When The Enemy Seeks to Overtake You
Notes
Transcript
My Favorite Illustrations The Devil’s Strategy
The devil is too wise a strategist to waste time on a sleeping church. After all, that kind of church is not a problem for him. However he will attempt to destroy a church that is doing a great work for God. Someone said that if you build a cathedral to God the devil will build a chapel alongside it.
Herschel Hobbs
The people of God are brought out of bondage and into freedom for one reason.... THE GLORY OF GOD
For the Israelite in the book of Exodus, there seems to be some difficulty understanding this reality. They were rescued from their chains not so much for their own personal well being, but so that they could see the heart of their God and by seeing His beauty and majesty that they might bring Him honor!
Now they walk through a desert place and they find themselves “boxed in” The vast Red Sea stands before them, the massive Egyptian army barreling down towards them, they look to Moses and in fear and ignorance they cry out
“Is it because there are not enough graves in Egypt that you have brought us out here to die in the wilderness!!!”
It truly is amazing that even all these years ago the human heart is still the same. People want the freedom of God without accepting the enemy of God. Once again the people of God were miraculously brought out of slavery for no other purpose than the glory of God.
The same is true of His church, you were saved, your eternity secured ot to give you rest and ease about your eternal destiny but to enable you to live through the power of His indwelling Spirit, to accomplish the plan of God for the glory of God!
The American view of Christianity is so shallow and short sighted often times. Most people honestly believe that we are saved, rescued for our benefit alone. When someone describes the Christian life we speak of the beutiful gift of heaven, we speak of the joy of having a relationship of God, we speak of having peace of mind..... while all of those things are very true and filled with beauty.
Those point are all rooted in our experience here on Earth, what makes Chrstianity good for us. God didnt rescue you out of slavery in order that you float on a cloud of blessing and perfection here on Earth until he returns or calls you home. But He radically removed you from one kingdom and placed you within another.
Which means that now that you have been delivered out of that previous kingdom of darkness that your former ruler wants to destroy you!
Much like the Israelites who whined at the edge of the sea we wine when we are faced with attacks by the enemy, as if we thought he would just let us go free and never give pursuit.
We cry out “God why would you let these things happen to me, i have turned my life over to you and yet things have become so difficult!”
This phrase along with others mirrors the heart of the Israelites. They fear because their enemy seeks to overtake them, we fear when life seems to be crumbling around us because we pray and pray and feel as though God has abandoned us to perish at our enemies hand. When NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!
Nevertheless look at the rest of their statement:
What have you done to us bringing us out of Egypt?
Now think about this with me for a moment when they were enslaved they rejected Moses because he wasn’t moving fast enough, they complained against him because while Moses was trying to save them their workload became more and more difficult.
Listen to what their saying… how could you do this to us Moses? We were slaves but at least we weren’t out hear with our families about to be put to death what have you done?
This is a statement based in fear and ignorance.
It is based out of fear of man not fear of God
It is based out of ignorance because they reveal that they really have no clue how powerful God is or how much He loves them.
We told you this wouldn’t work!
We want to go back to our old life!
Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
You are a husband and God commands you to lead your family spiritually but every time you try to pray together something happens and things go south, and you think to yourself… “I can’t do this.... this doesn’t work...
You’ve been hurt by someone you care about and God commands you to forgive and you start out with the desire to.... then they hurt you again… and you say well I tried but it is alot less messy if I just do my own thing and we don’t speak at all…
You don’t have much income but God commands you to give a portion to Him as a thanksgiving offering and when you do things get tight.... you think.... I can’t do this..... it wont work on paper....
The human heart has always been the same… seek to walk with the Lord ..... be prepared to do things that don’t make sense to you… for the glory of God!
The dilemma that faces each and every Christian is simple:
Will I meet my God in obedience and experience Him?
OR will I disobey my God in light of my experiences?
Which will you be?
Will you choose to sit stale and content in a life of slavery to the enemy or will you choose to obey your God?
“Attempt great things with God, expect great things from God!”
Now let me clear right here good works do not save you but following god in obedience and trust is evidence that you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and you desire with the whole of your life ot honor Him and give Him glory!
A faith not put into action is a dead faith!
So what truth needs to be instilled within our hearts when the enemy seeks to overtake us?
4 simple truths MUST grip our hearts when the enemy strikes God gives them to us here in
Notice what God tells the Israelites:
Fear Not
1. Fear Not
1. Fear Not
This word fear used here means to be filled with dread, it means to feel as though all is lost. There is no escape....
The odds are against us, the cards have not fallen in our favor.. we are doomed.
The faith of Moses stands in opposition to their fears… as He says FEAR NOT
This phrase is used throughout the Bible to calm the fears of many who could not understand the miraculous plan of God.
It is interesting to note that the phrase “fear not” appears 365 times in the Holy Word, one for everyday of the year right… Humans are fickle we jump from faith to fear and back again more times than we can count but when we stand in the center of God’s will, seeking the glory of His name, and the uilding up of His kingdom above our own we have NOTHING to fear.
Let’s hear some verses to remind us not to fear:
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Fear rises out of a heart that is not filled with faith and trust in the Lord.
As His children just like the children of Israel we fear when our enemy seeks to overtake us… when the waves of this life is crashing against on one side and the cares of this world are approaching from behind we crumble when we are supposed to look to our redeemer....
If you are on a journey of faith with Jesus can I ask you a question...
What are you afraid of?
Maybe your afraid your not pretty enough, maybe your afraid your not smart enough, maybe your afraid that you can’t overcome that sin habit, maybe your afraid of dying, maybe your afraid that wayward son/daughter may never come home to Christ....
We dont have to be afraid..... Instead YOU RECEIVED GOD’S SPIRIT WHEN HE ADOPTED YOU AS HIS OWN CHILDREN NOW WE CALL HIM ABBA FATHER…
NOT ONLY DOES HE ADOPT US AND BRING US INTO HIS FAMILY, IT SAYS THAT’S WHAT HE WANTED TO DO, AND IT GAVE HIM GREAT PLEASURE!!
IF YOUR NOT YET A FOLLOWER OF JESUS JUST MARINATE IF YOU ARE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST I WANT YOU TO ENGAGE THIS...
I think for many of you you think “I know God loves me but does God like me” One of the reasons we think that is because we think that God loves us in the first place based on what we do or don’t do… So we need to stop that faulty theology because God’s love for you is based on what Christ and Christ alone has done.... If you can do something to make God love you, or like you more than He does right now then you ECLIPSE what JESUS HAS DONE WHAT YOU REDEEMER, YOUR RESCUER HAS DONE FOR YOU AND DON’T GET IT TWISTED NOBODY CAN ECLIPSE WHAT OUR REDEEMER HAS DONE!
God’s affection for you and His desire to rescue you from the hands of your enemy is rooted in His affection for Jesus and when you and I get that YOU KNOW WHAT IT DOES?
IT MAKES US PASSIONATE WORSHIPERS, IT MAKES US ADORE HIM, IT MAKES US LOSE OUR EVER LOVING MINDS THE BRAIN CIRCUITS ARE BLOWN AWAY BY THE MIRACLE OF HIS GRACE THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS..... WHEN WE SEE WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE THROUGH OUR REDEEMER RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON ALL THE NOISE OF THIS LIFE....
Those waves crashing into the Red Sea were making alot of noise the rattling and clanking of soldiers feet, the sound of galloping feet can be intimidating if you are on the wrong side of the fight!
BUT IF GOD HAS REDEEMED YOU!!! THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR BECAUSE HE HAS BROUGHT YOU OUT IN ORDER TO BRING YOU IN....
STOP BEING AFRAID BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE AFRAID YOU ARE SAYING GOD I KNOW YOU’VE DONE THINGS FOR ME IN THE PAST BUT I DON’T THINK YOUR QUITE BIG ENOUGH TO HANDLE THIS ONE!!!
Fear has no room in the life of faith in Jesus Christ, if we die praise His name, if we live praise His name! THERE IS NO FEAR IN THIS LIFE WHEN THE COMMANDER OF ANGEL ARMIES IS WALKING BY YOUR SIDE!!!
FEAR NOT
2. Stand Firm
2. Stand Firm
As pharoah approached things were looking bleak.... nowhere to go… nowhere to run.. God gives His second command through his messenger… STAND FIRM.
In Ephesians chapter 6 of the NT we find the apostle Paul Addressing believers about the topic of Spiritual Warfare and notice what he says through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God.....
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11
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.
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Over and over again God commands His people to stand firm! When you fear that all hope is lost stand firm! Don’t retreat, don’t run back to your old life because it is comfortable you were a slave before you met the redeemer now you are free you just have to learn what freedom in Christ feels like!
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
How foolish would it have been for the Israelites to have sat down and held out their wrists to be taken back into bondage?
All because they were afraid of what would happen if they didn’t…
Moses tells God’s people STAND FIRM
TO CHOOSE TO TAKE YOUR STAND.... TO PRESENT YOURSELF
What the original language is saying is this..
Children of God choose right now to present yourself to God trusting him to take care of you! When troubles come when anxieties vie for your attention then you stand firm knowing that you are in the center of God’s plan and that He will be faithful to His promises to you..
GOD WILL WORK FOR YOU, for HIS GLORY AND YOUR GOOD!
And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
Trust His ability
What Moses is saying here is that by choosing not to fear, by choosing to stand firm and presenting your life into the hands of the Lord you can expect GOD WILL FIGHT YOUR BATTLES FOR YOU… NO NEED TO FRET NO NEED TO WORRY, NO NEED TO WRING YOUR HANDS GOD WIL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE.
HE SAYS DONT FEAR, STAND FIRM, AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD WHICH WILL WORK FOR YOU THIS DAY!!
God is going to bring the enemies of the Israelites down, they dont know it but they are about to hit the dirt… when thousands of gallons of ocean water engulf them and they are left dead under the seas.
The deliverance will be complete.
We can rest on this assurance church that the children of God placing their trust in God, standing firm not waivering in their obedience to God, who are not afraid of the enemies they face will come out victorious!
Look at this
3. Be Still/Silent
3. Be Still/Silent
The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Exodus 14:
SILENT- to leave alone… to make no moves, take no action, to be deaf..
Be still
So when Satan attacks, and the world comes crashing down around you… you ain’t gotta wring your hands, you ain’t gotta cry, you ain’t gotta lose any sleep, you ain’t gotta hatch some master plan, you ain’t gotta take matters into your own hands..
GOD… YAHWEH, JEHOVAH JIRAH GOT HIS HAND ON YOU, HE IS THE AUTHOR OF WISDOM, AND THE AUTHOR OF STRENGTH, HE IS THE ONE WHO CREATED THE SEA AND THE ONE WHO PARTS IT, WHO DO YOU THINK GOD IS A DEAD BEAT DAD THAT HE WOULD LEAVE YOU IN YOUR TIME OF NEED???
HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YA
HE IS OUR REFUGE AND OUR STRENGTH A VERY PRESET HELP IN TIMES OF TROUBLE!!!
YEY THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH I WILL FEAR NO EVIL ....why? BECAUSE YOUR WITH ME!!!!
Trials will come. if you are spiritual, trials will come. If you are carnal, trials will come. If you are a Christian trials will come. That’s just how it works. Whether or not your spiritual or carnal determines whether the trials will get you. Your spiritual maturity determines whether you experience victory or defeat when the trials come.
WHAT FEAR IS HOLDING YOU BACK FROM THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOUR LIFE?
WHAT FEAR HAS IMPRISONED YOU TO A LIFE OF SLAVERY?
ARE YOU READY TODAY TO PRESENT YOURSELF TO GOD IN FAITH AND SAY HERE I AM LORD I ENTRUST THIS CIRCUMSTANCE INTO YOUR HANDS..... I AM EXPECTING YOU TO WORK A MIRACLE.... FOR YOUR GLORY...
(gospel)
(pray)
