If you remember, last week I ended the service reminding everyone of who we were. As we saw in the scriptures that we “are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,” being all of these things is a great privilege, but there is something else that we are. As the chosen people of God here on earth, we are not only His representatives, we are also His army. We have been chosen to defend and expand God’s kingdom here on earth. But in order to do this there is a certain quality that we must possess. To serve the Lord appropriately we need to be courageous and brave. One of the biggest truths about the Christian walk is that it is not for the fainthearted, or the weak; the Christian walk is not for the cowards. To be a genuine Christian you have to be brave.
I say that we have to be brave because as we all know, the more faithful we are to God, and the more we attempt to lead a holy life, the more we will be attacked by the powers of darkness. Powers that only seek to separate us from the path that God has chosen for us. The problem is that if we are not brave, if we lack the courage to persevere, then when the battles present themselves we will more than likely retreat from the battle field and will cede territory to the enemy. This is why today I want us to examine this part of our Christian life that is so important. Today I want us to examine our courage. We need to do this because it is quite easy to say that we are brave or courageous, it is easy to brag about how strong we are, but when the battles present themselves, do we stand and fight? Let’s now turn to the scriptures that we will be using today.
1 Chronicles 11:12-14 - After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. 13He was with David at Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines. 14But they stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.
As I always say, to get a better understanding of the message that God has for us today, it will be necessary to conduct a brief history review. At his moment in time the people of Israel had suffered a severe defeat at the hands of he philistines; their king and his heirs had been killed, and their cities were now occupied by the invading force. This is something that is very well reflected in 1 Chronicles 10:6-7 when we read “So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. 7And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.” Because Saul had not remained faithful to the Lord in all things, his kingdom was defeated and the kingdom was turned over to David. With this event occurring, David was now the ruler over all of Israel. This is something clearly stated in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 when we read “So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. 14But he did not inquire of the LORD; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.” Tell the person next to you, unfaithfulness will bring defeat. This more or less brings us to this point in history.
What we find in these verses that we are studying today is David doing battle against the philistines; a more graphic description of what happened on that date is found in 2 Samuel 23:9-10 when we read “And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. 10He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder.” I am sure that many of you are already thinking that all of this could not possibly relate to us, but if you think this was, I invite you to think again. I say this because as I said a moment ago, all of us here that have made a genuine commitment to God now form part of not only His people or nation; we now form part of His army here on earth. While it is true that most of us, more than likely, will never have to participate in an actual physical battle. While it is true that most of us, more than likely, will never have to fight hand to hand with another person, we do battle on a daily basis against a very powerful force. We do battle against a very powerful enemy that seeks to do the same thing that the philistines were seeking against the people of Israel, it seeks to evict and keep us from God’s promises. This battle is something that is clearly defined in Ephesians 6:12 when we read “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” As we see here, our battle is not against flesh and blood, in other words, our battle is not against people, governments, or religious institutions. The battle that we face everyday is against the powers of darkness; powers that seek to destroy the blessings that God has given us. Our enemy is relentless in his attack and he will not hesitate to use anything or anyone to accomplish his purpose. This is why in 1 Peter 5:8 we find “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” And it is for this reason that we must always be on guard, we must always be alert to what is going on around us, but most of all, we must always be ready to fight. We must be ready at all times to stand our ground, or else it will be taken from us. What could cause this to happen? There are two main reasons; number one is: fear, and number two is: not knowing how to defend ourselves. Let’s continue with our study so that you may better understand what I am saying.
In the verses that we are studying today we read “He was with David at Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines.” As we read here, the people, that is to say the Israelite army, fled from the philistines. The reason for their fleeing is not exactly spelled out here, but I believe that it is safe to assume that fear was what drove these people from the battlefield. In other words, what we see here is an army that flees because they were apparently afraid to loose their life for their king and or unwilling to risk their safety for the kingdom. How does this apply to us?
If we stop to think about this for a moment, we will soon discover that what happened here is not too different than what happens with many of us today. I say this because there are a large number of people within the body of Christ, that is to say, in the army of our Lord here on earth, that just like the Israelites are afraid to lose their life for the Lord, or unwilling to risk their safety for His kingdom. Now, I don’t mean to physically loose our life because of Christ, although this is something that can and does happen. What I do mean is to lose that life that we have grown so accustomed to; what I do mean is to lose friends and relatives; what I do mean is to lose acquaintances and social groups; what I do mean is to lose all of those things that exist in this world that we have grown so attached to. I say that we will lose these things because when we take a stand for our Lord, when we stand up and make our voices heard in opposition against the evil current that is sweeping this world, when we enter the battlefield and begin to fight for what we believe in, all of these people whom we loved and trusted will turn away from us. Look at what the Lord tells us in Matthew 10:34-36 when we read “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” All of these persons whom we have loved and trusted will become our enemies. This will happen because in their minds and eyes we will have become a religious fanatic, a lunatic full of unrealistic ideals, they will see us as foolish people with unrealistic expectations. Look carefully at what we find in 1 Corinthians 1:23 when we read “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness.” This is the way many see Christianity, they see it a craziness, lunacy, and foolishness. Therefore, when we stand our ground and fight for what we believe in, when we defend our faith, moral, and principle, we will lose that life that we had been so accustomed to.
The life that we lead in this world is something that many value highly, but in all reality, in the grand scheme of life, the life that we lead here in this world is insignificant. The Lord said it best in Luke 9:24-26 when we read “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” But regardless of this warning from our Lord, many will not stand in the battlefield and fight, fear will make them run and cede territory to the enemy. But have we been called to have a fearful spirit? The answer is NO and is clearly found in 2 Timothy 1:7 when we read “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Furthermore, we are told that the cowardly will have no part of His kingdom. This is something that is clearly stated in Revelation 21:8 when we read “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Do we need to fear the powers of darkness? Absolutely not! When we place our complete trust in God, and when we deposit all of our faith in our Lord and savior, then we need to fear nothing. We need to fear nothing because we serve the One that is above all things. Look carefully at what we find in Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” We need to fear nothing because as we find in 1 John 4:4 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” But why then do so many continue with this fear? The reason is because they don’t know how to defend themselves, this brings me to the second point of the day.
In the scriptures we are using today we read that “they stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.” But in the more graphic description of this battle we find that is says that Elezear “…attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword.” I want us to pay very close attention to this detail because in it we will find a very crucial message. I want us to note that we did not read that he used any other weapon to do battle. He used only the sword; the reason for this is because this was probably the weapon of his choice. This was probably the weapon he felt the most comfortable using and the one that he had trained with the most. He knew how to use this weapon to defend and to attack. He used this weapon so vigorously that the scriptures tell us that “his hand stuck to the sword.” Now let me ask something, when confronted with a battle, how many of you have reached for your sword? Do we have a sword that we can use to defend ourselves? Do we have a sword that we can use to attack our enemy? The answer is absolutely YES! Our sword is the Word of God; this is something that we find clearly stated in Ephesians 6:17 when we read “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” We have the Word of God which is the most powerful weapon that exists in the universe. Look carefully at how this is clearly stated in Hebrews 4:12 when we read “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The problem is that in the majority of cases, the believers have no idea of how to use this weapon. The majority of believers are not proficient with the sword because they don’t take the time to practice with it. In other words, the majority of believers do not take the time to read it, study it, and meditate on it. The majority of believers are content with simply reading the bible once per week when they come to the Sunday service; that is if they even read it at all. But the reality of it all is that a weapon is of absolutely no good to us if we don’t know how to use it. Furthermore, a weapon in the hands of an untrained person can be very dangerous. It is something dangerous because when an untrained person confronts an adversary, in the majority of cases, the adversary will disarm that person and will use the weapon against them. This is why we see how there are so many believers out there who have been led astray by those that twist and manipulate the bible to suit their own needs. Look carefully at what we find in 2 Timothy 3:2-5 when we read “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
We are living in some very dangerous times; we are living in times when the world wants us to see evil as good, and God as evil. We are living in times when our beliefs and faith are constantly under attack by what appears to be a superior force, and it is time to pick up our sword and learn how to use it. It is time to pick up our sword and stand our ground, it is time to pick up our sword and fight without stopping. It is time to pick up our sword and defend our family; it is time to pick up our sword and defend our children; it is time to pick up our sword and defend our home; it is time to pick up our sword to drive away the forces of the enemy from all that we are. It is time to pick up out sword and defend our King; it is time to pick up our sword and defend our faith; it is time to pick up our sword and attack the enemy. It is time to pick up our swords and conquer new lands; pick up our sword and go in search of all of those lost souls, and those that have fallen away from the path. It is time to pick up our sword and expand God’s kingdom here on earth. As believers the Word of God, the sword of the spirit must be in our hands at all times. Just as the sword became stuck to Elezear hand, the Word of God must be forever present in out heart.
In conlusion. You have all seen that commercial on the television about the marines, correct? That commercial that says: “looking for a few good men.” Well I tell you today that God is also looking for a few good men. God is looking for brave men and women willing to stand their ground. God is looking for men and women willing to battle the forces of the enemy. God is looking for men and women that will not run when confronted with adversity, but that will fight to defeat it. God is looking for you! What happens when you answer His call? The answer to this question is found in these verses that we have studied today. The Word tells us “So the LORD brought about a great victory.” I want you to notice one last thing here. It wasn’t Elezear’s strength that brought them the victory; it wasn’t David’s strength that brought them the victory. It wasn’t their fighting skills that brought them the victory; it was the Lord that brought about the victory. The Word of God will bring about a great victory to our life. The Word of God will overcome all obstacles, and defeat all foes. Pick up your sword, stand your ground and fight. I say to you today, use the Word of God to attack, use the Word of God to defend, live the Word of God at all times, and He will bring about a great victory.
