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The Lord Shall Fight for You
Fred R. Coulter - April 21, 2014
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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I hope you've had a good Feast; I hope you've taken this time during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to study various things so that you can change, grow and overcome. Now we come to the seventh day. There's special meaning for the seventh day. It's a very important thing to understand in the days that we are living right now.
Let's rehearse Leviticus 23:7 again concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread: "On the first day you shall have a Holy convocation. You shall not do any servile work therein, but you shall offer a fire offering to the LORD seven days. In the seventh day is a Holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein."
We always take up an offering on the Holy Days, and we do it because of what is said in Deut. 16 and other places. The truth is, when we come before God we are to bring a sacrifice. Since we can't bring a sacrifice everyday and we don't have an altar on which to bring burnt offerings, we're to bring the sacrifices of praise, love and service in addition to what we give from our substance. Everything that we have comes from God. We have nothing we didn't receive!
Even God said to the one who would build Him a temple, 'If you build Me one, My hands have made all of these things.'
To finish off the command for the Feast of Tabernacles, here's a principle that is always true: Deuteronomy 16:15: "Seven days you shall keep a solemn feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD shall choose. Because the LORD your God shall bless you in all your increase…"—everything that you do. Those blessings are not necessarily to be counted in financial remunerations, but many blessings that come in many different ways and many different forms.
"…and in all the works of your hands, therefore, you shall surely rejoice. Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty, every man shall give as he is able…" (vs 15-17). We look at what we are able to do, and we look at the blessings that God has given us.
"…according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you" (v 17).
Let's see another aspect in giving, which is true; Prov. 3 tells us concerning our attitude, concerning what we should do in honoring God in giving to Him. As you know, we use every penny for that which is necessary to feed the flock, to preach the Gospel, and to publish the Word of God through the books, the Bibles, the websites, through everything that we have. That is our focus directly in everything.
We are not looking for rewards in this life.
We are not looking for increase in riches and wealth.
We are looking to God to provide what He provides for us!
As I have mentioned in my letters, our budget is whatever God provides. We use it as wisely as we can to the glory of God.
Let's look at it this way: this is God the Father talking to us, Proverbs 3:1: "My son, do not forget My Law, but let your heart keep My commandments; for they shall add length of days, and long life, and peace, to you" (vs 1-2). We're looking for eternal life! That's as long as it can be.
Verse 3: "Do not let mercy and Truth forsake you… [Always remember that. To merciful, God shows Himself merciful!] …bind them around your neck; write them upon the tablet of your heart"—the works and things that we need to do, busy doing the will of God.
Notice what this will provide for us, v 4: "and so you shall find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart…" (vs 4-5). That's the whole key of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
not self
not vanity
not sin
not Satan
All those things we have to fight.
"…and lean not to your own understanding…. [generally, every time we do difficulties follow] …In all your ways acknowledge Him… [that's why we are to pray] …and He shall direct your paths" (vs 5-6). How? Through the leading of the Holy Spirit! What we do spiritually is the most important thing. Same way with giving; same way with offerings—we'll see that here.
Verse 7: "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil." That's the whole purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Verse 8: "It shall be health to your navel and marrow to your bones. Honor the LORD with your substance and with the firstfruits of all your increase" (vs 8-9).
That's what we need to do, brethren. It says in Mal. 3 that we return to God in tithes and in offerings. We do not rob from God. We do not steal from God. You read about the things concerning tithes and offerings {note sermon series: Tithing} as you know:
we do not send out letters begging for money.
we do not borrow money to try and accomplish things that we would like to ourselves
That's leaning to our own understanding. This is important for all of us to understand and realize. We're not in this, as the atheists say, 'to make money.'
We are in this because of a calling of God!
We are in this to preach the Gospel!
We are in this to serve the brethren!
We are in this so that—through Christ, His Word and Spirit—we can all, as disciples of Jesus Christ and God the Father become as the teacher!
They are the ones who teach us. This is a tremendous thing for us, brethren. Keep all of these things in mind as you give your offering and, later, as you send your tithes and offerings. That will be the way that we receive it:
with love
with Truth
with dedication
with accounting
with taking care of things the way that God would have it be done
(pause for the offering)
Now for the meaning of the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It has tremendous meaning for us and has a lot to do with our lives, our attitudes and how God works.
Let's remember that when God brought them out of Egypt, He didn't bring them the easy broad way, which would be right up the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. Rather, He had other things in mind. He was going to do great miracles for them. He wanted bring them to Mt. Sinai to give them His Law and make a covenant with them. So, He brought them a different way. He turned them south to the coast of Egypt where the Red Sea is—the east coast of Egypt—and it would be across from the Sinai Peninsula.
He put them in a place where it was very narrow. There was not a lot of space between them and the mountains and so forth. The highway came right down along the Red Sea. They were encamped there and God brought them there for a very specific purpose.
God was not through with Pharaoh and his armies, and God was not through with the children of Israel; actually just beginning. Pharaoh and those Egyptians who survived, said, 'What have we done? We let the Israelites go!' Word came that the Israelites were trapped in the wilderness. 'Let's go get them!' So, Pharaoh and his armies came to get them. It was quite an amazing thing, indeed!
Let's see what happened when the children of Israel saw the Egyptians coming. Remember, they saw all the miracles, plagues and everything that God did in Egypt; even the killing of the firstborn of man and beast. He brought them out by night spectacularly. He had the pillar of fire by night and the column of cloud by daytime. God was right there with them.
Sometimes people don't really believe God the way they ought to. Here comes Pharaoh: 600 charioteers, horsemen and everything coming after the children of Israel. They caught up to them, and notice the people's reaction.
We have to understand: our human nature is what gets us in trouble, especially when things get really difficult. This was a difficult place, indeed! God wanted to show His power to them, so He brought this about. Notice what happened when Pharaoh and the armies came near:
Exodus 14:10: "And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes. And, behold, the Egyptians marched after them. And they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD." There are times when we're afraid! There are times when we are met with circumstances that are very overwhelming, which this was right here.
Don't accuse God!
Don't accuse anyone else!
Notice what they said to Moses, v 11: "And they said to Moses, 'Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you dealt this way with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this word in Egypt, saying, "Let us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians?" for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.'" (vs 11-12). We need to think about this in another way that's very important, especially in the future when we are faced with some very difficult circumstances.
Are we going to give up our faith and turn back to the world?
What are we going to do if we're still alive when the institution of the mark of the beast comes?
Think about that! Notice Moses' answer; this is the answer for us:
Verse 13: "And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not!….'" Don't be afraid! We need to trust God in every circumstance, regardless of what it is!
"…'Stand still…'" Don't run up and give yourselves up to the Egyptians and go back.
"'…and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today…'" God will work it out!
The circumstances were, as they looked at it: How is that going to work? Same way with circumstances that you come up against! You look at it and say, how is this going to work?
"'…for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again! The LORD shall fight for you…'" (vs 13-14). That's what we need to look to.
The Lord will fight for you!
The Lord will fight for us!
We need to trust in God!
"'…and you shall be still.'" Don't complain to God! He will work it out! Remember the promise of eternal life!
Verse 15: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.'" Well, you know what happened after that.
Then God told Moses, v 16: "'And you—lift up your rod…'" and He sent the pillar of cloud to be between children of Israel who were all along the shore of the Red Sea. The Egyptians were over here ready to come and charge them. It was darkness to the Egyptians and light to the children of Israel.
God sent a strong wind all that night and parted the Red Sea. This was a mammoth parting of the Red Sea. This was not a little narrow channel for them to go through, because it would have taken too long for them to go through. Rather, they were all camped along the shore of the Red Sea, so when it came time to go, they all went in a broad movement across the Red Sea on dry ground! A great and fantastic miracle.
Then Pharaoh and all of his soldiers got up there and looked down and said, 'Look at that, that's all dry; let's go get them.' So, plunge! They went after them and God brought the Red Sea together and destroyed them all! That is the miracle of the deliverance!
After that, the children of Israel were happy. They sang, danced and praised God. He's a warrior! God is marvelous! God did this! It was wonderful! Well, it didn't last very long, but the point that we are looking at right now is how does this apply to us? Jesus said—for those of us who are Christians now—that the way to life is straight, narrow, difficult, and few be that find it!
once we are God's
once we are under the grace of God
once we have that relationship with God
Let's see that even Paul admits the difficulties that are going to come upon us. We are not to complain when a trial comes upon us as if some strange thing has happened. This is a very tremendous thing for us to understand. Remember what Jesus said on the Passover night? In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good courage, I have overcome the world!
Christ is with us!
The Father is with us!
Yes, They are in us!
Now we're on the road to eternal life, and Satan doesn't like that. He wants to have everything he can do to
come after us
to get us
to trip us up
to deceive us
to keep us from receiving eternal life and entering into the Kingdom of God
So, we have a lot of warfare that we need to do. And there's warfare that we need to trust God with. There are things that we do, there are things that God does, and we need:
to continually stay right with God
appeal to God
trust in God
believe in God
Romans 5:1: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…. [that's what's important: peace and perfection] …Through Whom we also have access by faith into this grace…" Keep this in mind every time things start getting rough. You have direct access to God the Father and Jesus Christ by prayer, at any time! We need to keep that in mind.
"…in which we stand…" Isn't that something? Standing under the umbrella of the grace of God to receive:
His love
His peace
His faith
His strength
everything that God has for us
As He told the children of Israel, He will fight for us! We have our work to do, which is brought out here and we will see it:
"…and we ourselves boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also boast in tribulations…" (vs 2-3). We're going to have them. Jesus said we would.
"…realizing that tribulation brings forth endurance" (v 3). That's mighty important because we have the promise: the one who endures to the end, the same shall be saved! We are looking for that salvation that comes from God. We are looking for that salvation that He alone can give and leads unto eternal life. "…realizing that tribulation brings forth endurance"
Verse 4: "And endurance brings forth character…" Character is what God wants us to develop and grow in. All the things necessary:
love
hope
faith
trust
self-control
mercy
kindness
goodness
putting on the love of God
"…and character brings forth hope" (v 4). We see beyond just physical circumstances that we find ourselves in.
Verse 5: And the hope of God never makes us ashamed because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us." That's a tremendous thing for us to understand and realize.
we need to use the Holy Spirit
we need to exercise the Holy Spirit
we need to keep the Holy Spirit by not vexing it
—by doing the things that God wants us to do, so we can grow, change and overcome. Strength from God comes from relying on Him. Just like the Proverb 'Lean not to your own understanding.'
Let's see some of the things that God will do for us. We're going to spend a lot of time in the Psalms, because that shows the personal relationship that David had with God to help him fight. David was a warring man. Though we are not to take up arms and go war and fight. We're going to see quite a few things in the Psalms that are going to be very inspiring for us, so that when we go to God, and we have a battle to fight because there is Satan the devil out there who is after us, just like he was after the children of Israel.
We cannot buckle, be weak-kneed and give up. We must have the strength of God. Also remember that Paul said that we are to 'pray continually; pray without ceasing.' So, you can pray about these things during the day, as the problems and difficulties come. Right in your mind you can thank God:
asking Him to help you
asking Him to give you wisdom
asking Him to fight the battle for you
because the Lord will fight for us!
Psalm 35:1: "Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me." How are they going to fight against God? Look at all the times that God fought against the enemy and left them dead in the battlefield. All the children of Israel had to do was go out there and pick up the spoil.
Verse 2: "Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Also draw out the spear and the lance against those who pursue me; say to my soul, 'I am your salvation'" (vs 2-3). God can change the circumstances; God can change the mind; God can make things work out, which you cannot do on your own.
Verse 4: "Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion, those who seek after my soul; let them be turned back and humiliated, those who devise evil against me…. [remember, their day is coming!] …Let them be as chaff before the wind; and let the angel of the LORD drive them away" (vs 4-5). That's what we need to look to.
God's help
God's protection
God's intervention
God's angels to watch over us
They are ministering spirits to do so.
Just like with the Egyptians, it was dark on their side and they couldn't see, v 6: "Let their way be dark and slippery…" Remember what happened when they got down into the Red Sea? God took all the wheels off their chariots! Then it began to get really muddy! BOOM! There it is right there.
"…and let the angel of the LORD pursue them; for without cause they have hidden their net for me; without cause they have dug a pit for my soul. Let destruction come upon him in a time he will not know…" (vs 6-8). We can even pray that for the enemies. Here's how I pray for enemies:
Lord, if they can repent, lead them to repentance
Lord, if they don't repent, keep them far from me
Lord, if they don't want to keep far from me, You take them into your hands for your own judgment for them, and you bring upon them their own devices
That's what David is doing here.
"…and let his net, which he has concealed catch him, let him fall into destruction. And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD; it shall rejoice in His salvation" (vs 8-9). Always rejoicing in God. That's why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Verse 10: "All my bones shall say 'O LORD, Who is like You, Who delivers the poor from him stronger than he; yea, even the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?'" Quite a fantastic thing!
God will do it, and the greatest salvation is going to be the resurrection! Think what the world is going to be then. All of us raised to meet Christ in the air! That's really going to be something—isn't it? We need to look beyond the physical circumstances that we find ourselves in, and ask God for His intervention.
Verse 22: "You have seen, O LORD; do not keep silence; O LORD, do not be far from me. Stir up Yourself and awaken to my defense, even to my cause, my God and my Lord" (vs 22-23). Yes, let them be taken in their own devices.
Verse 24: "Judge me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness; and do not let them rejoice over me." Quite a fantastic thing, indeed!
Psa. 36 is a good one, because we live in such an evil world. We'll tie this together like we brought out that we have to have the washing of the water by the Word. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
Psalm 36:1: "The wicked utters transgression in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes, for he flatters himself in his own eyes until his iniquity is found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he has stopped acting wise and doing good. He plots iniquity upon his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not hate evil. Your loving kindness, O LORD…" (vs 1-5).
When you're confronted with evils and difficulties that are so hard for you to understand, so hard for you to fight against, this is how you cry out to God.
Verse 5: "Your loving kindness is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are like the great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast" (vs 5-6). Help us! This is quite a thing for us to understand in what we're looking at in keeping ourselves in the right way.
Psalm 37: 1: Do not fret yourself because of evildoers…" We see that all around—their success and evil—for a season.
"…and do not be envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass; and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and cherish faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart" (vs 1-4).
Notice how our commitment to God has to be. This is how we fight our battles, v 5: "Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass."
God is for us!
God loves us!
God cares for us!
God has called us!
Verse 6: "And He shall bring forth your righteousness like the light, and your judgment like the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret yourself because of him who prospers in his way; because of him who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret yourself, it leads only to evil" (vs 6-8). Isn't that when we get ourselves in the most trouble? Yes, indeed! It sure is!
Verse 9: "For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth…. [Think on that one!] …It is but a little while, and the wicked shall be no more; yea, you shall diligently consider his place, but he shall not be there. But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (vs 9-11). That's how we need to look to God.
Psa. 18 is quite a powerful Psalm. We don't have time to go through all the verses, but I recommend that you read all of them, because this will help you have more trust and reliance on God than anything else. Brethren, remember this: When everything else fails:
God loves you!
God has called you!
God has called the brethren!
He has a great fantastic and glorious eternal plan for us!
We need to trust in Him with all our heart, soul, mind and being. Let Him work it out! Let Him fight our battles!
Psalm 18:1: "I love You, O LORD, my strength." Yes, indeed! Loving God is the most important thing. Remember how we are to do so: with all our heart, mind, soul and strength—that means with all our being! If we love God that way think how much God loves us. Think of the great thing that Jesus did through the crucifixion so that we could be brought to God, so that we could have these opportunities given to us.
Notice how David relied on God, v 2: "The LORD is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my Rock in Whom I take refuge; He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower." That is a High Tower to be lifted up from evil that's all around you.
Verse 3: "I will call on the LORD…" That's what we need to do when battles come along—call on the Lord! Not be frustrated and say, 'God why did You bring this upon me?' If He would answer, He might say, 'How are you going to handle it? Are you going to trust in Me?'
"…Who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies" (v 3). Notice how bad it was with David. Sometimes things get right down to the last little nub on a rope that you're hanging onto, and you can barely hold onto it, like it is here:
Verse 4: "The cords of death hemmed me in, and the floods of ungodliness assailed me. The cords of the grave surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me" (vs 4-5). Have you ever been in that much distress? Notice what he did:
Verse 6: "In my distress I called on the LORD, and I cried to my God; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him into His ears…. [notice what happens]: …Then the earth shook…" (vs 6-7). God is going to do that before the resurrection. He's going to shake this earth!
Always keep this in mind: God is greater than any of our thoughts, and God knows what He is doing! God is merciful and kind to our mistakes; merciful and kind to the things that we come short of! That's why we repent to Him and come to Him and pray to Him Who will deliver us from all these things!
Verse 25: "With the merciful, You will show Yourself merciful; with an upright man You will show Yourself upright; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the crooked You will show Yourself cunning" (vs 25-26). Yes, the evil ones won't know what is coming!
Verse 27: "For You will save the afflicted people, but the haughty eyes you will bring low; for You will light my lamp; the LORD my God will make my darkness light" (vs 27-28). He will open a way! Just like there was darkness against the Egyptians, when it comes upon you, He will open the way and bring light!
Notice the confidence that David had because of this. It doesn't matter what the number of problems are, God will see you through it.
Verse 29: "For by You I have run through a troop; and by my God I have leaped over a wall…. [whatever the difficult is] …As for God, His way is perfect… [always work it out] …the Word of the LORD is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in Him, for who is God besides the LORD? Or, who is a Rock except our God? The God who girds me with strength and makes my way perfect" (vs 29-32).
Verse 46: "The LORD lives; and blessed be my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. The God who avenges me… [vengeance belongs to God] …and subdues the people under me, He delivers me from my enemies; yea, You lift me up above those who rise up against me; You have delivered me from the violent man" (vs 46-48). Regardless of what your circumstances are, that's how God is going to do it for you. Notice that the personal relationship that David had is very important for us, because God's way is
a way of life
a way of faith
a way of love
a way of hope
a way of goodness
God rejoices in helping the weak
God rejoices in lifting us up
God rejoices in fighting our battles for us
These things we need to remember, brethren. How much different it would have been with the children of Israel when they saw Pharaoh—who is type of Satan the devil—coming after them. They could have said, 'O Lord God, look at the Egyptians. Whoa! We remember what You did to them! We remember how You took care of them! O Lord God, we trust You because You've brought us this far. There are no circumstances beyond Your control that You cannot fight our battles for us. Therefore, we all fall down on our knees and cry out to You.'
'Moses, lead us in prayer to God and let God fight our battle for us.' What a difference that would have made! Well, that's the kind of approach that we need.
Track 2: or Download
What we're going to see is how much David relied on God to save him from his circumstances, from the battles and things he had to fight. Also, in this are blended some things concerning the words of Christ and what He experienced in many of these Psalms. We will just cover these so that we can understand that God will fight for us.
Psalm 54:1: "Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth" (vs 1-2). God hears us! Listen, that's the most important thing we need to realized: God is for us and God loves us, and all of these things that I've already covered.
Verse 3: "For strangers have risen up against me, and violent men seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah." Selah means stop and think on this!
Verse 4: "Behold, God is my helper; the LORD is with those who uphold my soul. He shall reward evil to my enemies. Destroy them in Your faithfulness" (vs 4-5). That's not hatred against them; that is putting them in God's hands. What does God say concerning the wicked: He hates the wicked! We let God take care of it. We don't let our emotions get involved to do it ourselves our way, but the way that God wants it done.
Verse 6: "I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good, for He has delivered me out of all trouble… [that's a powerful statement] …and my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies" (vs 6-7).
Quite a thing! I tell you, this is something! You read some of these Psalms; it is fantastic! Again, showing that we are to rely on God and let Him fight the battles for us.
Psalm 56:1: "Be gracious unto me, O God, for man would swallow me up; fighting all the day, he oppresses me. Those who lie in wait for me would trample me, for many are those who proudly fight against me. When I am afraid, I will trust in You" (vs 1-3). We're all going to come up against circumstances where we will be afraid. Trust in God! Cry out to God and say,
O God, help me!
O God, intervene!
O God, give me strength in this!
O God, give me wisdom!
Verse 4: "In God I will praise His Word; in God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? All day long they pervert my words; all their thoughts are against me for evil" (vs 4-5). All of those who were against Christ; those are some of the words of Christ.
Verse 9: "When I cry out to You… [when we cry out to God] …then my enemies will be turned back. This I know because God is for me." We can claim that! That's why God called us! God has called us to the greatest thing that can be; He'll fight for us!
Verse 10: "In God—I will praise His Word; in the LORD—I will praise His Word. In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (vs 10-11). Think on that for a minute! There is nothing that they can do. We need to realize that. If we're going to trust in God, maybe they'll have a small victory here or there, but God is going to intervene and make it right.
Notice how these Psalms flow right along.
Psalm 57: "Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me; for my soul trusts in You; yea, in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge until these great troubles pass by. I will cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me" (vs 1-2). Think on that! It doesn't matter who we are, what we have been. As long as we have repented and yielded to God, and have been baptized and received the Holy Spirit of God, walking in Truth, walking in love, God's purpose is for us. "…who fulfills His purpose for me." God's going to do it for everyone of us. There's not going to be any of us left out.
Verse 3: "He shall send from heaven and save me… [How's that for the resurrection?] …He rebukes him who would swallow me up. Selah…. [think of what God can do] …God shall send forth His mercy and His Truth." That's what we need, brethren: God's mercy, God's Truth, God's love.
Verse 4: "My soul is among lions; I lie among those who breathe out fire, the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword." Look at that! Have you ever been confronted with anything like that? That's worse than walking into a lion's den!
Verse 5: "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth." It doesn't matter what they do.
Remember what Jesus said, 'It doesn't matter if they take your physical life. It doesn't matter if they kill the physical body. But they can't take away the eternal life with God's Spirit in you.' That goes back to God for the resurrection. When you look at it, there is absolutely nothing that we need to be afraid of; nothing we need to pull back from.
Verse 6: "They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; into the midst of it they have fallen themselves. Selah…. [Here's how we let God fight for us]: …My heart is fixed, O God…" (vs 6-7). Is your heart fixed? Have you—with your determination and free will that God has given you—chosen to have your heart fixed for God:
for His way
for His Truth
for His power
for His love
"…my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I myself will awake the dawn. I will praise You, O LORD, among the people; I will sing of You among the nations, for Your steadfast mercy is great even unto the heavens and Your Truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let Your glory be above all the earth" (vs 7-11).
What a fantastic thing it's going to be. We are going to be there to help Christ put down all the enemies. We are going to see God fight against Satan, the beast, the false prophet, their armies, and every evil thing they have connived to bring upon this earth. We are going to come to this earth with Christ and war a battle that is going to be absolutely fantastic!
God will fight for us, no question about it! The reason we're going through the Psalms this way, is this will give us the example of how we need to approach God in times of trouble. Not be carnal like the Israelites were; not accuse God, but trust in God to know that He will rescue us!Sometimes you need help in a hurry:
Psalm 70:1: "Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD…. [Hurry, Lord, it's getting difficult!] …Let them be ashamed and confounded, those who seek after my soul; let them be turned backward and put to confusion, those who desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame, those who say, 'Aha, aha!'" (vs 1-3). Stop and think for a minute! That's exactly what they did to Christ on the cross—didn't they? 'Aha! If You're the Son of God, save Yourself! Come on down here now, then we will believe You.' NO! Christ had to die. It doesn't matter what they say, don't worry about it, God will take care of it.
Verse 4: "Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and let those who love Your salvation say without ending, 'Let God be magnified.'" Not our carnal nature, not our ways, not the things that we think would make us whatever. NO! "…Let God be magnified." Let us have this attitude.
Verse 5: "But I am poor and needy; make haste unto me, O God; You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, wait no longer!"
Fantastic Psalms! Fantastic things that we have, brethren, that we can do and cry out to God. Not worry one bit about what men can do.
Let's come to the New Testament and see some things that we need to be aware of. First of all, come to 1-Tim. 6 because we have to fight the good fight of faith! Paul is writing to Timothy to strengthen him, because Paul knew at this point the end of his life was near, and that Jesus would not return during their lifetime. He was giving instruction to Timothy to carry on.
1-Timothy 6:11: "But you, O man of God, flee these things…":
flee all the lust of the flesh
striving after money
striving after wealth
trying to get goods
"…and pursue righteousness… [that comes from God through His Spirit] …Godliness… [these are the things that we need to grow in]: …faith, love, endurance and meekness." What do we do with these things? These do not make us weak; these do not make us cowardly! These make us strong, because our battle is not a physical battle. Our battle is a spiritual battle.
Verse 12: "Fight the good fight of the faith!…." With God fighting on our side, with God leading us in the way we need to go, directing our minds, we will be able to succeed.
"…Take hold of eternal life to which you were also called, and did profess a good profession in the presence of many witnesses" (v 12).
Let's look at another one that's important for us. We need to take that fight, that's the personal fight that we need to take. There's also a doctrinal fight that we need to take. There's quite a very important thing that we are told to do. We are being bombarded with
every evil
every heresy
every wrong idea
I've seen it again this year with the Passover that we have gone through: new ideas of this, new ideas of that. What about this? What about that? What about the other thing? Confusion! Men wanting to exalt themselves! NO! We need to fight the good fight of faith, and fight the doctrinal battle, as well.
Jude 3: "Beloved, when personally exerting all my diligence… [he really was involved in seeing what was going on] …to write to you concerning the common salvation, I was compelled to write to you…"—seeing the Church fall apart, and it was. There were many antichrists.
There were the pagan priests coming along and developing into what was called later the early church fathers. My what an interesting lovely title that is—isn't it? They weren't fathers and they weren't of the Church! They were of Satan the devil, because Jude tells us what they were doing!
"…exhorting you to ferventlyfight for the faith…"
the true faith
the true doctrines
the true understanding of the Bible
"…which once for all time has been delivered to the saints" (v 3). Right there God completed His Word. We have to be careful of this. We have seen this! We have experienced this!
Verse 4: "For certain men have stealthily…" They don't walk in and say, 'I'm here to subvert this Church.' No! They walk in and stroke and purr and compliment. You know the strokers. What happens when they get into position? They tear it apart! So, we need not let that happen.
"…crept in, those who long ago have been written about, condemning them to thisjudgment. They are ungodly men, who are perverting the grace of our God, turning it into licentiousness, and are personally denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ" (v 4). Yes!
That's exactly what has happened, and an assault is going to come again. Know this for sure, that whenever the people of God become lax and lukewarm, know that the subversives are going to come. Peter describes it:
2-Peter 2:1: "But there were also false prophets among the people, as indeed there will be false teachers among you, who will stealthily… [they won't bring it out at first; they will wait until they know they have others with them] …introduce destructive heresies, personally denying the Lord who bought them…" How do you deny the Lord? In your works! Yes, their works are abominable.
Titus 1 is very important for us to understand. I imagine that the Church at that time was really, really not prepared for the voracity with which they came in with their doctrines.
Titus 1:13: "This testimony is true. For this reason you must rebuke them severely, that they may be sound in the faith." You need no rebukes severely if you, on your own, are zealous and your heart is fixed and you stay right with God. Then you will be correcting yourself; you will be yielding to God and His Spirit, and these things can be worked out, gotten rid of, overcome.
Verse 14: "Not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men, which turn away from the Truth." Anything that turns from the Truth. What will happen is when they come along, they will sound blessedly true, but they are not!
Verse 15: "To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; rather, both their minds and consciences are defiled." We saw how that worked—didn't we? Yes, indeed!
Verse 16: "They personally profess to know God, but in their works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient, and reprobate unto every good work." They will deny the Lord by so doing!
Notice what Peter warned of, and it surely has happened—hasn't it? Look at the Christianity of this world. Where is it? It's just falling apart! Every major problem in America and Britain lies at the pulpit's doorstep! I'll say it again: You cannot solve spiritual problems by political means! If there is no spirituality to the politics it is DOOMED to destruction! That is putting it in place of the way of God.
Just like it is today, 2-Peter 2:2: "And many people will follow as authoritative their destructive ways; and because of them, the way of the Truth will be blasphemed." Yes, they tell us that if you keep the commandments of God you're trying to work out your own salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Verse 3: "Also, through insatiable greed they will with enticing messages exploit you for gain; for whom the judgment of old is in full force, and their destruction is ever watching." That's why we need to let God fight our battles for us.
Let's come to 2-Cor. 10 again so we can get our bearings on what we need to do personally. This is something that we need to exercise every day. I know that every day—because of the world we live in, because of so many things around us—evil can, in just a split second, be flashed into your brain. Satan has many devices of doing these things now. So, every day we need to ask God to give us the cleansing of the washing of the water by the Word! That will strengthen us to do what needs to be done here.
2-Corinthians 10:3: "For although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…"—not physical. We don't go by politics, we don't go by numbers, we don't go by consensus. We go by Truth, Truth, Truth, and nothing less!
Here's why, v 5: "Casting down vain imaginations…" Stop and think for just a minute. How many vain imaginations fly through your mind in a day? What are we to do with those? It tells us right here:
"…and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ" (v 5). That's what we need to do internally, coupled with asking God to fight our battles for us.
Now let's look at the enemy. Let's see how Paul wrote of it. Very important because Satan is there and he is getting angry with the Church. That's what it says in Rev. 12—he is angry with the woman, angry with the Church. We are going to see things like that increase. Yes, they're going to demand freedom of speech for everyone who is evil, but all of those who believe in God and the Truth, 'you shut up or we're going to come and get you.' It's going to come to that!
Ephesians 2:1: Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins." That's how we were when God called us. We were as good as dead.
Verse 2: "In which you walked in times past according to the course of this world…" The way of the world! Doing what the world likes. Listen, the people that I feel sorry for right now are those young people who are called 'millennials' by the media and the census people:
they have been taught Socialism and Communism in the schools
they have been taught sexual perversion in the schools
they have been taught social deviancy in the schools
they have been taught pleasures—fun and games—in the schools
So now, with the digital devices that young people have,
they are hooked on those devices
they are hooked on sex
they are hooked on music
they are hooked on the way that leads to nothing
and they are virtually unfit to work. We have a mass of young people out there who are going to be looking for the dole, not looking to do what is right. Not looking to God! The amount of atheism and agnosticism is increasing by leaps and bounds. "…the course of this world…"
"…according to the prince of the power of the air… [Satan the devil; he controls all of that; he makes all of those things happen] …the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (v 2). That's why God made the dividing line. That's why we have been called and set aside out of this world, while we live in the world.
Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world." Then he says to remember the calling of God, and He has called us to walk in His way!
Listen, we need to understand: Satan is not yet done! He is going to fight to the very, very, very last! All I can tell you is this: It's going to have to come!
I was watching about the surrender of the Japanese in WWII, and there were those in the face of all the destruction and the atomic bombs that were dropped. There were those who were willing to fight to the last man! Satan is not going to give up until everything he has, has been destroyed. Then he's going to be put into the abyss for a thousand years. And when he's let out for a short time, war again!
He's going to be coming after the Church! We need to take seriously all these things that Paul writes about here, because he could see it coming. Little did he know how true this would be coming down to the end-time.
Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength…. [that He will fight for us] …Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil… [and he has thousands of them that he is able to bring at any time] …because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickednessin high places" (vs 10-12). We are seeing this more and more and more; that's why we need to be strong in God.
Verse 13: "Therefore, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having worked out all things, to stand." Notice how many times Paul says stand! Just like we read in Psa. 57—my heart is fixed, O God! Exactly the same way.
Verse 14: "Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with Truth…" Don't mix it in with all the misery and ideas and traditions of men.
"…and wearing the breastplate of righteousness" That you are keeping the commandments of God, you are loving God, you are serving God. This is just like a protection right over your vital organs.
Verse 15: "And having your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace." Yes, the Church is to feed the flock and preach the Gospel; feed the flock and preach the Gospel. We need to do it in truth and power, and we need to rely on God to open the doors, which He will. We have to realize what we are up against in this age—as never before. Oh, it would be wonderful! Like the Psalm is, 'O that I were a dove, I could fly off to a mountain.' Well, we can't quite do that today.
Verse 16: "Besides all these, take up the shield of the faith, with which you will have the power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Taking those thoughts and casting them down. Taking those impressions in the mind and asking God to wash them out. Taking those things that are inspired by the 'prince of the power of the air' to keep the whole world in its deception. You know the old song: 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.' Satan the devil is going to have that before the end comes. We are the only ones who will be against it, the true followers of Jesus Christ, and those whom God will call during the Great Tribulation.
Verse 17: "And put on the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." That's why we need to study and we need to pray. Never get tired of that. Never cut short your prayers! Always make time to pray.
pray during the day
rehearse the Word of God in your mind
grow and overcome in every way
Verse 18: "Praying at all times with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and in this very thing being watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Yes, be ever, ever, ever watchful!
What I would like to do is read some things to you, which we can come to God and ask for these blessings. We are going to cover the wonderful may the Lord
to give us understanding
to give us wisdom
to give us knowledge
to give us trust
Let's put these in the spiritual sense of the Church today:
Numbers 6:22: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying, "In this way you shall bless the children of Israel, saying to them" (vs 22-23). Let this be the blessing that comes to us through this Feast of Unleavened Bread:
Verse 24: "[#1]May the LORD bless you and keep you. [#2]May the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. [#3]May the LORD lift up His face to you and give you peace" (vs 24-26).
As we finish off this Feast of Unleavened Bread, let's let these things from God come to us. Let's let these things
unleaven our lives
get rid of sin
cleanse our hearts
cleanse our minds
cleanse our motives
We will end up with eight mays altogether. There are more in the Bible, but these, I believe, are very important.
Psalm 20:1—we talked about fighting battles and overcoming: "[#4]May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob set you on high, [#5]may He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion. [#6]May He remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah." (vs 1-3). May He remember everything that you do in serving and in loving Him!
Verse 4: [#7]"May He grant you according to your own heart and fulfill all your plans. We will shout for joy in your victory, and in the name of our God we will set up banners. [#8]May the LORD fulfill all your prayers" (vs 4-5).
So, we come to the close of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!
May God give you strength!
May God give you righteousness!
May God give you graciousness!
May God give you power!
May God give you His love!
May God give you greater understanding as never before!
Scriptural References:
Leviticus 23:7
Deuteronomy 16:15-17
Proverbs 3:1-9
Exodus 14:10-16
Romans 5:1-5
Psalm 35:1-10, 22-24
Psalm 36:1-6
Psalm 37:1-11
Psalm 18:1-7, 25-32, 46-48
Psalm 54:1-7
Psalm 56:1-5, 9-11
Psalm 57:1-11
Psalm 70:1-5
1 Timothy 6:11-12
Jude 3-4
2 Peter 2:1
Titus 1:13-16
2 Peter 2:2-3
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Ephesians 2:1-3
Ephesians 6:10-18
Numbers 6:22-26
Psalm 20:1-5
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
Malachi 3
Revelation 12
Also referenced: Sermon Series: Tithing
