How To Win Your Battles Part II
Notes
Transcript
Text: Exodus 17: 1-7
Title: How To Win Your Battles
Thought: You Have What You Need
Topic: Overcoming Opposition
Teaching: God Helps us Fight our Battles
1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?
3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
4 And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
5 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?
Story Recap:
In the last message I told you about MacGyver, the secret agent with the special skill to use whatever he had on hand to get himself out of a Jam. The same thing happens in our scripture text, God uses what Moses has in his hand to get him out of a Jam. Moses said God I’ve got a problem, God said, Moses I’ve got a plan, take up your rod in your hand.
Sermon Sentence: God will help you win with whatever you have
Sermon Saying: You Got Enough to Win Your Battle
Blessing Paragraph: God fights for those who are faithful to Him, you not alone
Problem Paragraph: Unfaithfulness forfeits Gods protection…Joshua 7:10–13
Challenge Paragraph: Stay Faithful and Trust that God is enough
Text Background:
In the text, Moses is fighting two battles, he’s fighting a battle within the camp and outside the camp. The people have arrived at the place God commanded Moses to bring them, but when they arrived, they realized there was no water there, so they went to Moses.
They started to complain, we have nothing to drink or give to our cattle, did you and God bring us out here to watch us die of thirst. Moses goes to God and says lord I did what you told me, and these people are ready to stone me, what are we going to do.
God tells Moses, I’m going to use what you have to fix the problem, take up your rod, gather the people, strike the rock, and water will flow from it. Right after that, The Amalekites, attack, Moses uses use the same rod to defeat the attack and win the battle
I. KNOW YOU WILL BE ATTACKED
A. Obedience Will Put You in Opposition with Most of The World
1. To be friends with the world is to be enemies of God…James 4:4
B. Trust In God Will Put You in Opposition to Those Who Doubt
1. Moses trusted God but the people didn’t have the same level of faith …Num 13:30-31
II. TRUST THAT GOD HAS YOUR BACK
A. Moses Gets God Involved in The Fight
1. Moses asks the right question; he says lord what are we going to do
B. God Has a Plan
1. God gives Moses’ instructions for a solution
C. God Give Moses Instruction
1. The first instruction: God says go, don’t retreat, face the problem head on
2. The second instruction: take something with you, the elders and your rod 3. The third instruction: Get into position, meet me at Horeb
D. The Battle Plan
1. Get God involved and follow his plan
2. Go forward, face the problem head on
3. Don’t Battle by Yourself
4. Get in the right positions
5. Trust that God will stand with you
6. know that with God you have enough to win
7. The key to win is to coordinate and cooperate with God
E. Trust God to Be Your MacGyver
1. God can use whatever you have on hand to get you out of a Jam
III. FOLLOW THE SAME PLAN AGAIN
A. The Battle You Just Won Is Not You Last One
1. If it isn’t one thing, its another, and after that it’s something else
2. Moses just finished fighting the battle with the people inside his camp
3. Now he’s facing a battle with his enemies outside the camp
4. You don’t worry about a bill if you have the money to pay it
5. You don’t have to worry about your battles, if you have God to fight them
6. The enemy will attack when you’re the most vulnerable
7. We are the most vulnerable when we are fighting against ourselves
B. Moses Learned to Rinse and Repeat
1. Moses discovered a pattern to receive Gods help in battle
2. Moses said I just had a win, I am going to do it again
3. Moses figured out, every time I obey God, with this rod, I win
C. Moses Found a Formula for Success
1. The battle he just won helped him win the next one
2. Moses just finished using his God and his rod to win
3. Moses says I did it before, and I’m about to do it again
4. That’s how David knew he would defeat goliath, 1st Sam 17:37
5. The God that helped me win the last time will do it again
6. Moses hears about the battle; he already knows what to do
7. He calls out to God and grabs his rod
D. Moses Learned to Point the Rod of God
1. Moses said whenever I talk to God, he tells me to use my rod
2. Moses already knew what to do, when I stretch the rod, it does the job
3. The rod is of God, it represents his presence, power, and authority
E. The Battle Strategy
1. Uses His resources, God, the rod, and His people
2. He goes up on the hill, get is a big picture view
3. He stretched out his rod
4. He Got Tired
5. Those he was helping helped him
Close with Gideon:
God reduced Gideon army from 32,000 to 300 he told Gideon you have enough to win
