Lost Identity 2
Notes
Transcript
Lost Identity
Lost Identity
Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
“and you the servants of Saul”
Their lives demonstrated that they were no longer known as the people of the living God!
It is important that we do not lose our identity!
We read in Genesis
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Everything they were was found in their relationship with God. When that was broken there was nothing left to identify with! As we see today
The reason they ended up there
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
A refusal f God and a desire to be like the other nations; Follow the judgements of men; Looking to a king (man) for wisdom and deliverance! What a fallacy that turned out to be!
We can see that they lost perspective on their position in God and trusted in man
And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
The word champion here is the Hebrew word meaning a destroyer, a man of destruction; one who causes death and destruction; One who makes hostile action toward an enemy
Satan had fooled them into believing his testimony about Goliath that he could not be defeated
This wasn’t the first time the Israelites faced the giants
And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.
The key to Joshua’s victory?
As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
It is possible that the army of the Philistines was smaller than that of Israel but perception or rather deception kept the people of God in fear
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
Dismayed means a state of confusion resulting in discouragement, fear and terror
God’s promise to them was victory
Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces;
From heaven He will thunder against them.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to His king,
And exalt the horn of His anointed.”
If their perspective was right and their relationship secure, they could have laid claim to these promises
God continually warned that if they did not continue in faith the result would be judgement
Strength to face the giants in our lives comes from His actions not our own strengths!
Saul was missing the strength of the Lord for this battle
When he won the victory against the Ammonites at Jabesh Gilead
Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.
Aroused here means to be moved to action, to have zeal and strength, Zealous, to have an eager desire
Where was that “eager desire” to win this battle?
Today as we face the many battles that the enemy brings our way, we may find ourselves without hope or strength because we have abandoned the one who gives us strength
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So what is the key to our facing the giant?
Joshua
Now therefore, [reverently] fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
He was saying that his decision to serve the Lord was independent of whatever the people decided; that their actions would not affect his; that his commitment to do the Lord's will would not be altered by anything they or anyone else would do.
Listen to the voice of reason
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
The word “building” is a verb meaning to “make continual progress”
When we pray in the Holy Spirit it means, under His guidance, under the rule of His Word, in faith, and fervency!
Keeping ourselves in the love of God by vigorous acts of services and delighting yourself in His presence!