Stuck Between a rock and a hard Place!
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 13 viewsNotes
Transcript
4 Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp crag on the one side and a sharp crag on the other side, and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5 The one crag rose on the north opposite Michmash, and the other on the south opposite Geba.
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.”
7 His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire.”
8 Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them.
9 “If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you’; then we will stand in our place and not go up to them.
10 “But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hands; and this shall be the sign to us.”
11 When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”
12 So the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, “Come up to us and we will tell you something.” And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hands of Israel.”
13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him.
14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land.
15 And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling.
Many time the very first place that the devil attacks the believer is not in their body, but in their mind,
Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5 The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord (nothing impossible to him) from saving by many or by few."
7 So his armorbearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart."
8 Then Jonathan said, "Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. 9 If they say thus to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. 10 But if they say thus, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us."
11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, "Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden." 12 Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, "Come up to us, and we will show you something."
Jonathan said to his armorbearer, "Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel." 13 And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them. 14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.
15 And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling.
I want to continue and go a little further on the message about the important of having a positive attitude and outlook.
Many time the very first place that the devil acttacks the believer is not in their body, but in their mind,
So here we find lifes greatest battle and that is the battle in the mind and in the thoughts.
He is working in our minds to control our life.
And I hear a very wise man. (Dr. Thompson) say whatever control the mind control you.
6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
The devil want to make the Christian life a living hell.
Charles Spurgen says about the soul
“Consider how precious a soul must be, when both God and the devil are after it. You never heard that the devil was after a kingdom, did you? No, he is not so foolish; he knows it would not be worth his winning; he is never after that; but he is always after souls. You never heard that God was seeking after a crown, did you! No, he thinketh little of dominions; but he is after souls every day; his Holy Spirit is seeking his children; and Christ came to save souls. Do you think that which hell craves for, and that which God seeks for, is not precious?”
Now why pastor Derrick when you are talking about the mind why do you mention a quote about the soul.
Well I am glad you ask
Our souls are eternal. It I the nonmaterial inward part of a man.It is the part of man that cant been with ones eye.
The souls seat one emotion and desires. One thought and reasoning. And house ours all of the senses.
It point to the heart. The Leb which remember means the mind.
Trying to trap the believer.
We have to remember that struggles and trails for those who love the Lord God he is faithful and Good, he can turn them around and make them good.
Malcolm Muggeridge anEnglish journalist, author, media personality, soldier and a spy. Who was an agnostic for most of his life, he became a Christian, publishing Jesus Rediscovered in 1969, a collection of essays, articles and sermons on faith said this:
Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my 75 years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness.
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
When we face our biggest trails and hardest battle and all the thing that the enemy brings on the believer to destroy and kill the saints.
We must remember that all these this will eventually work for my good.
Look at your neighbor and say in the end I will win.
7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war,
8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
12 “For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”
Yes the devil came to fight and yes he came to Kill steal and to destroy but the Good news Jesus say but I come to give life and life BETTER.
and war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Yes the devil came to fight and yes he came to Kill steal and to destroy but the Good news Jesus say but I come to give life and life BETTER.
The devil came in revelations fighting a war that he was destined to lose.
And the bible say that we overcame him meaning that we won.
If you don’t read da book. You don’t have any hope. You might as well lay down and quit.
The Bible says hope Deferred make the heart sick
Defer, delay, postpone. to pass on OR skip
But if you are a Christian no matter what the situation is no matter how big your giant is. The BOOK say you are not just an over comer but we are overwhelming conquers through him that loves us.
Why?
Because… Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. 1 john 4:4
Well how in the world did that happen?
Well I might as well preach after Easter
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Ladies and gentlemen there has been, there is and there gonna be a resurrection.
Whatever you are facing and will ever face you need to know this today.
There will be a resurrection.
So we find ourselves now in our text.
The bible says in
4 Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp crag on the one side and a sharp crag on the other side, and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
Jonathan sought to go over. Jonathan Desire was to go deeper and further.
Jonathan sought to go over. Jonathan Desire was to go deeper and further.
But there was a problem.
Be will stuck between a rock and a hard place. He was in the middle of a rather tight situation.
Someone asked C.S. Lewis, "Why do the righteous suffer?" "Why not?" he replied. "They're the only ones who can take it."
Helen Keller said this.
"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.
So what did jonathan say “come let us go over.”
Let come out of this. Lets enter into the resurrection.
“it may be that the Lord will work for us”
He had a hope based upon a maybe?
Jesus says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can say this mountain be removed.
He place his faith in the word.
“nothing can restains the Lord”
17 ‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,
So his armorbears said. "Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart."
Remember what we said last time. What in you heart will come out.
So they went up and showed themselves to the garrison and the philistines said “The Hebrew are coming up out of their hiding.”
Who is this coming out of the wilderness leaning on her beloved.
Look at your neighbor and say its me its me.
The ememy does not want us to experience the resurrection. So he tries to bring us fear.
“Come let us show you something”
But johnathan and His armorbearer does not let fear enter ir intimidate them.
They face it by faith. Know that God will give them the victor.
"Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel."
So them what happen Pastor Derrick? Well I am glad you asked.
There was a trembling in the camp.
Why?
Because the enemy fears the resurrection.
If you are stuck between a rock and a hard place this morning the good news is there is going to be a resurrection.