Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, Jordan: Four Battles Before the Glory

Sermon outline

Before the mantle falls there are four battles: let God cut away the old at Gilgal, grow up into His vision at Bethel, stand against the outside voices at Jericho, and cross the Jordan as an available son ready to pick up the mantle.

1. Gilgal: the battle of circumcision

   At Gilgal Joshua circumcised the generation born in the wilderness and God rolled away the reproach of Egypt. Gilgal is where God cuts away what is worldly: sin, habits, excuses, cursing and negative speech, and if we will not let Him do it privately, He does it publicly. Here we fight our flesh and the culture we were born into; you cannot visit the sangoma or light a lamp to another god and then ask the Lord to bless you on Sunday. There is no blessing of the Lord in sin, and the lukewarm will be spewed out.

   Illustration: At a pastors' meeting an elderly minister told of his father, a rough biker who was radically saved and preaching within six months, who prayed every morning, Lord, bless my seed, my seed's seed and my seed's seed's seed. At a family gathering, about ninety six descendants were all serving the Lord.

   “You can't be speaking filth while praying in faith. It does not work.”

   • Joshua 5:2-9
   • Psalm 45:1
   • Revelation 3:16
   • Proverbs 25:28

2. Bethel: the battle for the mind

   Bethel is the place of dreams, where God shows you what He has for you, as He told Abraham to count the stars. Once Israel ate of the land the manna stopped: God still provides, but He expects maturity, the word as your staple diet and your labour. At Bethel Jacob vowed a tenth, so your finances must match your visions. The generation that kept saying Egypt was better died in the desert, and an eleven day journey took forty years because of a slave mentality.

   Illustration: South Africans who say the economy was better under apartheid, or refuse to vote because it makes no difference, are speaking the same death Israel spoke about Egypt. Some people hold on to 1901 like it was yesterday.

   “God can't take you forward if you're backward.”

   • Joshua 5:10-12
   • Genesis 15:5
   • Genesis 28:20-22
   • Deuteronomy 1:2

3. Jericho: the battle against outside voices

   Once you have changed inside, external forces try to drag you back: don't forget where you came from, have you heard about that church. Picking up offences that were never yours lets in the cankerworm, as the youths who mocked Elisha were mauled. If you have something against your brother, go to him, and do not join conversations against leaders, at church or at work. Jericho is a war against rebellion: anyone who rebelled against Joshua's command was put to death, so put to death the relationships, music and influences that preach another gospel, or you will be disqualified like Saul.

   Illustration: When pastors bring him stories about other pastors, he tells them to slow their roll: he will call the man in, and they can say it to his face. He also says that if a family is destroying its husbands or a man is bashing the women in his life, they can call him and he will come to the house with a crew to sort it out.

   “How can we bless with one hand and destroy with another?”

   • 2 Kings 2:23-24
   • Matthew 18:15-17
   • Joshua 1:18
   • Galatians 1:8-9
   • 1 Samuel 15

4. Jordan: the place of true sonship

   Jordan is the final crossing where eyes are opened and mantles fall. Elisha saw the chariots of fire, cried my father, my father, and picked up the mantle, and with it his future. God is not looking for perfection but for availability, and what you are trusting Him for may be sitting in the very thing you are making excuses not to do. Seek first the kingdom, live for generations you will never see, and remember that every Christian is a leader whose first response is what their children see.

   Illustration: As a boy, when he asked his father for something, Dad would ask whether he thought money grew on trees. His mother would sit him and Adrian at the table and ask what they were trusting the Lord for and what the scripture said, until even his father joined them. He does the same with his own family now.

   “Your best ability is your availability.”

   • 2 Kings 2:9-14
   • Matthew 6:33
   • Jeremiah 29:11
   • Isaiah 55:8-9
   • Romans 10:15

In this message