One of my favorite stories of the Bible is the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. But one of the biggest reasons why it is my favorite is because of two verses in particular;
and that is Joshua 6:1 and 2, "Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour."
I really love that passage of scripture! Pay close attention to the way it is worded, "Now Jericho was straitly shut up." That means it was sealed tight! It was absolutely impossible to go in or out of Jericho's walls. Those walls were sealed shut!
Of course, we all know the story how that Joshua and his men, along with the priests, marched around Jericho once for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day; and then sounded the trumpets and shouted...and the walls came a tumblin' down. But I think, if you're not careful, you'll miss what makes this story the most exciting story in the Bible.
So these walls were sealed up TIGHT...that's what "straitly" means.
You know, there's a lot of times in the ministry that God has put you in (and it doesn't have to be behind the pulpit) that the doors of opportunity to the things He expects you to do seem to be "straitly shut." When He tells us to preach the gospel to every creature, we make excuses and say, "Well...that's really just saying that we need to witness to everyone we come in contact with." But I think God wants us to take advantage of all the resources that are available to us today! I think if a church has the ability to produce a website, they need to, and they need to have a link to the gospel on the front page! Personally, I have a link to SalvationFocus.com. If you're not sure of where you would spend eternity if you died this very moment, I challenge you to at least click on the site, and see for yourself how much better a life God is versus a life for self!
But I think that if the church has the finances for a city wide soulwinning blitz, they need to do it. If a church has the finances to pay their pastor full-time, they need to make sure he's willing to fulfill the biblical job description, and to take care of all of his needs. I'm telling you now, when you follow biblical guidelines, it's the formula for success! I pastor a small church. But it's a church that strives to follow the guidelines of the Bible, and do you know what? Our church does as much, if not more than a lot of big churches.
But the first thing you've got to do, is you've got to get the mind of God on the matter, because when you attempt anything for God, there's always going to be a wall in your way that is straitly shut. But here's what's so wonderful. Notice what God says in the very next verse, "See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour."
I love that! Do you see the marvelous inspiring humor in what he said? Here the walls are shut up so tightly, that any attempts at trying to get in would be futile, and God says, "See? I told you so!"
There are so many times when God has said that to us, and so many times we've scratched our head, and the only thing that comes out of our mouth is, "Huh???"
My dear friends, do you remember when you were excited about taking the city in your life? God has given it to you.
I close with this. Do you remember when they shout? It wasn't just a roar, or an obnoxious confusing scream. It was the verb ruwa', which is a shout of triumph!! It is a shout of winning a battle! When God says he has given us something, we need to shout triumphantly in response. There were scores who said Tarboro was a Jericho...and the walls are still straitly shut, but God keeps telling me that he has given me the city, and so we are going to approach the situation at hand with a shout of triumph and we are going to watch the walls fall down flat, as our faith becomes sight. Fan the flame! The walls are gonna come tumblin' down soon! Don't faint!
One of my favorite stories of the Bible is the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. But one of the biggest reasons why it is my favorite is because of two verses in particular;
and that is Joshua 6:1 and 2, "Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour."
I really love that passage of scripture! Pay close attention to the way it is worded, "Now Jericho was straitly shut up." That means it was sealed tight! It was absolutely impossible to go in or out of Jericho's walls. Those walls were sealed shut!
Of course, we all know the story how that Joshua and his men, along with the priests, marched around Jericho once for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day; and then sounded the trumpets and shouted...and the walls came a tumblin' down. But I think, if you're not careful, you'll miss what makes this story the most exciting story in the Bible.
So these walls were sealed up TIGHT...that's what "straitly" means.
You know, there's a lot of times in the ministry that God has put you in (and it doesn't have to be behind the pulpit) that the doors of opportunity to the things He expects you to do seem to be "straitly shut." When He tells us to preach the gospel to every creature, we make excuses and say, "Well...that's really just saying that we need to witness to everyone we come in contact with." But I think God wants us to take advantage of all the resources that are available to us today! I think if a church has the ability to produce a website, they need to, and they need to have a link to the gospel on the front page! Personally, I have a link to SalvationFocus.com. If you're not sure of where you would spend eternity if you died this very moment, I challenge you to at least click on the site, and see for yourself how much better a life God is versus a life for self!
But I think that if the church has the finances for a city wide soulwinning blitz, they need to do it. If a church has the finances to pay their pastor full-time, they need to make sure he's willing to fulfill the biblical job description, and to take care of all of his needs. I'm telling you now, when you follow biblical guidelines, it's the formula for success! I pastor a small church. But it's a church that strives to follow the guidelines of the Bible, and do you know what? Our church does as much, if not more than a lot of big churches.
But the first thing you've got to do, is you've got to get the mind of God on the matter, because when you attempt anything for God, there's always going to be a wall in your way that is straitly shut. But here's what's so wonderful. Notice what God says in the very next verse, "See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour."
I love that! Do you see the marvelous inspiring humor in what he said? Here the walls are shut up so tightly, that any attempts at trying to get in would be futile, and God says, "See? I told you so!"
There are so many times when God has said that to us, and so many times we've scratched our head, and the only thing that comes out of our mouth is, "Huh???"
My dear friends, do you remember when you were excited about taking the city in your life? God has given it to you.
I close with this. Do you remember when they shout? It wasn't just a roar, or an obnoxious confusing scream. It was the verb ruwa', which is a shout of triumph!! It is a shout of winning a battle! When God says he has given us something, we need to shout triumphantly in response. There were scores who said Tarboro was a Jericho...and the walls are still straitly shut, but God keeps telling me that he has given me the city, and so we are going to approach the situation at hand with a shout of triumph and we are going to watch the walls fall down flat, as our faith becomes sight. Fan the flame! The walls are gonna come tumblin' down soon! Don't faint!