2010.05.30.Sermon.Keeping the Faith. THE BATTLE PLAN
William Akehurst, BA
HWSC
Packed with Peanuts, Snickers Satisfies - Packed with God’s Word, This study and the revelation of what Psalm 144:1 represents, really satisfies.
THE BATTLE PLAN
Key Verses
Psalm 144:1-15
Psalm 144:1 Key Thought
“Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:“
What is our stance in a battle in which the victory is already won? The war continues to rage, but we do not fight flesh and blood, the battlefield is a spiritual arena.
So, we cannot use our hands and fingers in a physical sense.
But what is the symbolic nature of putting your hands and fingers together?
It is symbolic of the hands and fingers folded in prayer.
The battle that rages is fought by prayer!
1 Timothy 6:12
Jude 1:3
Ephesians 6:12-13
James 5:13-20
Mark 16:15
1 Timothy 2:1-3
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
1 Peter 3:12
James 5:16
1 Corinthians 15:56-58
Psalm 98:1
1 John 5:3-5
There is a war going on out there that rages on. We see it every day
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
Jude 1:3 [Contend for the Faith] Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Psalm 144:1-15
Praises to My Deliverer
1Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
2My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
Significance in the Eyes of the LORD
3LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
4Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
The Plea in a world of strangers
5Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
7Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
8Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
A New Song and Prayer
9I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
10It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
11Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
The Blessings Sought After
12That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
13That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:
14That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
Our Benefit
15Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.
The war that rages is not the one that is seen, but rather unseen. Though the victory is one, we must still wear the armor, we must still fight the battle.
Ephesians 6:12-13
12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
James 5:13-20 (King James Version)
13Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
OUTLINE OF THE BATTLE PLAN
It is a battle. One between good and evil. Not just man against man, but that of the unseen.
THE BATTLE PLAN = TO SAVE THE LOST
Mark 16:15 Jesus Said
15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
1 Timothy 2
1I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
THE WEAPON = GOD’S WORD, THE GOSPEL
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (King James Version)
3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
THE ASSAULT STANCE = HANDS AND FINGERS FOLDED=PRAYER
Our Assault Stance – Hands and Fingers that PRAY
Psalm 144:1 “Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:“
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
THE BATTLE CRY = THANKS AND PRAISE TO OUR GOD
1 Corinthians 15:56-58
57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
THE VICTORY = ALREADY WON IN CHRIST
Psalm 98:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
1 John 5:3-5
3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
4For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
WE HAVE OUR BATTLE PLAN
WE HAVE OUR BATTLE ORDERS
DO YOU HAVE A BATTLE BUDDY?
DO YOU HAVE A PRAYER BUDDY?
I challenge you today to not only make it a habit to pray for one another, but to pray WITH one another.
Get yourself a prayer buddy.
