The Man Who Could Not Let Go
2 Samuel 23:9-10 KJV And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: [10] He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand cleaved unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.
l. INTRODUCTION ¡V FORCED FUSION
-Forced Fusion is something that is produced under very intense heat or under very extreme scientific conditions.
ƒÀ Fuse ¡V To melt, to pour together.
ƒÀ Foundry ¡V A place where metal is melted and poured. It is in this place sometimes that metal is also shaped by very large cast and die processes.
-Comes from the Latin word fundere, to melt. Fusion is something that is melted together as a group or whole. Similar words for fusion: union, merging, alliance, coalescence, coalition. To fuse is to consolidate, link, combine, or to solidify.
ll. THE AREA OF THE TEXT
-We know very little of the full details of this battle that developed other than what we have read. It is cross-referenced in 1 Chronicles 11:12-14.
-These men who surrounded David were those who came into his life at one of his lowest ebbs. They were willing to go without the camp and bear the reproach and to contend earnestly. But this is the stuff that men are made out of. Frankly speaking, they were quite a crowd of degenerates and vermin. They were on the run from the Law and were a shiftless lot.
-What we can understand is that David found himself in the untenable position of being threatened by Israel¡¦s strongest enemy at that time. David had a number of enemies in his life and how he dealt with them all is another whole sermon (or series) in itself. But the facts are these:
ƒÀ We understand that it was only David and Eleazar.
ƒÀ We know they were overwhelmed by a great number of Philistines.
ƒÀ We can determine that all of the support had fled from the battle site.
-Other than that very little other details can be ascertained from it. However, when the fight cleared, the Philistines had been leveled and two men stood. David and Eleazor. However, the Bible brings in that a very interesting thing had happened to Eleazor. He had something that he could not let go of.
-His hand had fused to his sword. The battle had caused such a stir within that it affected what was without.
lll. THE LESSONS FROM THIS BATTLE
-From this fierce battle, there are some important lessons that we may learn in our spiritual quests and also in everyday life. Whether we are students, employees, parents, brothers, and so on, there are things we can apply from this Scriptural text to our lives.
-Someone may ask what does a battle that occurred 1000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ have to do with me in my present situation? I am glad you asked. . . . . . . . There is something on every page in our Bibles that we can apply to our lives right now.
A. The Power of One
-One of the first lessons we can gather from this text is the power of one. The power of one comes from a man who knows himself and knows his God. His is not turned with the masses nor the tide of public opinion. He does not solicit advice from every person around him. He seeks the will of God for his personal dilemmas.
-Whatever the rest of the crowd may do, Eleazor was willing to draw his sword and struggle on with or without any support. My responsibility to God in reality begins and ends with me. It is not the responsibility of others to dictate which direction that I go.
-The question sometimes arises in the mind concerning those of means and we may wonder why they do not use their efforts on the Kingdom. What we must understand is that we must take our own and use it. The same could be said for those who may have better talents and more time. However, it must come down to the fact that I must use my means, my talents, and my time for the construction of the Kingdom of God.
-It is far easier to criticize the work of others but it is far more profitable to invest yourself in changing your world with your own work.
G. K. Chesterton ¡V I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
-Is there a fool in the world that cannot criticize? No!! All of them do.
-My responsibility is not diminished because of the half-hearted efforts of others. Rather my responsibility ought to make me rise to the occasion.
ƒÀ Does worldliness grip others? Then I should be more spiritual.
ƒÀ Does spiritual lethargy and lukewarmness consume others? Then I should desire to be awake and full of passion and the Holy Ghost.
ƒÀ Does a looseness of life engulf others? Then I hold even more decidedly to the high calling of God.
ƒÀ Does a coarseness and unkindness take others? Then I should be more patient and loving toward others.
-For every failure in the Bible, there is a victor.
ƒÀ For every Demas, there is a Barnabas.
ƒÀ For every Judah, there is a Joseph.
ƒÀ For every Cain, there is an Abel.
ƒÀ For every Saul, there is a David.
ƒÀ For every Judas, there is a John.
-Set your heart and your life more passionately when you see others stumble. To stand alone because of the blemishes of others will help us to gather traits for a more noble and holy calling.
Colossians 3:2 KJV Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Matthew 16:23 KJV But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
-All that it takes is for ONE to find a determination to accomplish the task in this life. There is no absolute necessity in numbers. There is power in one.
-Remember this: 3/4’s of ministry is just showing up and another thing that I might add is that 20% will do 80% of the work. Don¡¦t take it personal, just roll up your sleeves and keep your sword in your hand.
-It sometimes appears as if there is a great minority in the battle. This same set of circumstances can be noted in every miracle that ever occurred.
-I am sure that most of you have heard this before:
Zechariah 4:6-10 KJV Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. [7] Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. [8] Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, [9] The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. [10] For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
-With that we understand that God can use just one man. Another example:
Ezekiel 37:1-10 KJV The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, [2] And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. [3] And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. [4] Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. [5] Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: [6] And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. [7] So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. [8] And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. [9] Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. [10] So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
B. Understand Personal Limitations
There was a cartoon that depicted a man getting his palm read by a fortune-teller. As she studied the man¡¦s palm, she said, ¡§You will be sad, miserable, and poor until you are thirty.¡¨ ¡§Gee,¡¨ the man replied hopefully, ¡§what happens when I¡¦m 30?¡¨ The fortune-teller replied, ¡§Then you will get used to it.¡¨
-Your reaction to the circumstances of your life has everything to do with your own well-being and success. Therefore, understand that there will be personal limitations in life that we must get used to and then there are those that have a remedy and we ought to do everything within our power to overcome those limitations.
-The second lesson we must learn is that there are personal limitations in our lives. The Bible says that his hand grew weary in 2 Samuel 23:10.
-It is not a matter of if you get tired and weary, it is a matter of when you get tired and weary. We can only give so much of ourselves.
-There are reasons that we get weary:
1. The Enemy.
-He got weary because of the massive amount of his enemies. Sometimes when the crowd is low, when the volume of the unconverted masses begins to prevail on our mind, we can get weary.
-Sometimes we think we will turn the world upside down or right-side up in six weeks or six months and suddenly it does not happen. We find that we are plodders and not racehorses. However, we are not to despise the day of small things because doing so will cause a deep weariness and fatigue to settle in on our lives.
-Doing something for God over the long haul is not nearly as easy as the dreamers may think.
2. Our Help.
-Sometimes we get weary because there is no one to help us. When we start looking for support it either is not there or very little of it is provided. That is why it is vastly important for us to do our diligence with whatever we may have.
-Again, remember that little cartoon about the man and fortune-teller. How we respond to our own weariness greatly matters!!!
-But there is great mercy involved. Eleazor only got weary after he had beaten the Philistines. He could afford to be weary now. The mercy of God comes upon us in that he gives us strength for the day, manna for the meal, and victory for the fight.
Deuteronomy 33:25 KJV Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
Psalms 138:3 KJV In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
Isaiah 40:29 KJV He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
1 Peter 5:10 KJV But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.
ƒÀ Jacob wrestled and did not feel the sinew shrinking until victory had graced him.
ƒÀ Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal before discouragement overcame him at the juniper tree.
-Remember that God glories in our weakness. He will not let that weakness show when it could endanger victory. He gives us strength to the point where strength is absolutely necessary.
C. The Importance of Intensity
-The third lesson we gain is the importance of intensity. He gained a grip on his weapon in the right way. This an imperative in this generation.
-Hold onto it with all of your might. The intensity of the battle marks the degree of grip on the weapon. This brings out the very point of this message. There are some people who cannot understand the intensity with which some people live out their lives.
-There are some things that I have in my hands that cannot be removed because there has been a forced fusion that has taken place. The pressure of the battle and the struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil, have so entrenched my heart, that I cannot let go of some things.
ƒÀ My relationship with God.
ƒÀ My hunger for the Word.
ƒÀ My quest for spiritual wisdom and understanding.
ƒÀ My devotion to the Word of God.
ƒÀ My longing for revival.
ƒÀ My desire for holiness.
ƒÀ My commitment to this church body.
ƒÀ My vision for the future.
-You must gain a hold on this thing. It cannot slip from you.
ƒÀ Your marriage.
ƒÀ Your family.
ƒÀ Your church.
ƒÀ Your responsibility.
ƒÀ Your desire.
ƒÀ Your vision.
ƒÀ Your destiny.
-When others say, ¡§You are going overboard, you are too intense, don¡¦t dream so big.¡¨ You are better off not even hearing those things.
lV. CONCLUSION ¡V SPIRITUAL GREATNESS
-There are different categories of spiritual greatness. Eleazor was a man who was elevated to the upper echelon.
-One should never settle for second or third rate. There ought to be something within that cries out to be in with the frontrunners.
Philippians 3:7-8 KJV But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. [8] Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Hebrews 3:14 KJV For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;
Matthew 13:44-46 KJV Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. [45] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: [46] Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
A. Marks of Spiritual Greatness
1. The perception of God¡¦s full thought.
-Eleazor had the ability to see something that others around him could not see.
2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
2. A sense of responsibility.
-Those who have a sense of responsibility are those who are self-starters and have some initiative.
3. Spiritual endurance.
-A man who is truly spiritually great does not want to live lives that are marked by unfinished things. Spiritual strength is a test of greatness. A mark of greatness is that stamina that goes beyond all the stimulus of a fresh challenge.
-When monotony settles in and all the romance has gone out of it, it is a grim business, but we continue to go at it.
-We continue to go after the gold, we pursue the Kingdom, because there we are men and women who have something we cannot let go of.
Philip Harrelson
barnabas14@yahoo.com
