Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church
February 2, 2003
With Raised Hands
Exo 17:5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
Exo 17:6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Exo 17:7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
Exo 17:8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
Exo 17:9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."
Exo 17:10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.
Exo 17:11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
Exo 17:12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
Exo 17:13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Exo 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."
Exo 17:15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
Exo 17:16 He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."
Last week while walking in the mall I came across Rev. and Sis Manuel. They were having one of those rare Saturday strolls young couples without children take, and they looked so happy. Holding hands.
Our babies and young folk are the church of today. We are the church of yesterday. Why? Because your and my relationship with the Lord is already molded and shaped into what it is going to be, by and large. For most of us there are few revelations left and few surprises and for a few of us we are just sort of hanging around the train station until time to board the last train out. And while there is a great deal to do we don’t have a lot of time left to do it.
Sister Manuel commented that since joining our family she has been able to look back and see church growth. And while a number of milestones have been reached, we have not reached a destination. She said that was ok because the church is better off for the journey.
Often times you have heard me say that God is not interested in your good ideas, or you doing something nice in His name. He is interested in you being obedient. But there are loads of folk who will continue to do what they think is nice to do for God. When you dial 911 you need help now. You need the police or fire department right now. The fact that one or the other comes to your door an hour later with fresh cookies just doesn’t cut it. God is saying move and we are saying wait Lord the cookies are almost done. The result is no matter how plain the vision God gives some people will ignore it and start to bake cookies. That’s why the Word is clear that everyone is not going to make this journey. More importantly, everybody can’t go. But to those who make the journey God promises something.
Exo 17:5 “The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.”
God just spoke to somebody through this passage of scripture. Something inside bore witness and you just knew God was speaking to you. And I also know this Word is going to hurt and/or confuse some other folk. Lets talk about this passage for a moment.
As a leader my responsibilities dictate that I wear many hats and assume many roles. Sometimes responsibilities require that I physically get behind whatever God has ordained and I help push. Sometimes the vision requires me to hit the sidelines and cheer folk and encourage them. Sometimes it requires me to wait on the Lord until I hear from Him regarding our next move. But, Contrary to popular belief, it is rare that my responsibilities put me out in front of the church to lead. Somebody wants to know why? Simple, because that is God’s place. Hear me well. And on the rare occasion that I am instructed to go out front I do so believing that God has my back.
Friendship we have entered a season where the Lord has put me out front. We are going into some deeper things of God and I am sorry to say, all of you can’t go. Fact is, we are literally going to loose some of you this year and you will be replaced by individuals who are sincerely dedicated to the work of God in this house. The Lord is saying, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the people who have demonstrated the ability to not only hear my voice, but who have set their hands to the gospel plow. And take with you the knowledge that I will bless your efforts, because you seek to honor me, and go.
The amazing thing is that there are a number of people who are smiling now because they hear me and understand me while others are asking themselves what is the Pastor talking about. Well you are about to be totally wasted with the next revelation.
Exo 17:6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
What elders? Those that were selected and went with Moses in the prior verse. Listen well! We are headed into a wilderness experience Friendship. Why is that important to mention Pastor? Because it is in the wilderness that we are able to be tested and tried, stretched and developed and most importantly, it is where we receive a fresh Word from the Lord. How do you know this from scripture Pastor?
The term Horeb is often used to refer to Sinai. Horeb means "waste" or "wilderness area.” Think of Horeb as an area of Sinai like a specific peak where God manifested Himself to Moses. God made many significant revelations of Himself and His purposes to His people at Sinai. So we are going into the wilderness, like Jesus, to be tempted and tried. And because God is faithful we will come through with a fresh anointing. Walk with me church.
Exo 17:7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
Put a star there by this passage because it is more deeply telling than any of us could have imagined. It is little doubt in my mind that over the centuries God has had to bring many Christians to this passage of scripture so they could see where He was taking them. It is our turn in 2003. Walk with me church. We need to get this.
For five years we have been trying to instill a single motivating theme into this congregation and that has been the concept of family. According to Webster a family is a group of folk who share a common ancestry. I’ll speak more on that in a moment. For several years I have asked you to behave like a family in love and demonstrate love for others. Fact is some people have been drawn to this church because they liked the family feel and the love we have started to share with one another. But I stand to tell you that God is requiring more of us in the coming years.
You see Friendship what we have been advocating is a return to the old church values when everybody in the church knew everybody else. A church where the pastor sat around waiting for members to call him and he would put on his cape and fly to the hospital or fly back to the office for counseling sessions and fly to a community meeting. He would be at your house for Sunday dinner. It was a time when we had programs and raised lots of money for the church and pastors anniversaries. And if we would tell the truth, just below this beautiful façade of the super pastor and dutiful members were a people who didn’t speak to one another.
There were people who lied on one another; stole and cheated. Preachers preached feel good ever Sunday so folk could shout and through it all, God was now where to be found. Yet there were those who were faithful to pray and hold up the blood stained banner and waited on the Lord in the midst of all the foolishness. They asked the question, “, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
And the Lord started to do a different and powerful thing in our midst and He turned left when we thought He should have turned right. And many didn’t like what God was doing because they could no longer have the spot light based on the money raised. This new thing meant you could no longer hold a position until you died. This new thing meant no one would tolerate you making a scene because you were no longer head of this or that.
This new thing messed up our little cliques and clubs. As the old started to die many were caught off guard and were afraid. They started to wonder outloud, "Is the LORD among us or not?" I stand to tell you not only is He among us, but He is firmly in control. Walk with me church.
The next verse reads, Exo 17:8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Exo 17:9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites.
Listen to me. Men you have heard me say many times in the past that a church is only as strong as the men in the church. God didn’t intend women to be the front line soldiers in battle. Women have the responsibility to care for that which men fight to protect. You didn’t hear me. Women are responsible for the nurturing of our progeny, our offspring, the fruit of our loins and the fruit of our labor.
The reason women have had to get on the front line and fight is because men would not. Somebody had to take control and she stepped out of her role because men would not step in to theirs.
Let me say this because some of us have had a worldly shaped attitude about some of this. Listen….some men will actually decide they will not fight because things didn’t turn out the way they wanted. Men don’t want to fight because your wife isn’t pretty, because your children are not smart or think you are the best father in the world. You will not fight because you don’t have the right job or because God didn’t make you 6 foot 4 and handsome. That’s from the world and not of God.
Let me share some truth. Men fight because God ordained men to fight and if you call yourself a Man of God then you need to pick up your weapon and swing. A real problem is that your fathers didn’t teach you to fight because many of them didn’t know how. Scripture says it best, “Hosea 4:6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
Don’t stop there because what God says next is even more important.
"Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.”
So you see men it rests on you and me. This is not just about us but about our future generations. Didn’t I tell you Webster defined a family as a group of people who share a common ancestry. If we are to be called “sons of God”; if we are to be a holy priesthood, each one of us must acknowledge that as born again children of God we are part of the same family. As family members we have a number of responsibilities and most have nothing to do with us. Our biggest responsibility is to our children and our children’s children. We are responsible for them spiritually as well as physically.
But lets put something in order because some guys think God made them the boss. He didn’t make you boss he made you responsible. God gave us women as help mates not servants. She is our equal in God’s eyes as she takes care of her responsibilities before God. Men we can not take responsibility for those things God gave to women and women you can not take responsibility for that which God gave men. God made His decision regarding who would receive the blessings for the family and the generations. Because we are responsible before God our job is to be the servant of all and we can only fulfill that role by walking closely with our God. Men the most powerful ability God ever gave man was prayer and the question is how many men really know how to pray for their families, their church and community? In order to be all that God has commanded we need to grow past our obligations to our immediate family and realize that our family is so much more.
Moses said, “Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."
Exo 17:10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.
Exo 17:11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
Exo 17:12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
Exo 17:13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
What is the Lord telling us? Men God is saying there is a war going on and you need to know that no Pastor can fight by himself. He is saying that some of you will have to fight while some of you will have to come along side your Pastor and hold up his arms. God has a mighty work for Pastors and many men don’t understand their role in spiritual warfare.
Churches are without real spiritual power because men are busy trying to exercise rule over their pastors. The power of God is missing from many houses because folk are sitting back telling the Pastor to do it all while they pick and choose what they will or will not support. God does not get the glory because men who are supposed to be called by His name, have refused to humble themselves and serve another. They refuse even though the man has come in the name of the Lord. There are men seated in pews all over America who will not hold up the pastor’s arms because they really don’t want a victory to happen. If the battle is won people might think of the Pastor as a mighty man of God. People might start believing this man is some how special and set apart. But I challenge you to speak truth to your self. The truth that many men have come into God’s house with baggage they refuse to let go of. You can’t help another man win when you secretly think of yourself as a loser. Don’t leave me now.
Brothers I stand to tell you none of you are losers. That is a lie from the pit of hell. No man that calls God Father and Jesus Lord, is a loser. God will not waste His time with a loser. Well Pastor I don’t have enough money to live a certain way? That doesn’t make you a loser. The way you dress or the car you drive. The house you live in or the education you possess are all worldly standards for winners or losers and have nothing to do with the Godly standards for awesome men of God.
Listen to me. We have the responsibility before God to be the men He called us to be. In the story of Moses is the story of Joshua. Had Joshua not been there to support Moses you would never have heard of a Joshua. How can I say that with certainty? Because there would never have been a story of Jesus had He not first serve the Father. Jesus himself told you he didn’t speak his own words but what the Father told him to say. The bible tells us over and over that God has no use for the proud. Men filled with themselves are unable to serve the requirements of another. And you really need to know that if you can not serve another in the name of the Lord, you will never fully be master of your own. I didn’t make the rules that’s the way God established this thing. We are running around thinking we have choices and we don’t. We are fooling around in the church like we fool around in our homes and nothing is getting done unless or until our wives, mothers and/or daughters make it their business and that is wrong in the sight of God. You are trying to work in the church the way you work at home, as little as possible. God is requiring us to be more than a family church.
But pastor we can count the fact that five to ten families make up the church so how can we be anything but a family church? The answer is simple. We must mature spiritually and follow the leading of God into what He will have us become. And God is saying to us in 2003 that we can no longer promote family values in the church. We must start to teach, preach and understand kingdom values. Some body is saying, “I have heard that before.” Yes, but do you understand?
I am almost finished and I am going to sit down but you need to really hear this. Kingdom means that every man is in his rightful place before the Lord and every women is in her rightful place. Kingdom means that when a brother or sister comes with loving correction you don’t deal with them like they are family and think it ok to swell up but allow the Spirit of God to work through you.
It means I can tell you that your spiritual slip is hanging without you getting angry and telling me that my fly is open. Kingdom values mean that I will do whatever I can to insure you win in this world. I will do it because I am your brother or sister in Christ. The question I have for you is can you grow spiritually to the point that you loose sight of your personal goals and objectives, wants, likes or dislikes, long enough to care more about other people?
God doesn’t often say to us, Write this down! But every now and then God will say, “ what I am about to tell you is so important that I don’t want you to forget, so write it down.” He is saying remember. He means for us to tell our children. He means long after you’re gone if you have been faithful to remember and tell your children I will cause something to happen that will continue to bless your off spring generation after generation.
Exo 17:13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Why? Because men came along side Moses and held up his arms.
Exo 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."
Exo 17:15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
Exo 17:16 He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."
Men when we have come together maturing in the faith and fight together, we will rid our families, churches, and communities of the spiritual enemies in our midst. Every man and every women in their proper place before God. What proper place? It means being in the proper church. Not the one you chose but the one God ordained for you. Being in our proper place means exercising our gifts as God has purposed in our lives. It means doing battle for the kingdom of God through the exercise of our gifts. What gifts pastor?
Do you remember, “if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
Rom 12:7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;
Rom 12:8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Rom 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Rom 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
Rom 12:11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
Rom 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
Rom 12:13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Rom 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rom 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Rom 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
Rom 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Rom 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."
Rom 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Who Friendship becomes over the next 100 years is dependent on each one of us today. Let us fight to rid the camp of spiritual foes by allowing God to use us in our gifting so that our God will be at war against our enemies on behalf of our children and our children’s children. Why, because of our obedience today. AMEN!
God Bless you.
