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Transcript

"When the Battle Belongs to the Lord" by Neal Pollard · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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  The books of Chronicles are a little different from the Kings because they
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  are dedicated to focusing on the southern kingdom
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  after the kingdom divides, and that's the kingdom of Judah.
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  And it focuses on their history, and that's important because out
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  of their descendants would come the Messiah. And so there's a focused history
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  on the ones that God worked through to bring us our Savior.
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  But you might wonder why when you look in 1 Chronicles 5:18-22,
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  that God spends so much time looking at this one battle
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  that was fought during the reign of King Saul, the first king of Israel.
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  It involved, as you'll notice, the tribes of Gad and Reuben and the
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  half-tribe of Manasseh. They were going into battle and they
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  were fighting to take the possession that God had promised them. We read that
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  in verse 18. And the people who were living in that land
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  turned out to be those that are identified for us as the Hagrites
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  and those who are of Jether and Napish and Nodab.
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  Many people who believe that they look— when they look at the Hagrites,
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  think that they are descended from Hagar and
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  Ishmael. When we read about this battle, it seems very clear
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  that the Israelites, they rout, they win.
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  They win in terms of spoil and in terms of casualties,
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  verse 21 and verse 22. We see
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  that they fought a battle in order to win an inheritance that God had promised
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  to give them, and they are able to stay there until the exile many
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  hundreds of years later. You know, the Bible describes our
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  life, as we saw even this morning, in a different way, as a
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  battle. It is not a battle according to the flesh,
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  and yet it is still intense in its nature. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5,
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  Paul calls it fighting the good fight of faith. 1 Timothy 1:12,
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  in verse 18. We are fighting against the world and
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  a spiritual darkness in heavenly places, and so God
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  supplies us with his armor. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10
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  through verse 18. Our— sometimes our foe seems to
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  make us so we feel overwhelmed and overmatched, but I see
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  some statements that are made in 1 Chronicles 5:18-22
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  that can help us when we go into our battles
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  this week. First of all, we see as we look at this
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  text that we should cry out to God for
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  help. Call out to God for help.
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  We see that they do this very thing. They call out to God, and it
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  is implied that their help comes from above.
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  So often we are tempted to fight according to the world's rules, and what God
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  reminds us is that He wants us to call to him, and he
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  promises that when we call to him, he will answer us.
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  Matthew 7 and verse 7 is a powerful promise for somebody
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  who's not in the body of Christ, but it's also a powerful promise for you
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  and me. Ask and it shall be given unto you.
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  Matthew chapter 7 and verse 7.
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  And God gives graciously,
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  generously, and gently. In James
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  1:5, he says, if any of you lacks
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  wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally,
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  and it shall be given unto him. He doesn't upbraid. He doesn't
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  admonish. He spells the difference in the battles
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  that we will face. And so, we are told to call out
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  to him for help. But then second,
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  as we look at this text, we see that we should cry out to God
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  in the midst of the battle. When we see this fight
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  that's going on, we realize that if we are engaged, we're going to be in
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  a spiritual battle. I love the way that Paul says it to the
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  church at Philippi. He says, be anxious for
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  nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
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  let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God that passes
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  all understanding shall guard your hearts and your mind in Christ
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  Jesus. Philippians 4, verse 6 and verse 7.
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  After telling us about that armor that he has supplied us with to
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  help us in the battle, and just look at each of the pieces that make
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  it up in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 through verse 16, he says that
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  be engaged in petition and prayer at all times.
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  But then third, as we look in this text, we will see that God
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  answers those who put their trust in him.
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  One of the most beautiful aspects of what takes place in 1 Chronicles chapter
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  5 is of what happens when an army united bows their knee
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  in prayer asking for God's help.
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  I have no idea what the current statistics are in our U.S.
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  armed forces, but I know that there are a great many men and women of
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  faith who fight in the different branches of the service. And isn't it a beautiful
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  thought to think of the men and women who fight for our freedom who
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  are on their knees in prayer to God.
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  But better than that is the thought of those who make up God's
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  holy nation, 1 Peter 2:9, as they bow their
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  knees and their hearts to God for the battle and the victory that
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  we are seeking. One of the most beautiful pictures
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  in Revelation is in Revelation 8 where the Bible describes those who
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  are bringing their prayers to God, the saints,
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  and what God does with those prayers prayers that come before his throne.
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  He says they're like sweet-smelling incense.
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  To know that God values our prayers that much when
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  we find ourselves in the midst of our spiritual battles,
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  to know that God answers the prayers of those who trust in him.
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  And then you'll notice at the very end of that text another important
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  principle for us, and that, that is that the war is
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  of God. To know we sometimes sing, I don't think we
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  sang it tonight, but the battle belongs to the Lord. To know
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  that the victory is assured. We couldn't win without him, and yet with him,
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  1 John 4:4 and 1 John 5:4, through him
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  we are proclaimed to be the victors. To know that he
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  is in control, that he's going to win, but there's a reminder that there are
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  some battles that are not honorable and that we must avoid.
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  We need to avoid the battle of speculations,
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  2 Timothy 2:23. We need to avoid the battles
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  of embroiling ourselves in controversy, Titus 3:9,
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  and to avoid the battles that are fought to fulfill the desires of our
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  flesh, James 4:1, and yet to
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  realize that God wins the battle and that we,
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  if we're on the winning side, will join him.
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  You know, sometimes we also sing, faith is the victory
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  that overcomes the world. The church has some Hagrites
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  to fight. You and I have some Hagrites to fight
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  in our own individual lives. God grants the victory to
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  those who cry out to him for help,
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  to those who realize that God gives the answer to those who trust
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  in him, and the war is of God, and we
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  will overcome through him. Faith is the victory that
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  overcomes the world, 1 John 5:4. But what kind of faith?
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  James says it's a faith that obeys, not just a faith that acknowledges,
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  but a faith that does what God says. And a faith that does what God
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  says does what's necessary to get into the body of Christ.
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  Someone who has never had their sins washed away according to Scripture
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  acts in faith, repents of sins, Acts 2:38,
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  confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, Romans 10:10, and is
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  baptized to have those sins washed away, Acts 22:16.
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  And as children of God, we continue to walk in the light, and his blood
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  cleanses us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:7 and
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  9. And when we stumble and fall short, we can come confessing
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  those faults, James 5:16, knowing that God desires
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  to forgive us. He is faithful and just to do so.
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  And so perhaps it is tonight that you find yourself engaging in a war
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  that you are losing because you have not petitioned God's help.
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  But we have that opportunity to do that as we go out this week to
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  remember those who fought the Hagrites and to realize that our
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  battle is won through Jesus Christ. If you need
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  to respond to this invitation, we would urge you to come right now as we
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  stand and sing.