Flags Of Our Fathers
Just recently Clint Eastwood released a move in which the title caught my attention. He used on of the greatest photos ever captured to catch the eyes of millions who would relate to the photo of the soldiers razing the flag.
I love this country and our flag and for what it stands for.
Our Text: Isaiah 13:2 Say’s, “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.”
For some background information please Turn to Numbers 2:2 “Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.”
Here we find God’s orders for Israel’s. It was an orderly encampment where they rested and a orderly march when they moved.
1. First, we see that they all dwell in tents.
Also note that when they marched carried all their tents along with them, for they found no city to dwelt in,
In Psalm 107:4 It says, “They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.”
This passage represents not only the state of Israel but our own state as believers in this present world.
Do you remember the song, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through...”
Hebrews 11:13 Say’s “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
It is a movable state that we live in (we are here to-day and gone to-morrow); and yet it is a military state: is not our life a warfare?
We do but pitch our tents in this world, and have in it no permanent city.
So while we are pitching our tents in this world, let us be pressing on through it.
2. Secondly we see, Those of a tribe were to pitch together, every man by his own standard.
Note, It is the will of God that mutual love and affection, converse and communion, should be kept up among those that are related.
People that are of kin to each other should be acquainted with each other.
I know what you are thinking, “But Preacher, You don’t know who is in my family.”
You know I have them in mine too, you know, those you would like to disown.
God is a “family God,” and the bible is a family-oriented book.
Even the casual reader will discern that God, through His inspired Word, stresses the importance of the family and emphasizes its preservation from one generation to the next.
As goes the family,
so goes the church;
and as goes the church,
so goes the nation.
No church is more spiritual, stable or solidified than the families that make up its membership.
Just like the bonds of nature can give us strength as a family so can be the bonds of Christian communion.
3. Thirdly, Every one must know his place and stay in it.
They, were not allowed to go and set down roots where they pleased, nor where they to move when they got the notion in their minds that they wanted to be somewhere else.
God was in charge of moving them. He put them there and they were to stay until he said otherwise.
Note, It is God that appoints the bounds of our habitation. and to him we must refer ourselves.
4. Fourthly, Every tribe had its standard, flag or banner, and ensign.
Turn with me in scripture and look at these.
a. Standard, Isaiah 62:10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highways; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
b. Banner, Isaiah 13:2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
c. Ensign, Isaiah 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
After studying the scripture it would seem that every family had some particular ensign of their father’s house, which was carried as with us the colors of each troop or company in a regiment are.
It is uncertain how these standards were distinguished but we know that these were used for the distinction of tribes and families, and the gathering and keeping of them together.
Note, God is the God of order, and not of confusion. These standards made this mighty army seem more beautiful to its friends and more formidable to its enemies.
THE BELIEVER’S CALLENGE IS TO RAISE UP THE BANNER or THE FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS .
Now YOU SAY what does this mean preacher?
A. There Are Banners That We Must Raise Up
1. First of all we must Raise Up A Banner Of Declaration
Why?
a. To identify our position.
Let me tell you what our banner, our standard, our mark of identification is for us today.
The Lord Is Our Banner. (Jesus Christ)
Turn to Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
John 3:13-14 “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”
Our Banner must be displayed for all to see.
Psalm 20:5 “We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions.”
Listen, God doesn’t need any secret agent Christians.
We need to be proud that we are true born again believers.
If we belong to the family of God, then all of the world should see us display our banner.
b. Raise Up A Banner Of Declaration So that every one will know who you are & which side that you are on.
c. So that the enemy will know where you stand.
2. Secondly, we must Raise Up A Banner Of Recruitment.
One day as Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee He saw two men, Peter and Andrew, they were fishermen. And He said unto them in Mark 1:17 “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.”
Soul winners are made not born!
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Luke 14:23 “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
Turn to Romans 10:14 There are three questions to consider in this verse.
First, “How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” The answer is the lost cannot call on the Lord to be saved until they believe in their heart...
* That Christ died for there sins according to the scriptures,
* And that He was buried,
* And that He rose again the third day.
Secondly, “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” The answer is, the lost cannot believe in Him until they hear the good news of salvation.
The Third Question Is, “How shall they hear without a preacher (witness).” The answer is they cannot.
That’s why we must raise up our banner Of Recruitment.
3. Thirdly, we must Raise Up A Banner Of Warfare
Now maybe you didn’t realize it when you came to Christ
But you enlisted in an army - The Army of God
And you and I have been called to the front lines
We are caught up in spiritual warfare
Unlike the soldiers who are fighting in Afghanistan and Irak
We don’t hear bombs bursting in the distance
Or hear bullets zinging past us
We don’t see bayonets of our enemy flashing in the sun
But still we are on a battlefield every day of our lives
And Satan takes aim at us as a body of believers and as individuals
He knows where we are weak
And he uses his knowledge to his advantage
He sets traps and snares for us
To trip up and to destroy us
Joel 2:11 “And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?”
2 Cor. 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;”
1 Tim. 1:18 “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;”
The ministry is a warfare against sin and Satan; carried on under the Lord Jesus, who is the Captain of our salvation. The good hopes others have had of us, should stir us up to duty.
As a kid, I remember watching different television shows about wars and battles. The one thing that always stood out was the banner, the flag that was always up front.
There is a song that we sing called “The Banner Of The Cross” Listen to the words of this song.
4. Fourthly, we must Raise Up A Banner Of Victory - Exodus 17:8-16
1 Cor. 15:57 “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 John 5:4 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
The one thing that man needs above all else is victory over the world with all its corruption and death.
How then can you triumph and conquer the world?
How can you overcome the world?
By believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. When a person believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God gives him a new heart.
He is “born of God”—spiritually born of God.
It is his faith that overcomes the world.
1 Cor. 15:57 “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In this verse, Paul the apostle is giving testimony to the church at Corinth that in Christ there is victory
The name of Jesus is not a magical formula.
Victory Does Not Come By Resolving.
Victory Does Not Come By Renouncing.
Victory Does Not Come By Rededicating.
Victory Does Not Come By Regretting.
Victory Comes By Receiving The Victory Already Made Possible Through Jesus.
Outside of Christ there is no victory.
There is no excuse for being overcome by Satan
In John 16:33 we read, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Jesus was never under the circumstances. He was always on top of them.
What does this mean?
It means that God gives the believer victory over all the trials and temptations of life.
“There hath no temptation [trial] taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
It means that God gives the believer victory over all the forces and difficulties of life.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 37-39).
It means that God gives the believer victory over sin.
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:11-14).
It means that God gives the believer victory over death.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).
It means that God gives the believer victory over Satan and all other spiritual forces.
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephes. 6:11-13).
B. Our Banners Must Move Us To Action
A. W. Tozer once said, "I’m afraid we modern Christians are long on talk and short on conduct.
We use the language of power but our deeds are the deeds of weakness.
We settle for words in religion because deeds are to costly.
It is easier to pray, "Lord, help me to carry my cross daily" than to pick it up and carry it; but since the mere request is for help to do something we do not actually intend to do unless it has a certain degree of religious comfort, we are content with repetition of the words."
Noah was moved to action.
Because of Noah’s strong faith, that he believed God. Through many of the scriptures we see the banners that were displayed in his life.
What was the result? A 120 years of action followed
1. We Say We Believe In Hell, But Has It Moved Us To Action?
2. We Say We Believe Christ Is Coming Soon, But Has It Moved Us To Action?
3. We Say We Believe Judgment Is Coming, But Has It Moved Us To Action?
Paul was moved to action
Acts 20:24 “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”
In this passage, we find a man who was not satisfied to just live.
What Paul is saying to us, “I don’t care if they
criticize me,
beat me
lock me up in jail,
stone me
or even kill me
I want to be an all-out dedicated Christian.
I want to finish my course and that he did!
Paul Was Not Ashamed Of The Gospel
Paul Did Not Argue With God
Paul Was Not Afraid Of A Goal
Thank God for a man who was not lukewarm, halfhearted, or casual with Gods business!
He was willing to raise some banners no matter what would be the consequences would be!
It is time to Raise Our banners and move to the corner of Busy Street and Active Avenue.
