Pastor Stan Mons
Sermon Transcription:
Hallelujah Church! Anybody that knows me knows that I don't back down from a fight. I get nice and passionate, and I love to take the fight to the enemy's door. It's been like that ever since the Lord Jesus saved me out of a life of prostitution. I have known ever since that day that there's no power in the enemy's camp anymore. I've known ever since that day that there's no ability the enemy has to keep me in the place of a liar that I used to be, always speaking in such a way that would make my business flourish. But I wasn't speaking the truth. And the day that Jesus Christ saved me, everything was changed. A lot fewer people liked me, but I had peace with God, and He gave me rest from my enemy. He gave me rest from all of the attacks. He gave me rest from every addiction I'd ever struggled with. Overnight, everything was broken. Everything was gone. I still made dumb mistakes, but I never again was under any bondage. I never again was not in control. I never again was without an excuse. I never again was overrun by the enemy. And you're looking at probably the weakest, most broken, sin-loving person you ever ran into in your life. And when I gave my life to Jesus Christ, everything—overnight—everything was changed.
Very early, I don't exactly know when, I found myself in my car in the Netherlands, where I'm from. And I told Satan, Church, don't ever be afraid to talk to the devil. It happens in the Bible all the time. You don't speak in your own name; you speak in the name of Jesus. You let him know. You take that battle to his doorstep. I was still struggling, weak, and a new believer. I did everything I thought I knew was doing right; I was doing it wrong. But I was not afraid to tell the devil the truth. And I told Satan, "I'm coming for you. I'm not speaking to you in my own name; I'm speaking to you in the name of Jesus. Too long have I been in your camp. You've been able to use me to build your kingdom of darkness, wound people, hurt people, destroy families. But now that Jesus Christ has set me free in His name, I'm coming for you."
Today, I'm going to make good on that promise, Church. I know in whom I have believed. I know who I have given my life to. I know who has given me a word for you. I pray that you will be able to put all of your pride, all of your unbelief, all of your image, all of your status aside, and listen for what the Spirit of God is seeking to give to you today. Because He seeks to bring you into a liberty and a freedom that puts the devil to shame. Every place you go makes a joke out of him, shows everyone that is watching that he has no authority, no power, no ability to hold any ground. Some of you, you've believed this stuff. You've held on to the name of Jesus, but you've never been living it. You've been overrun by things the enemy sought to bring in your life. And you still believe in Jesus, but you're not walking in the power, the liberty, the authority, the freedom that you believe is possible in the name of Jesus. It's not yours. The Holy Spirit wants to give it to you today.
Lord, one more time. Father, it has been my heart from the beginning, from the very first day, Lord, that I met You. Father, it has been my heart that if it is possible in any way that I would be able to give away what You have just given me in the name of Jesus. Father, You know it is my heart to see every person that comes from a religious church background, every person that comes from a life of sin. Father, You know it is my heart to see these people, the undeserving, receive everything for free in the name of Jesus Christ. To see the name of Jesus glorified in the most unlikely of vessels. Father, as You've done to me, Father, one more time would You do it for others. Father, one more time would You give me the desire of my heart. And Father, would You pour me out as a vessel, and would You pour Your word, Your voice into our hearts, into our lives. Father, would You test the hearts, and Father, would You draw the hearts, and would You find those that are willing to finally trust You no matter the cost to receive all things from You in Jesus Christ.
Lord, that we not only may be full of joy but that we may be ready at any moment. That when, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we all shall be changed. Lord God, that we would not be left without our Savior. That we would not be set aside from the people of God to find out on that last day that we were never changed by the blood of Jesus Christ, that we were still approaching God through our works, believing in Jesus but following the law. Lord, would you deliver us today and bring us into your rest? Father, I know you can do it all in one day. Father, I've never done anything right, but when I trusted you, you gave me all things. Father, I pray that hearts may be drawn today to trust you completely. In Jesus' name, Amen.
The title of this word is "Pressing into Prayer Victorious." In the last weeks, we received a number of words, one titled "Pressing into Prayer as a Child." We learned from the word of God that to press into prayer as a child means we can't approach God as a sinner in need of forgiveness. We can't approach God as a servant in His kingdom. We also have to learn to approach God as a child, knowing that the blood of Jesus Christ has made us legitimate children in the kingdom of God. The rules do not apply to us because we're children in the Father's house.
I don't have to wait like others have to wait. I don't have to knock like others have to knock. I get to run into my Father's room. I get to approach my Father. I get to annoy my Father. I get to insist with my Father. I get to let my Father know what it is going to take in order for me to release Him, in order for me to let Him go. We saw Moses do it. We saw Jacob do it. Time and time again in the word, those that learned to approach, those that learned to press into prayer as a child, got to change God's mind. You go ahead and try to explain that in theology and doctrine. There's not a man on earth that can explain the relationship of a father with his child.
Today, we're talking about the deeper walk of the believer, pressing into prayer victoriously. Let me read to you an incredible scripture portion that prophetically speaks over every single one of you. I'll read to you Joshua 21:43-45: "So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass."
This is an incredible statement, an incredible point in history at which all the promises made to the forefathers—all the promises made to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob—all the promises made to the descendants, the princes with God—every single one of them, the promises had now all come true. The promises had now all gone into fulfillment. The promises had now been brought into the lives of the people of God, and even the enemies would no longer attack them. The enemies had no place to stand, and not a word failed—not a word of any of the good things that God had spoken. Everything came to pass.
This is what the generations had waited for. All of a sudden, all had come to pass—promises done, brought to fulfillment. But these incredible words point forward to your life. These incredible words point forward to what your journey should look like with Jesus Christ in the year of the Lord's favor that you live in—the year of the redeemed, the year of Jubilee.
Pastor, how could you know that? How could you say that? How could you say that every promise of God I should see fulfilled in my life? How could you say the enemy should not be attacking me? How could you say the enemy should have no room to accomplish a thing in my life? How can you say that these few verses prophetically speak forward over my life, your life?
Hebrews 4. Let me take you there. Hebrews 4:8-10: "For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His."
We have these incredible fulfillments—Joshua's life unfolding, the people of God finally entering into the promises. And then we read in our New Testament, we read in the book of Hebrews, you know Joshua bringing them into the rest, really that's not what those words were speaking to. That's not the final say. There's something that God is doing. Joshua is a foreshadowing of Jesus. Joshua's life describes a foreshadowing of the life you and I are to have in Christ. The word says there remains a rest. There remains a rest for God's people—a rest from working stuff out between you and God. You don't have to work out stuff between you and God. There remains, for the people of God, a rest. A rest from any enemy. A rest from any enemy that harasses your mind, harasses your heart, overcomes you with temptation, causes you to fall, causes you to live that lifestyle of sin, repent, sin, repent, sin, repent. There remains a rest for the people of God—a place where all of the promises have become real and have come into the lives of the people of God. The word says He would not have spoken of a day afterward.
He would not have spoken of another day if He was just done that day. He would not have spoken of another day. There is a day in Christ for your life. There is a day in Christ when you are to enter into God's rest, when you are to enter into God's finished work, when you are to enter into God's victory, and you can rest. There's nothing left for you to do. Nothing you will ever do can upset God. Nothing you can ever do can get His favor. You can rest from your works as God did from His.
There remains, then, a rest for the people of God, a victory of God that becomes yours so that you can rest from battles. Joshua is a foreshadowing of what Jesus is seeking to do in your life today. Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua. If you translate it into Hebrew. Yeshua, if you translate it to English, is Joshua. Joshua, the name Joshua means Yahweh saves. When we look at the life of Joshua, we can begin to see and learn things that all along God is trying to make us understand what He is willing to do. It's His gospel—what He is willing to do for those that will trust Him at His word. I've sent my Son. I've loved you. I've favored you. I'll give you of my Spirit. Every promise is yes and amen in Christ. When we begin to trust God at His word, we can begin to see in the Bible, in the scriptures, what we can expect from God.
So let's look at the life of Joshua. Let me take you to Joshua chapter 1. I'm going to read to you verse 2, 5, and in the beginning of the real call of Joshua, verse 2, God speaking:
"Moses my servant is dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them."
Here we had Moses, also a foreshadowing of Christ. Moses took the people under the hand of God with his staff representing the cross of Jesus Christ, doing miracle after miracle until the grip of their enemy, the grip of the oppressor, had loosened. He took them out of Egypt through the Red Sea as a foreshadowing of baptism through the wilderness and brought them to the end at the border of the promised land. Because of unbelief, they could not enter in. They'd been taken out of captivity, they'd gone through the symbolic act of baptism, yet they could not enter into the promises of God because of their unbelief. They dwelled in the desert, and Moses bore with them. Then Joshua took over. Joshua took them through the Jordan, foreshadowing baptism, and began to now lead the people that had believed into the promises of God.
Here, I'll read it to you again: "Moses my servant is dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all the people, to the land which I am giving to them." In other words, now I'm going to bring them into the promises. You take them now. You lead them now. Verse 5: "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you." Verse 9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
We're going to look at the marks of a man, the marks of a woman, that is able to press into prayer victorious. Many a person in the body of Christ today seeks to pray because they're never victorious, running back to prayer because they're living in defeat. But there's a people, there's a bride of Jesus Christ that has been given the incredible privilege of pressing into prayer victorious and seeing God do things for them that they could never do themselves. Yet they receive the victory, yet they receive the promises, yet they receive the way into those promises for no other reason than that they have trusted God with all of their heart, believed on the name of Jesus Christ.
Here we see a man, Joshua. I'll read to you the second part of verse 2: "You and all this people to the land which I am giving to them." He's telling Joshua what to spend his life on. Moses has just died. Moses spent his life being trained by God, and then when he was ready, he shepherded the people, if you will, in only partial victory and partial defeat. Here Joshua is now about the same age that Moses was when he started the training with the Lord. Joshua is about 40 years old here, and he begins to receive from God what to spend his life on. That's the first mark of a man that is able to press into prayer victorious. If you're taking notes, this is the first one: doing God's will with all of your life.
There's a lot of people that are willing to do God's will, but they also want to do their will, or they want to do their wife's will, or they want to do their husband's will, or they want to do someone else's will to please someone. Either we seek to please the Lord God Almighty with all of our life, or we only give Him a portion of our life. You may as well not give it to Him at all. He calls Himself a bridegroom. He's not looking for a bride that is also dating others on the side, that trusts others for provision, that trusts other ways of protection. He looks for someone who will do God's will with all of their life—all of their life in the light, all of their life in the truth, all of their life in honor, all of their life committed, all of their life available. All of my life, Jesus, for you, to serve you, to love you. We sing it, but God knows the heart. Sometimes we're not in a place where we want to give God all of our life. We'll do it in church, we'll do it at the altar, but on Monday night we realize that we really did not give God the way we did business, the way we did work, the way we treated our spouse. We've not been doing God's will.
This man received a charge from God. From that moment on, that's all he spent his life on. He was doing God's will with all of his life. He limited himself to doing God's will. Joshua had a family. Life says, "Me and my house, we will serve the Lord." He seems and appears to have been a good father in his own house. I'm sure he had ways that he knew how to have fun. Those things are not excluded. But when it came down to spending his life on an endeavor, he was spending his life doing God's will with all of his life. That's what this man was doing.
Watch what this man Joshua says later on in his life, full of victories. If anyone had a life full of victories, it was Joshua. Let's look at what he said later on in his life.
Joshua 1: 7-12: "I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Here they are; Moses is still leading. Here they are at the border of the Promised Land. Joshua went into the Promised Land, he’d seen it, he’d set foot on it, and he says, "I brought back word to Moses that was in my heart. I was full of faith. I knew God intends to give this to His people by His mighty hand. There's no way we can do it by ourselves, but in the name of the Lord, we can take this place. We can take the land; there will not be an enemy that can stand before us."
I spoke to Moses as it was in my heart. Verse 8: "Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me had seen and tasted some of the promises, made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God." This is the kind of believer that says, "Well, God giving you the victory is kind of symbolic. I’ve walked with the Lord for a while now. You can’t really expect for things to really change in your life. You can’t really expect for God to change your personality, your character, the things that are unlike Him, changing you from glory to glory. It’s somewhat symbolic. He may only get a little bit of work done here on Earth. You don’t have to really walk in the light, you don’t have to really have testimony. God doesn’t really answer prayer the way He did in the Word. God has toned down walking with God today in our day. You have to look at it as a toned-down version of what you see in the Word. God has changed in the way that He relates to His people." No one exactly says it this way, but that is the heart of what is being distributed by these spies that scoped out the land. They know something about the promises of God, but they say, "Yes, the promises of God are there. Yes, we’re brought out of Egypt. Yes, we came through the Red Sea. But this, I don’t think we’re going to see this victory in our lifetime. I don’t think it is reasonable to expect to walk this out. Not for me. That’s only for the few. We cannot win this battle."
Verse 9: So Moses swore on that day, saying, "Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever because you have wholly followed the Lord my God." A man that does the will of the Lord with all of his life, a man who wholly follows the Lord with all of his heart. "And now behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He has said, these 45 years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now here I am this day, 85 years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me. Just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day, for you have heard in that day how the Anakim were there and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord has said."
Here we have a man, he’s coming towards the end of his ministry. He says, "I have the same strength now as I had back then." This is a picture of the believer that says, "My strength has not diminished. It doesn’t matter that I’ve aged, it doesn’t matter that I can’t pray as loud, it doesn’t matter that I can’t read as much because my eyes are going bad. The strength that God has given me is the same as it was then. I saw that promise, I’ve been in that place. Now, finally, give me this mountain because still, I believe, still I have the same faith I had 45 years ago. God will keep His promise. God will give me the victory." This is a man that followed the Lord with all of his heart. It didn’t matter that it was 45 years ago. Nothing in his faith, nothing in his expectations, nothing in his anticipation had changed. If anything, it was as fiery as it had ever been. A man knows to press into prayer like Joshua is doing God’s will with all of his life and following God wholly with all of his heart.
Now we come to the story I want you to see, and I pray that the Spirit of God may teach you how to press into prayer victoriously. Joshua 10: 1-5 "Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it—as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them. This was a great enemy of Israel, and they gave up fighting them. They made peace with Israel. They stopped attacking them. As a matter of fact, they started now serving the children of God, that they feared greatly.
Verse 2: "Because Gibeon was a great city, and Gibeon gave in. Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty." Therefore Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, king of Hebron, Piram, king of Jarmuth, Japhia, king of Lachish, and Debir, king of Eglon, saying, "Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel." Therefore the five kings of the Amorites—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon—gathered together and went up. They all went up with their armies and camped before Gibeon and made war against it.
Church, you have to understand these are now Satan’s armies. Let me explain this to you. The enemy, the devil, always wants to break the promises of God off of God’s people. Here we have Joshua and the people with him standing under a promise, standing under a decree of God as to what to do and how to be victorious in the land. There’s an area of that place, and they take it. Gibeon is given to them even without a fight. And all of a sudden, Satan starts to stir the hearts of the kings surrounding and starts to stir them to get together and to come against this area that has just befallen to the children of God. "Let’s take it back as if God is not fulfilling His promise. Let’s attack it as if God is not keeping His word. Let’s attack it and take it back." This is spiritual warfare, church. This is a picture of spiritual warfare. The enemy working to make God’s people enter into the lie that God Himself is a liar. "He’s not fulfilling the promise yet, I thought He was. He’s not giving me this ground fully, I thought He was."
Church, when you believe you have taken ground in Jesus' name, it may be a struggle in your life. It may be a thing in your character. It may be something that makes your marriage ugly and does not represent Christ and the church. When you believe you have taken ground in Jesus' name, the enemy comes against it with everything that he has. He doesn’t want you to take the ground. He doesn’t want you to be victorious. He doesn’t want you to believe God is giving you the promises. He tries to come against it to cause doubt in your heart and to cause you to shy back and to cause you to say, "Well, God is not giving me this victory. God is not allowing me to tread on these giants. God is not sending me into the Promised Land," and in the heart, he seeks for us to shy back just a little bit to where we no longer walk by childlike faith. "God said so. I don’t know how, but I know He’s going to do it," to "Well, I can’t really see how this is going to come to pass. This ship has sailed, this opportunity has passed. How could this be repaired? How could this be restored? How could this be given to someone like me?" The enemy comes against you, church. Anytime you take ground, the enemy seeks to get the fight out of your heart, the fight out of your mind.
I’m reminded of a dear friend of mine, incredibly called by God. Many giftings clearly in his life, a heart for evangelism. Many people received salvation through his ministry, and today he is, if you will, defeated by Satan. The fight is out of him. The hunger is out of him. The faith has left for true change, true power, true passion, true change, true God keeping His promises for no other reason than that Jesus died on the cross. Expecting with an expecting heart still after 45 years, as Joshua did, him saying, "Let me get my hands now on that mountain. God is giving it to me. I knew it 45 years ago. I still know it with all my heart."
When you believe you have taken ground in Jesus' name, the enemy comes against you with all that he has, and that is the time, church. This is the time where you need to press into prayer victoriously. Not to take ground, but to see the enemy defeated, to see Satan defeated, so that you today may enter into God’s rest, and you may rest from your enemy. You already have the victory, but are you resting from your enemy? Christ has already taken the ground. In the name of Jesus, you have that liberty, but have you rested from your enemy, or does he have free reign? He can come in, and when he doesn’t come in, it seems to be peaceful, but when he comes and he knocks on your door and he tempts you and he pounds on you, it’s a matter of time, you’re always defeated. Who is victorious in the lives of the church of the living God? This is the time when you need to press into prayer victoriously, that you may rest from your enemies.
Verse 6: And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp of Gilgal, saying, "Do not forsake your servants. Come to us quickly. Save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us." In other words, this area that has received freedom in your life, that area just—you got saved and it was new almost instantly, you didn’t do anything for it—and now it’s under attack. Now the enemy goes, "Well, you were very grateful to Jesus. That’s why you walked it out, but now you just don’t love Him as much anymore. You don’t trust Him as much anymore. I’m coming back in, and actually, you’re welcoming me. You love your sin. I’m coming in, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You are not strong enough, you’re not able enough." This area that once was conquered by Christ, now under attack.
Verse 7: So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you." Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.
Then Joshua spoke to the Lord. Here’s a man who prays. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon." So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies.
Is it not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has not been a day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. Here we have a man who follows God with his whole heart, who does God’s will with all of his life, and who speaks to God with all of his voice. He spoke to God, and God spares no miracle. God does not spare His hand, God does not spare a miracle until the people had avenged and had revenge upon their enemies. That is what God was doing. There can, however, Church, never be a double standard in the lives of those that follow the Lord. Your heart cannot be divided if you desire to press into prayer victoriously and see the hand of God move in the miraculous. God giving you the victory without you fighting the battle, without you doing the work, without you performing the miracle, God doing the miracle, God keeping His promise to you for no other reason than that you believed in Jesus Christ.
To see God take you into that Promised Land, to see God take you into all that He prophesied over your life, there cannot be a double standard. He never does it in the life of a man or a woman that has a double standard. Those men, those women explain away why none of this can be true. They say it’ll be true in heaven, not on Earth. "Jesus prayed wrong, 'Let Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.' He prayed wrong, cannot be true, no true victory for the broken, stumbling believer here on Earth." Not what the Word of God says. But there can never be a double standard. When your heart is divided, you cannot press into prayer victoriously. You won’t see God answer when your heart is still a little bit into this world and the things of this world and the things that you have chosen, you love. When your life is still divided, and you’re still spending portions of your life on this world and your plans and your desires, you will never press into prayer victoriously.
If your speech is divided, if you do not speak to God with all of your speech, in other words, if your speech is divided, you talk to God, but you also use your mouth for deceit, you also use your mouth for manipulation, you also use your mouth to control people around you and get them to do what you want them to do, and your trust is not in your God, speaking to Him alone, placing your expectation on Him alone. When you have a divided heart, a divided life, a divided mouth, there will not be any pressing into prayer in your life victoriously.
But the Spirit of God wants to give unto you what Christ has purchased. But it will cost you your life, Church. Christ requires of you to lay down your life into His hands. You only do it if you trust Him. You only do it if you come to the end of yourself. You only do it if you wholly trust Him with all of your heart. But when God finds a man who trusts Him with all of his heart, all of his life, all of his speech, God will never spare miracles to bring that man, no matter how weak, no matter how old, no matter the situation. God will never spare miracles to bring that man or that woman into His rest, into His victory.
1 Corinthians 1:30: But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Church, you need to understand you are in Christ. You are no longer your own. You don't need to fight your own battle. You don't need to carry your own sin. You don't need to deal with your own mistakes. You are in Christ. He bought you. He's responsible for you. He will take care of you. You are more than a conqueror through Him, not because of you, not because you matured in your walk, but through Him. He said He told you that the gates of Hell will not prevail. That's what God has told you.
Psalm 110:1 tells us this, the Father speaking to the Son: The Father says, "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool." Do you understand, Church, that you are in Christ now and that these words of the Father apply to your life now as well? Whatever part of the body you play, whatever part of the body you occupy, God told Christ and His entire body, "You sit down until you see that I will make all of Your enemies a footstool unto You."
You need to understand that all of these things are yours. All of these things are given to you. You say, "Pastor, I want that life. I'd love to rest from my enemies. I'd love to not struggle with the attacks on my mind. I'd love to no longer struggle with all of my habitual sins. I'd love to no longer struggle with lying, manipulating, controlling, being a man or woman that honestly, I don't fully like myself. I would love to enter into God's rest, but I'm not living this. I believe in Jesus. I believe He came from Heaven. I believe He is the only way, but I'm not living this. I'm not living in these victories. I don't see God do miracle after miracle, extravagant miracles for me, just so I can have revenge on my enemy. That's the only reason He did it. I don't see Him do that in my life. I don't see myself become more and more free from the things of the flesh every single month that I walk with my Jesus."
Church, God wants to do this for you as He did it for Joshua and all of the people that were with him. He wants to do it for Jesus Christ, His Son, and all of the people that are with Him. He wants to do this for you, for His Son. He wants to never spare any miracle too extravagant for your life until you, His people, until you have revenge on your enemy, until you rest in the victory of God, until you rest in the victory of Christ.
What does the Bible say? He would not have spoken of another day if He was done with Joshua. He would not have spoken of another day. He would not have spoken of a rest that remains for His people if these were stories for us to know with our mind, but we don't have to walk in them, we don't have to see them in our own life. He would not have spoken of another day if He did not intend to, prophetically by the power of Heaven, bring miracle and freedom and liberty into your life and make the enemy the footstool of the body of Christ. God would not have spoken of another day.
Church, there remains a rest for you. So, let's deal with the obstacles that have kept the people of God from entering throughout the ages. The same today. Let me ask you this: Do you trust Him? Do you trust Him with all of your heart? Do you wholly follow the Lord with all of your heart? Have you just given all of your heart to Him? Are you doing God's will with all of your life? Are you doing it? And are you speaking to Him with all of your voice? Has your voice been set apart, made holy, set aside to speak to God? Or do you still use that voice to manipulate, control people, get your way, practice deceit, sometimes lie? Has your voice been given to Jesus? Do you trust Jesus with your heart? Do you trust Him with your life? Do you trust Him with your voice?
Church, we need to repent. We have been given the ability to turn from things and to repent, to turn away from things and to turn to God. To not wholly follow Jesus, to not wholly do His will with your life, to not wholly use your voice to speak to Him is sin. It is caused by unbelief. It is caused by distrust towards God, and it's keeping you at the border of the promised land as it has always done to the people of God when they're not fully following the Lord, not fully doing His will, not fully entrusting themselves to Him in all of their speech.
In other words, I speak to God—that's where my help comes from. When those things are not full, when they are halfhearted, people end up living at the border of the promised land. People end up living in the desert even though the promises of God were theirs. Church, that is not where the Spirit of the Living God wants to leave you today. You are called to repent and believe the gospel, follow God with your entire heart, do His will with your entire life.
Drop every activity that is bringing in money under the table and you're not paying taxes. You're literally not doing God's will with your life and you expect Him to answer your prayers? You expect Him to take you into victory? Stop not following God. Stop not committing your life to Him. Stop using your voice to get your way. Use your voice to cry out to God. Use your life to do His will. Give your heart away to Jesus and God will bear His arm. Every miracle will be present in your life and God will bring you into His rest, and you will become a demonstration. You will become a witness to the Risen Lord who has entered into your heart, entered into your life, and made you into a whole new creation.
If you press into prayer victorious, that's how you do it. You wholly follow Jesus from today on. You start doing what God has placed before you, and you limit your life to it. You begin to use your voice to speak to Him and not to others to get your way. When you begin to do this, God will not rest, nor will He spare a miracle, until you are brought into His victory, until you are brought into His rest. Repent and believe the gospel. God will give you all things in Christ Jesus. It is a humble heart that says, "I need all of my heart, all of my life, all of my words to be placed in the hands of Jesus. I can't be trusted with them. I need to entrust all of it to Him in order for me to have victory. I cannot have victory apart from Jesus."
Today, if you decide to repent, whatever the Holy Spirit may be putting on your heart, that's between you and the Lord. If you decide to repent, or if today you are challenged to believe one more time that God will bring you into every promise that He prophesied over your life, every promise He tried to make clear to you through the life of Moses, through the life of Joshua, every promise that is supposed to be so clear in your life, if you want it and you are challenged to believe, I want to invite you to pray.
-Pastor Stan Mons