to stop you.

· Believe me; I’ve been fighting that joker for a while now!

· He will throw everything possible your way to keep you from becoming everything God wants you to be.

· The one thing I have learned, the closer I got to where God wanted me to be, the more complex the battle became in my life!

o There were times I didn’t want to fight

o There were times when I wanted to give up

o There were times I felt defeated

o But once I made up my mind, I wasn’t going down that easily, and I began to pray for strength, help, peace of mind, and direction.

o I have peace

· Phil. 4:7 says: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Joshua 11:1 says: “And it came to pass when Jabin king of Hazor had heard these things,

· Israel’s leader was both a military genius and a spiritual giant. Militarily, his tactics were skillful: (1) His battles were all offensive. When he learned that an attack was impending, he preceded it by an attack of his own. (2) He used the element of surprise (e.g., against the five Amorite kings besieging Gibeon, 10:9; against the many kings at the Waters of Merom, 11:7; and against Ai when he staged a decoy-rout, 8:14–19). (3) He sent his soldiers to harry the retreating enemy, to prevent them from reaching their cities (10:19–20).[1]

· So, when he had heard about the battles, they had won

· Joshua 5:1 says: So, it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who wereby the sea, heard that the Lordhad dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.[2]

o He heard

· Joshua 9:1 says: And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon—the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, 2 that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.[3]

o They heard about it

· Joshua 10:1 says: Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai[4]

o Same thing when he heard

o When you are doing something, significant people are going to hear about you!

· What did they hear:

o They heard you are stronger today

o They heard you don’t get mad as you used to

o They heard you are still having church over there

o They will talk about you, and they are talking about you because you are going somewhere, you are doing something.

So here in Chap. 11, king Jabin heard the news; look at vs.5: And when all these kings had met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.[5]

· In these past few years, I have learned that people will gather and talk about you to other people they don’t like and become friends to take you out.

· People are talking about you, Vs.5, and they have come down to the waters Merom to fight against Israel.

First Point:

In the first five verses, these armies are coming against Israel

Number one: Anticipate a fight

· Anticipate that people will come against you

o People are going to lie on you

o Twist the truth, so all the blame is your fault

o See, I was surprised when people came against me

§ I had counseled them

§ I had baptized them

§ I had blessed their children and grandchildren according to the Biblical mandate.

§ I buried their loved ones

§ Married people in their family

§ I said all that to say this, don’t be surprised if people come against you

§ When you have drama in your life

§ Drama in your family

§ Drama in the church

· Anticipate a fight, be ready for the battle, don’t be surprised, be prepared for a fight.

The odds were against them

Vs.4: So, they went out, they and all their armies with them, asmany people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. [6]

· The armies coming against them had unaccountable men, horses, and chariots

· Sometimes the odds can be against us

· Sometimes in life, the odds are against you winning

· The odds maybe be against you getting healed

· The odd maybe against you getting promoted

· I don’t like when the odds are against me

· Because when the odds are against you, it is God’s opportunity for God to come up beside you.

· God likes to help people who other people have counted out

You have so much come against you because of the anointing that is on your life!

· The enemies don’t want you to succeed

Second Point: (Not only do you Anticipate a fight) You have to Accelerate Your Faith

· Vs. 6: But the Lord said to Joshua--- God will always have something to say when the enemy is coming against you.

· Look what He says:

o Don’t be afraid of them--- you cannot operate in a place of fear if you want to get to the place that God has for you

o Fear is always designed to send you in the opposite direction that God wants you to go

· Then he says vs6: Tomorrow about this time

o The fight will not last long

o It’s difficult to see because you don’t see any end in sight

o It’s difficult to see because we don’t know how He’s going to do it

Third Point God says: I will deliver them up all slain

· Their horses and the chariots

· The horses and chariots represent their strength

· God told them He’s going to give them the power to cut their Hough or the hamstring out of their enemy.

· When you cut the hamstring, it will slow the horse down, and it is useless for battle

· God is saying He’s to take the power out of their mouth

· They can’t take you out

· They can’t win

· I know y’all heard me say this before; the man at the bank told me, no, but when God stepped in… no matter what he said, God said yes!

· God will take the power away from your enemy

Anticipate a fight… Accelerate Your Faith… know that the fight will not last long… get ready to hamstring some horses…you will render your enemies powerless

Vs.7: So, Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.[7]

· The enemy had planned to attack Joshua, but Joshua attacked them

Point Three: Aggressively Fight

· I’ve learned people will take you for granted

· You can’t let people stop you

· Sometimes you have to be aggressive to win the fight

Don’t go down without a fight… you might lose, but don’t go down without a fight

· Fight for your children

· Fight for your right

· Fight for your family

When she started her boxing career, Laila Ali stepped in the ring with the confidence that she could win.

[1]Campbell, D. K. (1985). Joshua. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 352). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. [2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jos 5:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jos 9:1–2). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [4] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jos 10:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [5] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jos 11:5). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [6] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jos 11:4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [7] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jos 11:7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.