Me and God
Introduction:
When my nephew Sam stays the weekend with my parents he gets to come to church. On those Sunday mornings, he will come into my office and we will listen to music sometimes. On a recent Sunday morning, he came into the office and shared one of his favorite songs with me.
Me and God by Josh Turner
There ain't nothing that can't be done By me and GodAin't nobody come in between me and God One day we'll live together Where the angels trod Me and God
Early in the morning talking it and GodLate at night talking it over Me and GodYou could say we're like two peas in a pod Me and God
He's my fatherHe's my friendThe beginningAnd the endHe rules the worldWith a staff and rodWe're a teamMe and God
I am weak, and he is strongMe and GodHe forgives me when I'm wrongMe and GodHe's the one I lean onWhen…
Me and God
1 Samuel 14:6-7
6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.
7 And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
1 Samuel 14:23
23 So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Bethaven.
Israel was in a place
1. We Need A Sanctified Imagination
Jonathan realized that God could do more than he could imagine and God could do it using many or a few.
God does not need the greatest army, the greatest preacher, the greatest singer, the greatest anything. He is the one who gave them their greatness, their ability, and their talent. He can and does use them, and God loves the beautiful and the great, but if He so chooses he can use the weakest of things and the least of things.
Far too often we place God in a box through our lack of imagination. We think that we have God figured out. We think that we have life figured out. Jesus did not do many mighty works in His hometown because of their lack of faith (Matthew 13:58). Make no mistake, He could have healed them all. He could have delivered them all, but they knew too much. They had watched Him grow up. They knew His family. Even when they saw His mighty works and heard His wisdom all they could say was, "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't Mary His mom? Don't we know all of His brothers and sisters?" (Matthew 13:53-58).
They needed a sanctified imagination--an imagination baptized with the Spirit of God, an imagination that flows out of a renewed mind.
Paul prayed for the Ephesians:
Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20 NIV
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."
"I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done." (Henry Ford)
Genesis 11:6
And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Sanctified imagination. Jesus said that anything was possible to the person who believes.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” (Henry Ford)
God chose Abraham because old Abe was childlike enough to believe that what God promised, He was able to perform. Faith is believing that God can and will do what He has promised. Faith is believing that God wants me to be involved in what He is doing.
When Peter saw Jesus walking on the waves, He cried out, "Lord, if it is you then invite me to come to you on the waves!" Jesus replied, "It is Me, come on!"
The woman with the issue of blood said within herself, "If I can just touch the hem of His garment, I will be made whole!" And she was not disappointed. Oh, she had a sanctified imagination.
Sometimes, whether you think God will or will not, you're right!
Jonathan said, "these Philistines are not in covenant with Yahweh, we are." By calling them uncircumcised, he is referring to the fact that the Philistines had a different God than the Israelites. The Philistines seem to have been a seafaring people who originally came from Greece. They build five different coastal cities in Canaan--Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, Ekron, and Gaza. Their god was Dagon. They believed that it was he who gave them military victory and protected their harvests. During the times of the judges, they were Israel's mortal enemy. Samson fought them. Saul fought them. David fought their champion and led Israel in great victory over them. The Philistines got a taste of the power of Israel's God earlier in the book of Judges when they brought Israel's defeated champion, Samson, into the house of Dagon and it ended up being a collapsed building. They had seen Samson beat them singlehandedly a and again. Samson's fear was that he would die at the hands of the uncircumcised. Saul had the same fear. They did not want to die at the hands of those who were not in covenant with Yahweh. Archaeological evidence seems to indicate that the Philistines did practice circumcision, but it did not mean the same thing that it meant to Israel. For Israel, circumcision was a God-given symbol that they were in covenant with Yahweh.
Paul says that the equivalent symbol of the covenant in the NT is water baptism in Jesus's Name (Colossians 2:11).
We need to pray that God will help us to let go of our thoughts and be open to what He would desire to do. He can! God may work for us. Jonathan said, "We can't just sit here. Let's do something!" God can work with that.
In Mark 9:22-23, the man said to Jesus, "If you can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us." If you have a contemporary English translation you will notice a difference. The KJV renders 9:23, "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." Other translations have something like, “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
Jonathan believed God could and ultimately God did!
I'm talking to someone tonight who needs to throw caution to the wind! You need to take a step of faith! You need to allow the Spirit of God to sanctify your imagination!
2. We Need One Another
Jonathan was not alone. There are quite a few armorbearers in Scripture. We do not know the young man's name who was with Jonathan.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Life is not ALL warfare, but often much of it is. We do not fight Philistines but we wrestle against principalites and powers and spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Our opponents are the world, the flesh, and the devil.
We often look to our opponents like Israel must have looked to the Philistines. Israel's army had dwindled down to only 600 fighting men against the Philistine's thousands.
But Jonathan was not alone. He had a friend. He had an armorbearer.
Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God. He is not talking to us individually, but corporately. We put the armor on together. We fight together.
You need at least one good friend. You need a friend who is willing to fight alongside you.
Not everyone will understand your sanctified imagination. Not everyone will think you can do what God has placed in your heart to do, but you need that one friend. There is power in agreement. If one can cause a thousand to flee, then two can cause ten thousand. If two of you shall agree as touching anything. There is power in believing together!
I am with thee according to thy heart! These are his only lines in the entire book. You need a spiritual friendship where you can bounce things off of another and they encourage you! Soemtimes those relationships are those where we are mentoring someone else. Sometimes those relationships are those where someone is leading us. At other times they are lifelong peers that know us.
You need a spiritual friend who knows you. My heart is with you. I don't take advice often from those who do not know me. Jonathan's armorbearer knew him. They fought together. They got scuffed up together. They talked about things.
Moses had Joshua. Elijah had Elisha. Priscilla had Aquilla. Peter had John. Barnanbas had Saul. Paul had Silas. Paul had Timothy. We need one another.
This is why it is so vital to attend worship regularly. This is why it is so vital to talk to your friend on a regular basis.
When it come to a pinch. And that is where Jonathan and his nameless friend were. They were between a rock and a hard place, literally and metaphorically. But, they had one another to encourage one another! Oh, sure there are moments when we must encourage ourselves, but in the Christian walk that should be the exception and not the rule.
When Elijah left his servant and ran out into the wilderness, it was in his isolation that he began to give up.
3. We Need to Speak Faith and Let Our Feet Follow
My scripture reference
Jonathan's words sound a lot like Gideon's fleece. He says, we will let the enemy see us and if they tell us to stay where we are we will not engage them. But, if they tell us to come to them, then it will be a sign that the LORD has delivered them into our hands.
As they encouraged one another they both revealed themselves to the enemy! "Here we are!"
They still looked weak and frail to the enemy. The Philistines said, "Look the Hebrews are coming out of the holes they have been hiding in."
There may have been more than Israel there. There may also have been mercenaries there who would fight for hire. There was a lot of indecision, a lot of fear. In the middle of it, Jonathan and his armorbearer just showed who they were.
Soemthing we need to do today is just be who we are. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Does someone light a candle and place it under a basket? No, Jesus said, they place it on a candlestick and place it in the middle of the room so everyone can see. Be who God has made you! Be who God has made you together and speak faith.
When the Philistines spoke up and said to Jonathan, "Come up here and we will show you something!" Jonathan spoke to his armorbearer and said, that's my confirmation! Let's go!
There is a time and a place to use caution. We should not foolishly rush into every fight. That is not what Jonathan does here.
He speaks words of faith, acknowledging God in all of his ways, and then he moves toward what he is believing God for. As he moves in the direction of the battle,he is listening for God's confirmation. When he hears it, he moves more quickly.
If God has spoken to you about something, move towards it, and when he begins confirming it, go for it!
Hearing the Philistines words encouraged Jonathan, much like the way Gideon was encouraged when he heard the Midianite soldiers telling the story of the barley cake dream and saying that the LORD had delivered Midian unto the Sword of the LORD and of Gideon.
God can use you in ways that you cannot imagine if you will move.
Paul said,
1 Corinthians 15:3-11
3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Paul is saying, "I am not doing any of this on my own. It's God's Grace that is really doing all the work. But, what I know about God's grace is that it is sufficient. It is abundant. And God can use all these other people, and God can use me!" I'm going to let Him use me to the max!
Romans 11:13, "I magnify my ministry." I like this thing God has me doing. I'm going to speak faith and I'm going to put some feet on it!
They overcame the enemy. It was beyond imagination. It looked uncomfortable the way they had to climb up to the enemy, but they went and then they slew 20 men in a small place. This really disturbed the Philistines. God sent His fear among them. Eventually, they were destroying one another. It was a bigger victory than Jonathan and his armorbearer could have wrought. Eventually, Saul and Israel joined the battle. The mercenaries and the rest of Israel came out to the battle.
If you will speak faith and put feet on your prayers, there is no telling who you might encourage to go forward in their faith! Others will know they can if you do!
Conclusion and exhortation:
If God be for us, who can be against us. God is with us!
