Revive Us - Part 6
Revive Us as Our Banner
Psalm Exodus 17:8-16
There is nothing more important for you to be doing in the next 45 minutes than to give you full and undivided attention to what you are going to hear. The message this morning is exactly what you need to hear to secure victory in the fight you are involved in. It does not matter if your fight is financial or relational, emotional or physical you need to hear this.
Whatever your circumstances - the name of God we are going to look at this morning is one of the most powerful and life transforming names of God. As a matter of fact Satan will do anything in his power to stop you from receiving what God has for you this morning. This is one of those names of God that you cannot afford to not know.
Our series title is our theme for this year - ‘Revive Us’.
Psalm 9:10 "They that know Your name will put their trust in You."
Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the LORD is a strong tower. The righteous runs in to it and is safe."
Psalm 20:7 "Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; but we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God."
We are studying the names of God because we have learned that your walk with God will rise no higher than your knowledge of God.
it emanates from His person
it embodies a principle
it emphasizes a pattern
it embraces a problem
it empowers a performance
So far we have explored together at Yahweh Ra’ah - The Lord is Our Shepherd, Yahweh Tsid-Kenu - The Lord is Our Righteousness, Yahweh Jireh - The Lord is Our Provider and Yahweh Rapha - The Lord is our Healer.
This morning I want to explore with you Yahweh Nissi - The Lord is Our Banner.
Israel had been miraculously led out of Egypt and they were now in the wilderness. The world had stood in wide-mouthed wonder at the way God had delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh. Honey wafers had just fallen out of the sky, the food of heaven that God called ‘Manna.’ The children of Israel had observed the Sabbath. Their spirits are high, the devotion deep and their faith was primed. Let’s pick up that account as we find it in Exodus 17 and verse 6. While you are turning there - may I remind you that what we are going to read about is Israel’s first battle that they fought since they came out of Egypt. It is a critical battle and full if life lessons.
Just a few weeks prior to this they had discovered Yahweh Rapha, the God Who Heals - Who alone has the remedy for the sins of mankind, the comfort for man’s sorrows and the solution to man’s sufferings. They are about to encounter that God in a whole new way. When they discovered Yahweh Rapha was wild and exciting - but what they were about to discover would blow their minds.
Exodus 17:6-18 - Read - Pray.
1. Understanding Who Amalek Was?
Who is Amalek? Genesis (36:12) tells us that Amalek was the grandson of Esau. Who was Esau? Esau means ‘hairy’. By the way, this week I heard something interesting. Do you know what the difference between Big Foot and the average bachelor is? One is hairy, scary, dirty and messy . . . and the other has got big feet. Esau was Jacob’s brother - now watch this - it is important. Esau sold his birthright for a pot of lentils to his brother Jacob - and then lost his inheritance to Jacob. As a result of that Esau hated Jacob and vowed to kill him. Two character traits that are significant for us this morning -
- Esau did not value his birthright and inheritance.
- Esau hated Jacob and his descendants, the Israelite.
Now Esau passed that on to Eliphaz, his son, who passed that on to Amalek - his son and Esau’s grandson. Make a note of this - do you remember why Esau gave up his inheritance and his birthright? That’s right! For food - to satisfy, basic, immediate physical needs. He had a son and named him Eliphaz. Do you know what Eliphaz means? It means ‘My god is fine gold’. That’s right - he got that physical thing from his daddy.
2. The Spirit of Amalek
Let me tell you about the spirit of Amalek that vexes much of our western society and many in the church today. One of the most significant strategies of the enemy has been the attack on our Judeo-Christian heritage. It heated up in the 1960s, when a counter-cultural wave of rebellion surged through this nation and it continues to this day, attempting to undermine and remove from our culture every vestige of our Judeo-Christian heritage. History books have been rewritten, holidays renamed, school programs redesigned, morality redefined and God’s name removed from our public places. Some call it political correctness, others, pluralism or the separation of church and state, but God calls it the spirit of Amalek.
The spirit of Amalek is a demonic strategic move to get us to take our eyes off of God and put them on ourselves, to give more impetus to our desires than God’s commands, to satisfy our immediate physical needs at the expense of our eternal spiritual heritage. It vies for precedence, competes for priority, and has as its objective the throne of our hearts that rightfully belongs to God alone. In other words - the spirit of Amalek is the love of self as opposed to the love of God. Deuteronomy 25:16 described Amalek very simply and succinctly what it records these words - ". . . he did not fear God."
My friend, the Amalek spirit will keep you preoccupied with yourself, instead of being preoccupied with Christ because it is all about self - the wrong side of self.
You see my friend - when the Amalek spirit is in a place - it is pandemonium - that is all Hell breaks loose. Did you know that that is what pandemonium means? ‘Pan’ is Greek for ‘all’ and ‘demonium’ is Greek for ‘demon.’
That is why God sees the war against the spirit of Amalek in a different light to the other enemies of Israel. Exodus 17:16 "The Lord has sworn; the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation." God views this battle in a whole different light. It will not go away quickly. As a matter of fact, the battle you and I have with the flesh is this battle.
So then the question we have to ask ourselves is this: -
3. How Do We Overcome Amalek?
a. An Intentional Dependence Upon God
Not much is more clearly demonstrated in Scripture than the fact that God wants you to be victorious and will, if you will let Him fight for you, provide you with the victory.
Israel had to understand this as their victory waxed and waned depending on whether Moses hands were held up or not. Listen to me precious believer - there is no lasting victory apart from the victory of the Lord. We have got to find that place of utter dependance upon God. When temptations come, instead of handing our battles over to the Lord, we summon all our reserves to fight them ourselves. We believe, perhaps, that the Lord is somewhere near, and if worst comes to worst, He will step in to help us. But for the most part we feel that the victory is up to us. As a result of that our method of fighting normally consists in a series of confessions, repentings, resolutions and promises, weary struggles for victory, and then failing again - over and over. And each time we tell ourselves that now at last we will have the victory, that we will try harder, believe more, discipline ourselves better - and each time we fail even worse than before. This sometimes goes on for weeks, months, or even years, and no real or permanent deliverance ever comes.
Listen to me precious believer - the ebb and flow of battle does not rise on fall on our discipline, dedication or diligence - it rises and falls directly in correlation to our understanding that the Lord is our banner - the Lord is our triumph - the Lord is our victory.
Do you depend upon God or are you trying to win on your own? I don’t doubt your intentions or question your motivation - but if you are not truly depending on God I must challenge your strategy. The Bible knows of no other way to overcome. Is God your banner this morning?
b. A Supernatural Walking in the Spirit
May I suggest to you that the place of victory in Christ is found when you and I are learning to walk in the Spirit? Do you remember that Amalek was about the flesh? Watch this: -
Gal. 5:16 - "Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."
What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? It means to be submitted to, obedient to, empowered by, controlled by the Spirit of God. It means dependence upon Him. It means to know God as your Nissi - your banner.
What are you relying on for your victory? What are you trusting in for your strength? Who is your banner? Is it your ability to overcome, to be strong? It is your job or your ability to build wealth? Why is that important? If the God who is does not become your banner, the banner you have will become your god.
c. A Sense of Call to This World
Where the spirit of Amalek is about self, Moses understood that the nation of Israel was impacted by what he did. Friend, you are called by God to impact this world. Your behavior impacts those around you.
We hear a lot of talk about changing this law and supporting that resolution - and those things are good and have their place.
However, I believe that what is needed is for the church to feel the sorrow of the world once again. It is a sad old world. Jesus wept over Jerusalem - sheep without a shepherd. We will know the heart of Jesus when the church feels it neighbors hurts, and sheds tears for its neighbors pains.
God has called each one of us to touch this world with the warmth of His love and the light of His truth - you cannot do that while you are being defeated by Amalek.
Conclusion
Allow me to start wrapping this up for us this morning. Every one of us has an Amalek - a place where satan is waring against us - luring us to give up our birthright - to rely on the flesh, to take our eyes off of God and put them on ourselves - our needs - our wants - our satisfaction.
God has provided Himself as our victory. He is our source of victory, our strength for victory, our guarantee of victory and He is Himself our victory. He is our banner, our Yahweh Nissi.
Our banner must not be our ministries, our abilities, our programs, our methods, our strengths or our gifts. Our banner must be Yahweh Nissi.
Israel defeated Amalek in that their first ever battle because they fought under the banner of Yahweh Nissi. Do you know that their second ever battle was against Amalek again - but this time their efforts brought a disastrous defeat? What was the difference? They had just sinned, and instead of being repentant, they were arrogant. Moses warned them in Numbers 14:40-45 that they could not possess the promises of God while their hearts were hard. They did not listen - and they suffered a dreadful and a terrible defeat.
My friend, if God is your banner - if you know Yahweh Nissi - then that will not be your life story. God wants you to overcome - to be victorious - and has done everything you need to find that place of victory in Him.
Moses was so convinced of the need to wage war and find victory in the strength of God that he built an altar and called it Jehovah - Nissi. My friend, perhaps you need to build an altar in your heart this morning and call it Jehovah - Nissi. Allow Him to be your rallying point. Allow Him to be your victory.
If you find yourself discouraged in the midst of spiritual battles this morning, build an altar.
If you find yourself disheartened by your many failings and sins this morning, build an altar.
If you find yourself distracted by worldly lusts this morning, build an altar.
If you find yourself depressed because of the pressures and problems of life this morning, build an altar.
Build an altar - and alter of remembrance, and altar of sacrifice, and altar of celebration - build and altar - and call it Yahweh Nissi.
Build and alter - will you pray with me please.
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