Who Is Fighting Your Battles

Thank you, Brother Cornelius. I think if we all don't mind, maybe just we'll rise and then we'll have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this beautiful day again that you've given us, Lord.

And Lord, I just pray that you'd be with us all. And Lord, I pray that you would use me here just like you did Cornelius, just to share, Lord. Just to share what you want us to share.

Father, just use me as a vessel, Lord, and I pray and just ask that you'd be with each one here. And thank you again, Lord, for everything you've done for us. Through God be the glory, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Well, I too want to just greet you all and though there are many that are absent, there's still a lot of people here. That's a good thing. And I too want to just welcome visitors, just thank you for coming out.

As I was thinking, pondering what to share, it didn't take very long for something to fall in place. And it's very similar to what Cornelius shared. What I, what God put on my heart is all a result of having rest in Christ.

And without that, whatever I want to share, it just will not work. So one of the big, maybe a few of the things I really want to point out today is who is fighting your battles? Is it you, or is it God? And are you okay if you're outnumbered? Oftentimes, we probably feel that way. We're extremely outnumbered.

And that's fine. So that's what we want to look in today, a little bit here, and it won't be long. But may God help me here to to bring this out clearly.

So all right, so if you want, let's turn to Judges 7. Judges 7, and I'll read 1 to 8. Then Jeroboam, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Herod. And again, excuse me, I don't pronounce some of these words right. I'm just going to try my best, okay? I always struggle with this a little bit.

So, but yeah, bear with me. So that the host of the Middlenites were on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. And the Lord said unto Gideon, the people that are with thee are too many for me to give to the Middlenites and to their hands, lest Israel want themselves against me, and saying, My own hand has saved me.

Now, therefore, go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from the Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. So that got reduced really quickly.

So, yes, there were a lot of people afraid. And I would say a lot of people probably doubted. But it was the Lord's plan to reduce that number.

And the Lord said unto Gideon, the people are yet too many. Bring them down into the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee.

And of the whomsoever I say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people into the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise, every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink, and the manner of them that lappeth, putting their hands to their mouth, were three hundred men.

But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lappeth will I save you, and deliver the Mennonites into thine hand, and let all the other people go, every man unto his place. So there we go.

We have a reduction from over 22,000 out of now what, 300? And not just anyone would understand this. But if you're a child of God, it makes perfect sense. Perfect sense.

Because really, who's fighting? Right? You can defeat the enemies without even fighting. God can cause a confusion in them, and they'll kill themselves, each other, the enemies. It's just faith.

That's all he wants from us. So if we go to verse 12, let's look at the enemies. Let's look at the multitude here.

And the Mennonites, and Amalekites, and all the children of the east lay along the valley like grasshoppers for the multitude. And their camels were without number, as they stand by the seaside for multitude. So, that's a lot.

That just sounds like a lot of people. 300 men? Okay, let's read 16 to 22. The battle and the confusion.

And he divided the 300 men into the companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand with empty pitchers, lamps within the pitchers. And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that as I do, so shall you do.

When I blow with a trumpet, and I, all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp. And say, the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came until the outside of the camp, in the beginning of the middle watch.

And they had put newly set the watch, and they blew the trumpets, and break the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and break the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hand, and the trumpets in their right hand, to blow with all. And they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.

And they stood every man in his place round about the camp. And all the hosts ran, and cried, and fled. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the hosts.

And the hosts fled to Bathsheetah, and Zareth, and to the border of Abel, Meholah, and to Tabith. So, victory, really quick. It took faith, and God has his way for everyone to overcome.

Battles. Many battles are fought differently. But again, and again, God will prove himself faithful.

That's the blessing. Not every battle is the same. So this morning, I'm going to ask, do you feel outnumbered? Do you feel outnumbered this morning? And I'm going to ask you, who's fighting your battles? Who's fighting our battles, as a church? Does the battle belong to the church, or are you fighting your battles alone? How do you deal with the battles? Whatever it may be.

When you're overwhelmed, are you like Jehoshaphat? When he feared, he set himself up to seek the Lord, and proclaim the fast throughout all Judah. Let's go to 2nd Chronicles. 2nd Chronicles, chapter 20, and we'll read 1 to 7. This is, in a way, very similar to the Battle of Gideon there.

So, go 2nd Chronicles 20, 1 to 7. And it came to pass, after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee, from beyond the sea, on the side of Syria. And behold, they be Hazazen, Tamar, which is Angedi.

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, and asked help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord.

This is very key right here. They are seeking the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah, and Jerusalem, and the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said, O Lord God of our fathers, are not thou the God in heaven? And rulest not thou over all kingdoms of the of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Are not thou our God, who did strive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gave us it to the seed of Abraham, thy friend forever? So, he knew where to turn.

There was going to be a battle, and to win this battle, there's only one. God's comfort, if we go to verse 15 to 19 there. And he said, Hearken ye all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat.

This the Lord unto you. Be not afraid, nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle.

So, here he even tells them. You don't even need to fight. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.

Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.

And the Levites of the children of Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up and praised the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high. What motivation, what security. Brother Cornelius was talking about rest, resting in God, and Peter's story, in prison there.

Well, here we have a whole camp that could potentially be get slaughtered at any time, and yet they're rejoicing in the Lord. Verse 20 to 23 talks about the victory, also the confusion amongst enemies. If I understand it right, the same thing happens there.

They turn the sword to each other. This is a very beautiful example that with the battles that we face here, that we don't fight them. We are not designed to fight battles.

It's all God, and battles, we'll go over that a little bit later here. That could be so many things. God is so good.

So have you ever felt like the odds are just against you? The odds. I hear that often. The odds are just against me.

What does that even mean? So when Samson found himself facing a thousand men with only a jawbone of a donkey in his hand, just a jawbone, facing a thousand men, he knew all too well that the odds were against him. At that point, I think he had reason to say, oh, the odds are a little against me here, right? But he had strength, and it wasn't Samson's strength. God gave him the strength.

I think Samson knew that. Well, the strength came from God, and he also knew that the battle just belonged to God. There you can say was a physical battle.

On this other account we just went over, there wasn't even a physical battle. So battles are different, but in the end, God wins. No matter what.

Maybe you're feeling weak. Maybe you're too young for these battles. A lot of the young people just left.

There's still some here. Don't ever think that. Hardships come in all ages.

Something that seems a little more real once you have a family, and as you know, depending on the circumstance. Not everyone has the same battle. Hardships are real.

You don't need the physical strength like Samson did to overcome battles. So here you are, you feel weak, you feel young. All of a sudden you got a giant in front of you, about 10 feet.

He's a champion in battle, this giant. Six cubits, almost 10 feet, if I understand that right as well, and he's holding a spear, weighing, the head of the spear weighing about 600 shekels of iron. About 17 pounds.

That's a heavy piece of iron of a spear. And that's going to go flying. And here you are, you're young.

You're exhausted, you're weak, and here you go, you got this giant in front of you. And this giant's crying. Where are you? He's looking for you.

Philip, where are you? Dave, this giant's bigger than you. All right, he's huge. Kloos, where are you? You ever have that, where this giant's in front of you and you got challenges? Yeah, you're tired.

1st Samuel 17. So go, 1st Samuel 17, let's read 38 to 51. This battle belongs to God, back in those days, and just as importantly, today.

And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head. Also armed him with a coat of mail, and David girded his sword upon his armor, and he was saved to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them, and David put them off him.

So you're young, and you're weaker, and you can lay off that armor. With God you can, because David knew that it's not the armor that's going to save him. And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag, which he had, even a scrip.

And his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. And the Philistine came on, and drew near unto David, and the man that bare the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, and rooty, and of fair countenance.

And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said unto David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. And now it's David's turn.

The giants has cursed David and his gods, but now it's David's turn. Then David said to the Philistine, This is David that serves the true God, speaking now. David said to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with the sword, and with a spear, and with the shield.

But I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, a God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hands, and I will smite thee, and I will take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcass of the hosts of the Philistine this day unto the fowls of the air, and unto the wild beasts of the earth. That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and all his assembly shall know that the Lord saith not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you unto our hands.

And it came to pass when the Philistine arose, I'm assuming this really angered him, and he came and drew nigh and meet David, and David hosted and ran toward, hasted and ran toward the arm, towards the army to meet the Philistine, and David put his hand in the bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smoked the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling, and with the stone, and smoked the Philistine, and slew him. But there was no sword in the hand of David.

Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith, and when the Philistine saw their champion was dead, they fled. It's the Lord's battle. Every battle is a Lord's battle, whether if it's in your mind, you're battling something in your mind, maybe there's something that you want victory over, maybe there's offenses, bitterness, every single battle is a Lord's battle, and the only way to have victory over that battle is to do exactly what David there, put down the sword, put down everything, say, God, it's you.

Goliath, that giant today is no longer a champion. He's dead. I don't know how big that stone was, but it put him down, and there wasn't a stone by the way, it was just God.

Have you ever been falsely accused? What about misunderstood? Maybe not falsely accused, but hated for standing up for God, and all of a sudden, you're surrounded by lions, just like Daniel. In a den with lions, and a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den. In this situation, Daniel didn't have anything on him, I don't believe, no weapons.

At this point, Daniel knew this situation, this battle, is also the Lord's. I don't think there was much of a battle in there. God just sent an angel to shut the mouth of the lion, held the mouth shut.

It wasn't a big battle. The creatures knew God is in control. Something that looks so vicious, and severe, how is this ever going to work? And yet, this battle with the lions was nothing for God.

He just sent an angel, and kept the mouths closed. There is nothing that's so big, and scary, even vicious, that scares God. And if he's fighting our battles, what are we afraid of? What are we holding on to? Unlike the battles of David, Samson, and Gideon, and all those others that we just talked about.

And by the way, there's a lot more people out there, Peter being one, that had faith in God. Our battles today, here, I believe, are different in some ways. And parts of the other parts of the world, maybe those battles are probably more real there, the ones that we just talked about.

But a battle is still a battle. And from my own experience, and I don't know what all your experiences are, all the fights that you had, or probably still are battling. It could be a battle of discouragement.

It could be a battle of hurting. Past hurts. Maybe you're battling to overcome bitterness, sin in your life, you know, struggle with envy.

That can be a battle. What about honesty? Brother Henry shared the other day about honesty. That hit me so hard, I really have to examine myself.

And I caught myself. Wait a minute. Now a little battle arose in me, and I gave it to God.

To God, I'm finding something here. Take it. I can't do this.

Examine yourself, you'll find little battles. Don't fight it. There's nothing that gives God more joy than when you say, Lord, I can't do this.

If you fall on your knees and say, Lord, I just cannot do this anymore. There is no greater joy for God when he says, I can. He can.

He's proven it over and over again, that there is nothing he cannot do. And we've proven it over and over again, we just cause pure destruction when we fight our own battles. Just look at the world.

We talked about the armies when they fought each other. They were confused. They started killing each other.

Just look at the world, how confused they are. They are literally killing each other. Because they don't have God, they are confused.

And to them, we're the crazy ones. That's fine. The Apostles also turned the world upside down.

Back to other battles that we made for our pride. What about your mind? I find, another one, I just, my mind wanders so fast. And then I have to really like, no, I gotta give that to God too.

What about struggling, the battle of not being able to overcome something? In general, it could be anything. What about health issues? Maybe that's something you can't help. I know my mom can't help it.

But it's still a battle you have to give God. What about self-pity? Ungratefulness is a battle on its own. Greed, even if you're confused, it's a battle.

You name it, give it to God. And I will remind you all, I'm just talking to myself too. If you feel like you don't have full capacity, that's all right.

It's exactly where we want to be. God reduced Gideon's army to 300 men from over 22,000. This is the business that God is in.

He's all right if you feel you don't have, like you don't have a capacity. Because the less of you there is, the better it is for him. Especially if you look to God for help.

God does not work with numbers. God doesn't work with strength. God doesn't work with size.

There's more. This is not how God works. He wants us to trust him, and he wants us to fight, and he wants to fight our battles.

After all, the battle belongs to God. No strength, no sling with stones, no jawbone, no strength in numbers, no bravery before lions, no nothing can save you. Except you trust in the Lord, and he gets all praise and worship, and he gets all gratitude for all victories of battles.

If you feel outnumbered, that's okay. Like I said, that's exactly where we want to be. And if you can, reduce that number yet more, and give it all to God.

Don't carry a crumb. The other day, I went to go visit my mom. I called my sister to see how she was doing, and she said she's not doing well at all, and she's very pale.

So I went to go visit mom, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought maybe she'd be in bed and just really down. And when I got in, I was surprised she was folding laundry.

And, hi Abe! I'm like, whoa, not quite exactly what I kind of expected. But, hi mom. I gave her a hug, and I asked her, how are you doing, mom? And she said, oh, you know, I get tired easy, and but yeah, she said, God's been very good to me, she said.

And then I was thinking, how? You're so pale, and she's folding laundry. I told her to rest. She said, no, I'm almost done.

And she reminds me over and over again, even when I was younger. When I say younger, I mean like in my teen years. She became a, she accepted God when I was a teenager.

Then she really got on my case. But again, she always told me to trust God. And now I know by what she's going through, that's not even so much her words anymore, but her action.

It's genuine. And Jake, I believe your mom's the same way. So, and then there's my dad in rehab.

I can't talk to him. I often wonder what he's going through, or what he's thinking, but wonder what his battles are. And I often wonder if I could just call him.

They don't want us to call him. So, I'll trust that they know what they're doing there. But if I could just tell dad, Dad, this battle that you're going through in there doesn't belong to you.

Give it to God. He'll win it. Just let go, but we'll see.

I'm praying for him, and I'm hoping that he'll come out a new man with a heart of flesh. That's my prayer. And that's what God wants too.

And apart from all that, there is a battle here. There is an enemy, and he's in here. And the biggest enemy is yourself.

It can be yourself. Okay, I should say it that way. If you humble yourself and become nothing before God, only then will you have victory in your battles.

And if you don't do that, you just started a battle that I don't know if you can't win. So, that's going to be the biggest battle. It's going to be yourself.

Give yourself entirely to God, and you will win. Fight your own battles. You'll destroy yourself and others.

I learned that from experience. And not only is it because of my experience that I know that, but because it says so in God's Word. In closing, I want to just say this to everyone.

Turn to God's Word and fall on your knees. And just know, even if you feel very outnumbered, it's not your battle, but it's God's battle to start with. He will conquer it for you, and He will win it.

And that's a guarantee. May God add His blessings.