iChoose
Pt. 4 – iChoose To Stand
I. Introduction
Our lives are marked by the choices we make. In a typical day, there are so many small choices that must be made. I chose to get up when the alarm went off. I chose to take a shower and fix my hair. I chose to wear clothes. I chose what clothes to wear. I chose whether to eat or get coffee. I chose to have a good attitude or be sullen. Choices don’t stop. Choices never end.
In grade school you had to choose whether you liked him or her or not. In high school you had to choose who to hang out with and who to go out with and whether you liked him or her. The choices continue into college. Do I go to class? Will it be the freshmen 15 or 25? Will I pull an all nighter or not? Do I like him or her? The average student who enters college with a declared major changes it three to five times. Then after graduation you go into the “real” world and still more choices. What car? What house? What job? Did you know that between the ages of 18-36 the average American will have 9.3 different jobs? And do I like him or her?
We have talked about choosing to forgive, to submit and to share. I want us to conclude this series by making one final choice. I want to challenge you to choose to stand.
There are some areas of our life in which we may need to move over, change our mind, back up, adjust course, and give in. However, there are also times in life when we must choose to stand. There are times that we can’t back down or budge. There are times we must draw a line in the sand and refuse to move from that spot. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do! Rest assured such a stand means there will be a fight. But it means a fight now rather than a fight for the rest of our lives.
Shammah knew this!
Text: 2 Samuel 23:8, 11-12
8This is the listing of David’s top men… 11Shammah son of Agee the Hararite was the third of the Three. The Philistines had mustered for battle at Lehi, where there was a field full of lentils. Israel fled before the Philistines, 12but Shammah took his stand at the center of the field, successfully defended it, and routed the Philistines. Another great victory for God!
a. The enemy will come.
That is choice that we don’t get to make. I wished we could choose for the enemy not to come. I wished we could pick seasons in our life and say that season is off limits. I’m just not strong enough so give me a break. I am tired of fighting so don’t show up now. But the enemy will show up! And if you haven’t figured it out yet he is the master of timing. He will pick the right time. He will usually show up right in harvest time. Right when everything seems to be great. The crops are ripe. The raise is certain, the contract is almost final, the relationship is almost back to normal, right when you think everything is about to level back out, and then the enemy comes. The enemy will come! Prepare for it. Don’t be surprised by it. Look up occasionally! Keep an eye open. He will come.
1 Corinthians 16:13 instructs us to
“13Keep your eyes open” . . . but then we are also told to
“hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute.” Why are we encouraged not to give up and to be resolute?
b. People will flee.
I wish everyone would choose to be brave, bold, and ready for battle. But Israel fled. The reality is that most of those around us that have been so strong and secure during the good times will tuck tail and flee when the enemy shows up. When the sickness comes they will give up. When the bills come due they will slip quietly out the back door. When things get difficult they will flee. Like it or not most people have one response when times get tough or when the enemy closes in. They make the same choice Peter made. Things got hot around the fire for Peter. Jesus is on trial for his life. The onlookers spot Peter and think that they have made a connection. He has to be one of those Jesus guys. It is a tough moment. It is a moment that holds within it a choice. Do I fess up? Do I stand up? Do I close ranks with Jesus or do I deny and survive? And like most people Peter makes his choice. He flees, denies, flip flops, and caves in.
But, I want to remind you this morning that according to Ecclesiastes 3:8 there is “a right time to wage war and another to make peace.” There is a time to make the choice to straighten your back, raise your head, stir your faith, and choose to stand while everyone else is fleeing! Like Shammah, plant your feet in the middle of the pea patch and refuse to back up. Square your shoulders and draw a line in the sand and refuse to give up an inch of territory. See the enemy coming into our territory and rather than running like everyone else dig in and dig deep!
Shammah teaches us that there are some fields worth fighting for! There are some things we should defend.
I want to challenge you to take your stand in the:
1. Stand in Field of Truth –
II Timothy 4:3-4
3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
We are in that time! This is the day! We must stand for truth! If you want you can find doctrine that will fit your comfort zone and lifestyle. If you want you can search long enough and you will find teachers to preach and teach what you want to hear and only what you want to hear. You can find teaching that will adjust to your lifestyle rather than shifting your life to the truth. But I challenge you to plant your feet in the pea patch called sound doctrine. The King James says, “They won’t endure sound doctrine”. They will hear it, recognize that it is truth and refuse to listen or apply it. Instead we are in the day when folks willingly embrace false doctrine. False doctrine such as:
a. Alternative lifestyles – God is so merciful and understanding that he will allow us to make any choice we want. Scripture is antiquated and needs to be reinterpreted to fit our day and age.
b. Prosperity is the goal – money is God and it is God’s job and purpose to make sure we get what we want, when we want it.
c. All glory and no sacrifice – Comfortable gospel. No sacrifice needed. Just coast into greatness and into all the benefits of that greatness. No holiness required. No cost. No pain. Just give me a microphone, give me a platform, and give me my 15 minutes of fame.
d. No sin/all grace or vice versa - all judgement/no grace – unbalanced. Either license or legalism.
e. No truth. All roads lead to God.
We must stand for sound doctrine. I believe Francis Chan correctly diagnosed the current spiritual condition of most Christians when he said,
“I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered.”
Stand for sound doctrine. Stand for lives and choices that line up with the literal Word of God!
2. Stand in the Field of what is Right
There are some things that we have to ask God about. There are grey areas that must be weighted out on the principles set in God’s Word. However, there are other areas that we don’t even have to pray about. We just need to choose to do what is right.
For instance it is right that we stand for life. Therefore, we stand against abortion. And against ethnic cleansing and genocide whether it is in our nation or in a foreign land.
It is right that we stand for purity and dignity. Therefore, we stand against pornography and the exploitation of women and children for the sake of “art”.
We stand against immorality in all of its forms.
We stand for justice so we battle against prejudice and racism.
We stand for innocence so we stand for our children, those born and those yet to be born.
We stand for the sacred so we stand for liberty to worship and for the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman!
We verbally and physically take a stand for what is right. We don’t sit idly by while the right is overrun in the name of progress or inclusion.
3. Stand in the Field of the Defenseless
Martin Niemoller was a German Protestant Pastor during World War 2. When Europe was invaded by Hitler’s forces he said, "In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew; And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
We are surrounded by people who have no ability, no power, and no resources to defend themselves. We must stand for those who are less fortunate and have no defense. If we go back to our text, we find out that Shammah wasn’t even fighting for his pea patch. It was someone else’s field! We must stand up and give voice to those who have no voice. We must stand up for those who have no strength. Stand up for the weak, the impoverished, the broken, and the helpless.
Psalms 82:3-4
3You’re here to defend the defenseless, to make sure that underdogs get a fair break; 4Your job is to stand up for the powerless, and prosecute all those who exploit them.”
We are our brother’s keeper. We must be the Samaritan who looks for opportunity to heal and protect.
4. Stand against the right enemy –
Eph. 6:10-12
10Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
We are wrestling! Don’t miss that truth. We are wrestling. You can’t opt out of this fight. We don’t even have to choose to engage in spiritual warfare. Because whether we make the choice or not we are engaged in a battle. I don’t want you to start thinking there is a demon behind every bush. However, I also don’t want you to overlook the reality of spiritual warfare. So fight, but get the target right. We are wrestling; we just aren’t wrestling each other. Our target is not the person sitting 3 rows up. No, we are in a fight against spiritual adversaries. Don’t waste ammo on the wrong target. No more friendly fire. Rather leverage the force of spiritual weapons on spiritual targets.
5. Choose to stand together!
Ephesians 6:13-17
13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
We have armor and we have weapons. Now we need to lock arms and fight! The Roman Soldiers in Paul’s day would use small round shields and large rectangle shields. Here the word Paul uses for “shield of faith” references the large shield which was about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide. As the soldiers would march toward a fortified city the archers in the city would often send clouds of arrows towards the soldiers. The shields could be overlapped creating a wall of defense (you saw this in 300). Each soldier provides cover and protection for the other. They fought together and won together. We win by fighting together! We must guard each other, pray for each other, and fight for each other!
We have a choice to make. It may not be the popular choice. It may not be the politically correct choice. The pressure may get high and hot, but we must choose to stand. In fact I close with Paul imploring us to choose to stand!
1 Cor. 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers,
stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know that your labor in the Lord
is not in vain.
Let nothing move you! It isn’t in vain! The struggle, the fight, the pain isn’t in vain! When you have done all you know to do stand. Have you done all? Have I prayed all I can pray? Have I believed all I can believe? Have I given I all I can give? Have I spoken all I can speak? Have I loved all I can love? When you have done all that and there still seems to be no breakthrough and the enemy seems to continue to get stronger and to move forward then choose to stand on God’s Word, on God’s faithfulness, on God’s ability, and on God’s timing. Don’t back down. Don’t give in or give up. Step into the middle of your pea patch and successfully fight through the pain, the anguish, and the resistance and stand for the truth, the right, and the defenseless. Refuse to be moved from God’s promise.
Prayer – help us to make the right choice! Make us alert and ready to engage in battle for the truth, the right, and the defenseless. Help us to fight the right enemy and help us fight together rather than with each other.
