I want you to follow me to the book of Judges,
chapter 3. I'm going to read a few verses there,
if I may. And it says this way, Judges 3, beginning
in verse 12. It says, And the children of Israel
began again, did evil in the sight of the Lord.
And so the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab,
against Israel. because they had done evil in
the sight of the Lord. Verse 13, Then he gathered
to himself the people of Ammon, and Amalek went
and defeated Israel and took possession of the
city of Palms. So the children of Israel served
Eglon, king of Moab, 18 years. But when the children
of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord
raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud, the son
of Gerah, the Benjamite, a left -handed man,
by him the children of Israel sent tribute to
Eglon, king of Moab. Now Ehud made himself a
dagger. It was double -edged and a cubit in length.
and fastened it under his clothes on his right
thigh. So he brought the tribute to Eglon, king
of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. So I thought
I would entitle this message today, if you want
to put my title up there, The Tale of a Fat Man.
The tale of the fat man. Amen. And I'll get to
it in a bit, but let that sit in for a little
bit. You may take your places. Thank you. This
is an interesting story in Israel's history that
has typologies of two related people with different
destinies and promises. In the time of judges,
because of Israel's evil doings, and this had
happened from time to time, and God would always
intervene. God permitted Eglon, who was king
of the Moabites, to conquer Israel. It was almost
as if the Lord says, I'm going to deal with you,
Israel. And after Israel was defeated, They were
permitted to live in the city of Palms, which
in that time was ancient Jericho, but were controlled
by Moab and were required to give tribute to
Moab. A tribute that was basically the first
fruits and offerings of the wealth of Israel.
Moab was a descendant of Lot, who was Abraham's
nephew. Remember the story of Lot and Abraham.
When Lot ended up in Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the angels of the Lord came passing by Abraham,
if you remember, Abraham had to intercede. It
was an intercessory prayer for Sodom, but he
was thinking about Lot because Lot lived there.
If you remember the story, long story short,
Lot left Sodom and his wife and his two daughters,
and they escaped, but the wife looked back and
became a pillar of salt. But Lot and his two
daughters In Genesis 19, 36 and 38, to 38, it
says, Thus both the daughters of Lot were with
child by their father. The firstborn bore a son
and called his name Moab. He is the father of
the Moabites to this day. And the younger...
She also bore a son and called his name Ben -Ami.
He is the father of the people of Ammon to this
day. So Moab was physically related to the descendants
of Abraham, God's people, Israel. Yet they had
no spiritual connection or access to God's promises.
and therefore was in fact an enemy to Abraham
and his descendants and his seed. This message
today is going to be of a typology and a comparison
of the flesh and the spirit. Somebody say flesh
and spirit. They are related, yet are in constant
battle with each other. They don't get along.
They were distant relatives in this time. As
the Moabites and the descendants of Abraham,
they were related. But they had two different
destinies. So one represented the flesh and the
other represented the spirit. In John 3 and 6
it says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh.
Can't change that. And that which is born of
the Spirit is Spirit. And we can't change that
either. We can't mesh them together and insist
that they be one because they are constantly
separate. And this is why in Galatians 5 .17
it tells us, for the flesh desires what is contrary
to the Spirit. And the spirit, what is contrary
to the flesh. In other words, if they both had
their own legs and feet, they'd be walking in
different directions. They are in conflict with
each other so that you are not to do whatever
you want. In other words, the Apostle Paul said
it correctly. He says, the things that I want
to do, I don't. And the things that I don't want
to do, I do. And that is an explanation of how
the battle is continuously in one place, in one
abode. Spiritually speaking, this story between
Israel and Moab is significant and applicable
to us today because of how they are related.
yet with different promises and different destinies.
1 Corinthians 15 and 50 says, I declare to you,
brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable
inherit the imperishable. So you see, the flesh
knows its destiny. The flesh is aware that it's
not going to be able to run the streets of gold.
Praise God. That's why it wants to run here,
but always in the opposite direction of the will
of God. So there's going to be constant, you
know, there's not going to, you know, I remember
somebody, and I'll tell you what, I would have
never done this. But there was a couple of brothers
from our church years ago when the Raiders were
going to play the Super Bowl in Los Angeles area.
They only had one ticket. But they both went.
I said, where do you want to go? There's only
one ticket. They both went. They stayed in the
same hotel, ate the same food, restaurants and
everything. But only one went to the game. And
the other one had to stay behind outside, wandering
around, hands in the pocket. If I didn't have
a ticket, I would not have gone. But he went.
I don't know. And it kind of reminds me of the
flesh, you know, because the flesh doesn't have
a ticket. But the Spirit does. I don't know if
somebody would go. And I'm going to tell you,
the flesh is not going to want to go if it ain't
got a ticket. The flesh is constantly in war
with the spirit. Let's go here. No, I don't want
to go there. It's too spiritual. Oh, my God.
Look what they're doing over there. Let's go
over there. No, no, that's carnal. They're in
constant battle. For the sake of this message,
Ehud, if you can put the next slide up. Ehud,
the judge, means spirit. The Benjamite. who was
a judge over Israel at the time. He is a typology
of the spirit. But Eglon, the Moabite, the fat
man, is a typology of the flesh. So here we have
spirit and we have flesh. It's interesting that
the name of the Moabite king, Eglon, is derived
from the root word meaning circle. Now, if you
look at Begalon, you'll find out that his name
means circle. And from this, we can see the vicious
and endless cycle of repetition. This is why
it is most difficult to discipline the flesh.
Because it rejects anything that is contrary
to its vicious cycle of regression, going back
to its old habits and humanistic instincts and
ideas. You know, you don't have to discipline
the spirit. You have to discipline the flesh.
Praise God. Somebody slap your hand and say,
stop it. Your flesh is your problem. It's not,
you know, it's not the community. It's not the
president of the United States. It's not this.
It's not that. The problem is our own flesh.
Praise the Lord. We're not warring against anybody.
I didn't get in a fight with my neighbor this
morning. I did not get in a fight with him. I
got in a fight with my flesh because my flesh
says it's too early. You need more rest. But,
you know, the flesh is the flesh. And it's going
to be a vicious cycle of returning. No matter
how much you train the flesh, it always regresses
back to its origin, which is dust. The flesh
is the flesh. You're not going to change that.
Why? Because the flesh is not going to go through
those pearly gates. I'm sorry. Tell your flesh
you ain't going with me. Get it straight. I got
one ticket. So this is why Scripture encourages
us to mortify the flesh every single day. Mortify
it. To put to death the sinful and corrupt nature
of the flesh through the power of the Holy Ghost.
So Ehud, the left -handed Benjamite judge, was
from the smallest of Israel's tribes. And it's
not so much the size of the man, it's the fight
in the man. Praise God, somebody. It's not the
size of the person, it's the fight that's within
the person. Don't underestimate. What God can
do with a rooty little boy named David to take
down a humongous giant. Because if God be for
us, who can be against us? Praise God, somebody.
Hallelujah. So you see, God doesn't need big
stuff to do big things. He can do big things
with little things. Thank God for that or we
would not be here today. Ehud. The left -handed
Benjamite judge was from the smallest of all
the tribes. I mean, there were bigger tribes
and bigger things. They had bigger cities and
whatnot. But Benjamin, which means the tribe
of Benjamin, means this. Son of my right hand.
That's what Benjamin means. Son of my right hand.
Ironically. This is what's interesting. The tribe
of Benjamin was known for their left -handed
slingshot shooters. How ironic is that? They
were called the lefties. So here they are, the
son of the right hand of God, and yet they're
left -handed. It doesn't make sense to me. It's
because, you see, God will allow the enemy to
see us as if though we're nothing and we're not
lining up with God's name and God's purposes
and the talents that the world has. I'm going
to tell you something. I would rather be alongside
somebody that has no gifts, no talents, but is
full of the power of the Holy Ghost than with
somebody that's got everything going for them.
Praise the Lord, somebody. And it's okay to be
a lefty. I mean, my grandson's a lefty. When
all the other Rodriguez's are right -handed.
Ehud was also a man that was restricted in his
right hand. He had a withered or handicapped
right hand. To top it all off, his hand was withered.
His hand was useless. Praise God. And they call
it a dead hand. Praise the Lord. Wow. So here
he is. Praise God. He's a right hand of God.
Praise God. But he's left -handed and his right
hand is even withered to make it worse. Even
if he wanted to throw a rock, a stone with his
right hand, he could not. Praise the Lord. So
Ehud was hindered. In the right hand. Yet his
tribal meaning was son of my right hand. Wow.
You know, it's almost as if God sets us up for
failure. You know what I'm saying? It's almost
as if the Lord says, you know, I'm going to take
your money away. But Lord, I work real far. I'm
going to take your car away. I'm going to do
all this. I'm going to take this away, take that
away. But see, what the Lord is doing many times
in our lives, he's setting us up for a great
outpouring of the Spirit in your life. He's setting
you up for something great. When you lose something,
you've got to say, God's up to something good.
If you get a flat tire on the freeway, you've
got to say, God's up to something good. When
somebody betrays you, you've got to say, God
is up to something good. Because the things that
God takes away, it's because he sent you up for
something great. Praise the Lord, somebody. Amen.
Imagine a man such as Ehud with this withered,
unusable hand as a threat to anybody. He would
have not been seen as a strong warrior. In fact,
if you saw him, you might even be inspired to
have pity towards him. You know, I've had people
do that to me. They'd say, well, who are you?
And, you know, and how many members do you have?
And I says, hey, it's not in the numbers, man.
God's not into numbers. Praise God. God's into
the power. He can put power in a little slingshot
and take down a giant. Man, I'm telling you,
I'm excited. Because you know why? Because the
less we are to the eyes of the human man, to
the eyes of the world, how we're perceived in
the world, the greater we are in God. Because
God is going to do something miraculous in your
life. I'm talking to somebody here today. It
might seem to you today that the Lord has taken
this and he's removed that. Why am I here? What's
going on in my life? I'm telling you, don't you
worry about what God is doing. Just stay submissive
to the will of God and watch God do something
miraculous in your life. Whatever the case. He
certainly wouldn't have been someone you would
expect to lead Israel, amen. And somebody might
blame him for losing to the Amorites. They might
say, well, no wonder the Moabites beat us and
the Amorites, which was the other brother, you
know, and the other family to the Moabites. And,
you know, it's just like they're... There's all
these odds, and how can we win if our leader
is handicapped? He's got a withered hand. He's
left -handed. We're supposed to be this, and
his name means that, and whatever. But listen
to this. When we look at the meanings of the
names of people in Scripture, it's very instructive
to us. We learn something. But listen to this.
As a Benjamite. Ehud was the son of the right
hand of God, which signifies power. But his own
personal name, Ehud, means I will give praise.
Check it out. I will give praise. That's what
the name Ehud means. Wow, so praise God. Here
we got somebody that, you know, he's not a warrior.
He's definitely not somebody that is going to
walk in with a big spear and a big sword and
all that. But he's going to walk in with his
gift. And his gift is praise. Have you ever praised
your way out of anything? Huh? Have you ever
praised your way out of something and said, it's
not looking good right now, but I'm going to
sing that song. I'm just going to begin to sing
that song. I'm going to tell you something. Everybody's
got their little song, you know, and you have
that little skip in your walk when you begin
to sing that song. And it doesn't matter how
bad things look and how the world is caving in
on you. And you might think that God forgot about
you and that, you know, you may have sinned somewhere
and things are going all the odds and everything
is against you. But if you have a song such as,
do, I got a little song that I pull out. I say,
can't nobody do me like Jesus. Hey, that's my
song, brother. Don't you steal my song. So that's
my song. I sing that when I'm going through something
and I say, hey, you know what? Not looking good
right now. Can't nobody. And then I start going
like this, man. Can't nobody do me like Jesus.
Can't nobody. Wow. I get excited. Why? Because
I begin to praise God within myself. And I say,
I can get out of this. I can get through this
with my praise. I heard that. I really enjoyed
the opening song today about praise. My goodness,
that is praise. I'm going to tell you something.
It works. Praise works when we believe it and
we act upon it. Praise God. As for the fat man,
let's talk about the fat man for a minute. As
for the fat man, he said, what does this signify?
Simply said, he was an obese. A giant, meaning,
you know, he was over seven feet tall, probably
like 600 pounds. I'm going to tell you something.
For the Bible to call somebody a huge, big, very
fat man, he's not going to be my weight. I'm
not going to tell you what my weight is. He's
going to be big. I mean, he's going to be real
big. And I estimate and I vision him being about
600 or plus pounds, you know, 7 '5", 7 '8", big
guy. Just, man, buffed up, big, big guy. This
is what the Bible refers to. Because when Scripture
refers to somebody like that, you better know
it's big, man. Because the Bible does not exaggerate.
Simply says he was an obese of a giant as a result
of living how? Slothfulness. Ease of comfort.
He sat on his big throne. He was a king of the
Moabites. He was not only obese, but he was a
giant of a king. And this is what his persona
was. This is who he was. He presented himself
to be this kind of a powerful. He showed external
power. He was something that we can look at and
say, oh, my God. I remember when I, you know,
for those of you that play sports or played sports,
I played a lot of sports. And I had a, I played.
Well, many times I played defense, and we had
this guy in our team. His name was Stone. This
guy, I'm not kidding, he was about 7 '2". Huge
guy. I mean, I came up, I went to his waist,
man, back then. He was so big. He couldn't run.
He barely made it out to the field. In fact,
they didn't have a uniform for him. It was too
big. So they had to go to one of the universities
to get him a pair of pants. Then they put this
huge jersey on him, and he can barely get out
to the field. He'd walk out there like this,
man. He didn't learn no plays. He didn't know
nothing. Because you know what his job was? The
coach says, Stone, all I want you to do is get
up and fall forward. That's it. Just stand up
and fall forward. You're going to cause a train
wreck, man. No matter how you fall, you're going
to cause a train wreck. People are going to fall,
trip, or I don't know. You're going to be a mountain
for them to hurdle you. That was his only job.
Man, you see, he don't have to do much. I imagine
this. His name was not Stone, but I imagine this.
Eglon, the king, he was so big. He was enormous
that everything had to go around him, couldn't
go through him. It had to go around him. He was
that kind of a king. But the Israelites, listen
to this, had to pay tribute to him by way of
paying him. After he conquered them, listen,
the Israelites were permitted to live in their
own city. They were allowed to live in the city
of Palms, Jericho. The ancient Jericho was called
the city of Palms. And they were able to stay
in their homes, stay in their houses. Hey, stay
in their neighborhoods. But everybody was bound.
They were slaves in their own turf. They were
slaves to this big king. And they were not able
to just live life nonchalantly. Everything they
did, they had to do it for the king, the Moabite.
They had to do it for him. Every seed they planted,
they knew that a good portion of that was going
to the king. It doesn't matter what we did, it
was going to go to the king. We were working
for him. They were enslaved to him. They had
to pay tribute to him, taxes, and all of this
went to what is called the king's table. The
king's table was his delight. Obviously, he didn't
get to be this great big person by just eating
salads. Man, he got to be this big person because
he ate everything they put before him. He feasted
every day. He feasted on it. What they brought
him, he took and gave it to me. Give me another
turkey leg. Wow. You know, everything that the
first of the best that Israel, that the Benjamites
could gather and grow and harvest or raise or
otherwise, the best had to go to the king because
he deserved it according to him. Spiritually
speaking, This fat man is a typology of a strong
man, such as the flesh that can hold God's people
hostage and deprive them from their godly purpose
and their potential in God and can control them
even to disobey God. Now I'm shifting gears.
The fat man, the obese king, now the flesh. We
war against the flesh every day. But the flesh
is demanding. The flesh demands from us. The
flesh wants and wants and is ever wanting, is
never satisfied, never content. You give him
a little, he wants more. When you give and you
feed the flesh, the flesh has a bottomless pit
and it'll keep taking and taking and taking from
your spirit. And this is the way that Eglon,
specialized. This is why his name meant circle.
And which keeps the captives going in circles.
If you remember Samson, when he was captivated
and he gave up the secret of his heart, where
did he end up? He was just tilling corn going
in circles. In the Old Testament, it talks about
the heifer, which was Judah, that was always
going in circles, doing the same thing, repetitious,
repetitious, the same thing. That's a typology
of the flesh. The flesh doesn't want discipline.
And I'm talking spiritually speaking. This is
a serious and a vicious cycle that has consumed
precious time. Energy, resources to no avail.
The flesh is demanding. Our flesh is constantly
wanting and never being satisfied. I want more.
I deserve more. Take me here. Take me there.
Bless me here. Give me here. I want the best.
I don't want cheap shoes. I want expensive shoes.
I want the best Michael Jordans. I want the best
of this and that because I deserve it. Your spirit
is being depleting and it's going down and getting
skinny in the inside and your flesh is getting
fat. Oh, you ain't hearing me yet. I'm going
to get an amen eventually, I know. No progression.
A cycle of repetition with a sense of hope that
leads to nowhere. It's a carnal deception. The
fat man held Israel under his rule for 18 years.
He didn't take them away from their own homeland.
He defeated them in their own, own land and allowed
them to live in their own land yet as captives.
Have you ever felt in your spirit that your spirit
tells you, oh, I want to do this for God. I wish
I could just do this for God. I really feel that
that's my purpose and that's my call. And I want
to do this. And it's like your spirit within
you is fighting, it's warning, and it wants to
come out and do something for God. But your flesh
keeps it subjected. And your flesh says you're
not going to do it. Me first. You got to feed
me first. You got to give to me first. And if
there's anything left over, then we'll go to
church or we'll do this or we'll do that. We'll
sing a song, maybe. But I don't need to sing
a song because my mouth doesn't want to. Well,
I got news for your mouth. You better open your
mouth. Or you're going to be opening it for an
eternity in hell. Oh, come on. That didn't cost
you. I'll sit down and show you Bible. You think
you can just not praise God when you come to
the Lord? Or anywhere. I'm going to tell you
something. I had a grandma. She was my prayer
partner for many years. We prayed together, man.
We rebuked devils together. We prayed people
through the Holy Ghost together. When I needed
somebody to go with me to pray for a demon -possessed
person, I'd pick her up. I didn't pick up a minister.
I didn't pick up the assistant pastor. I picked
my grandmother up because she was a prayer warrior.
You knew my grandmother, Julia Velarde. She was
a prayer warrior, man. I'm going to tell you
something. She had hip surgery. They replaced
her hip, and she had this or that. She was in
her. Hitting 90 years old or a little above 90
in there. And she used to run the aisles with
her new hip. If you have the Holy Ghost, you're
going to jump out of your seat and you're going
to say praise be to God. Because the Holy Ghost
is something that moves the flesh inside of us.
And it says, I want to worship God. I want to
be like her when I'm in my 90s, praise God, or
100. Somebody told me the other day that their
grandpa lived to be 114. I'm on my way, I told
them. 114, praise God, I'm right behind you.
Praise the Lord. Now, I'm going to tell you something.
If God permits me to be 114, I'm going to worship
God in spirit and in truth even then. Hello,
somebody. He didn't take them away from their
homeland. He allowed them to stay there while
yet as captives. This is true misery. Let me
tell you something. True misery is to live in
your own house and not have access to nothing
without asking permission. Hello? I want you
to know, no, no, no, you stay right there. We're
going to watch this horror movie right now. I
don't want to watch that horror movie. We're
going to watch it. We're not going to go on to
it. We're going to be late, in fact. No, but
I want to be there. Oh, my God, it's the Holy
Ghost. No, be quiet. I'm in charge. The flesh,
the fat man, talking, tries to overcome you with
fear. To make you think that you're subject to
the flesh. But I'm here to tell somebody here
that somebody by the name of Jesus went to Calvary
to defeat the flesh. He came to the world and
the world received him not. But he went to Calvary
and he defeated the flesh. This is how the flesh
wars against the spirit. The spirit resides in
the fleshly house. Yet the flesh attempts to
control the spirit and deprive it of its potential
in God. This evil king Eglon set up shop in the
heart of Israel. Territory where he could inflict.
constant pain on God's people. This fat man will
push his weight around, if you please, and set
up camp in the living room or in the middle of
your heart and attempt to tell you things that
are contrary to the will of God. If you begin
and continue to listen to your flesh, you will
certainly end up where the flesh will end up.
He will lounge in your space. He will take over
your living room. Praise God. He'll break things
up. I remember an old evangelist. He was an evangelist,
but he was staying at a pastor's house. And the
pastor, and this boy was a big boy. And he stayed
with him. And one time they told me, man, we
don't know what to do, man. We can't keep up
with his appetite. He eats, eats, eats, eats,
and he just sits, sits, sits, sits. Half our
furniture is broken because he broke it. He sat
on it. I said, brother, you got a problem. What
you have to do is empty out the refrigerator,
get all the food out of the house, and tell him
we ain't got no more. He'll go find another home.
But you keep feeding it, you're going to keep
growing. Plan to buy more furniture. Oh, my God,
can I do that? Do it, brother. Come on. If it
was me, whoa. I would have done it a long time
ago. There's some things that, you know, just
eat you alive, man. They'll just, like, consume.
And that's what the flesh does to us. The spirit
within you. You have the spirit of God. It's
wanting to do so much for God. I want to do it.
I want to do it. We're going to go on a fast.
Praise God. We're going to go on a fast. And
tomorrow, oh my God, we were invited to the birthday
party. Tomorrow's a picnic day. See, that old
flesh sets you up for the kill, man. The flesh.
But I'm going to tell you something. If you pay
attention to your flesh, it's not going to go
well. The uncircumcised Moabite descended upon,
he stole, stole what belonged to God. Ehud, the
Benjamite, which means praise, he was bound,
he was deprived and uncertain of his own future.
But the fat king was a constant reminder to Israel
that they were under the yoke of bondage. You're
not going to get away, man. You're not going
to get too far. You think you have a calling,
a ministry, a purpose, a song in your heart?
You ain't going to do nothing, man. You're going
to stay quiet. There's a fat man feasting on
the sacrifices of praise that belong to God and
God alone. It's difficult to reach. You're God
-given potential when that flesh devours the
potential sacrifices that belong to God. Who
is this fat king that has intimidated and convinced
many Christians to believe that they will never
amount to anything in God's kingdom? Who is this
fat? that controls your every endeavor and causes
you to believe that you can't step out in faith?
Who is this fat man that devours your every dream
and has deprived you from your spiritual gifts
and your ministry and your calling? Who is this
fat man that demands tribute? that belongs to
God and consumes your giving for his very own
fleshly desires, who makes you pay tribute to
the flesh and robs God from what belongs to him,
such as your time, your resources, your tithing,
your giving, and so much more, because you, deserve
it. He will convince you that it's okay to treat
yourself, but rob God of what belongs to him.
Ehud, the Benjamite judge who was disabled, left
-handed, began to praise his way to a courageous
endeavor that would ultimately change his world
and the future forever for the Benjamites. The
right hand, which theologically meant power,
Ehud began praising God in the midst of trouble
in a very powerful way. As he praised God, he
began to forge a dagger as the weapon that would
eventually take down the fat man known as the
flesh. Maybe you felt inadequate. Or not gifted
enough to be used of God. Maybe you've let inner
voices tell you it's not possible after all.
Or maybe you've been convinced that you're not
worthy of it because you've made some mistakes.
It doesn't matter what your inabilities are or
how many times you have failed. How many times
you've fallen. Or how many times you've given
up in the past. Your reputation maybe has even
been tarnished. You can still get up. Don't surrender.
Don't give it up. Greater is he that is in you.
Shout your praise and forge a weapon of victory.
You can still get up. You can still forge that
weapon. That fat king saw Ehud as a man with
a dried up hand. Dried up or not, Ehud was still
a Benjamite. He was still son of the right hand.
Sometimes we allow our handicaps or perceived
inabilities to discourage us from reaching our
God -given potentials. But we need to deny ourselves,
deny our flesh, and begin to do what God has
entrusted us to do. In the eyes of the fat king,
Ibn Eglon, Ehud had nothing going for him. The
fat man never saw Ehud as a threat. He said,
what that little kid, he's not going to do nothing.
He's got a withered right hand. Just as your
flesh will tell you, you cannot do this. You're
not going to get anywhere when you begin to praise.
You're not going to get anywhere when you begin
to give your time, your energy, your gifts, your
resources. But it's time to prove the flesh wrong.
And Ehud had a praise that wouldn't quit. I wonder
if somebody here today has got a praise that
won't quit. I wonder if you can say to your situation
today, oh, you maybe tripped me a little bit.
You maybe got in my way. You got it over me this
one time. But I'm going to tell you something.
I got a praise inside of me. And I'm going to
begin to forge a dagger inside of my spirit.
And I'm going to bring my flesh into subjection.
Let go. God be true, and every man a liar, including
our flesh. And Eglon was in his summer parlor
waiting for a year's tribute from the tribe of
Benjamin. Oh, I wonder what they're going to
bring me this time. He was just sitting in his
parlor with people fanning him. He had a king's
table set up. I wonder what the Benjamites are
going to bring me today. The fat king demanded
the first fruits. First fruits is your tithe.
Hello. If anybody demands it, it's your flesh.
But your spirit is saying different. You got
to listen to the spirit. First fruits belong
to God, not to the flesh. The flesh tells you
to withhold from God, but don't listen to the
flesh. You give to God what belongs to God, and
don't let your flesh rob God. Somebody say, don't
rob God. Amen. We don't give to man. We give
to God. Robbers will not enter into eternal life.
That's another Bible study. You give your tithe
where you're spiritually covered. And that's
Bible. You give your tithe. You give your time.
You give your resources. The gifts you have,
you give them to God. Serve God. I'm just going
to jump. I know my time is up. It's only 2 .15.
Don't worry. Liars are going to hell too. Okay.
I'll be careful there. Judges 3 .18. I'm about
to close. The musician can come up. Just so it
looks real. Call the musician over here. Amen.
Let's go to Judges 3 .18. There it is. Let's
read it here. It says, and when he had finished
presenting the tribute, he sent away the people.
We're talking about Ehud here. He went to the
fat king, the Moabite, and he had to give him
his yearly tribute. And he took it. No problem.
He took it. Took the tribute. But then when he
had given the tribute and they were spreading
it out on the king's table, he asked for the
people to be sent away who had carried the tribute.
They sent them away, his helpers and all of that.
Verse 19, but he himself turned back from the
stone images that were at Gilgal and said, I
have a secret message for you, O king. He said,
keep silence. And all who attended him went out
of the room. So everybody left Ehud and King
Eglon by themselves. So Ehud came to him. Now
he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber.
We're talking about King Eglon, you know. He
was up in his chamber and he's saying, you know,
boy, I'm going to feast today. I saw some of
those good things they brought. Then Ehud said,
I have a message from God for you. So he arose
from his seat, talking about Eglon. He got up.
Then Ehud reached with his left hand and took
the dagger from his right thigh. Now look, I'm
not a gunslinger. But I know that if I'm going
to pull something out quick, I'm going to put
it close to my hand right here where I can draw
the gun or whatever, you know. But he put it,
okay, he's got a withering hand. And he's left
-handed, you know, best he could. But he put
the dagger over here. You know why? He could
throw off the king. What's he going to do? They
didn't have one of those, you know, security
checks like they do at airports nowadays. He
got in, and he had a knife over here, dagger.
It was a small little dagger, just a little guy.
It's a dagger. It wasn't a big sword like Goliath's
sword. No, man. It was a little dagger, man.
And you can study that. There's different kinds
and so forth. It's interesting. But he had it
strapped over here on his right side, yet he
had his left hand free. He said, I have a message
from God for you. So he arose from his seat.
Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the
dagger from his right thigh. and then he thrust
it into the belly of the giant. Check it out.
Even the hilt, meaning the handle, went in after
the blade, and the fat closed over the blade,
for he did not draw it out. He left it in there.
in his belly, and his insoles came out. I know
that's gross, but it's in your Bible. And immediately,
the fat man fell over to his death. No one expected
this left -handed, crippled Benjamite to be any
threat to the king. Put up my last slide. God
still uses what's left. A left -handed man, he
uses what's left. He don't need a whole lot.
He'll use what you got. And he'll defeat the
flesh. He'll defeat the flesh. God has a way
of using weak things to confound the wise. Does
anybody have a word for the fat man today? Stand
with me. We're going to read this last script
which says, And those who are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires. If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us crucify the fat man. I know this is not
your aisle -running, chandelier -swinging message,
but I believe this is of the Lord and this is...
What the Lord told me to bring today, I had myself
in mind because I needed to hear this. I want
to bring my flesh into subjection. I want this
flesh to know that it's not in charge. You can
give your flesh a wonderful time. Yes, no problem.
Rest. Good dinner. Good night's sleep. But don't
do it at the expense of your spirit. Let your
spirit be in charge. Let your spirit be in control.
Let your spirit decide what's going to happen
and what's not going to happen. I have been in
many times in my life. Where my flesh is heavy.
Heavy. It's a burden. It doesn't want to move.
But my spirit in me is telling me different.
My spirit is telling me, let's do it. Let's give
it. Let's do this. And my flesh says, I can't.
I don't know how. Who am I? I ran from the Lord.
I ran from ministry. I ran. But the Lord caught
up with me. Thank God he did because I love being
in the will of God. I appreciate my wife and
the ministry that we've had and still have. When
the Lord showed me in a dream that I was going
to be pastoring somewhere, and I didn't know
where, but I just knew that it was not going
to be anywhere close by, I got up that morning
very troubled, very troubled, because I knew
it was of God. And I... waited for my wife to
get her a cup of coffee and I got mine and we
sat in the living room looking out the window
and just, then I felt I needed to ask her this.
It says, if the Lord called us to pastor somewhere,
would you go with me? Would you follow that?
And she says, well, how far? And I says, well,
I don't know. I don't know right now. She says,
it's okay. I'm committed to follow you wherever
the Lord takes you. She says, the only thing
that I ask, don't sell my home. And says, I won't
ever sell your home. And she says, I'm willing
to go. I'll be right with you. And I greatly
appreciate that coming from my wife because,
you know, that's important. That's important.
We had to deny ourselves. We denied ourselves.
We sacrificed. But we knew we were in the will
of God. We knew it. And this has happened to
us several times. Great tasks, great assignments,
important assignments. Took years from our lives,
but we were willing to serve. And we still are.
When you can overcome your flesh, God's going
to take you to places that you never could even
imagine in your mind. You will have experiences
that you would not have had otherwise. God is
good to you, good to me. But it's how we bring
our flesh into subjection and do what the Holy
Ghost tells us to do. And you will be the most
content, happy person, joyful in the Lord. You
don't have to wrestle what's already been defeated.
Somebody says, well, the flesh. Well, it's because
you haven't defeated the flesh. You keep the
flesh alive. That's why you're having so much
trouble. And I know it's always going to be with
us. Seems like every day I tell my wife, this
hurts. And they should tell her, this is hurting
me now. This didn't hurt me before. Oh, now it's
gone, but this hurts. I said, wow, that's our
bodies. But you know what? Our spirit has never
said we hurt. Our spirit is always, wow, let's
do this. We can do this. I want to open up this
altar. And I'm not, I wasn't planning to do it,
but I'm just going to do it. I want to be led
of the spirit. And I want for someone to come
here that is ready. Either to continue like you
have been, defeating the flesh. Or maybe you
have a great challenge and you want God to just
push you through it. To get the victory in the
spirit. I'm going to invite, the altar is open.
Please, somebody come. Hallelujah. I feel a need
to pray for someone here today. If you come.
Know that God is able. God wants to do something
for somebody here today. We want to pray for
God to give you the victory. If you got a notice,
Brother David, from employment, I'm going to
tell you something. The devil is a liar. God's
going to give you the victory. Doesn't matter
what it is. It can be economical, a relationship,
health, financial, whatever. God can give you
a breakthrough today. God can give you a breakthrough
today. We want to pray together here. I'm including
myself in this because I need a breakthrough.
I'm telling you. I got a mountain on my shoulders
right now. And I need God to help me. I need
God to help me through this. I need God's strength.
I need God's strength. I need him to guide me,
order my steps every day that I can get through
this. I can make it. As a person in my assignment,
in our organization, I'm troubled. We're troubled.
We need God's help. We need God's help. The devil
is a liar. The devil is a liar. Trying to destroy
God's work. But we got the victory. He said,
we've got the victory. See, I don't just carry
my things. I carry corporate things upon my life.
Things that have to do with our corporation.
I know I'm not supposed to make them personal,
but they get heavy. They get heavy, man. I need
God's help right now. My spirit is wrestling
against me saying, no, no, no. And I'm saying,
yes, yes, yes. We're going to do this for God.
Let's lift up our hands to where you are. Lift
up your hands. Nothing is impossible for God.
Nothing. I can do all things through Christ that
strengthens me. I can do all things. Nothing
will be withheld from you. Nothing. There's greatness
awaiting you. Greatness awaiting us. But the
flesh sometimes gets in the way. What is it?
Doubt. Doubt comes from the flesh. Doubt's telling
you, no, no, don't worry about it. It's going
to be all right. No, no, no, you're a liar. Get
that behind me. Get down behind me. Let God be
true. Let's work through this in the spirit.
Let's get the victory once and for all. No, I'm
going to hang on to my flesh. Well, okay. That's
a decision we make sometimes. But let's not make
that one today. Let's surrender. Let's subject
our flesh and say, to God be the glory. There's
great things ahead. The only way we're going
to accomplish this is if we feed the Spirit.
Feed the Spirit. Feed your Spirit through prayer.
Feed your Spirit through the Word. Feed your
Spirit through obedience. Feed your Spirit so
your Spirit will become strong and overcome.
Father, in the name of Jesus. I come before you,
Lord, all my brothers and sisters in this entire
sanctuary. Everybody knows, Lord, and you know
everybody's heart. We're praying right now, Lord,
together, united, for victory for somebody. Somebody
needs a breakthrough, Lord. You know the heart.
You know the desires of the hearts. You know
the troubles that we're in. You know, Lord, the
way we think. You know, God, hallelujah, that
we need help here or there. Lord, we're feeding
the Spirit right now. We want to have a victory.
We want to get through this. In the name of Jesus,
to God be the glory.