Stranger Stories: Week 6
Stranger Stories • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
This is the last week in our Stranger Stories series
We have seen some great stuff, but this might be the most applicable thing we have looked at
Before we dive into any of it - let’s pray
A war
A war
8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.
One thing you’ll notice if you read the OT at all is that Israel is always at war with someone
They are always fighting and on the verge of being dominated
This is a almost perfect analogy of life
You are in a war
We are constantly in a war
Paul tells the Ephesians this
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
You are in a battle
Satan is always attacking you
Paul said you don’t wrestle/fight with people of this earth, you are facing the Devil
You are facing the ruler of this earth
The one who is in control of what is happening
You are always going to be tempted to do evil, and face evil
God told Cain in Genesis this about sin
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
It is crouching and waiting for you
Satan is the master tactician always seeking to destroy you
He is waiting for you constantly
Much like Israel was always the prey being stalked - we are constantly being stalked by the enemy
He is striving to get you to go against God
He is putting people in your life that will try to destroy you
He is putting temptations in your life trying to get you to fall in sin
He is putting distractions in your life trying to get you to ignore God’s calling
You are in a war
You will always be in a war!
There is no getting around it
But just like Israel you have choices
The Staff
The Staff
9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
When faced with the battle Israel decided to fight
Moses told Joshua to choose the best men and go and fight Amalek
And while Israel was fighting Moses went up to the mountain and held up his staff
While his staff was held up high, Israel was winning the battle
While his staff was lowed Israel started losing the battle
Here’s the first thing God is teaching us about this war we are in
1 - Only God can win the war
The war you are facing, only God can win
There is no way you can win it on your own
There was no way that Israel could win the war they were facing without God
Joshua and the men going to fight were full of zeal
Joshua choose the strongest men to fight the war
But they only won the war because of God
Every time Moses held his hands up they were winning
The act of Moses putting his hands up in the air was showing full and total dependence on the Lord
Moses in this act as saying - there is no way we can win this war without God intervening
This is the same for our war
Paul in Ephesians 6 told us that we are in a war versus the devil
That we cannot win the war on our own
We cannot be Satan, we cannot beat our sin or our temptations with out God
We can stop sinning for maybe a day - but we need the Lord
Israel needed God to win the war they were facing
We need God to flee from our sin and defeat it
We need Jesus’ death on the cross
We cannot beat our sin, we cannot beat the devil, we cannot stop ourselves from sinning
Paul said it this way
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Paul said he knows the right thing to do, but does the wrong thing
He knows he is suppose to follow God, but yet he still sins
You can know all the right things
You can have all the knowledge in the world
But you will still fall into sin
You will always lose to Satan if you rely on yourself to do it
You must rely on God to win the battle
Help from others
Help from others
12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
Moses got tired
Holding your hands up for a long time gets hard
You get tired
That leads to the next thing Exodus 17 is teaching us
2 - The people around you matter
Moses couldn’t hold his hands up so Aaron and Hur had to help
They set up a rock and held us his hands to make sure that he didn’t drop the staff
To make sure that Moses was still worshipping the Lord
Without Aaron and Hur, Moses wouldn’t be able to keep his hands up, and the Israelites wouldn’t be able to win the battle
The same is true for us
The people you put around you today matter
They are the ones that are going to either push you closer to Jesus or pull you away
They are the ones that are either like Aaron and Hur, helping you raise your hands when all your strength is gone, or they are not
Are the friends you have around you helping you win the battle you are facing?
I’m not talking about them helping you cope with the issues you face.
I’m not talking about them affirming everything you’re doing
Friends that help you win the battle are friends that pull you to Jesus
Ones that even when you are facing hard times are pushing you to Jesus
Ones that call you out and set you back on the right path
The people you put in your life matter
17 Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.
Are the people in your life sharpening you?
Are they helping you grow and fight off sin?
The only way to sharpen a knife, is if you run it against honing steel
Honing steel is hard enough to change the shape of the blade while not damaging it
It is textured to help sharpen the blade and make it better
However if you rub a knife against a knife both knives will get dull and damaged
If you rub a knife against a weaker metal it will damage the weaker metal and not help the knife
We are the same way
The people around you are either sharpening you or dulling you
They are either pushing you closer to God, or taking you away from God
The people around you matter
Don’t forget
Don’t forget
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
After the battle the Lord told Moses to write this down and tell it to Joshua
Remind him of how the Lord took care of Amalek
The last thing is this
3 - Don’t get lazy
The Lord told Moses to remind Joshua of this
Moses built an alter to remind Joshua and the people how God took care of them
Joshua choose the best men to fight, but they only won because of the Lord
And the Lord told Moses to always remember that
BECAUSE the Amalekites continued attacking Israel - this wasn’t a single isolated event
When Joshua took over leading Israel, he still had to face the Amalekites
Israel was still outnumbered, out gunned, and just the weaker overall nation
The were consistent enemies until David came on the scene and got rid of the Amalekites
The war wasn’t over just because the won a single battle
The war for you today isn’t over just because you flee temptation one time
Satan doesn’t stop
He doesn’t quit
He continues chasing you trying to get you to stumble
You can’t get lazy
You prayed yesterday? Praise God, don’t get lazy pray today
You read your Bible today? Praise God! Don’t get lazy read tomorrow
Satan doesn’t get lazy, he is always trying to stop you
He is constantly scheming against you - don’t get lazy
Chase after God and rely on Him
He is the one that can help, no one else can
Conclusion
Conclusion
You’re in a war
Satan is trying to pull you down and pull you into sin
He is trying to stop you from doing what you are supposed to do
The only way to win is
Rely on God
He’s the one that can win
Have good people around you
Those who will build you up, not tear you down
Don’t get lazy
The war doesn’t end just when you have won a single battle