Transcription
The battles today, brother Walfred was speaking of firstfruits, and when I said again, they are confirming the message to me, but the theme is to understand that first conquest that all of us have in new beginnings. So I would like to offer a prayer so that together we may enter and ask the Lord. I'm going to set my watch, look, 45 minutes, I'm going to delegate myself, I'm going to give myself the privilege of preaching for 45 minutes for the blessed church of the Lord Jesus. Let us pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you, beloved Lord, for giving us the opportunity to gather as your church, to worship and bless your name, and to meditate on your word. Lord, I implore your help, I implore your guidance, I implore your attention, your revelation. Lord, I implore, beloved Father, understanding to be able to convey to your people, Lord, what you have given me for them. From now on, we give you the honor and the glory, and we cover ourselves with your blood, Lord, and we declare ourselves more than conquerors in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen, amen. Glory to God! Give applause to the Lord. Well, most of you are aware that I have been speaking since the day of the proclamation of the book of Joshua, from chapter 1. I have been trying to explain some important things. The whole book is important, but I based myself on some specific texts to explain certain things from it. You will remember that we spoke of the six experiences that Joshua, as leader, and the people of Israel had to experience in order for them to have convictions. Because the experiences that all of us have in life in God, they convince us. Not only is our faith strengthened, not only can we speak of it, but the experiences of God convince us. And a conviction, you know, no one can take it away from you, no one, because you have lived it. When we have experiences, only you and I can explain them, no one else. That is the importance of being convinced by an experience or by experiences. In such a way that when Joshua, along with the generation of the desert, those who were born in the desert, the new generation, experiences these six things that they had never seen before, and we realize then that that process was necessary to enter the next phase, that facet which was to be already in the promised land. When we read that they crossed the Jordan, that they had to be circumcised, that they had to celebrate the Passover for the first time after 40 years, that on the day they celebrated it, they ate of the fruits of the land of Canaan, and at that moment the manna that had fallen from heaven for 40 years ceased. Then we explained how they began a new nutrition, foods they had never eaten before, because they were only fruits of the land of Canaan. In Egypt, this fruit did not exist, nor in the desert. And then we saw when he had the experience with that theophany or Christophany, where he presented himself as the Prince of the hosts of the Lord. So after these six, they are now facing a reality that they also have to learn to face, because for them it was totally new, that type of battle. I mean by this that I do not intend to give bad news and tell you that today, as we are in a new phase, in a new year with new expectations and promises that have been revived in some or have arrived for the first time for others, I do not want to say by mentioning that it was their first battle in the new land or in Canaan, that battles will come again, and you say, "Oh no, he told us the battles were over." We will have battles, brothers, in this walk now with a different perception. Those battles and that, pardon me, different perception can be created in us when we look in His word, the word of God, the counsel He gives, and if we dare to obey God's counsel. When you look at the word of the Lord, the counsel He gives on how to do things, and you decide to obey it, then your perception of that battle will be different from those battles we had, brothers, in our past, right? Let's say from the year 2020 backwards, and that some of those battles, for many of us, were not battles we had to experience as believers, but rather many of them we provoked ourselves. I don't know if you are aware of that. That is to say, we got into trouble, we did things wrong, we did not bless the Lord, I don't know, right? And then we gave place to things that perhaps were not written, that you had to go through or live, but we had to face them. Now things have changed because this is like a new opportunity for that generation of warriors. Imagine, they were warriors, Joshua, Caleb, and all those contemporaries were warriors, sons of warriors who died in the desert. But now this generation of warriors has to learn to fight a new battle, and this is important. That is why the theme is called, I repeat, the first conquest and the principles of all battles. But to be able to explain or get to the point, I would first like to talk a little more about these realities of the book of Joshua. The book of Joshua is truly a very important book, and I want to extract some things that I notice so that you see that it is not just any book that the Lord has given us to meditate on. For example, there are 12 things in the book of Joshua, there are many things, but 12 things that make it very relevant, much more than we expected or thought. For example, I have enumerated them from 1 to 6 in this first image. In number 1, I have put that the book of Joshua deals with the consummation of Israel's redemption. And imagine how interesting what I want to say with this is that there, Israel's redemption was completed, that promise that God gave them, that liberation from their slavery, and the process they had to go through, the path they had to travel in order to reach the end of what was promised. That is a figure of our redemption too. Redemption is a path by which we have to advance and go through different stages, but in the end, brothers, we will reach the fulfillment, the consummation of redemption. In such a way that Israel's redemption is in the book of Joshua, where it is described and narrated how to reach the land that God promised them. It is redemption for them. As a second point, Joshua is the fulfillment of the prophecies given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Imagine the covenant that God made with Abraham to give him a descendant and that they would conquer the gates of their enemies. All of that is in the Bible, and that God would give them a land where they would have houses they did not build, a land flowing with milk and honey, the Lord told them. And then He repeated it to Isaac, He repeats the same promise to Jacob, and it turns out that Joshua comes to be the fulfillment of those prophecies given to God. That is why what we are seeing is interesting: Joshua has to live the future that was told to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the past. What God told Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at a certain time, then it was the present for those three. However, for Joshua, it was being given, that is, the future was what they would have, and Joshua arrives at that future and sees that the fulfillment of a past prophecy is becoming a reality in that generation. And this is the marvelous thing. As a third point, notice that Joshua's name in the original language means "Jehovah is salvation." That is Joshua's name. The Bible in the Septuagint version says that Joshua's name is written in the Septuagint as Jesus, implying that Joshua is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Joshua is the one who leads his people to victory. Joshua was like the advocate when they suffered defeats. When Israel suffers defeat, according to chapter 7 of that same book, it is Joshua who speaks with God as an intercessor so that God would appease, brother, the anger He had because of the disobedience that He attributed to all of Israel, due to the fact that one person had taken from the accursed things of that first city called Jericho. Now, notice then the important things. Then Joshua was the one who would give the inheritance to Israel. In such a way that that redemption, doesn't it seem to you that perhaps you and I are closer to our redemption than when we believed? Because the Bible says that we should lift up our gaze, because our redemption is near, and that we are closer to that redemption than when we believed. The Lord is coming soon, my beloved brothers. Christ is coming soon. Everything that is happening and what is yet to come are indicators that our redemption is near. So our inheritance is about to be given. Joshua comes after Moses. What does Moses mean? The law or legalism. Ending the law, legalism, then Joshua enters. They are stages, they are actions, they are periods of time. What we are seeing here, the law, whose representative was Moses, could not give victory to a sinful people. Listen to what I am saying. At point 9, Moses represented the law, and the law, whose representative was Moses, could not give victory to a sinful people. This is Hebrews chapter 7, verse 9. I am giving you the passages and studies. Because certainly, brother, we cannot deny that we, in this flesh, fall into temptations, and sin pursues us, and that, and that no one can say at this point that they do not sin. Raise your hand if you don't sin, so I can give you a little star. So, it means that if it is by our, by our walk, then, brother, none of us would be saved. It is by grace that we are here, it is by mercy that we are here, it is by His faithfulness that we are here, it is by His mercy that we are here. We are not here because we are perfect, brothers, we are here because we recognize that there are many things that God still has to do in us. So, just like Israel, even though it was a new generation, we cannot deny that they still committed sin, that they disobeyed God. And so, only God's mercy and grace can help us. Say, "He who has peace," only God's grace and mercy can help us. So, listen to this also. In a spiritual sense, the book of Joshua is the epistle to the Ephesians of the New Testament. When we look at the epistle to the Ephesians, we see that it is an epistle that reveals principles of spiritual warfare. For me, it is a manual of spiritual warfare. It is the epistle that speaks most of the heavenly places, that our struggle is not against flesh and blood only, but against principalities, against rulers, against authorities, and against hosts of the heavenly places, of the celestial regions. So, it is the book that speaks to us of that reality, that we have battles with the spiritual dimension of darkness. It is the book of Joshua. So, the book of Joshua is the book of Ephesians of the New Testament. Let me give you the idea: Ephesians is the New Testament, and Joshua is the Old Testament. So, to make myself understood, it's as if Ephesians is in Joshua, and Joshua is in Ephesians. Do you understand me? So, it is important. That is why this theme is important. And number 11: For the Christian, the heavenly places of Ephesians are Canaan. For the Israelites, if we conquer the heavenly places, in the figure of what Joshua was doing, conquering the territories that were, brother, possessed by entities that had to be dispossessed of those regions, because now that land belonged to Israel. I mean by this, Israel had to enter something that was already theirs, but within that place there were peoples who refused to leave so that God's people could occupy what belonged to them. This is a figure of what happens to us. It says that you and I have been blessed in the heavenly places. That is what the scripture says. What it means is that the heavenly places are full of blessings for us, brothers. There, in the heavenly places, is our deliverance declared, our healing declared, our spiritual blessing declared, our material blessing declared, everything that we have received as inheritance from our Lord Jesus Christ is declared. But there are entities trying to hinder those blessings from becoming a reality. But God has already given them to us. There is my check for the temple, brother. There is my check for the temple, for our temple up there. Help me pray for that in the name of Jesus. Tell your father, tell him, "Father, give us the check for the temple." Say, "Father, give us the check for the temple." Pastor Mario told you it was for him, for that, not for anything else. It is for a beautiful, glorious, beautiful temple that God will give us. But then we have to dispossess those entities of that point, of that dimension where our blessings are. Joshua did the same. That is what Joshua was going to do. That is why you are not discouraged, no, brother, do not be discouraged, do not abandon the race, do not throw down your armor, let's keep going, because you are part of the generation, in the likeness of Joshua, to whom those blessings and that abundance, that inheritance, have been promised, brother. So, based on that, the passage I want to use is Joshua chapter 5, verse 15, to start, although I am already continuing to preach, but I want to base myself as a starting point on Joshua chapter 5, verse 15. It says: Then the captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so. You know that on Sunday I explained, finally, the meaning of this, of that experience of theophany or Christophany, and we learned that it means when they ask one for their sandals or one takes off their sandals and gives them to another, it was a way of transferring land. It was a way of transferring land. It was a legal rite, so to speak, of how to negotiate land. Nowadays, you have to sign a contract, well, first you have to give a down payment, commit to paying for that territory or that land, and sign a contract, etc. In that time, they took off their sandals. You, or the shoes. Okay, this land I am going to give to Christ. So they took off their shoes. There it is. So, it means that he who took his sandals had the right to walk where you had walked and to be lord of that territory. But when it comes to the experience of Moses and Joshua, not only was the Lord, so to speak, taking away their way of living life in territories that God did not want for them. Let me think, it's like that desert had caused Moses a lot of discouragement, and he had perhaps thought that his life was pointless, that many years had passed and he had not fulfilled his life's dream. But God arrives and takes away that idea by giving him a new territory. He took him out of the desert of Midian to put him in the desert of Sinai. When it comes to Joshua, similarly, He is taking away the desert of Sinai and the other deserts, because it was not just one, it was many deserts, different names, desert areas. He is taking them away from Joshua and giving him, do you understand me? Now, since I already talked about this, I just want to quickly explain what the transfer of land means in taking off the sandals. For example, giving up the sandal symbolizes the renunciation of ownership. How much would you like to renounce a negative, horrible, terrible past? So, it is that they take away that past experience by giving our sandals. It was a divine mystery, and later it became a custom in Israel. After two supernatural experiences, that of Moses and that of Joshua, it later became legal in Israel. Third, removing the sandal means the transfer of dimension or territory. Listen to this, it means the transfer of dimension or territory. Fourth, it represents a new walk in the new dimension that God promises. By giving you old shoes, would you dare to give your shoes to the Lord right now? Perhaps yours are not so old, perhaps you would even bring new shoes. In any case, they are an old walk so that God can give you a new dimension. It also served to confirm any business, to transfer land or property from the one who took off the sandal. The basis we see, after the experiences of Moses and Joshua, is found in Ruth chapter 4, verse 7, in the Martín Nieto version, which I am putting there. It says: "Now at that time in Israel, for the ratification of purchases or exchanges, the following rite was observed: one would take off his shoe and give it to the other. Such was the custom of making a deal in Israel." How tremendous! And the shoe was given to someone who was a wealthy person, let's say in Ruth's case, Boaz was a landowner, brother, of almost a third of the land in that region. Our Lord owns the heavens, the earth, and all things in every place. It belongs to the Lord. He is a personality who has all power, who has all wealth, and by giving him your territory and your shoes, you are giving them to someone who can reward you extraordinarily. Hallelujah! So, the one who is left without sandals loses the land or transfers the land to the other who receives the sandal. Joshua took off his sandals and gave them to the captain of the host of Jehovah, verse 8.8. By taking off his sandals before the captain of the host of Jehovah, Joshua was handing over the desert for his new beginning in the land of his promise. Point 9: Joshua knew that a land transfer deal was being made to him, just as it was to Moses, because he knew Moses told him, Moses had to tell him what had happened to him, because it was written in the Torah, it was known what had happened, and now the same thing is being done to him. In such a way that he already knew that they were negotiating a territory for him, as if he said, "Hey, I'm giving it to the Prince of the hosts of Jehovah because, frankly, he has a better territory for me, frankly, he has a tremendous dimension for me, frankly, he has something wonderful that I couldn't achieve by myself, and that he has reserved for me." Do you know what God is telling you? If it's not being told to me, it's being told to you: the Lord has something better for you than what you have had to live through, my brother. The things that have happened to you, however negative they are, will not compare to the wonderful and glorious things that God has for you and for me. So, immediately after all this experience, they are given Jericho, the first city of the land of Canaan. So, based on that, I begin to preach the message. So I have called it the firstfruits of battles, because this is what Joshua encountered first when he was already in peace, just already in Canaan, he had already crossed the Jordan. From the Jordan onwards, it is Canaan, and the first thing he encounters is Jericho. But look how tremendous what the Bible says: the first conquest after the transfer of territory, and this is interesting. Just think, I want you to try to liken your life to Joshua's. Well, perhaps both of you, Joshua, men, say amen. How many Joshuas are here? As in the feminine, Josefa? So, well, you say yes, Joshua and Josefa, yours. How many Joshuas could be likened to the judge we are reading about? Say, "I am that Joshua." Oh God, perhaps the sisters are assuming. How many Josefas are here? Look, look, they even whistled. Okay. But the Bible says, "But Jericho was shut up tight because of the people of Israel. No one went out and no one came in." In the new beginnings, in the new land, a new problem appears that they had never experienced before. The problems they had were leaving Egypt, being pursued by Pharaoh's army, finding themselves trapped before an immense sea, the Red Sea. But they saw how that Red Sea opened through Moses, obeying God, and the rod that touched the waters. They knew all of that. But now Joshua also experienced it at the Jordan. The Jordan also opened, and the waters stopped on each side so they could pass. It wasn't just any little thing, it wasn't a puddle they crossed, do you understand me by puddle? You said puddle, no, it was a stream, brother. The Jordan, in the days, at the time they crossed, between March and April, was when the Jordan overflowed, flooded the cities, strong and deep currents overflowed. It wasn't easy, and God stopped that Jordan so they could pass on dry ground. But now they find themselves in a situation they had never experienced. They are seeing, how to put it, a mass of buildings in front of them. They are seeing something they had never believed they would face, a walled city where no one can enter or leave, it is completely closed. And this is interesting, brother, because what I see here is that in our advancement, yours and mine, just like Joshua, we have to recognize that to make our promise a reality, we have to overcome our walls, we have to overcome walls. Now, I started studying a bit of history about this, and according to historians, they say that due to its structure, and a bit of this topic, I even spoke of the height and width of those walls, and that shows, it shows that Jericho was an invincible, impenetrable city. No one could scale it. In such a way that it was a city that most armies that tried did not succeed, they were defeated by them because of the advantage they had. Jericho represented a type of asymmetric warfare. And you know that when we talk about asymmetric warfare in conventional wars, it means there can be a disadvantage for some. It was asymmetric in favor of the army of Jericho because they did not put their soldiers at risk of fighting hand-to-hand with their invaders, and it was also difficult for the invaders to target those of Jericho. It was not so easy to scale it, it was not so easy to penetrate it. So it was an advantage for those of Jericho. The walls, any army that approached was within their reach, and those outside had no way to, brother, knock them down because they were out of their range, so to speak. So no one could penetrate the city. Jericho had always won its wars, according to historians, and Joshua is the first time he is facing it and has to defeat it. Now look at you, to advance, when this is likened more to us, this should make us think about what things we, if we want to advance and possess our promise, have to face and overcome. We all have obstacles, we all have adversities, we all have struggles, we all have enemies, and I'm not just talking about physical enemies, but I'm also talking about things that become our enemies because they prevent us from having an abundant life in our soul, living with peace, with joy, with unity, with love, with happiness, etc., and which could be things of our own soul, and that in our own soul there are areas that are damaged, and that those damages in our soul are our own enemies. And so the problem here is that this battle represents something that if it is not torn down, it is impossible to advance. And each one has their Jericho. Perhaps your Jericho is your character, or perhaps Jericho is your money, perhaps Jericho is your time, perhaps Jericho is an illness, perhaps Jericho is a spirit, a demon, which is, forgive me for saying it, perhaps Jericho, brother, your wife, my God, deliver us, Father, or perhaps the Jericho of the sister, of your husband. With the children, I stopped thinking like that. That is to say, they are things that we have to understand that have always been there. When we say, "I know tomorrow will be different," and we believe it, we confess it, we read it in the Bible, but we don't stop at the same problem. That is to say, Jericho represents a problem that you never consider tearing down in your life. I don't know what your problem is, and you don't have to tell me. It's enough for the children for me to want to know yours. So, look at what Jericho is. So, the walls of Jericho represent those material, spiritual, emotional, and mental things that always block you in your life, in such a way that you have not been able to advance. Listen to this, how it should be. May God bless the one who has no problems, and bless him more. If someone says, "Brother, I have no problems," and has been able to achieve them, glory to God, brothers. A disciple, how to do it, please. But, but if we are aware, there might be a brother who has to do with a spiritual or emotional part that deals with your emotions, or mental, that deals with your ideas, your thoughts, negative thoughts, brother, thoughts that have not allowed you to transform yourself. So, those are areas. Jericho represents the same conflict that has not allowed you to advance. I want you to think about the conflict that has not allowed you to advance. Let all of us think, brother. I think for myself, you think for yourself. What conflicts are they that have not allowed me to advance? What counsel would I like to pass on, so that they no longer hinder me in my life? Complaining, blocking me anymore. Sometimes it can be very personal, but sometimes, let's say, you think, for now, for someone intimately related to you, part of your family, your home, and perhaps their way of walking is conflictive, it is causing harm, I don't know. And you wish that that family member of yours would walk differently, because while you see them on the path they are taking, your soul is affected, you feel sad. It is that one that takes your time to cry, to complain, to lament, but you wish they were happy, that they were free, yes or no? Because when their life changes, then it's like you regain strength, breath, and you will say, "Glory to God, I feel complete, I feel whole, I feel grateful because I saw that God has already freed the one who made me shed tears." So, the same conflict has been there for years, and now in the new beginning, in your new stage, it is there again. It represents what you have not overcome, because your way of facing them, listen to this, has not been overcome, because your way of facing them has always been the same, and without efficacy. This is the key to the theme. There is Jericho. Why doesn't Jericho fall? Because I am trying to overcome them in my own way. Because the way I am facing my Jericho, I don't even know where I got it from. Perhaps the way we face problems, who did we learn it from? Who did we copy? When there are problems with a child, who do we copy that the child must be beaten to death because he misbehaves? And these children started at three years old, giving examples of mangoes. When there are problems between a couple, who do we copy that the man should hit the woman? Who did I copy that from? Because the woman hits the man? Because now I'm playing, brother, I don't know if Oscar came today. No, no, no, no, don't misunderstand me. I just want to, because Oscar works in a department that has statistics on domestic violence, where the woman is the one who has increased violence in homes today. Little ones, but I killed more for Pancho Lopez. So, who taught me? Where did we learn to face problems? Who did we learn from? From abandoning homes, from fleeing homes, from fleeing responsibility? Who did we learn that from? Those are the battles that people are facing, the adversities of life, and people don't change them, in such a way that they don't get results, because it's always the same way of dealing with problems. Am I making myself understood, brothers? So, what must be done? The first thing to do is to apply the principles that God gives to tear down those things that are your walls, in order to advance and possess what is already yours. My beloved, it is yours. Christ of glory paid on the cross of Calvary for those blessings. No man is giving them to you, brother. He paid for them. So, this is the interesting thing: when Joshua, perhaps, saw those walls, he said, "Blessed be the Lord, what terrible walls! How are we going to penetrate them? How are we going to scale them? How are we going to bring down all those inhabitants of Jericho, all those warriors of Jericho and their king? How are we going to possess?" But look, God is giving me, He is promising me a land of abundance, but look at this problem ahead. And God gives him principles to overcome, and there is the key. So, look at the principles for overcoming the walls of Jericho, your problems, and my problems. Look at how we are going to overcome them. And Joshua chapter 6, verse 5 says: "And it shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, then the people shall go up, every man straight ahead." Look how interesting. What strikes me is the following: that God is giving them principles on how to face. They had never faced their enemies like this. It was a new war strategy. It was not known to enter head-on with swords and arrows, but now the Lord is saying, "These are my principles." And the principle shows us that the central truth in this passage is that spiritual victories are won based on the principles that God reveals. If God reveals to you how to overcome your wall, your adversities, you have already done it, brother, you have already done it. If you are sensitive, attentive, and obey the Lord, you will overcome, you will move forward, you will scale the mountain, you will cross the wall, you will defeat your enemies, and God wants it. That is why in Christ we are more than conquerors. How are we more than conquerors? Because He, to His children, to His people, to His chosen ones, reveals principles of victory. You and I, you and I, you and I have a wonderful God who comes and reigns, who sends revelation of principles so that we may have victory, my brother. So, what strikes me is that the principles have to do with these things that God repeats so much. Verse 2: "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Under your command, Jericho and its king, with its mighty warriors, have been delivered into your hand. March around the city, all the men of war, encircling the city once. And so you shall do for six days.'" Look, look at the things I've extracted. "Seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark, and on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets." It mentions the number 7 several times: seven priests, seven trumpets, on the seventh day, seven times. What is not mystical, not superstitious, because the number 7 will give me luck. I'm going to buy the Powerball and Mega Millions, and the brother has already given me the key numbers: 7, 7, 7, 7, no, that's not what we're talking about. It's a different way of fighting that no one had ever done before. I mean by this that when God reveals principles to you to bring down your problems, God will reveal things to you that He has never revealed to others before. And this is tremendous. And so, a new land to conquer also means a new strategy or a different strategy for battle. Let us not pretend to conquer, to overcome, or to have something different and better in life if our struggles remain the same, with the same way of fighting. We must understand that to tear down things that have always been our obstacles, there must be a change in how we face problems. How we face problems. They always gave the door, brother, in my house, flying saucers, frying pan in hand, and you'll hear it on your back, because the problems won't get better. So, Jericho, listen to this, the first city was the only one God told how to conquer it. The first city of the 31 that he had to conquer was only Jericho, that God told Joshua how to conquer that city, only that. And you know why? Because if he conquered Jericho by obeying the Lord's principles, the other cities would be a piece of cake, brother. Can you imagine Joshua, let's say 31 problems? How many do you have, brother? How many problems? More than 31, perhaps? Okay, let's say 60 problems. Okay, if you conquer Jericho, the other 59 problems are a piece of cake. No one will be able to stand against you. Right now, the only thing you are facing is Jericho, the same problem, the same problem. But if you tear it down because God gives you the revelation, then the other ones will follow me. No one will be able to stand against you. So, look at the cities, quickly. I've been at 45 minutes, and I have the opportunity for five more, because look at the cities that had to be conquered: Jericho, Jerusalem, Hebron, Hormah, 15 cities, Kiriath-arim, Debir, Eglon, Gath, Ashdod, Gaza, 31 cities. And from these, from this topic, we will talk perhaps later about what these cities represent. These cities, we will focus on their meanings of mental problems, emotional problems, spiritual problems. Each city's meaning represents, brother, mental, spiritual, and emotional conflicts that we have to overcome this year. This year we will recover. This year, if it is our recovery, this year we will come out in victory. This year, brothers, you will see different things in the name of Jesus. And these names are in Joshua chapter 11. You can look there in the chapter, and you will find them there. And so, imagine, quickly, my God, this, this is better not explained, this we will see on Sunday's topic. Okay, I'll move on to this. Jericho is conquered by changing the battle scenario. This is also important, what I just told you. What I mean is that Jericho had a pre-established scenario for winning its battles. It was always the same. The army of Jericho had no other strategy. That was the only way that had worked for them. With that way, they had defeated all their enemies, and they were sure that if Joshua came with his armies, he would also defeat them, because they had already, although they were full of fear because they had crossed the Jordan, but they were enclosed in their fortress. So they had a pre-established scenario. This is important, and what I mean by this is that they expected Joshua and his armies to engage in battle in their scenario. So, if I am making myself understood, this is important: that you fight battles in the way that people, spiritual entities, fight their battles. Yes, I will give a very ugly example, if you allow me to give an example. It's like how women fight among themselves. That scenario is well known. Sister, tell me, how do women fight? They grab each other by the hair, first of all, pinches, spitting, biting, flying kicks, when the wrestler and everything. But, but, but the scenario is the same. Who drops the cream? And who lets go? Brother, both of them holding each other by the hair. Those are pre-established scenarios. And he always wants us to fight him in the way he has his scenario. With this, what I mean is, listen to this: people who are always in the same battles have the same scenario always, and these are the ones who have no goals, no direction, no projects, no gains. And this is tremendous, brother. So God said, "Look, they will march around the city six days, making a circuit, placing seven priests with seven trumpets on the seventh day, there will be a difference. Only on the seventh day they will go around seven times. It was seven days they would circle the city, six days making one circuit per day, but on the seventh day they would do it seven times, and then the trumpets would sound, seven trumpets, and all the people would shout." Jericho didn't know that. Jericho didn't know that. When they saw God, they said, "What are these crazy people doing? What kind of war is this?" And you will see that the people, brother, who marched and marched and marched, know what that is. It is a different war scenario. If you and I obey God, do what He says, your enemy will crumble before your eyes, because you have not fallen. Let me say it: if you have not fallen into the provocation that the enemy always uses to make you and me fall into his scenario, nothing. And this is tremendous. My time is already up, brother, my time is already up. So there are battles where we have to change the scenarios. The people who battle against you will not change the scenario. More so if they know what to hold onto. Those walls represented for Jericho and its armies their own pride, their arrogance, their security that overcomes. There are people who intimidate you and tell you that you will pay. I have something that I will let you know, yes or no? People use that. If you do this to me, look, I will do this to you. Those are fighting patterns. So God wants you to change your attitudes in battles. If they say a bad word to you, don't say it back, because they are making you fall into the scenario. This is something God was telling me these days. It's something marvelous, but I'll save it for Sunday. I want you to stand on your feet. What do you do when they speak ill of you? What do you do when they come and tell you, "Look, brother so-and-so, sister so-and-so, everything you say," and then they are trying to provoke you to enter the battle scenario that that wall is accustomed to against us? [Music] There are battles that we will have to fight in silence, on our knees, where no one will hear you speak profanity, where no one will see your character come out and reveal the old man, because what he wants is for the old man to come out, our old nature, and for you to remember, "When I was tough, I wasn't without Christ. I'll give him a karate kick, I'll put my whole shoe on him, I'll put it on him." In the world, I didn't back down from anyone. Love, but I know it exists. If the beast inside me comes out, be careful. No, brother. [Music] I want to invite you to raise your hands. My wall, Jericho. [Music] I will conquer it by changing the scenario. [Music] I will not let that mind, I will not fall into their traps. I will raise our hands. Father, in the name of Jesus, raise them. And we all have a Jericho. Possess that figure. It is the first conquest. It is the firstfruits of my. Mention it in the street. I have 30 cities that will not be able to defeat me. I think you will be there, but I will not fight the same way. I will not use what I have been using: my emotions, my illogical reasoning, my arrogance, my spite. Instead, I will use God's principles. I will obey the Lord. She is willing to deserve that battle in the name of Jesus. Father, help us all, because that example will fall supernaturally. Because, just as it is written, Lord, that the walls fell by obeying your revelation of principles, so will fall, however great your problem may be, by enemies of flesh and blood who have risen up, by enemies, entities, spirits, or demons, in the name of Jesus. And even Satan himself, whom the Lord represents, who is using sorcerers, enchanters, santeros, curses, whatever the strategy of the one who has to fall. Only obey. Let us only be attentive to the voice of God and the principles. We have declared that we are that generation that will conquer in the name of Jesus. I bless your people, I bless your children, Lord. Open our spirit. [Music] Amen. God bless you, my brothers. You can come early, although I know you are coming early on Sunday, because we will try to start, if possible, at 10 to 2 or at 12 sharp. Amen.