One of the most wonderful things about our Lord is that He makes our stumbling stones so many times into stepping stones through His grace. Amen? He makes our stones of stumblings, our failures and defeats into rather a stepping stone a step forward towards the next victory. And that is the context that we find here in Joshua chapter 8, happening with the Old Testament nation of Israel, with Joshua, the leader that God had given them. They were entering the promised land, they were entering Canaan, they had defeated Jericho, or God rather, defeated Jericho for them. had failed, though, to conquer the next city, Ai. Now, it's not talking about the computer programs, but at the same time, it seemed like a little and insignificant obstacle, and yet they couldn't overcome it. Well, come to find out, the problem there was that Sin was in the camp. There were part of the camp, one soldier in particular, Akin, who was loyal to the enemy instead of being loyal to God. So that first had to be dealt with. Folks, confessing and repenting of sin is a fundamental step to turn defeat. into victory. And that is what we find happening there in Joshua chapter 7, in Joshua chapter 8. And we see how giving in, how being defeated does not mean that we have to give up. Even when we've been seemingly defeated, it just means that we need to come back even so much the more. And that's what we find Joshua and the nation of Israel are doing here under the leadership of the Lord. And folks, we find that our Christian life, likewise, is a process of lifelong learning lessons from each defeat. And as we learn those lessons from each defeat, it brings us to that point of persistent victory over the different issues in our life. That's what we find happening here in Joshua chapter 8 in verse 1. I want to read this verse of scripture and then we'll pray. Joshua chapter 8 verse 1. I want to talk about the war within this morning. The war within. And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed. Take all the people of war with thee, Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven, Lord, I do pray that through your mighty grace, Lord, you would empower this message. Lord, that you'd be merciful to us, and Lord, despite all our weakness and despite Lord, may we cry out this morning as the Father in the New Testament. Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. Lord, may we come to you this morning, Lord, with broken hearts. We may come to you this morning, Lord, with hardened hearts. We may come here this morning, Lord, with hearts that first need to be regenerated, that need to be saved to Christ. Lord, you know exactly where we're at. Father, I pray that through your Holy Spirit and by your word, you would speak to each and every person this morning. Lord, would you put your hand of blessing and your power upon this message, and would you help me to speak as I ought, and would you help us to listen as we ought. Change our lives, Father, we pray. And would you get all the glory and honor, Lord, as you lead us to victory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Notice here how the Lord gives a promise to Joshua. He says, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai and his people and his city and his land. You say, how does this apply to you and to me this morning, you know, over 4,000 years later? Well, the fact of the matter is, you and I, as a Christian living in the New Testament, we do not face a king of Ai to battle, but we do face rulers and principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 says. You see, very soon, after a person becomes a Christian, after Jesus saves them, they discover that something seems to be wrong. They're still sinning. Have you found out, Eamon? Oh, I thought once I'm saved everything is going to be smooth, I won't have any problems and I won't have any struggles. Well, that's not the true gospel of Christ at all, Eamon. Folks, we discover there's still a battle going on within us, isn't there? As believers. Now you're saved, that does not change. You've trusted the Lord as your saver. He has saved you through what he did for you on the cross. But you do find though that as a believer you still fight an enemy. Now as Christians we fight three enemies primarily. You have an enemy that is Without. That is out there. You have an enemy that's without. Who's that? Well, that's Satan. He seeks to destroy your Christian life. You have an enemy that's around as well. That's the world. But you also have an enemy that's within. And that's your flesh, amen? Now notice though how Joshua, as we drop down to verse 28 in Joshua chapter 8, how after God gives them the victory, deals with the enemy. In Joshua 8, verse 28, we read there, Folks, the enemy's stronghold needed to be completely and utterly eradicated. Why? Because otherwise the enemy would come back sooner or later and would return more vicious than maybe even before. That's what we see taught throughout the Scripture, what we call the Law of Replacement. Israel was supposed to replace the wickedness and the spiritual darkness in the land of Canaan. Of course, anyone who accuses God of genocide there has not read the full story. We've studied this out. We have to let God be true and every man a liar there. Amen? But folks, the fact of the matter is, we also see today, as Matthew chapter 12 bears out, that if we're not careful, we may focus so much on, oh, not sinning anymore, that we fail to also focus on what sin needs to be replaced with. and that's righteousness, that's a loving God, that's following God. It is not just about stopping to do certain things, it is also rather about what we ought to be doing instead, the law of replacement. And so Joshua makes sure that the enemy's stronghold is completely snuffed out. How does this apply to you and to me in the New Testament? There's so much we can learn here from Joshua and how he deals with the enemy and his battle strategy. Unfortunately, we don't have the whole time to look at the entire story here once again. I do just want to point your attention to verse 5 in Joshua 8, verse 5. where we see there how Joshua anticipates the enemy's move before he even makes it. I find this very powerful. We read there in Joshua 8, verse 5, And I and all the people that are with me will approach unto the city, and shall come to pass when they come out against us, as at the first that we will flee before them. For they will come out after us till we for they will come out after us, let me find my place here, till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, they flee before us, as at the first, therefore we will flee before them. So he's feigning a defeat, he's feigning a retreat, because that's what the enemy had experienced before. But notice he has a plan. Verse 7, then you shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand. And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire, according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do. See, I have commanded you." I find this interesting here. Now, first and foremost, this is just a historical record, all right? We always want to be careful not to read more into a Bible story than what God actually said, all right? So first and foremost, this is just a historical account. This is how God told Joshua to conquer Ai, and this is how it went down. But I do think we can learn a lot from that. We can learn, once again, that it is helpful to anticipate the enemy's moves beforehand. Now notice, Joshua uses what at once was a defeat, when they fled from the soldiers of Ai, and he now uses the same tactic to gain the victory. I find that fascinating. Also find it interesting how he's not attacking the enemy in its stronghold, at its strongest position. No, he is drawing out the enemy into the field where the enemy is vulnerable. But at the same time, he's also going on the counter-attack. As we mentioned before, the Christian faces three main enemies, Satan, the world, and the flesh. And in many different ways we interact with those enemies of our soul in one way or another, each and every day, folks. And the question is, how do we respond to the enemy? Do we respond intimidated? Do we respond in fear? Is it flight, or is it Fight. How do we respond? How do we study the enemy? Are we aware of his devices? Do we know how he's trying to trick us? I find it interesting, Joshua's taken hold of the narrative here, and he's refusing to engage the enemy on its own level, and rather goes on the counterattack. I find Jesus doing that a lot of times as well. When He was, for example, facing the temptations in the desert there in Matthew chapter 4, He, with every attack, with every temptation, He immediately went on the counterattack. We find Paul doing that in his letters many times as well, where many times he would respond to a foolish question, a question that was asked out of mockery, out of scorn or criticism in his faith, with a counter-question. And he would go on the counter-attack. You and I could use the same wisdom as well. You know, so many times Satan wants to come to you and say, oh, you're just a miserable failure as a Christian. Did you see their first run at AI? You've just failed. You will never win. There is no victory for you in this life. It may have worked for this Christian, may have worked for that Christian, but not for you. God can't do that for you. There's no hope for you to have victory. And you gotta turn around and say, that's a lie. So like, oh, oh, oh, dear Christian, God would never take you into his heaven. Why would God love you? Why would God give you the victory? You've just been totally defeated. And you can say back, oh yeah, really? Why won't you be in heaven, Satan? Oh, right, because you're a liar. So then why don't you go back where you came from and where you belong, amen? Because my advocate, my lawyer is Jesus Christ and he's never lost the case, amen. Praise the Lord. He interceded at this very moment for you and for me in heaven if you're saved this morning. Praise the Lord for that. Folks, whenever we're seeking to identify the enemy's attack in our life, whenever we're facing the question, is this true or is this a lie of the enemy? One of the first things I always need to ask myself is, who said this? Oh, I'm feeling this way because of that. Or, oh, well, this happened in my life. Or, well, there's no hope for me. There's no victory for me. Oh, this is just the way I am. Who said this? Who said this? Did God say it? According to who, amen? According to who? If it's not God, then it is not according to the truth, amen? Now, I want to illustrate this from our New Testament. Because many times, as we go to Romans chapter 6, many times we see the Old Testament stories that we study as an illustration of, a physical illustration of the spiritual truths that we experience and read about in our Christian life today and we read about in our New Testament. One of the most common questions that I get asked is, Pastor, what happens if a Christian sins after they're saved? What happens if a Christian sins after they're saved? Well, the Bible is very clear. That whosoever doesn't commit any sin and only works righteousness shall be saved, right? Oh no, never mind. Romans 10 says what? Whosoever believeth, amen? Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So we know for a fact that once we're born again, once you are born spiritually as a child of God, you can never be unborn. Amen? Every one of my children will always carry my DNA, will always be my son and my daughter. Amen? And so the fact of the matter is, once we're saved, we're safe and secure for all eternity in the hand of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1 and verse 5 makes it very clear that the very power of Almighty God is holding you in salvation. So that needs to first and foremost be very clear. Now does that mean sin is not a big deal for a Christian? Does that mean now I can live whatever? Because well, at least I'm going to heaven. No. Amen? And that's what Romans chapter 6 makes very clear here. As we begin reading in verse 1. Romans chapter 6 in verse 1. The Bible says there, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Does it still matter if I sin as a Christian? Because, I mean, you know, we got God's grace now. What is the answer there in verse 2? God forbid. That's basically the strongest way God could have said no. Absolutely not. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Notice, drop down to verse 6, "...knowing this, that our old man is crucified with them, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." As a Christian you're called to serve Christ. Your service, your slavery, your being a slave to sin, those days are done and over with. You've been redeemed. Do you know what the word redeemed means? It means bought with a price. And that price was the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We were just saying it earlier, amen, how you washed in the blood. And so, you are set free. Why would we ever want to go back to the days of our slavery, amen? Now folks, that is the problem that we find the nation of Israel was facing as well. Again and again throughout the history of the nation of Israel, we find them struggling to want to go back to Egypt. What they were yearning for, the only thing they could think about and remember was the pleasures of sin for a season. Was the onions and the leeks and the garlics and the fish and the flesh pots of Egypt. God had to remind them again and again about the bitterness of their slavery, about the struggles that they faced, of the agony of the bondage that they faced in slavery to Egypt. Why would we want to go back to that, amen? The misery of sin, the guilt, no hope. Ephesians 2 says that we were without God and without hope in this world. No peace, no forgiveness, not knowing God's love, not having any eternal life, fearing death more than anything. Why would we want to go back to the old days of slavery? God forbid. Notice when we drop down to verse 11 in Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6 in verse 11. Likewise, reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Reckon means to recognize, to count it as a fact. Consider yourself to be dead unto sin. Amen. I don't belong to that slave master anymore. A Christian cannot serve two masters. Amen? I now have a new master, praise the Lord. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's a good master. Amen? He takes well care of me. And He loves me. Notice verse 12. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it and the lusts thereof. Who's ruling? Who's controlling me in this life? It should not be the old slave master anymore. As a Christian, now we have the power to choose. Did you know that? Before we were saved, sin was our nature. That's what we do by default. But now we're a new creature in Christ, amen? Now we are enabled to say no to sin. Now God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit that indwells us, and he now changes my desires, he changes my thinking, bit by bit, day by day, as I allow him to take more control of my life, and he now gives me new desires. He now empowers me to say no to sin, and yes, to following God and doing what is right. Now does that mean that a Christian doesn't sin anymore? Well sadly, if you've lived any length of life as a Christian, you know that you still sin, amen? Matter of fact, it may be very likely we've all sinned already today. That's what Romans chapter 7 teaches us about. So let's turn over to Romans chapter 7 please. beginning there in verse 15. Now keep in mind, this is the great apostle Paul teaching us here. And it's so powerful how he's so honest and so transparent about this. He says in Romans chapter 7 verse 15, For that which I do, I allow not for what I do, excuse me, for what I would, That do I not, but what I hate that I do. Have you ever experienced that? In other words, the things that I want to do, I don't do. And the things that I don't want to do, those are usually the things I end up doing as a Christian. So relatable, hey man? So relatable. Notice verse 16 in Romans chapter 7. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that is good. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. Wasn't that ever true here, man? That's why it needs to be the work of Christ in me. For to will is present with me, but how to perform, how to actually do, how to perform that which is good, I find not. Not my own strength, anyways. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Again, he says, the things that I don't want to do, those I do, and the things that I do want to do, I usually don't do. I want to do what's right, but usually I end up doing what's wrong. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Paul understood the struggle. Paul understands the struggle, the war that you and I have, Iman. between our old sinful nature that wants to do wrong, that wants to disobey God, and our new creature in Christ, the Holy Spirit of God in us, if you're saved through this morning, if not, today's the best day to settle out and to trust in Christ as Savior. And that new nature in Christ that wants to do what pleases God, that wants to do right, amen. Now notice his response, who shall deliver me? wretched man that I am." Verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Praise the Lord. Jesus is the answer, amen. Just as Jesus was the answer for my state of hopelessness when I was dead in sin and without God, and He saved me, Jesus is also still the answer today. Every single day as a Christian that I struggle with sin. Did you know that? Now let me illustrate this a little bit. And I see, I think we see that beautifully described there in Galatians chapter 5. As you turn over to Galatians chapter 5, in verse 16. Galatians chapter 5, in verse 16 and 17. Galatians 5 verse 16 says this, This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. So in Galatians, Paul once again admits that struggle, that war within us, Folks, just as Joshua and the children of Israel, when they entered the will of God for their life, when they entered the promised land, when they entered Canaan, and they recognized, you know what? There's still an enemy there. There's still battles there. The same way you and I, as we live each day seeking to fulfill God's will for our life, recognize there's still a battle there happening. And the question is though, can it be a victory? The answer is clearly yes. Well, how? It says, you walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, the flesh is the traitor within, if you will. The flesh is a leak with the attackers from the outside. Did you know that? The flesh provides the wood on which the devil's temptations can kindle. So I have to recognize that my flesh is in league with the enemy and my flesh is bent against God, whereas the spirit in me wants to serve God. I've thought about how to illustrate this and I brought a little balloon guy with us. A little balloon guy has a problem. A problem every balloon has by default. Do you know what it is? Gravity. No matter what balloon guy is trying to do, gravity always keeps pulling him down. See, no matter what balloon guy does, it always pulls him down. That's our flesh. Our flesh constantly wants to bring us to defeat. Constantly wants us to serve sin, the old slave master, instead of serving our new Lord, Jesus Christ. So now, the Holy Spirit of God comes. and says, walk with me, allow me to control you, yield to my influence. And we'll look at what the word walking with the spirit means here in a minute. But what the spirit does is anytime gravity wants to grab us, he keeps us up. And He keeps us walking in victory, not fulfilling the lust of the flesh, not hitting the floor, not succumbing to that ever-present force of gravity. See that? Now Balunga though has to be willing to be kept up by the Holy Spirit. Balunga can say, no, no, no, I don't want to stay within the hand of the Holy Spirit. I want to do this on my own. fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Amen? Silly, but I hope it helps. Amen? Walking with the Spirit is only possible when we're willing to crucify, so to speak, our old sinful flesh, the old nature. That's why Romans chapter 12 calls it a living sacrifice. That's a continual decision, each and every day. all throughout our life. Walking with the Spirit can only happen when I'm in fellowship with Christ, as 1 John chapter 1 makes it very clear. In order to fellowship with Christ, I need to be willing to crucify, to put to death or mortify, as Colossians chapter 3 calls it, the sins of the flesh that are bent against God's will in my life. I have to be willing to die to my own self-will. Amen? That's what Romans 6, verse 13 teaches us. And I want to go there to look at this practically. How do I do this practically? Romans 6, verse 13. the gravity that is ever present with us, even as a Christian. I'm a new creature, I'm a balloon guy now in Jesus even, but gravity, that old pole, is still ever there. And so, in Galatians chapter 5, again, the Lord said, Notice there, though, in Romans 6, verse 13. How do we do that? Romans 6, verse 13. neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." For the sake of time, drop down to verse 18, please, in Romans chapter 6. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when you were, notice past tense, when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. Now we're not the servants of sin anymore. Amen? We've been set free from the slavery in Egypt. We've now entered the promised land. Jesus Christ said, I'm giving you this city. The enemy is defeated. It's yours. But we have to be willing to come out for the battle. Amen? We have to be willing to yield our body, to yield our life each and every day to the control of the Holy Spirit as an instrument, as His tool, so to speak. Because in me there dwells no good thing. The only righteousness you and I could ever have is through God working in us, amen? It's not about how hard I try. It's not about all the willpower that I put up. It is about me surrendering my will to God and willing to come out for the battle, so to speak. You say, what does the word yield mean? You may be familiar with the yield signs and traffic, right? But the word yield, I looked up the definition. I'll give it to you, and then I'll try to illustrate it a little bit, all right? Yield means to admit something to be true. It means to give way, to not oppose something, or it means to give up your right. As someone would yield his rank to a superior, for example, let's say at work or in the military. To yield means to permit or comply with something. To yield means to give up the contest, to surrender and to submit. Walking under the control of the Holy Spirit is not simply a matter of just passive surrender. It's like, oh, let go and let God, right? No, it is an active process, folks. The word yield in Greek is also translated throughout our Bible as to stand beside something or someone, to be near or close to something. It's to be a friend to someone or to yield. It means to stood by, to present, to show or commend. In other words, it depends who I'm willing to hang around with. That's why Joshua entered victory when he did what? He went to God on prayer, he listened to God's voice, and then he went, in other words, heard God's word, and then he went and obeyed. And he was willing to get rid of the sin in the camp. Remember? Those three or four steps that we looked at, I believe, last week. Joshua was willing to run to God in prayer, admit his inability, admit his dependence upon the Lord. Joshua was willing to listen to the voice of God and was willing to obey it. And Joshua was willing to confess and repent of the sin that was in the camp. That's what walking with the spirit ultimately means. I thought about how to illustrate this idea of yielding. And I'm gonna try my best to illustrate this a little bit here. Let's see if we can do this. All right. Move over these nice flowers. They're trying hard to make me look good. All right, I hope you can see this a little bit here. We got two magnets here. The one magnet is the flesh, the other magnet is the spirit of God, and this is you. Now, both of these magnets are pulling on this metal screw, right? This screw is pretty screwed up, all right? It needs help. Oh boy. Now which magnet wins? It's influence. Which magnet has the greater pull over the metal screw, over you and me? The magnet that is closest to the screw, amen? If I get closer to this one, oh, now the flesh wins. But if I decide to rather yield to the Holy Spirit of God, look at this, it all depends which one I'm closer to. When I'm close to the Spirit's magnet, the flesh has absolutely no pull. Amen? But it's a choice I have to make. Every day we wake up in the middle. Which magnet am I going to move towards? Prayer, studying the Scriptures, meditating upon it, asking the Lord for power to help me to yield in obedience to Him. That's what yielding to the Lord means. Moving closer, standing with a magnet that you want you to pull. Amen? There's always one magnet pulling us, folks. Which one is it going to be? Old sinful nature or the new nature in Christ, the Spirit of God? The closer you walk in fellowship with Jesus Christ through prayer, which is submission, through Bible reading and study, which is your mind renewal, and through obedience, which is that practical expression of our love to the Savior, So the more you're in fellowship with Christ through that, the more you will also have the power of God upon you. So we read in 1 John 1 there in verse 6 and surrounding. The more time you spend with Christ, the more you will increase in your love for Him. Amen? You see, the problem is, And so many times we base our decisions, so not on a rational consideration of, you know, oh, who am I gonna yield to right now? No, we just do what? Whatever we feel like, right? Most of our decisions are based a lot on our feelings. Well, that's usually the flesh. You see, the reason why the flesh is so hard to try to pull us over is because it knows it only has a limited time. The flesh will one day be over. The flesh will one day die. And so that's why right now it's trying to use up all its time and all its pull that it has over our life. It's desperate and it's urgent. And it's seeking through our feelings to drive us towards doing what is wrong, towards doing what will cause us to be even more miserable, towards what will separate our fellowship with Christ. The flesh will seek us to follow the natural material world. That's why we need to be continually exhorted and reminded and encouraged and commanded by the Bible to what? Live spiritually minded. To rather follow the spirit instead. Even though we live in a very physical world. See, the difference, or the opposite of following the feelings of our flesh and its temporary, limited focus is when we instead walk by faith and God's promises. That's what Joshua did. Joshua could have looked at the facts and said, okay, well, here's the deal. We've already went against AI, we've lost, 36 men died, there's no hope for this. But by faith, after praying and listening to God's voice, He said, you know, we're going to try again. We're going to listen to His voice. And I'm going to have faith in the promise of God. See, the flesh walks by sight, but the Spirit walks by faith. That is the big difference. And folks, the decision whether we are one to walk by faith or whether we are just going to live by sight, by the sight of our flesh, we need to make before the battle begins. Before Joshua ever pulled up his 30,000 men to the city of Ai, it was already decided who was going to win. God had already said, you follow my way, you're going to get the victory. When we walk by faith, we may not always see, humanly speaking, the results, the way we're looking for, the way we're expecting. Because it's faith. Faith takes patience, even. Faith takes, well, faith, even, trusting in a reality that I may not be able to see yet. But I have faith in God. And that's why I decide to yield to His Spirit instead. Why? Because I realize that my flesh is limited. Amen? So folks, I hope this encourages us to not make our decisions based upon our feelings in the moment, but to allow the Word of God to renew our thinking, to renew our mind, as Romans chapter 12 says, day by day, bit by bit. And whenever I find any imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against God in my thinking, Any lie from Satan and of the flesh that is against God's truth, I can decide, no, no, no, no. I'm not going to walk by sight. I'm going to walk by faith in God's Word. Amen? And I'm going to yield myself rather to the Holy Spirit as an instrument of righteousness. See, it really helps when I ask myself, well, I just feel that way, that's why I make these wrong choices. Okay, well, why do I feel that way? Wrong feelings are based upon wrong thinking and lie-based thinking. Well, who's the author of lies in my life, amen? So, the fact of the matter is when we walk in the flesh instead of walking in the spirit, we fail to crucify the flesh. We fail to live as a living sacrifice, as Galatians 2, verse 20 tells us, to live by faith. And folks, when we do that though, Do you know what we reap? Do you know what the result of that is? The joy of the Lord. That's why Nehemiah said in Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Amen? The joy of the Lord is your strength. That's what happens when I allow the Holy Spirit to control my heart. It keeps me rejoicing in Jesus. It keeps me rejoicing in Jesus. Or to put it another way, when I walk, By the Spirit, my heart is resting in the promises of God by faith. When the Spirit reigns over my flesh and my life, I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me and is now working in and through me. So sometimes I have to be willing to go on a spiritual diet. Have you ever tried going on a diet and maybe eating less ice cream or less doughnuts or whatever or less cake, right? It's tough, isn't it? As soon as you stop, all of a sudden you really want it much more, right? Well, our flesh still wants to sin. And so sometimes the only way to get rid of those desires is to starve your flesh. Spiritually speaking, alright? I'm not telling you to go on a six-day hunger strike, I'm not saying that, alright? Spiritually speaking, starve the sinful lusts and desires that are bent against God in rebellion by making no provision for the flesh, amen? You know what a provision is, that's food, amen? Don't give your flesh any provision, starve it, and rather, feed the Spirit of God inside of you, amen? On the Word of God, on the promises of God, Once again, principle of replacement. What? Submit yourselves to God and the devil will flee from you, right? Strengthen your relationship with God through prayer, through Bible reading, through going to church. Folks, that's what George Mueller experienced. We read in his biography This, and I want to close with that. He says, I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. Not happy in the circumstances, not happy in how I'm feeling, that's the flesh, happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a state of rejoicing in Christ. because that would nourish my inner man. In other words, it would motivate him to do right. Now, what is the food for the inner man? It is the Word of God. It is prayer to God. Faith in God's promises. That is what motivated Joshua from despair to victory. God says, get up. Sanctify the people. Let's move forward for victory. Folks, defeat does not mean that we have to stay down. Defeat means that there's an opportunity for God, through His grace, to build another stepping stone to victory. Amen? I want to invite you to stand at this time, bow your heads in prayer, please. For your heads in prayer, close your eyes as we get quiet before the Lord. And as Henry plays the piano, I want to ask you, who are you yielding to right now? Which magnet is pulling on you? Is it the Holy Spirit of God that's controlling you? Or is it the old sinful nature that wants to go back into the misery and slavery and bondage of Egypt? that believes the lies of the pleasures of sin for a season. Most of all, let me ask you, have you ever trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior? Maybe you're living in misery this morning because you don't know if you have peace with God. You don't know for sure if you would die by the end of today, if you would go to heaven or to hell. God says, I want you to know. First John chapter 5 verse 13 he says,