1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,040 It helps when you turn your microphone on yet again. 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,720 Second time in a row. 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,080 Have you ever noticed that sometimes 4 00:00:13,460 --> 00:00:16,000 God does unexpected things? 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:17,560 Yeah. 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:18,760 Have you ever had something happen to you 7 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:20,480 that was unexpected? 8 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,640 Maybe it was a new relationship that happened. 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,600 Maybe it's a financial blessing. 10 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,120 Maybe a result that you wanted that you didn't think 11 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,120 was gonna happen happened. 12 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:34,720 But sometimes it can be bad. 13 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:36,720 Sometimes the unexpected is difficult. 14 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,560 Certain diagnosis that wasn't expected. 15 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,960 Maybe a doctor's appointment that wasn't on the calendar. 16 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,300 An accident, maybe a betrayal. 17 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:52,680 One thing that's true that all of us deal with 18 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,960 is that we all have to deal with not knowing 19 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:58,680 what will happen in the future. 20 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:00,480 Have you figured that out yet? 21 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,560 We don't always know what's going to happen 22 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,000 and often what we expect to happen doesn't. 23 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:09,080 And the things that we don't expect to happen often happens. 24 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:09,920 Here's what I know. 25 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,440 I know one thing for sure. 26 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,560 I know Jesus is coming back. 27 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,160 And I know that the rapture could happen at any moment. 28 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:18,680 The rapture of the church is imminent. 29 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:20,320 It could happen at any time. 30 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:23,320 And the truth though is that there were things 31 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:26,400 that happened to me and for me in the past year, 32 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:27,320 I did not expect. 33 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:29,960 Anybody have anything like that happen to you? 34 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:31,440 Just something that, yeah. 35 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,080 Brother Dave Fawcett raised his hand. 36 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,520 We all experienced that, didn't we? 37 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:42,120 I had an agenda for that service and it did not happen. 38 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,820 Miss Dawn helps to schedule a lot of the service planning. 39 00:01:45,820 --> 00:01:48,520 She helps pick out the music and stuff like that. 40 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,240 And I told her on Monday after that Sunday 41 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,240 that I didn't like her plan. 42 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:56,640 That was not a good plan. 43 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,640 That was not a good thing. 44 00:01:58,640 --> 00:01:59,880 For those of us who are guests, 45 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:03,480 Brother Dave Fawcett had some kind of hard episode 46 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:04,520 three or four weeks ago. 47 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:09,520 And that was, we did not expect to have 30 minutes of prayer 48 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,160 praying for him to live, but yet God answered our prayer, 49 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:13,440 didn't he? 50 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,240 And some amazing things happened. 51 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,480 And here he is tonight still with us 52 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,920 and we're so grateful for that. 53 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:25,260 God doesn't always work the way we expect him to work. 54 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:28,480 And the scriptures are filled with God working 55 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,520 in ways that surprised people, right? 56 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,180 God used unexpected means. 57 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:40,800 Most of what one of the greatest examples of it is 58 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,120 he became flesh and dwelt among us. 59 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,600 He revealed that to us, but it was definitely not something 60 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,400 that would have been expected. 61 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,000 Isaiah 55.8 says this, 62 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:50,880 For my thoughts are not your thoughts. 63 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,680 Neither are your ways, my ways say it to the Lord. 64 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,600 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 65 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,080 so are my ways higher than your ways 66 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:03,320 and my thoughts than your thoughts. 67 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,320 We've already seen, we were doing a series 68 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:06,520 called the battle belongs. 69 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:07,760 And we're looking at all these battles 70 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:12,320 in the Bible, different times where God 71 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,160 and the children of Israel were fighting and having battles. 72 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,040 And in the first sermon, Pastor Corey 73 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,000 taught us about the unexpected 74 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,080 when we looked at the unexpected that happened 75 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,120 in the battle of Jericho. 76 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,120 God again asked the children of Israel 77 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,880 to walk around the city, to blow trumpets, 78 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:35,960 to yell just at the right time. 79 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,360 And we all, who understands, and Pastor Corey did teach us, 80 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,920 did a great job teaching us, 81 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:43,840 that the yelling and the trumpets 82 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,200 weren't the thing that knocked over the walls. 83 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:47,760 God did it, right? 84 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,920 He asked his people to obey him, to show faith in him, 85 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,520 but he did it, he brought them to victory. 86 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,120 God was the power behind seeing those walls come down 87 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,440 and the people of God getting the victory. 88 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,200 In the second sermon, Pastor Miles taught us 89 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,080 about the battle of AI, where the people of God 90 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,480 thought that they would defeat this tiny army of AI. 91 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,760 And because God's hand had left them, they were routed. 92 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,960 There was sin in the camp that had to be dealt with. 93 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,160 And then God gave them the victory once they dealt 94 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:19,280 with that sin. 95 00:04:19,280 --> 00:04:21,560 And again, that was unexpected. 96 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,280 What we see is that God doesn't always do things 97 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:26,440 the way I think he's gonna do them. 98 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,280 And it makes me wonder, how often do I 99 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:32,840 work with God in that way? 100 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:35,520 How often do I expect God to work a certain way? 101 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,680 How often do I have a plan that I'm working on 102 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:40,640 that doesn't include God at all? 103 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,880 Right, anybody in the boat with me? 104 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:46,400 Do you feel that way? 105 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,600 You ever go and do something, make a choice, make a decision 106 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,960 and it's like, you don't even think about including God in it. 107 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,800 You don't pray about it, you just go and do it. 108 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,280 I thought about this, do I fight battles in life, 109 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:00,640 trying to achieve things that God wants to do for me 110 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:02,560 if I would just ask him? 111 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,200 I'm not talking about a health and wealth kind of way. 112 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,520 God's not our genie in a bottle, 113 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,200 but there are times where maybe I'm trying to work real hard 114 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,280 to do something and God just wants to provide, 115 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:14,280 but he also wants me to ask for it. 116 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,960 You have not because you ask not, you guys are on it. 117 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,520 Today we're gonna look at a battle that happened. 118 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,120 Actually it's a battle that didn't happen, 119 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,280 the battle that never happened. 120 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:28,280 And it's found in the second Kings, 121 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:30,600 chapter six, looking verse eight through 23. 122 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,200 And in this particular story, 123 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,720 we can see God's wisdom on display 124 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,520 and that battle does really belong to him. 125 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,600 The battle belongs to the Lord. 126 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,720 And we're gonna see that he's gonna do what he wants his way 127 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:47,880 and that might give us some encouragement 128 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:50,120 to help us to get on board with what he's doing 129 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,720 rather than trying to get him on board with what we're doing. 130 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:54,400 We're gonna see that by four miracles 131 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:58,040 that we see in first Kings, chapter number six, 132 00:05:58,040 --> 00:05:59,680 looking at verses eight through 23. 133 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:01,640 There's four miracles I wanna point out to you 134 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,920 and hopefully this will be an encouragement to you tonight. 135 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,800 Number one, we see the first miracle here 136 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,440 of supernatural knowledge of the enemy. 137 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,840 We're gonna see this in the story 138 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:14,920 and then I'll have a few points of application 139 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:16,280 at the end here tonight. 140 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:17,680 Look at second Kings, chapter six, 141 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,480 look at verse number eight, here's what it says. 142 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,320 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel. 143 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,680 So who's at battle at Syria and Israel? 144 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:30,520 These people were at battle. 145 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,040 And this king took counsel with his servants 146 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,360 saying in such and such a place shall be my camp. 147 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,480 Now you have these two guys, they're battling, 148 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,000 they're strategizing where to go in and to fight. 149 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,760 This is not so much a battlefield kind of thing, 150 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,600 they're going and trying to take out different places, 151 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:51,520 different people. 152 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,120 And so he's saying, he's taking counsel with his servants, 153 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:59,560 these are people that are his advisors 154 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,000 and he's saying, and this isn't a quote, 155 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:03,920 in such and such a place shall be my camp. 156 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,720 So this is giving us this idea of over and over again, 157 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:07,560 this happened. 158 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,480 I'm gonna go over here, I'm gonna go over there 159 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:11,160 and we're gonna take out the Israelites 160 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:12,000 and that's what he said. 161 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:13,640 Now look at what happened, verse nine. 162 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:18,640 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel. 163 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:20,280 Now who's the man of God? 164 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:24,280 If you look back at the beginning of the chapter 165 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:28,640 in verse one, it says, 166 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,920 and the son of the prophet said unto Elisha, 167 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,240 behold now the place where we dwell with thee 168 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:35,560 is too straight for us. 169 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,080 We know here, and I'm gonna show you in a few minutes, 170 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,080 go down to verse 12, it says, 171 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:42,920 and one of the servants said, 172 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:44,520 none my lord, O king, but Elisha. 173 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,560 So the man of God here is, 174 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,360 good job class, it's Elisha, one of the prophets. 175 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:52,560 And it says in verse nine, 176 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,360 the man of God Elisha sent unto the king of Israel saying, 177 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,280 beware that thou hast not such a place for thither, 178 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,680 the Syrians are come down. 179 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,680 What's happening here is Elisha, the prophet of God, 180 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,920 the king of Syria says, I'm gonna go over here and fight 181 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:11,320 or I'm gonna go over here and fight. 182 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,120 We're gonna go over here and create a problem. 183 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,520 And what's happening is Elisha as a prophet 184 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:18,960 receives supernatural knowledge from God. 185 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,680 And he goes and tells the king of Israel, 186 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,560 who is the enemy of the Syrians, 187 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:26,200 hey, this is where they're going, 188 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,120 this is where they're headed, right? 189 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,960 Verse 10, and the king of Israel sent to the place 190 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,440 which the man of God told him and warned him of 191 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:39,440 and saved himself there not once or twice. 192 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:40,880 You know what that means? 193 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,680 That means over and over again, 194 00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:46,840 what kept happening is the enemy makes a plan, 195 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,520 he wants to go take out Israel, 196 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,880 the man of God Elisha tells the Israel about the plan 197 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:54,760 and then the king uses that information 198 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:58,120 to go stop the king of Syria from hurting the people of God. 199 00:08:58,120 --> 00:08:59,960 Isn't that a good, that's pretty cool, isn't it? 200 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:02,480 God's protecting his people. 201 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,400 So in this way, the king of Israel, who is Jehoram, 202 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:07,880 was thwarting the plans of the Syrian king 203 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,540 trying to pillage and plunder the towns. 204 00:09:10,540 --> 00:09:12,240 It didn't just happen a couple of times, 205 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:13,960 it kept happening over and over again. 206 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:18,160 They didn't have to fight because God was protecting them. 207 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,000 Now look at what happened. 208 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,800 Now if you're the king of Syria, are you excited about this? 209 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:25,040 Are you happy about it? 210 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:26,960 Not at all, look at verse 11. 211 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,520 Therefore, because this is happening, 212 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,160 the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled 213 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,920 for this thing and he called the servants 214 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,400 and sent it to them, will you not show me 215 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,880 which of us is for the king of Israel? 216 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:43,080 You know what he's saying? 217 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,820 Okay, which one of you stinking advisors 218 00:09:46,820 --> 00:09:50,840 has opened your big mouth and likes the king of Israel 219 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,840 and pretending to like me and keeps telling the king of Syria, 220 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:56,840 or sorry, keeps telling the king of Israel, 221 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:58,680 where we keep playing in our fights? 222 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:00,800 Where we keep playing in our battles? 223 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:02,640 Which one of you is the rat? 224 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:07,040 Which one of you keeps telling us, 225 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,840 telling them what's happening, right? 226 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,680 Verse 12, and one of the servants said, 227 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:17,000 none my lord, O king, but Elisha, 228 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,240 the prophet that's in Israel, 229 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:23,200 telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest 230 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,000 in thy bedchamber. 231 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,360 Okay, what is he saying? 232 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:33,360 It is this advisor saying, hey, Elisha's under your bed. 233 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:37,920 Is that what he's saying? 234 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,800 No, Elisha doesn't have a bug. 235 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:45,800 Remember those old movies where the police 236 00:10:46,300 --> 00:10:48,080 have put bugs in the room? 237 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:51,160 I'm not thinking of any particular movie, 238 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,520 but you see in detective movies, police movies, 239 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:56,600 where people have put a microphone somewhere 240 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:58,480 and who keeps knowing what we're doing? 241 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,160 There must be a microphone somewhere. 242 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,280 This is what he's saying, hey, this is what's happened. 243 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:04,960 It's Elisha. 244 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,600 He knows even your most private conversations. 245 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,440 The bedchamber's the place where he was sleeping, 246 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:12,480 his most private place. 247 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,000 So he's saying, he knows what's going on supernaturally 248 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:17,400 because he's a prophet of God. 249 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,720 That's what he's saying. 250 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:21,160 Now the works of God through Elijah 251 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,520 must have begun to be known. 252 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:28,520 There was a captain of the host of the king of Syria. 253 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:29,880 You may remember this story, 254 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,760 just a couple of chapters before chapter six. 255 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,440 Back in chapter number five, the guy's name is Naaman. 256 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,240 Who remembers the story of Naaman and Elisha? 257 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:40,120 What happened to Naaman? 258 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:42,960 He had leprosy, right? 259 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:47,960 And God healed Naaman through the word of Elisha. 260 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,080 And so that was an amazing thing. 261 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,760 We also know in chapter number four, before chapter five, 262 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,000 that Elisha was used by God to make poisonous food harmless. 263 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,320 You know in chapter six, 264 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,760 that Elisha was used by God to make an axe head float, 265 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:07,820 which is kind of a cool story. 266 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,680 But basically notoriety about Elisha's 267 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,480 being used by God in supernatural ways 268 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,320 had gotten to the people in Syria, 269 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,720 probably from a place from people like Naaman. 270 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:26,880 And so this servant says to the king of Syria, 271 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:29,840 hey, God is getting, he didn't say God, 272 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:31,560 he just says Elisha is this prophet 273 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:35,920 who keeps knowing what's going on even in your bedroom. 274 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:37,400 He knows your plans. 275 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,320 Verse 13, so this is what the king of Syria says. 276 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,200 Here's what I want you to do. 277 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:47,200 I want you to go and spy where he is. 278 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:51,600 Okay, go find out where Elisha is. 279 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,560 Now, if you know this, think about this part 280 00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:58,360 this much in the story, what's the problem with this plan? 281 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,680 How are you gonna spy on a guy who keeps finding out 282 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:08,160 all of your stuff, right? 283 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:10,520 Who thinks that would be a hard, there may be some, 284 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:11,960 that's what's going on. 285 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,160 Go spy where he is that I may send and fetch him. 286 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:16,600 I wanna go get that Elisha. 287 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:17,840 He's gotta stop. 288 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,120 And it was told him saying, behold, he is in Dothan. 289 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,200 They've figured out where he's at. 290 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:27,880 Verse 14, therefore, send he hither horses and chariots 291 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:29,660 and a great host. 292 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:33,000 You know what horses are. 293 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,960 You think about, it seems as if in the text, 294 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:39,000 these are war horses. 295 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:40,920 They're pulling what? 296 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,600 Chariots, this would have been 297 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,200 some of the best battle technology they had. 298 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:50,400 We've heard tonight about war in Ukraine and rockets 299 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:51,920 and all of this other stuff. 300 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,000 This is as good as they had then. 301 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,000 And it says, and a great host. 302 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,520 That word host is this idea of an army. 303 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,440 So when he finds out Elisha is at this place called Dothan, 304 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,740 not Alabama, this is in the Middle East. 305 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:13,200 Yeah, anybody been to Dothan, Alabama? 306 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:15,800 Or is it Georgia? 307 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:16,720 I don't know. 308 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:17,880 Why do I go off on this? 309 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:18,720 Okay, anyway. 310 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:22,520 The point is they get there, 311 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:23,800 and where does it say in verse 14, 312 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:28,800 and they came by night and compassed the city about. 313 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:32,240 Now God had been protecting Elisha 314 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,560 and the king of Israel and the people of Israel. 315 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,720 Now they find themselves in this very difficult spot. 316 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,320 What would seem difficult? 317 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,680 Who agrees that if we all got dismissed tonight 318 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:48,160 and we were about to go out to our cars and they said, 319 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:53,160 oh, actually there's an army outside with tanks and guns. 320 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,920 Right, and they're all around this domed building here. 321 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:57,760 They're all the way around. 322 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,840 Who agrees that would be maybe some kind of, 323 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:04,200 we'd probably send Dave Curtis out to talk to him, right? 324 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:05,360 That's probably what we would do. 325 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:06,720 Let's get the biggest guy we got, 326 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:08,360 the meanest looking guy we have, 327 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:09,560 and let's send him out. 328 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,160 We gotta figure out what's going on, right? 329 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:16,120 And so they're pretty, I mean, this is a difficult spot. 330 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:20,840 Here comes this whole army, and they're around the whole city. 331 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,960 Verse 15, and when the servant of the man of God 332 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,200 was risen early, so here they, when did they come? 333 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,240 By night, verse 14, where are they at? 334 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,400 They're all around the city. 335 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,360 And so here is the servant of the man of God. 336 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,480 This would be an Elisha's servant who wakes up, 337 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,880 and when he wakes up and gone forth, verse 15, 338 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,400 behold, I love that word behold. 339 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:51,800 You know what that word behold means? 340 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:56,800 It means, here's my reading between the lines. 341 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:02,040 He wakes up, I get some coffee, right? 342 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:04,440 They probably didn't drink coffee, but are you with me? 343 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:09,360 And he goes out to the front porch and, uh! 344 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:10,200 Behold! 345 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:14,680 What's going on, right? 346 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,720 Behold a host, there's an army compass about the city, 347 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:23,680 both with horses and chariots. 348 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:25,560 How many times do I have to bring up horses and chariots? 349 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:29,080 Do you understand, this is difficult, this is hard. 350 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,600 And his servant said unto him, 351 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:36,480 who's him, to Elisha, alas! 352 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:38,400 You know what alas means? 353 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:39,240 Ah! 354 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:41,880 Alas! 355 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:46,000 What shall we do? 356 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:46,960 How shall we do? 357 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,000 How are we gonna get past that? 358 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:51,600 How are we gonna deal with this? 359 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,800 Elisha, man of God, what are we gonna do? 360 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,400 Now, when you look at what's happening, 361 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,760 who agrees that in man's way of thinking, 362 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,640 this is a difficult spot to be in, right? 363 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,560 It's difficult. 364 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,280 And the servant kind of stands in the place 365 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,760 that we would stand in when we see this visible army 366 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:18,960 who obviously is against us, 367 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,440 who has obviously caught us off guard. 368 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:23,960 It's a problem, it's a difficulty, 369 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,280 it's an unexpected thing. 370 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:31,280 God had been delivering them, and yet here they are 371 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,560 with yet another difficulty of a different kind. 372 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,400 We get to the same place when difficulty comes. 373 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,840 God has been delivering, God has been providing, 374 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,880 God has done some amazing things. 375 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,680 Then something new, something difficult happens. 376 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:50,840 Then something different happens, 377 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:54,320 and we're tempted to be dismayed. 378 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,120 Dismayed. 379 00:17:56,120 --> 00:18:00,520 Alas, what shall we do? 380 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,840 Horses, chariots, hosts, we're surrounded. 381 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:08,560 What happens? 382 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:11,600 Well, here's where we see a second miracle. 383 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,440 The first miracle is the supernatural knowledge 384 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,760 of what God, of what the enemy was doing, number two, 385 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,040 is a supernatural vision of God's protection, 386 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:25,440 a supernatural vision of what God had been doing. 387 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:27,400 Look at verse 16, it says, 388 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,720 and he answered, this is now Elisha answering the servant. 389 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:33,120 What was the servant's question? 390 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:33,960 How shall we do? 391 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:35,040 What are we gonna do now? 392 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:37,200 How are we gonna get through this? 393 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,320 And he said, verse 16, and he answered, 394 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:42,760 say the next two words with me. 395 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:44,400 Fear not. 396 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:45,920 Okay, say it again, ready? 397 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:47,080 Fear not. 398 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,960 You know the Bible says fear not a lot, doesn't it? 399 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:52,720 I'm so glad for that message. 400 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:54,120 Fear not, why? 401 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:57,640 Why do I not be afraid, Elisha, 402 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,920 for they that be with us are more than they 403 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,360 that be with him? 404 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:05,280 You like that? 405 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,160 We got more on our side. 406 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,640 Probably in quantity and in quality, right? 407 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:16,480 And Elisha prayed, I love this. 408 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,080 What a good thing to do. 409 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,480 What a great thing to do when you're in trouble. 410 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,000 You should probably pray before you're in trouble. 411 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,640 Who agrees with me? 412 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,640 But when you're in trouble, you ought to pray. 413 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:28,640 And Elisha prayed and said, 414 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,320 Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see, 415 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,640 and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, 416 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,960 and he saw and behold. 417 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:39,880 You like that word again? 418 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:41,800 Another kind of behold. 419 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:43,960 The guy, he has no more coffee left in his mug. 420 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,040 He just, oh, behold. 421 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:51,040 The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire. 422 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,440 Round about Elisha. 423 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:00,400 Elisha had seen chariots of fire before. 424 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,400 He knows who they are. 425 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,320 The Lord of hosts had sent his hosts. 426 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:11,720 God was already on it. 427 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:13,840 God was already working. 428 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:15,960 God's power was greater. 429 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,160 Than the king of Syria. 430 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:24,440 Now, one of the things that you gotta be really careful of 431 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,680 when you preach the word of God 432 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:31,200 is you don't wanna take a narrative passage 433 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,080 which says this is what happened, okay? 434 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,560 And make that narrative passage mean 435 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:38,960 that this is what always happens. 436 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,680 This is what God always does, right? 437 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:47,080 Do you remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 438 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,240 when they stood before that fiery furnace, 439 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,200 what they said to King Nebuchadnezzar? 440 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:52,840 They said, Nebuchadnezzar, 441 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,880 we believe that our God can deliver us. 442 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,200 We believe that God will deliver us, 443 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,760 but even if he doesn't, we will not bow 444 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,240 to the idol that you set up. 445 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:07,080 Why? 446 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,040 Because they had something written, right? 447 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:10,600 They had something written. 448 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,880 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 449 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:16,520 Thou shalt have taken any graven image. 450 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:19,680 They had a written word that they could depend on. 451 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:21,680 So, what I'm saying is this, 452 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,480 God doesn't always deliver the same way. 453 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,520 God doesn't always do what we expect, 454 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:29,000 but here's what I'll tell you. 455 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:30,960 Our God is a God who delivers. 456 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:36,880 And sometimes we're faced with adversity 457 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,440 and the adversity is the biggest thing 458 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,120 in our lives, it's the easiest thing to see. 459 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:48,000 Sometimes the adversity is very visible, right? 460 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,720 It's the government official, it's the diagnosis, 461 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:57,040 it's the job that I just got fired from. 462 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:01,400 That's, I'm very aware of the difficulty and the problem. 463 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:04,080 And sometimes that adversity will cause us 464 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,400 to be tempted to disobey God. 465 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,160 It tempts us to run in fear. 466 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,440 It contempt us to doubt if God's even real. 467 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:14,760 And in those moments, we must decide 468 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:16,400 to keep our faith in God. 469 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,960 The visible adversity, get this, 470 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:25,280 the visible adversity is not bigger than our invisible God. 471 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,880 The visible enemy is not more powerful 472 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,280 than the host of the angel armies at God's disposal. 473 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,120 And if God chooses not to deliver 474 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:40,600 the way we think He will or the way we think He should, 475 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,440 we must trust the plans that He has 476 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:47,160 and trust that His plans are best, amen? 477 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:49,400 So what happens next? 478 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,720 Check it out, miracle number three. 479 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:57,120 You think, well, to be really honest with you, 480 00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:58,680 can I be transparent with you? 481 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,720 I got this whole text wrong when I was thinking 482 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,960 about what I was gonna end up saying until I act. 483 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,440 You know what you should do before you preach? 484 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,560 You should read the text, right? 485 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,320 Corey and Miles and I got together and said, 486 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:17,520 hey, we need to come up with a series to deal 487 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:18,920 on Sunday nights. 488 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:20,360 And we prayed about it and said, okay, 489 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:21,520 what are some of our options? 490 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:23,440 And we said, what about, we gotta do something 491 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,080 that's gonna get all the junior boys excited. 492 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,760 And they look real excited over there, you know? 493 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,840 Yeah, we gotta talk about violence and battle 494 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:34,160 and all that, right? 495 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,440 And I remember as we were talking about that, 496 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,520 that's how we kind of came to the idea and we started, 497 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:40,720 and we were like, we're looking at the different battles 498 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:41,880 in the Bible. 499 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,720 And I, for some reason, remembered that, 500 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,440 okay, yeah, those that be with us 501 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,400 are greater than that be with them, right? 502 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,360 And so then in my mind, I was thinking, yeah, 503 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:54,520 the story probably is then that the angels wiped them out, 504 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:55,360 right? 505 00:23:56,360 --> 00:23:58,640 Who thinks that that would be a cool story? 506 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,880 Yeah, that would be a really cool story. 507 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:01,720 That's not what happens. 508 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:02,560 Look at what happens. 509 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:04,480 This is crazy. 510 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:08,640 Miracle number three, supernatural blindness of the enemy. 511 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,240 Verse 18, and when they came down to him, 512 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,920 talking about these armies, not God's armies, the others, 513 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,520 Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, 514 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:22,720 Smite this people I pray thee with blindness. 515 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:26,960 Now, when you've got God on your side 516 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:28,360 and when you've got this difficulty, 517 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:29,760 it's good to pray, right? 518 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:32,080 Here's a plan of faith. 519 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:33,920 It says, I'm going to talk to God about 520 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:34,760 and ask him to deliver. 521 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,320 So he says, God, please make them blind. 522 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:39,560 And it says that that's what happened. 523 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:41,400 He's smote them with blindness, 524 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,720 according to the word of Elisha. 525 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:45,920 So here's miracle number three. 526 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,680 God makes all of this army blind. 527 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:54,120 Now, who thinks fighting a blind army gets easier, right? 528 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:56,120 Than fighting the army that can see. 529 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,080 Verse 19, so then God does this, this is amazing. 530 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,200 Verse 19, and Elisha said unto them, 531 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,600 this is not the way neither is this the city. 532 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:10,600 Follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. 533 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,400 But he led them to Samaria, right? 534 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:18,880 Now by going to Samaria himself, Elisha did not lie 535 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,120 because Elisha, they were looking for Elisha. 536 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:23,360 So he went to Samaria. 537 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,000 He said, don't go this way, go this way. 538 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:30,000 So he went with them and he did lead them to where 539 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:31,840 he would ultimately be found. 540 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,160 And he took them to Samaria. 541 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:35,640 So look at verse 20. 542 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,920 And it came to pass when they were coming to Samaria 543 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:42,040 that Elisha said, Lord open the eyes of these men 544 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:43,720 that they may see. 545 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,920 Now who's in Samaria? 546 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:47,920 The king of Israel's in Samaria. 547 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,280 The armies of God are in Samaria, right? 548 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,760 It says, and the Lord opened their eyes 549 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,520 and they saw, and what's the next word? 550 00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:58,360 Behold. 551 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:00,680 Behold. 552 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,560 I like it when they're doing the beholding, not us, right? 553 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:05,880 Behold, they're in Samaria. 554 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:07,520 They were in the midst of Samaria. 555 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,000 They were led to where they were surrounded 556 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,600 by the army of the God of Israel. 557 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:13,600 Let me ask you a question. 558 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,080 What did not happen? 559 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:18,360 Huh? 560 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,840 Roger said it, no physical violence. 561 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:24,720 There's no bloodshed. 562 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,360 There was no battle. 563 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,840 God had delivered them from the hands of the Syrians 564 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:32,120 without even a battle. 565 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:34,440 He delivered them without bloodshed. 566 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:36,640 And then one more unexpected thing happened. 567 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:38,440 Here's miracle number four. 568 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:40,880 Supernatural deliverance through mercy. 569 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:42,800 Look at verse 21. 570 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,760 And the king of Israel said unto Elijah 571 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:47,920 when he saw them, right? 572 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:49,880 Can you imagine the site? 573 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,040 Just think about the site. 574 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:56,520 Here comes the army of Syria 575 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,840 following somehow, we don't really totally understand it, 576 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:05,440 following Elisha being brought to the king of Israel. 577 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,760 And here comes the king out and he sees 578 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:09,920 all of them brought to him. 579 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,680 And he says, look at what, verse 21. 580 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:14,800 When he saw them, my father, 581 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:16,960 he's got this respect for Elisha. 582 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,920 And if you, Elisha's done a lot for him, right? 583 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:21,400 He has this respect for him. 584 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,040 My father, shall I smite them? 585 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,040 And then he asks again, shall I smite them? 586 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:29,360 This is the way I read it when I was studying. 587 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:30,200 Can I smite them? 588 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:31,040 Can I smite them? 589 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,200 Off with their head, woohoo, this is awesome. 590 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,840 Is it time to take them out, right? 591 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:43,640 Now look at his answer, verse 22. 592 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:47,040 And he answered, thou shalt not smite them. 593 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,360 What is thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive 594 00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:51,240 with thy sordid, with thy bow? 595 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,480 He's saying, you don't even do that when you defeat them. 596 00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,520 If you can take them alive, you take them alive. 597 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:00,840 That's how you do this. 598 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,240 Set bread and water before them 599 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,920 that they may eat and drink and go to their master. 600 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:09,720 What? 601 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:13,920 Don't smite them, serve them. 602 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,120 Is this a weird battle? 603 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:20,840 This is a weird battle. 604 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:21,680 What do you do? 605 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:22,520 Verse 23. 606 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:23,840 And he prepared great provision for them. 607 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,720 And when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away. 608 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:28,760 And they went to their master. 609 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,800 He fed them and he sent them home. 610 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:35,880 That's pretty cool, isn't it? 611 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,600 This makes me think of what Jesus told us to do. 612 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:40,600 Luke 635. 613 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,720 But love ye your enemies and do good. 614 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:45,680 And lend, hoping for nothing again. 615 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,160 And your reward shall be great. 616 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:48,640 And ye shall be children of the highest. 617 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,160 For he is kind and unthankful and to the evil. 618 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:57,160 Be therefore merciful as your father also is merciful. 619 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,760 Instead of killing them, he fed them. 620 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:03,720 And then he sent them away. 621 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,560 Now you might be thinking, PBJ, 622 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,080 you said that there was, this was a miracle here. 623 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,280 But in the last one, it doesn't seem like there's a miracle. 624 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:13,560 What are you talking about? 625 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,160 Well, look at the end of the verse. 626 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,640 23B, I think this is a miracle. 627 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:19,920 We can argue that's fine. 628 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,760 It says this, so the bands of Syria came no more 629 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,960 into the land of Israel. 630 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:31,160 What is he saying? 631 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:36,160 God brought peace between the two armies, how? 632 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,000 By mercy. 633 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:42,080 God brought peace to the two countries 634 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,360 without a battle and without bloodshed. 635 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:48,720 The battle really does belong to the Lord. 636 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:51,240 Isaiah 55, eight. 637 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:52,840 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 638 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,000 neither are your ways, my ways say to the Lord. 639 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,800 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 640 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,080 so are my ways higher than your ways, 641 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,560 and my thoughts than your thoughts. 642 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,600 I don't know what adversity you're going through. 643 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,680 Probably this week, none of us, 644 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,760 unlike maybe some of our friends in the Ukraine, 645 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,520 none of us are probably going to have an actual battle. 646 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:17,600 We have difficulty that we go through, 647 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,440 and maybe that's part of where this principle applies. 648 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,800 Maybe there's things that you're dealing with. 649 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:25,920 So here's what I want us to think about, 650 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,600 just as we close in the way we apply this to our life. 651 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:30,480 When we realize that the battle belongs to the Lord, 652 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,320 it will impact, I believe, four areas. 653 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:34,600 There's probably many more, 654 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,520 but these are the four I wrote down 655 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:37,480 that I want to share with you. 656 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,240 The first one is this, our faith. 657 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,240 When we realize that the battle belongs to the Lord, 658 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,240 then we realize that our faith ought to be in the Lord. 659 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,240 My faith isn't in my gifting, 660 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,240 my faith isn't in some good strategy. 661 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,520 My faith is in God and His word, right? 662 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,520 And if I'm going to do what God's called me to do, 663 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,520 if I'm going to be what God's called me to be, 664 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:05,320 then I've got a trust in God's provision and His protection, 665 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,320 more than in some plan or plan. 666 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:09,320 Or battle strategy that I've got. 667 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,320 That means if He's the commander in chief, 668 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,320 I just got to do what He says. 669 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,320 And He's written down what we're supposed to do. 670 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,320 Our faith ought to be in Him. 671 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:20,320 And so if the battle belongs to Him, 672 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,320 we got to put our faith in Him. 673 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:24,320 Number two, prayer. 674 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:25,320 Prayer. 675 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,320 When we pray in faith, we're trusting God in real time. 676 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:31,320 What do I mean? 677 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,320 If you're going through something difficult, 678 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,320 you know, Jesus said when you pray, 679 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,320 don't do it on the corners. 680 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,320 That's what the Pharisees do. 681 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:41,320 And they have their reward. 682 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:44,320 What He's saying is they're just excited about everybody 683 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,320 thinking that they're religious and that's why they're praying. 684 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,320 And when they're praying, they're praying to be heard of men. 685 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,320 When they're praying to be heard of men, 686 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:55,320 they are heard of men and that's all the reward they're going to 687 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:56,320 get. 688 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,320 He says when you pray, go to your closet. 689 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,320 Go in private. 690 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:05,320 And the Lord that sees you in private will reward you openly. 691 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:07,320 You know, when you go pray, 692 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:10,320 and that prayer is not about having other people see you, 693 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,320 but that prayer of life is really about you going to the throne room 694 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,320 and saying, God, I need your direction. 695 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:18,320 I need your provision. 696 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,320 I can't do this on my own. 697 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:21,320 I need you. 698 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:23,320 There's something in faith that happens. 699 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,320 The reward isn't about what other people see and hear and think 700 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:28,320 of me as some kind of religious person. 701 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:33,320 It really is me talking to God and believing that God hears me, 702 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:35,320 believing that God will answer me, 703 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,320 I'm putting my faith in Him in that moment. 704 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:42,320 When we realize the battle belongs to the Lord, 705 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:46,320 we got to go to the Lord for His protection, 706 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,320 for His provision. 707 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:50,320 Number three, mercy. 708 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,320 When the battle belongs to the Lord, we recognize this. 709 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,320 We don't fight the way the world fights. 710 00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:01,320 It's the kindness of the Lord that leads to repentance. 711 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:05,320 It's what we said this morning as we've walked through 1 Corinthians. 712 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:11,320 He says, hey, you guys are being carnal. 713 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:16,320 You guys are being fleshly when you fight and divide and argue. 714 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,320 That's the wisdom of the world. 715 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:22,320 The wisdom of God is Christ crucified. 716 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:27,320 Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. 717 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,320 It doesn't make sense as the world sees it, 718 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:31,320 but as God sees it, it makes a lot of sense. 719 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:36,320 Then this last word, faith, prayer, mercy, and then victory. 720 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:38,320 Here's what I know. 721 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,320 If we want God's results, we must fight God's way. 722 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:46,320 If we want God's results, then we must fight God's way. 723 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:52,320 That means we submit to Him. 724 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,320 Here's a question for us as we walk our way tonight. 725 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,320 Here's the question. 726 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:01,320 Is there, I've been there. 727 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:04,320 I've been here in my life. 728 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,320 Is there some decision you need to make? 729 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:12,320 Is there some difficulty you're taking on? 730 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:17,320 Is there some battle that you're fighting? 731 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:21,320 And in fighting it, you're trying to do it alone. 732 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:23,320 You're not, you're trying to do it alone 733 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,320 in that you're trying to do it in your own plan, 734 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:30,320 in your own power, with some strategy from some book 735 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:35,320 or some human author somewhere, 736 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:38,320 some YouTube video that you watched 737 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,320 that goes against the wisdom of God. 738 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,320 Or as you're facing this difficulty, 739 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,320 as you're facing this battle, are you thinking about that thing, 740 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,320 the way that God thinks about it? 741 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,320 Are you saying, God, the battle belongs to you. 742 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,320 I'm gonna do what you want me to do. 743 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:58,320 I'm gonna submit to what you have. 744 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:02,320 I'm gonna go to you in prayer wanting you to do what only you can do, 745 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:09,320 submitting to His sovereignty, submitting to His deity, 746 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:13,320 doing what He wants rather than what I think is best. 747 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:18,320 If you want God's results, if you want God to bless you, 748 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:20,320 you can't expect God to bless you 749 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:22,320 without doing the things that God blesses. 750 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,320 Sometimes God blesses us in spite of us, 751 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:29,320 but I can't expect Him to bless me if I'm disobedient to Him. 752 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,320 I've gotta be obedient to what He says. 753 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:38,320 And I gotta depend on Him because the battle really does belong to the Lord. 754 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,320 I'm glad you had the pleasure.