Stand in your Garden
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11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory.
Title: Stand in your Garden
Title: Stand in your Garden
Context
In 2nd Samuel, we read of an interesting account of a group of men called David’s mighty men.
These were all men of renown, each having accomplished their own feats of honor in battle.
They were elite warriors, men who had fought notable battles, earning them the reputation as valuable military assets.
One man fought one of Egypts leading spearmen and was able to disarm him with a club and kill him with his own spear.
Another fought 300 men with a spear and prevailed. He became the chief of the 30, but then there were the three…
There were 3 men who held a special position amongst the rest. It was these three that the rest looked to for inspiration. They were the best of the best. The baddest of the bad…
The first of these three was a man who fought 800 men all at once and slew them all.
Second was Eleazar. He and David and the two others had fought the entire philistine army when the rest of Israel had retreated. He fought so hard that the his hand seized around the sword he fought with.
Then there was Shammah. The philistines gathered into a troop, they amassed a legion of so many that the people all around Shammah retreated and fled from the Philistines.
But Shammah…
But Shammah…
When everyone else fled Shammah took his place. He set his feet. He girded up his belt. He took his stand in the midst of a garden… Full of lentils.
The Philistines were bound and determined to take everything from Israel. They wanted to completely plunder their goods…
The enemy comes not but to steal, kill, and destroy…
There is no reasoning with the Devil.
Mention Sunday School Lesson - Protecting Families
I’ve heard preachers teach that spiritual warfare is only for a select few, or it is a special calling, but I’m here to tell you the enemy is on assignment....
We don’t have the luxury of disengaging from what is happening in the world around us…
It has been too long since the Church has pulled her head out of the sand and become a force to be reckoned with in this country.
It is a demonic assignment of the enemy to keep the Church docile.
It is a demonic assignment of the enemy to keep the Church docile.
The last thing the enemy wants is a church ready for combat.
If the enemy can lull the church into sleeping through his disruption of the culture in this country, he can set the stage for its elimination altogether…
This isn’t an us versus them, church versus culture argument…
There is a real Devil with real demons with a real hatred for you and I…
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The enemy is coming for our families and our youth and our kids and our home…
Just like the enemy was coming for Shammah! The Philistines were coming to steal and kill and destroy…
But Shammah took his stand…
Everywhere I turn I hear Christians that are appalled at the state of the country, appalled at the state of the Church, and are distraught because they don’t know what to do....
The battle looks too big… the future looks too bleak… it seems like there’s no one left around me…
BUT SHAMMAH TOOK HIS STAND!
BUT SHAMMAH TOOK HIS STAND!
Maybe it’s time you take your stand! If I have to stand by myself, I’ll stand…
Even if no one stands with me, I’ll stand…
The song says, “I’ll stand.. with arms high and heart abandoned. In awe, of the one who gave it all.”
Shammah took his stand…
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
If you’re going to stand, you have to prepare to stand…
If you’re going to stand, you have to prepare to stand…
You can’t wait until you get to the garden to start putting on your armor…
You can’t wait until you’re under direct attack to start training…
You wouldn’t send a soldier into battle who has never trained with a weapon.
When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He didn’t have time to google the right verse for the moment…
David didn’t say he hid God’s word in his rolodex…
You cannot stand if you have not done everything to prepare to stand…
You cannot stand if you have not done everything to prepare to stand…
Prayer is not an emergency only option… It’s not something that sits behind a glass, break only in case of emergency…
Prayer is more than a once in a while favor we do for God… Prayer is a way of life…
Prayer is a life source… Prayer is your preparation…
The Bible is not a book that sits on the shelf, it is a living, active, two edged sword…
We can’t afford to continue on in biblical illiteracy.
Bible reading is your preparation…
You have to prepare to stand…
Shammah took his stand in the midst of the garden…
Title: Stand in your Garden...
Title: Stand in your Garden...
When I was reading through this passage of scripture, I was absorbed with the impressive feats of these men, but it was the location of Shammah’s battle that caught my attention.
Why was the garden so important? As I searched I found out that the garden was a food source, but throughout the scriptures,
Gardens are used as a symbol of prosperity and blessing…
Gardens are used as a symbol of prosperity and blessing…
3 Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places.
And her wilderness He will make like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.
11 “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12 “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—
Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,
And over the young of the flock and the herd;
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they will never languish again.
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Gardens are traditionally a place of blessing and prosperity…
Gardens are traditionally a place of blessing and prosperity…
The beauty and fruitfulness of the garden has long captured the imagination of those who would stroll through the Garden.
For Shammah, this was more than just a patch of peas. This garden was symbolic of the very prosperity of Israel.
If he allowed the Philistines to take this garden, they could take all of Israel.
The Garden is bigger than the plot of land. It is the symbol of prosperity and blessing.
The Garden is a place of decision… the place where you have the opportunity to stand.
The Garden your place to stand!
The Garden your place to stand!
He could hear the mothers urgently telling their children to hurry, the Philistines are coming…
He could see the approaching army bearing down on his small village…
The people had surely gathered what they could carry, but as he looked around there was an eerie absence over the homes where not long before there was warmth and laughter…
As the army of Philistines got closer and closer the men around him began to move nervously…
A murmuring began to rise within the men about the size of the approaching mob…
When he turned to look at the group it looked smaller than before…
In what seemed like a moment the Philistines were upon them and the fighting began…
Many were struck down, others ran and SUDDENLY.... Shammah was alone, facing a battalion of Philistine soldiers, raiding the village.
Shammah stood at the garden and it was in that moment he was forced to make a decision....
This garden would either be his offering to the Lord or the place where he would be dispatched to Him…
This Garden was his place of decision…
This Garden would be his place to stand...
I’m reminded of another Garden that was a place decision…
The Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden
Eden was a garden created by God to be the home for mankind.
It was a place of blessing and prosperity, but it was also a place of responsibility.
God had placed Adam as the keeper of the Garden. It obeyed his word and he declared the name of each of its inhabitants.
Eden was a literal paradise, but there came a day when Eden was also a place of decision…
Eden was a fruitful place that produced such a crop that man did not have to toil or sweat, but there was a decision to be made…
Would Adam and Eve obey God or defy the creator’s instruction…
It was in this first Garden where the fate of all creation was altered and separated from the blessing of God.
Adam and Eve had the opportunity to take their stand, but failed epically.
What will your Garden be?
What will your Garden be?
I could come in here and preach about standing your ground and leave it vague and hype you up, get you ready, then turn you loose, that’s the easy part..
What is difficult about standing is figuring out what your Garden is.
The thing about your Garden is that it comes at your most comfortable moments, when everything is going well, and your faced with the opportunity to stand…
Most of the time, standing makes your life more difficult, requires more effort, and demands a deeper commitment.
Many generations later, there was another garden and another adam…
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples.
The Garden of Gethsemane
The Garden of Gethsemane
39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
It was in these moments where a battle was fought… Jesus could have walked away at this point, but he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders in this moment and on his knees he took his stand…
This time, just as sin had entered through one man’s decision in the Garden, so sin was vanquished through one Man’s decision in the Garden…
Stand in your Garden…
Stand in your Garden…