Sunday Morning May 3, 2009 Bel Aire Baptist Church
Series: “Moving With God (Exodus)” [#18]
A TIME TO FIGHT
Exodus 17:5-16
Introduction:
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”
Now this is a sermon title that I like- “A Time To Fight”. A time to rest, a time to work, a time for peace, etc…, not so much; but a time to fight- I like that. If you have been delivered from being slaves to sin, then you should be expecting the enemy to attack. Christians, there is a spiritual war raging all around us and you are a part of it whether you like it or not.
Exodus 17:8-16
I want you to notice some important things about the need for spiritual fighting.
1. You will be attacked by the enemy.
Christians, you cannot be trying to live a committed life for the Lord and not encounter the Amalekites. The Children of Israel had been delivered from Egypt and had passed through the Red Sea (speaking of redemption by the blood and by the power). They were headed towards the Promised Land and they once again had no water. Moses cried out to God on the behalf of the people and was instructed to go to the rock in Horeb and strike it with his staff. This he did in the presence of the elders and out of the rock gushed water which became their very life and substance throughout the rest of their journey.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (NIV)
“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”
As soon as the rock was struck and the people had taken water, Amalek appeared. This is a great example of how spiritual warfare works. Amalek represents the flesh. Amalek was descended from Esau, the man who sold his birthright for a bowl of soup; who walked in the way of the flesh and lost his inheritance. Amalek was always found inside the Israelites’ camp. The Word of God makes it clear that the enemies of the Christian are the world, the flesh, and the devil; and the battle between the flesh and the Spirit begin the moment that we are saved.
Galatians 5:17 (NIV)
“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”
The enemy’s attack is…
> Planned.
Satan despises God and anyone who follows Him. God has offered us something that has never been offered up to Satan and the fallen angels- Redemption. When Jesus died on the cross, He died for humankind not for angels. Satan hates God and the only way he can get at God is by destroying that which God loves- Us. The enemy lays in wait, noticing who is weak and wandering away from the flock.
The enemy’s attack is…
> From within.
Satan likes to create conflict within the Body of Christ and the way that he can do that is by presenting a battle between our flesh and the Holy Spirit. If one believer allows the flesh to have victory, then that affects all other believers. There is a deadly conflict between the Spirit and the flesh. The flesh will always try to have victory over the Spirit.
The enemy’s attack is…
> Subtle.
Deuteronomy 25:17-18 (NIV)
“Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.”
Satan never attacks face to face, but always tries to catch a person unaware. When the Israelites were worn out, then the enemy snuck up on them and attacked. We are going to be attacked and it is necessary for us to fight those battles or we will be destroyed.
Since we know that the enemy is going to attack, your choice is fight or flight. You can run and fight another day, you can lay down and be destroyed, or you can fight.
2. You need to be prepared for an ongoing fight.
From the moment the Amalekites started fighting the Israelites, they kept fighting. The battle went on “until the going down of the sun” (Exodus 17:12). The Amalekites didn’t quit when they were losing. Just as the Amalekites, Satan doesn’t quit just because he loses a battle. Don’t be so surprised that the enemy doesn’t just lay down and quit.
Exodus 17:16b (NIV)
“The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."
It is for this reason that Jesus tells us that if we are going to be His disciples that we need to deny ourselves every day, take up our cross, and follow Him. It’s a daily battle.
3. You need to fight to win.
Exodus 17:11 (NIV)
“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.”
What is the secret of victory against Amalek?
> You must fight in the power of Jesus.
Exodus 17:9a (NIV)
“Moses said to Joshua…”
The name Joshua means savior or deliverer. In fact, the name Jesus in the New Testament is equivalent to Joshua. You cannot win in spiritual war without Christ’s power. If you do it on your own, you will be defeated.
> You must fight in the way God leads.
Exodus 17:11 (NIV)
“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.”
God’s method for this particular battle was that Moses’ arms had to be up while Joshua led the army in the battle. If Moses’ arms were down they would lose.
What a beautiful picture. When Jesus is lifted up in our lives we will have victory. When we hold up our leaders to the Lord and we hold up one another in times of difficulty we will have victory. When we are about the Body of Christ, (doing the things that God has called us to do) and not ourselves; we will have victory.
> You must fight with the knowledge and understanding that if you are fighting in the power of Jesus, doing it God’s way; you will win!
Conclusion:
You don’t have to wait to die to have victory in Jesus. We can have victory- In fact we need to have victory in all things; and when we do I pray that you give God all of the glory, honor, and praise.
