Victory Ahead
Deuteronomy 20:4
“For the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
I. A Promise To Hold On To!
Victory is declared before it is experienced
1. God speaks victory before the battle
Joshua 6:2
And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.
God declared it before the walls fell
2. Victory is rooted in God’s Word, not your feelings
II Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
3. Faith grabs what God has already promised
Hebrews 11:30
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.
II. A Process To Walk In Victory!
Victory requires movement and obedience
1. There are steps before there are shouts
Joshua 6:3-5 – Marching came before the miracle
You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 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, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”
2. Obedience positions you for victory
1 Samuel 15:22 – “To obey is better than sacrifice”
So, Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.
3. Don’t quit in the middle of the process
Galatians 6:9 – “In due season we shall reap…”
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Illustration:
The darkest hour is just before dawn—don’t stop when you’re closest.
III. A Power To Fight
You are not fighting alone
1. The battle belongs to the Lord
2 Chronicles 20:15 – “The battle is not yours, but God’s”
And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
2. God goes before you
Deuteronomy 31:8 – He will not fail you nor forsake you
And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
3. Victory comes through God’s strength
Romans 8:37
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
David didn’t defeat Goliath alone—God empowered the victory.
IV. Praise Before You See It.
II Chronicles 20:22
Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. 23 For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they [a]had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
24 So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.
25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the [b]dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much.
1 Corinthians 15:57
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”