Help for the Battle
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Exodus 17:8–16 KJV
8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: 16 For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Baptist born, baptist bred, and when I die I will be baptist dead. I do not apologize for being convictionally baptist.
I say that knowing that baptists are not going to be the only ones in heaven.
What kills me more than anything in the body of Christ right now is the division and separation that exists. This is not something new.
1 Corinthians 1:10–12 KJV
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
So much division. It shouldn’t be. We serve one Jesus. Why are we divided? We can’t be divided. Today’s text will help us see why we can’t be divided. Most importantly a house divided falls.
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Why must be be united? This passage helps us.
We Are at War
We Are at War
The immediate context of this passage is war.
8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Amalek came and fought. We are at war. Do you know that we are at war?
You say, sure I do. Ok. Then let me ask you who is your enemy?
Be careful how you answer this question, and makes sure it lines up with scripture.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Joshua and Moses were fighting flesh and blood, but our war is not with flesh and blood. It is with the devil. Not people in this room, not politicians in Raleigh, it is the devil. Let’s make sure that we focus on the enemy we have to recognize the enemy.
How do we recognize friend and foe? Jesus.
15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Notice how simply that is. Whoever confesses Jesus. The first thing that we have to ask are we fighting because of things that we have added to the gospel. There is os much division is the church of God because man has set up false walls and barriers. I am not telling you to not have convictions. I am saying that if your convictions, convictions are things that have biblical support but are still matters of opinion, if your convictions bring division in the body unnecessarily then you should evaluate your convictions.
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
The only things that those of use who sit hear have time for is singing the praises of Jesus and making sure that he is the most important person in the world everytime. There are some things about Jesus that we must agree on. There is a gospel to adhere to.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
I would also argue that a few things are of first importance: the virgin birth, the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture, salvation is by grace through faith, not of works, that one day Jesus is coming again bodily and is going to take his bride home, The reality of the future resurrection. All of these things and a few more are of upmost importance to be able to recognize our enemy, but also to recognize our friend
There should be no collateral damage when it comes to the work of Jesus Christ. We should not be taking each other out.
When we are focusing on taking each other out, the enemy is winning. I don’t want to help the enemy. I want to punch him in the mouth. Kick him in the face. Remind him that he is a loser and that his days are numbered.
Recognizing the enemy is important. But we also have to fight. If Joshua was not battling it wouldn’t have mattered what was happening on the hill.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
And your pruninghooks into spears:
Let the weak say, I am strong.
We warriors. Are you fighting?
Back in the days of the Civil War battle announced people would show up and watch the fighting. I don’t want to watch, I want to fight.
So we need each other because we are at war but we need each other because...
It Is Easy to Get Tired
It Is Easy to Get Tired
Notice v. 12.
12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Moses got tired. You know what a side effect of war is, tiredness. You know why you are so tired after a month of revival. Because we have been at war.
The bible talks a lot about weariness.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
It is hard doing battle. It is hard fighting. We can’t do it all alone.
I can tell you none of us are spiritual Rambos.
We need each other. Just as the battle was won because they helped him lift his hands us we win the battle when we help each other out.
2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Notice. What is the law of Christ? It is to love God and love our neighbor. We are doing what Jesus wants us to do when we are fighting the battle together.
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
When we are fighting together, lifting each others arms up, we are fulfilling what Jesus prayed for us.
Listen, we need each other and the reality is we need every Jesus professing, blood bought child of God to go with us as well. To be honest this battle is bigger than what Pinetops and Gospel can manage alone. We will grow weary because what God has called us to is bigger than our two little church combined. I want you to see that what God wants for the world will take all of us. We can’t grow weary, we can’t be fighting each other.
There are two results that come when we are united:
The Enemy is Weakened
The Enemy is Weakened
13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
This word discomfited carries the idea of weakens. This is good. When we are united the devil is weakened.
He is not gone, but the power of God is stronger than the power of hell and our power comes in our unity.
james 4:7
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We read this as if this a singular pursuit. But it is not. Notice the way this section is opened.
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
You. You. Not me personally, but you collectively. This is not singular, but plural. Y’all if you would. If y’all, us collectively would get together the devil will flee. But we have to do it together. We need everyone. Could imagine what the devil would get away with if all Christians collectively would resist the devil and watch him flee? I don’t think this is a pipe dream. I think this is what God wants for us. Take it. Walk in it. We are starting to walk in it.
But there is one more thing that comes of us fighting together.
We Get to Brag
We Get to Brag
Notice verse 14
14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
God told Moses to do a few things.
Write it down. This means remember. Remember the victory that the Lord has given. Remember the victory that comes when the church of Jesus Christ stands together in unity. How quick are we going to forget? We can’t. We need to remember. Not to bask in what has happened in the past, but to give courage and boldness in the future. The work that God has started he wants to finish. We must remember it.
Tell others. When God does a work we can not not tell others. Rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. This is important. God is telling Moses to tell Joshua so Joshua can tell someone else and so forth and so on. You want to know how the revival was heard about all over eastern NC and even all over the United States including Alaska. Because people talked. You told someone, who told someone, who told someone. We must tells others. Parents this starts at home. If you are teaching your children about the power of God you need to start there.
But the last part is the best part. I will utterly put out of remembrance the memory of Amalek. We resist the devil with the knowledge that the devil is defeat.
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Jesus dealt with the devil on the cross of calvary. Praise God Jesus has given us the victory. You will never go wrong choosing to get up with Jesus and others who love him. you will never go wrong choosing unity. You will never go wrong when you choose to walk into battle together and support each other. Church it is time to stop fighting each other and start marching into battle against the enemy, asking, begging and imploring every blood bought, Jesus follower we can find to join us.
I think each of us here tonight probably need to ask God to help us on this topic. Even me. God show me where I have failed to promote unity and instead have promoted separation. Help us.
As the musicians come to play. This altar is open. I am not sure how God has spoke to you tonight, but I am sure he has. Would you come to this altar and let God continue to deal with you?
Maybe you are here tonight and you would say Randy I have had enough of the church being divided you would come and pray for unity not just at Gospel and Pinetops but that God would do a work and continue to bring unity.
Maybe you are here today and you have never called out to Jesus to save you. You need to tell God your sins, turn from those sins and trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for your salvation.
As the music plays, as God moves, would you stand. Come to this altar tonight. Come and pray for unity. Come pray for partners in the battle.