Opening illustration: A wise Bible teacher once said, “Sooner or later God will bring self-sufficient people to the place where they have no resource but Him – no strength, no answers, nothing but Him. Without God’s help, they are sunk.”
He then told of a despairing man who confessed to his pastor, “My life is really in bad shape.” “How bad?” the pastor inquired. Burying his head in his hands, he moaned, “I’ll tell you how bad – All I’ve got left is God.” The pastor’s face lit up. “I am happy to assure you that a person with nothing left but God has more than enough for great victory.”
In Today’s scripture text, the people of Judah were in deep trouble. They admitted their lack of power and wisdom to conquer their foes. All they had left was God! But King Jehoshaphat and the people saw this as reason for hope, not despair. “Our eyes are upon You,” they declared to God [2 Chronicles 20: 12]. And their hope was not disappointed as He fulfilled His promise: “The battle is not yours but God’s” (v. 15). We should get over with the notion of denial to dependence.
Lets us turn our Bibles to 2 Chronicles 20 and catch up with the story of Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah and try to learn from their lives as how victory is achieved in spiritual battle.
Introduction: In all dangers, public or personal, our first business should be to seek help from God. Hence the advantage of days for national fasting and prayer. From the first to the last of our seeking the Lord, we must approach him with humiliation for our sins, trusting only in his mercy and power. Jehoshaphat acknowledges the sovereign dominion of the Divine Providence. Lord, exert it on our behalf. Whom should we seek, to whom should we trust to for relief, but the God we have chosen and served. Those that use what they have for God may comfortably hope he will secure it to them. Every true believer is a son of Abraham, a friend of God; with such the everlasting covenant is established, to such every promise belongs. We are assured of God’s love, by his dwelling in human nature in the person of the Savior. Jehoshaphat mentions the temple, as a token of God’s favorable presence. He pleads the injustice of his enemies. We may well appeal to God against those that render us evil for good. Though he had a great army, he said, we have no might without thee; we rely upon thee.
Jehoshaphat was one of the good kings of Judah and he learned to depend on God. At times he got into wrong alliances but he did not worship other gods or practice idolatry. In this passage we will see how he overcame his greatest battle.
The Spirit of prophecy came upon a Levite in the midst of the congregation. He encouraged them to trust in God. Let the Christian soldier go out against his spiritual enemies, and the God of peace will make him more than a conqueror. Our trials will prove our gain. The advantage will be all our own, but the whole glory must be given to God.
Jehoshaphat exhorted his troops to firm faith in God. Faith, inspires a man with true courage; nor will any thing help more to the establishing of the heart in shaking times, than a firm belief of the power, and mercy, and promise of God. In all our trust in the Lord, and our praises of him, let us especially look at his everlasting mercy to sinners through Jesus Christ. Never was an army so destroyed as that of the enemy. Thus God often makes wicked people destroy one another. And never was a victory celebrated with more solemn thanksgivings.
The purpose of Ezra to write the Chronicles was ‘To bear witness to the “unity of God’s will for his people.”
Keys to Success in Spiritual battle:
1. Seek God through Prayer & Fasting [vs. 1 – 13]:
The enemy was in their backyard and the Israelites absolutely had no hope. This report filled Jehoshaphat with fear, and he resolved to seek help of the Lord. 2Ki_12:18; Jer_42:15, to direct the face to anything, i.e., to purpose something, come to a determination. He proclaimed a fast in all Judah, that the people might bow themselves before God, and supplicate His help, as was wont to be done in great misfortunes; cf. Jdg_20:26; 1Sa_7:6; Isa_2:15. In consequence of the royal appeal, Judah came together to seek of the Lord, i.e., to pray for help, by fasting and prayer in the temple; and it was not only the inhabitants of Jerusalem who thus assembled, for they came out of all the cities of the kingdom. To seek of the Lord, i.e. Help is expressed in the last clause by seeking the Lord. Do we worry about our lack of prayer? Are we sensitive to the Holy Spirit and leading a life in the way God desires it. Do we continue to feast of the world rather than focusing and feasting in our creator – fasting. Today we see very poor prayer life of God’s children. It seems to be dying out slowly. Unfortunately few Christians take fasting seriously. The world and even the church has discarded (chucked away) the aspect of fasting. If it was of no results, why would the OT saints and the NT apostles practice it? In fact Jesus had even spoken and encouraged His disciples for it on a number of occasions. Do we run helter-skelter when the enemy (Satan) attacks our lives?
Power of prayer & fasting ~
1. Fasting helps subject our bodies to our spirits. (1 Corinthians 9: 27)
2. Fasting is disciplining the body, mind, and spirit. (Proverbs 25: 28)
3. Fasting is subordinating our flesh-desires to our spirit-desires. (Galatians 5: 17)
4. Fasting helps set the priorities in our lives. (Matthew 6: 33)
5. Fasting is longing after God (feasting on the Holy Spirit). (Psalm 63: 1-2)
Reasons to fast ~
1. Honor God - Matthew 6:16-18, Luke 2:37, Acts 13:2, Matthew 5:6
2. Humble Yourself - 2 Chronicles 7:14-15
3. Discerning Healing - I Corinthians 11:30, James 5:13-18, Isaiah 59:1-2
4. Deliverance from Bondage - Matthew 17:21, Isaiah 58:6-9 (loose bands of wickedness)
5. Revelation - God’s vision and will - Daniel 9:3, 20-21, Daniel 10:2-10, 12-13
6. Revival - personal and corporate - Acts 1:4, 14 / 2:16-21, Joel 2:12-18
7. Repentance - personal failures - Psalm 51: Jeremiah 29:11-14, James 4:8-10
Jesus’ “disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it (the demon) out" And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting,” Mark 9:28-29, Matthew 17: 21.
Consider being a praying church unlike the churches today. No church can pray more than enough.
Illustration: My personal experience in the past. The power and authority given to you by God through the Holy Spirit is can’t be comprehended with our human mind. One needs to have a spiritual mind-set to understand what God is really doing and is about to do. The pagans fast too.
2. Do Not be Afraid or Dismayed [vs. 14 – 15, 17]:
It is natural to be afraid but supernatural to stand firm without fear in any kind of war-zone. This kind of fearlessness can only come through the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Let us not forget the “Word of God” where it says that “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1: 7) And we have received “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4: 7)
Jehaziel announced to the king and people that they need not fear before the great multitude of their foes; “for the war is not yours, but Yahweh’s,” i.e., you have not to make war upon them, for the Lord will do it; cf. 1 Samuel 17: 47.
Are you afraid of difficult situations and tend to crumble when you encounter them? Let us not forget as it says in 1 John 4: 4 “… He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Relying on God and His power, let us therefore be strong and unafraid.
3. Position Yourselves & Stand Still [vs. 16 – 17]:
How have we positioned ourselves? Blankets of insulation which we think protect us from dependence on others. We are living in an illusion. Satan makes us realize that we are better off than having God in our lives and our independence and liberty in the world is the key to success.
You have not to fight therein; only come hither, stand and see the help of the Lord (who is) with you. You need do nothing more, and therefore need not fear. Key is dependence on God. Are we able to come before God and tell Him that if He doesn’t do anything in our situation, we are done? Jehoshaphat did it. Will we surrender in humility before God?
Examples: Our non-dependence on anything or anyone. Starts at a very early age in the US. Kids want to do things on their own. But there are times when they need you but deny it completely. We are in the same situation with God our Father and creator.
4. Worship God in Exuberance [vs. 18 – 21]:
For this comforting assurance the king and people thanked the Lord, falling down in worship before Him, whereupon the Levites stood up to praise God with a loud voice. Levites “of the sons of Kohath, yea, of the Korahites,” for they were descended from Kohath (1 Chronicles 6: 22).
(a) They bowed their heads, Jehoshaphat first, and then all the people fell before the Lord, and worshipped, receiving with a holy awe and fear of God this token of his favor, and saying with faith, Be it unto us according to thy word. [Complete surrender]
(b) They lifted up their voices in praise to God, 2 Chronicles 20: 19. An active faith can give thanks for a promise though it be not yet performed, knowing that God’s bonds are as good as ready money. God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, Psalm 60: 5.
1 Thessalonians 5: 18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Illustration: Worship draws or attracts the presence of God to be manifested with power. Ref. 2 Chronicles 5: 11 – 14 [Building of the Solomon’s Temple and the worship that takes place there]
5. Believe God for the Impossible ~ victory in spiritual battle [v. 20]:
For Jehoshaphat it was not a matter of admitting that he was dependent but it was an issue of faith. God has spoken and answered ~ But would they believe God. Trust here means believing God blindly. Here believe means that they don’t have to fight but God will do the work. They wanted to go out by themselves and fight. Well for glory to God, He would do it on His own. He doesn’t need help from us. We are like grass for Him. Today it is there and tomorrow it is gone. No glory is given to God when we try to do things on our own. We kind of brag about our victories.
Pastor Paul used to say, “When a person is on his back, he has only one place to look ~ up!”
Isaiah 54: 17 “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.”
Examples (1): Israelites walking through the ‘Red Sea,’ the Jordan and the crumbling of the great wall of Jericho.
Examples (2): Today a number of you sitting here are believing God for the impossible, even we as a church, we believe God for the impossible i.e. for us to grow into a strong body of Christ ~ a force to reckon with that Satan and his forces will have to think a number of times before any attack.
Result: Victory in Spiritual Battle [vs. 22]
Just observe that your victory is always preceded by worship, praise and thanksgiving to our God. We may not like to worship God in the circumstances we may be in ~ but observing God’s Word and the experiences drawn from his people, we see that this is the major key in victory over our spiritual battles. Ref. 1 Thessalonians 5: 18.
Conclusion: Are you in a position where all self-sufficiency is gone? As you turn your eyes on the Lord and put your hope in Him, you have God’s reassuring promise that you need nothing more.
In order to be successful in spiritual battle the route we need to take is ~
• Seeking God through Prayer & Fasting [vs. 1 – 13]
• Not to be Afraid or Dismayed [vs. 14 – 15]
• Position Yourselves & Stand Still [vs. 16 – 17]
• Worship God in Exuberance [vs. 18 – 21]
• Believe God for the Impossible [v. 20]
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
When all you have is God, you have all you need.
