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We have travelled from the Cross of Christ in Session One, through to a deeper understanding of Kingdom authority and some specific anointings in spiritual warfare. In our final session of this four-part Warrior Bride series, we are going to learn what it means to be "more than conquerors." We are going to learn about the very highest form of warfare.

The Israelites, led by Moses, had come out of Egypt, and had wandered in the wilderness forty years. Forty years earlier they had stood at the brink of entering Canaan, their Promised Land, but had complained and rebelled against God due to unbelief and fear (Numbers 14). Moses had sent twelve spies into Canaan and all except two had come back saying "we can't do this, we can't go over there - there are giants in the land". Of the twelve, only Joshua and Caleb had come back with a good report. They said "yes, there are giants in the land, but also milk and honey, if we cross over God will fight for us." But the people had refused to cross over and wanted to return to Egypt. As judgment against them God had declared that all those over twenty years of age, would never enter the Promised Land, and He had assigned them to forty years of wandering in the wilderness until that generation had all died off, Moses included.

Now Moses and the older generation had died, and it was Joshua's turn to lead. Joshua was fully aware of Moses' death, and yet here was God telling him: Moses My servant,t is dead. (Joshua 1:2). God seems to be making a point here: Joshua, Moses is gone! You’re the man now, you're no longer the apprentice, you're the leader! And I want you to lead this people into their inheritance. Now therefore arise ! (Hebrew "quwm" means literally, "stand up, stir up") He's saying come on, wake, up, get moving Joshua!

This was a new day and a fresh start - they were to come OUT OF the wilderness and INTO the inheritance. I believe that today we have entered into a time when God is raising up a people with the spirit and mantle of Joshua upon them to take hold of, possess and occupy their full inheritance in Christ.

The New Testament has a lot to say about the church's inheritance. It's an inheritance received by faith (Hebrew 11:8) and it's an eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15). It's an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, unable to fade away, and reserved in Heaven (1 Peter 1:4). Our inheritance is our reward (Colossians 3:24) and it has been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:14). Indeed, "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 1 Cor. 2:9

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So what differentiated the Moses generation, the generation that died in the wilderness, from the Joshua generation who crossed over the Jordan and took possession of their inheritance? After all, they had both experienced miracles like the crossing of the Red Sea and the water from the rock. They had both known God's provision, by eating the manna, the heavenly food God had sent each day to sustain them. They had both known God's Presence, through the pillar of fire by night and the cloud of glory by day.

The difference was that the Moses generation was a surviving and maintaining generation. They had begun their journey by coming out of Egypt in radical obedience to God, but had gotten used to the wilderness. You see, the wilderness is not a bad place to be, it's only a bad place to stay. The wilderness is part of God's plan for us, it’s a place of training and growing - that's a good place. But what good is preparation that is never tested? What good are plans that never eventuate? What good is a vision that is never birthed? For the Moses generation, the wilderness had become a comfortable place. Not only had they become comfortable, they had never really left Egypt behind. They were always looking back.

And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them: "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" Number 14:2-4 The Moses generation still had a slave mentality. They'd come out of Egypt, but Egypt hadn't come out of them.

Many people seem to believe that God had kept the Israelites in the wilderness for forty more years because of their idolatry in worshiping a golden calf when Moses was on the mountain receiving the ten commandments (Exodus 32). However, God's judgment on them for this sin was a plague (Exodus 32:35). Hebrews chapter three makes it clear that the Israelites were actually consigned to the wilderness for those forty years due to the sins of unbelief and hardness of heart (see Hebrews 3:7-19).

The wilderness is better than Egypt, but it's not the inheritance, it's not the Promised Land. God, in His transforming of us into the image of His Son, will take us through wilderness experiences, but if you choose to stay in the wilderness you'll die in the wilderness. And so all those over the age of 20, those who had known the slavery of Egypt, apart from Joshua and Caleb, never came into their inheritance. They only saw it from a distance, from the other side of the Jordan River.

What, then, set Joshua and Caleb apart in God's eyes? Why were they allowed to enter the Promised Land? The answer can be found in Numbers 32:11-12: Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly. (N.I.V.) The difference between the Joshua generation and the Moses generation was not one of age - its was one of WHOLEHEARTEDNESS.

At the time Joshua became leader he was around eighty years old, and Caleb was eighty five years old when he came into his inheritance (see Joshua 14:10). You see, it's not about how old or young you are. The Kingdom of God needs both the enthusiasm, zeal and exuberance of the youth and the wisdom, experience and maturity of age. But it is about a wholehearted commitment to what God wants to do.

Now, let us return to Joshua. We have already seen that Joshua was a man of faith and vision. At this time in his life Joshua was already a seasoned warrior and a veteran of many battles. He was no stranger to warfare; he was no novice. For many years he had been Moses' apprentice and right-hand man. He had personally led the Israelites into battle and victory against the Amalekites, one of the fiercest and most barbaric tribes around. (Exodus 17:13) He was acknowledged by the Israelites as a great leader and he is known even in secular history as a cunning and brilliant military strategist. But there was something God still wanted to teach Joshua, because Joshua was destined to be more than a conqueror.

Now here is Joshua, by Jericho. We can imagine him looking up at those formidable walls and wondering, "How do we take this city, what methods should we use; are there weaknesses in the wall?" And behold, a Man stood opposite him with His Sword drawn in His hand. Well, Joshua did what any brave soldier would do. Fearlessly he asks "Are you for us or for our enemies?" So He said "No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come". .

Now there are varying opinions about who this stranger actually was, but I believe it to be an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Himself. I have two reasons for being persuaded of this. Firstly, this stranger readily accepted Joshua's worship. The scriptures show It was not usual for created angelic beings to accept the worship of men. Secondly, in Exodus 23:20 God had promised the Israelites: Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions, for My Name is in Him. In my belief, both these passages refer to Jesus.

And so it is at this point that all Joshua's experience up to that time fails him. He had thought he was the commander! Wisely, he realises he's not the one in control and he falls on his face in worship.

Even still, he still hasn't fully understood what's going on here. "What does my Lord say to His servant?" he says. In other words: "What are my orders? What is the battle plan for us to take this city of Jericho? How do we scale these walls?" But instead of the orders he's waiting for, the Commander of the Lord's army seems to have something else on His mind, and He says Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy. Then it says, And Joshua did so.

Before Joshua would be allowed to take Jericho, he needed to have an encounter with God's holiness. Notice the order here, before God gives him the battle plan, he calls him to worship. It's as if He's saying to Joshua: No Joshua, you still don't understand, you see I'm not on your side, you're on my side. And you need to experience my holiness and allow my holiness to shape you and change you, before we go to war. Learn to worship - then I'll give you the strategy for this battle - then we go to war!

And the order hasn't changed. I have a lot of contact with intercessors and intercession groups through my ministry, and one of the things that disturbs me consistently, is the number of immature spiritual "warriors" who seem to have a need to prove their spiritual "prowess".They are often unhealed Christians who carry a lot of undealt with wounds. No friends, our major ministry is to Jesus - that comes first. Warfare will flow out of our worship, as long as we give our ministry to Him a priority.

And that's always the order for the people of God. Before Moses went to confront Pharoah, he encountered God at the burning bush; before Paul was allowed to go to the gentiles with the gospel, he encountered God on the Damascus road. David was a worshiper before he was a warrior, spending long hours in intimate communion with God among the sheepfolds. It was even the order for Jesus. The gospel of Luke tells us that just prior to Jesus' confrontation with Satan in the wilderness, He had been praying:

So, you see, there will be two major characteristics of God's last days army. They will be wholehearted in their warfare, but they will also be wholehearted in their worship. They will be both warriors and worshipers.

Joshua left that place by Jericho that day a changed man. Yes, he left with the strategy to take Jericho, (Joshua 6:1-6), but something much deeper had taken place. The man who had been looking forward to conquering had himself been broken and conquered.

God is calling His people to arise and possess the inheritance He has promised His church. He's bringing His church out of Egypt and moulding her into a formidable and disciplined army, wholehearted in their commitment to defeat the powers of darkness on every front. They will be a people of vision and faith, a people who understand the Kingdom's principles of authority, and a people who carry anointings for breakthrough.

But more than this they will be a people of holiness. They will be a people who have learned, as Joshua did, that the highest calling of the warrior is not to war, but to worship. Let us be MORE than conquerors alone, let us be priests and kings who find their greatest delight in ministering to the One who has conquered all for us. His Name is Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God! His Name is Jesus!