1) Today's Topic: Fight a Battle That Has Already Been Won!

What did I preach on the Sunday before last? You haven't returned it all to me, have you?

Let me review briefly, because it is crucial!

Understand that the church is God's army! Victory in battle secures God's promises! What victory in battle requires is strength and courage! Strength and courage are manifestations of faith, precious qualities we possess! This revelation clearly explains the problems of those who believe but do not see God's promises! Why do they not obtain the promises? They do not pay the price of prayerful struggle, they lack the courage to fight!

Today, I want to tell you that those with faith are most precious in God's sight! What is the kingdom of heaven like? It is like a man casting a net, and when it is full, he gathers the good into containers but throws away the bad. What does this mean? It means God collects the good. God gathers those who are of faith into His kingdom! Those who are of works are discarded as rubbish. How are they gathered? Who is gathering? I tell you, Satan is God's servant. Satan does the work of collecting rubbish and scraps. The bad are collected by Satan! God collects those with faith! Do not think that Satan collects little; Satan collects a great deal. According to mathematical probability, the odds are high! Satan works diligently, 7X24X365, never resting. Based on Satan's work ethic, it should win first prize!

You know, when Moses sent out twelve spies, only Caleb and Joshua brought back good news. The other ten were terrified by the giants in the land, saying, We cannot go in; we will surely die. The people there are giants, and we seem like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we must seem to them. Can you imagine? Giants! Very formidable. As a result, the entire Israelite community began to weep and wail, wanting to stone Joshua and Caleb. Do you know what happened? Satan entered the hearts of those ten spies, and they died on the spot! Collected by Satan! These Israelites left Egypt but died in the wilderness because they lacked courage! Those who lack courage lack faith! Do not tell God that you were born without courage, nor say you were born without faith! Start being a person of faith, start being a person of courage! These are choices people make! It is like many of us today who have experienced God's grace, being freed from bondage, but if you are fearful, afraid to fight spiritual battles, terrified in the face of the demonic enemy, even if you have left Egypt and been liberated, know for certain that Satan will get you! Be a person of faith! Amen! That is our choice within!

Sister Ningjing in our midst is the head of the third pastoral district. We grew up together, and she was the most timid in our family. Afraid of everything. But after following me in believing in the Lord, in just a few years, her courage began to grow! No matter what kind of demon, she drives them out. She does a great deal of healing and deliverance. Once, she was delivering a sister who had a fierce spirit, and the sister rose up to strike her. But as the sister rushed forward to hit her, she went limp and collapsed on the ground. After a while, she struggled to get up, trying to hit her again, but collapsed on the ground again. Initially, Sister Ningjing was a little afraid, but she believed in her heart and constantly prayed and resisted, and after experiencing such things, she knew that our God is a God of great power!

Courage is very important! In his book The Final Quest, Pastor Rick Joyner says that those who are fearful become prisoners of the devil and will become tools for the devil to attack the church. Revelation also says that the cowardly will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur.

What kind of person you become depends on you! You can decide to be a person of faith, or you can decide to be a person without faith! You can decide to trust God, believing in God's promises, or you can be a person who does not believe in God, not believing in God's promises. Whether you are a treasure in God's eyes or rubbish in God's eyes depends entirely on your thoughts and intentions!

Today, I will answer another question. Why were Joshua and Caleb not afraid when facing giants, facing powerful enemies who surpassed the Israelites in weapons, muscle, and martial prowess? I tell you, Joshua and Caleb believed that God would give them victory! Joshua and Caleb knew, through faith, that they were fighting a battle that had already been won!

Tell yourself, I am fighting a battle that has already been won! This is my topic today: Fight a battle that has already been won! If we fight spiritual battles with faith, we will surely be victorious!

Come, let's look at today's scripture.

2) Scripture: Joshua 23

Jos 23:5 The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them from out of your sight; and you will possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
Jos 23:6 Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.
Jos 23:7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not worship them or bow down to them.
Jos 23:8 But hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.
Jos 23:9 The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to stand against you.
Jos 23:10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised.
Jos 23:11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.

3) Prayer

.... In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen!

4) Background of this Passage (Joshua 23:1-24:29)

Joshua, being old and advanced in years, tells the Israelites the most important words before he dies! We must read carefully! It is very important. When we read the Bible, we must grasp the most important parts, such as the passage before Jesus ascended, or the passages before Jacob and Joseph died.

This is a summary of Joshua's victorious life! If you can grasp this, you will surely live a life of victory and beauty!

Joshua, being old and advanced in years, Jos 23:2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: I am old and advanced in years. Jos 23:3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. Jos 23:4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Jos 23:5 The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them from out of your sight; and you will possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you. Jos 23:6 Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. Jos 23:7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not worship them or bow down to them. Jos 23:8 But hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now. Jos 23:9 The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to stand against you. Jos 23:10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised.

Jos 23:11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.

Jos 23:12 But if you ever turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, Jos 23:13 then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.

Jos 23:14 Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.

Jos 23:15 But just as every good promise of the LORD your God has come true, so the LORD will bring on you all kinds of disasters until he has destroyed you from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you. Jos 23:16 If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.

Jos 24:1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. Jos 24:2 Joshua said to all the people, This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. Jos 24:3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, Jos 24:4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.' Jos 24:5 'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did in their midst; and afterward I brought you out. Jos 24:6 When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. Jos 24:7 But they cried to the LORD for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the wilderness for many years. Jos 24:8 'I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. Jos 24:9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. Jos 24:10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.

Jos 24:11 'Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. Jos 24:12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out the two Amorite kings from before you—not with your sword and bow. Jos 24:13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.'

Jos 24:14 Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. Jos 24:15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

Jos 24:16 Then the people answered, Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! Jos 24:17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. Jos 24:18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.

Jos 24:19 Joshua said to the people, You are not able to serve the LORD; he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your offenses and sins. Jos 24:20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.

Jos 24:21 But the people said to Joshua, No! We will serve the LORD.

Jos 24:22 Then Joshua said, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD. Yes, we are witnesses, they replied. Jos 24:23 Now then, said Joshua, throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.

Jos 24:24 And the people said to Joshua, We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.

Jos 24:25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people in Shechem and established for them statutes and laws.

Jos 24:26 Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD. Jos 24:27 See! he said to all the people. This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. Therefore it will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God. Jos 24:28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, and they went to their own inheritances. Jos 24:29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten.

Joshua was old and advanced in years when he gave these instructions to the Israelites before his death! I encourage everyone to read this passage closely! It is not just for the Israelites, but also for us, the later generations! This is Joshua's summary of his lifetime of victorious battles! – The battles he fought were already won. He knew it before the battle, not just after! Victory lies in our God! As a result, Joshua’s faith accomplished miracles for that generation! He drove out the powerful and fierce tribes of Canaan!

What's the secret? Love God wholeheartedly and serve Him alone! Out of love, out of faith, diligently keep and follow the commandments of Jehovah God, without turning to the left or to the right! Then, all the days of our lives, no one will be able to stand before us! Amen!

5) Joshua's Path to Victory 1 – Love God Wholeheartedly and Serve Him Alone

Do you want to be victorious? Do you want to prosper in everything you do throughout your life? Joshua has set the precedent for us! You don't need to develop any new methods; just inherit what he has! Inherit Joshua's system! Joshua's life was one of enjoying service. Because he loved God! Serving God wholeheartedly! Serving God can be joyful, wonderful, and enjoyable! Because it comes from a heart that loves God. Serving God can also be painful, agonizing, and desolate, because it is not from a heart that loves God, but a religious act!

Today, our brothers and sisters are entering a new season of service. I see that our church already has meetings every night. There is prayer every day, and service every day! It is impossible not to be spiritually fed among us. But there will indeed be problems with indigestion. Because hearing the Word without doing it will choke you. Hear it and then do it!

Our service is simple: prayer altar, reading God's Word. Releasing the oppressed and the captives through the power of God! Thank God, the testimonies are like a cloud! These are all confirmations that God is with us and that God accepts our service!

Our brothers and sisters serve God by paying a price, but are surprised to find that we also triumph in our work! When people triumph in their spirit, they prosper in everything! In contrast, those who do not serve with a heart that loves God, who do not pay the price to serve, do not see prosperity.

Now, I show you the most excellent way.

1Co 12:31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way. 1Co 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 1Co 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 1Co 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1Co 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 1Co 13:5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1Co 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 1Co 13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1Co 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1Co 13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 1Co 13:10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

That love is not first about loving people! It is first about loving God. The greatest commandment that the Lord Jesus gave us is to love God! Only then is it about loving people!

Do not pursue the limited things, for these will all pass away!

Pursue what is eternal! When did the Bible teach us to discern good and evil? When did the Bible teach us to be entangled in what is right and wrong? Several brothers and sisters entangled me with things about right and wrong, and I only replied: Okay!

Those who are entangled are entangled in matters of right and wrong. It is not the key whether you think you are right and others are wrong, and whether you agree or disagree! The key is to ask yourself if you have love? Are you always protecting, always trusting, always hoping, always persevering? Are you seeking your own benefit?

The Israelites were also God's chosen people, but they encountered disaster. Without a heart that loves God, you cannot serve this jealous God! If you serve God because of what He has done for you, you cannot serve Him! After Jehovah God blesses you, He will surely bring disaster upon you! Why? Because that is not love! God knows if you will love Him!

Do you love your pastor? Do you love your shepherd? You know, and God knows too!

I see many people serving in the church every night! They love God, and they are willing to do so. I feel sorry for them, and I worry that the brothers and sisters are tired, so I advise them to rest well if they are tired, no matter what! They tell me that they are very happy. They sleep very little, but they feel very energetic! One sister said that she felt like she had been given a shot of adrenaline.

If you don't love God, God also knows, and serving will be very hard and tiring! I have never seen lovers who feel tired of being together! If someone tells you that they are tired, don't pursue the relationship! I have never seen someone without love in their heart live a beautiful life! There is a lot of bitterness inside, and little love. They want to gain a lot, but they want to give little. There is a lot of entanglement, and little joy! Their life is over! If you are still living in entanglement and trouble, there is only one solution: to overcome! Overcome the spirit of discerning good and evil within yourself! Once you have chosen, you will be joyful!

On Friday, when I was studying the Bible, I brought up the question of service. One sister could not stand it. After the meeting, Brother HF and I led her out and she was joyful! It sounds simple that I led her out, but it was simply an explosive operation. I think the set of wrong beliefs in her, which is the system of discerning good and evil, was destroyed by my bomb! She was joyful! I then blessed this sister. In the past few months, she was completely unable to listen to my sermons. It was terribly hard! In the past two or three months, I have discovered that we have begun to walk the path of ascent, and the power of service and the accuracy of hitting the target have greatly increased. I know that I am still far from the love of the Father, but I choose to love God! I choose to love my brothers and sisters! I know that in the end, I will stand before God and receive a reward, because I serve my God, because I love God! God is everything to me, and no enemy will be able to stand before me!

Brother HF once told me, Pastor, I will be grateful and serve God well. Because I knew God when I was poor and destitute, and God has blessed me so much! I said, Brother HF, you cannot serve this God. You must serve Him for no other reason than that He is God, and we live to serve God, because we love God, serve Him! Brother HF listened and nodded! His service began to change course. Of course, gratitude is a good start. But you must go deeper to the point of loving God! Then, all the days of your life, no enemy will stand before you! You will be fighting a battle that has already been won! God will surely deliver the enemy into your hand! Amen!

In love, you don't know what tiredness is!

Brothers and sisters, I have chosen the best blessing, and I serve a God who created heaven and earth! I serve a God who lets me triumph throughout my life! Some people tell me that the pastor's profession is second only to the President of the United States as the most challenging profession! But I know that it is a profession of winning battles throughout one's life!

6) Joshua's Path to Victory 2 – Trust in God's Promises, Which Never Fail

Joshua was a man of faith. Not a man of emotion. A man of emotion is of no use, except perhaps to be entangled.

Joshua firmly believed in God's promises!

He listed how God kept His covenant and showed loving kindness from the ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, all the way to Moses and the Exodus, and how He fulfilled everything according to what He promised! He said, Jos 23:14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled!”

You must know with all your heart and soul that not one of God's words, God's promises, will fail! Do you believe it? I believe it, so God does wonderful things through me!

I am a person who practices God's promises. What I dislike most, or what I hate most, is theological debate! I like to simplify complex things. The simplest thing is to believe! I don't understand, but I start to practice, and once I practice, I understand! If someone debates theology with you, just ask, have you done it? If not, then wait until you have done it and show me the results! If the results are not right, and you only pursue intellectual speculation, that is not the path! A few days ago, my eldest sister sent me a message asking me what the gospel is and what it means to be saved. How do you know if you are saved? I thought she really wanted to know, but she was just testing me. She came to debate with me. I told her directly that I was not interested in debating theology, and if she was willing, she should do something practical!

Brothers and sisters, faith is the key! Faith allows us to practice God's Word! Joshua practiced according to God's Word, and as a result, he triumphed throughout his life! In faith, you are fighting a battle that has already been won!

Tell yourself: God's promises never fail! Amen!

What did Jesus Christ say: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Amen!

What are we asking for? Aren't we asking for God's kingdom and God's righteousness? Will God not add everything to us according to His promise? Brothers and sisters, stop asking for bread, ask for God's kingdom, love Him, serve Him, let God's kingdom come, let the kingdom of the devil be defeated, and God will add all this to you!

7) Joshua's Path to Victory 3 – Fear God, Knowing That Our God Is a Jealous God

Never follow or serve other gods.

You may serve other gods without even realizing it.

Is your work your god? A few days ago, a blessed brother asked me if serving so much would delay his work? I want to ask you, is work your god? You were blessed because you believed in God. How could you forget that!

Is your family your god?

Are your children your god?

Is your business your god?

My sermons will encounter things that prick your heart, because I want to destroy the worldly, wrong value system in you!

8) Joshua's Path to Victory 4 – Diligently Keep and Follow God's Word, Without Turning to the Left or to the Right

Is reading God's Word important? Yes!

God's Word must be consistent with the faith within you. Without faith, reading the Bible with a critical eye is a waste of time!

What does it mean to not turn to the left or to the right? It means to systematically understand God's Word. Anything that is biased towards one point will be biased to the left or to the right! For example, some people emphasize keeping the Sabbath. If you go too far and forget other things, that is a problem! The Bible is a system. It must form a system.

We believe in God because we read God's Word. Our church only does two of the most important things: read God's Word and pray! Everything we do is categorized under these two things. The Bible is a wonderful book. The words on it are all familiar to you and me. Some people read it out of context and become more and more confused. When we read it as a whole, we know that we are not biased to the left or to the right! That is systematic theology. Yesterday I bought a book on systematic theology. The author recommends establishing a system of faith. A person without a system of faith has no foundation. Our learning is also the same. If we study a course without establishing a system, we will not learn it well. Once a system is established, we will feel clear and we understand. The few words I was saying just now are part of the system of faith revealed in the Bible. Last Sunday, I met Pastor Yang Jinzhang, the director of Xizhi Lingliang Church. When he was sharing, he said a word that resonated with me! If connect, you understand! There are many things in the Bible that are dangerous if interpreted separately. For example, the Ten Commandments, if you take them out alone, you will be troubled. Should you keep the Sabbath? That is God's commandment! When we form a system inside, we will not be troubled. I encourage everyone to establish a system of faith well, without taking things out of context, but understanding the whole. You must know that there are primary and secondary things in the Bible. First grasp the most important things, and then the secondary ones! Grasping the unimportant and throwing away the important makes you a Pharisee! Even the kind of devil.

The church is the concrete manifestation of God's kingdom on earth. A country without an army cannot stand. The church as God's army is the most important revelation. Spiritual warfare is a very key church responsibility. Because I think, because of my intensive prayer warfare, the spiritual atmosphere is beginning to change!

9) What Our Church Wants to Take Is Joshua's Path

The Path to Victory in Warfare – Serving God

The End-Times Decisive Battle is our church's road map to victory!

The most recent revelation God has given us is Genesis Chapter 3! – The discernment of good and evil. That is the root of many problems. I urge the brothers and sisters again that eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will surely lead to death! That is what God said!

In the past few months, I have begun to aim at this devil and strive to strike it! Releasing one after another!

I have discovered that a person who discerns good and evil, plus disobedience, is hopeless! A person who discerns good and evil but is willing to obey can come out quickly!

People who discern good and evil live a very painful life! I wish our brothers and sisters would all come out of this most difficult bondage!

The tribe of Dan has never obtained their inheritance. Why? They do not imitate Joshua, nor do they imitate Caleb. They do not walk the right path. They prefer unorthodox ways. In the end, it is very miserable!

Hello.
Let us begin the translation.