Faith Wins Every Battle

3/5/06

 

 

Rom. 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

 

The year is 896 B.C.

 

2 Chr. 20:1 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat.

 

Isn’t this just how the enemy works!  He starts it.

 

We have personal battles to win, family battles, church battles, city battles, state battles and national battles....faith is the victory in every case!

 

 2 Cor. 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

 

²Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). ³Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.

 

Ÿ        Jehoshaphat didn’t wring his hands in a panic!

Ÿ        He didn’t call is military commanders and try to figure out how this was going to be handled.

Ÿ        He didn’t pack up and leave.

Ÿ        He didn’t go out and hire other armies to join him.

Ÿ        “He resolved to inquire of the Lord!

Ÿ        All of Judah followed his example.

Ÿ        Leaders set the example.  Whether it’s over a nation, over a church, over a business, or over a family!

 

 

⁴The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard ⁶and said:

 

Listen closely to this prayer.  This was not a prayer of desperation.  Jehoshaphat didn’t plead, beg or bargain!  This was a prayer of faith in the Living God!

 

“O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. ⁷O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? ⁸They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ⁹‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’

¹⁰“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. ¹¹See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. ¹²O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”

¹³All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.

 

¹⁴Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

 

¹⁵He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.   

 

This battle was an absolute miraculous victory!  Anytime they won it was God’s victory, whether they physically fought or not.

 

We need to understand this truth on a personal level and a national level!

 

When is the battle ever ours?  Never!  Unless...we are battling for the wrong thing!

 

On the national level God has used America to bring judgement on those nations who have tried to crush the Jews or Christianity.

 

For centuries prior to 1945 Japan had crushed Christianity in their country.

 

On 9 August 1945, Nagasaki was the target of the world's second atomic bomb attack at 11:02 a.m., when the north of the city was destroyed and an estimated 70,000 people were killed outright with another 70,000 doomed to die of bomb-related causes in the decades that followed. The Nagasaki bomb, code-named "Fat Man", dropped by the Boeing B-29 was more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima three days earlier ("Little Boy"),

 

Germany was trying to annihilate the Jews.  Again, God brought judgement on that nation.

 

The Islamic religion despises the Jews and Christianity.  Is the battle ours or is it God’s?

 

History throughout the Bible shows God using one nation to bring judgement upon another nation and then the very nation God used was judged because of their rejection of God.

 

God has used America to win wars and bring judgement upon other nations but if we continue to abandon our Christian values on which we were established what will keep us from being judged?

 

2 Chr. 20:16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”

 

¹⁸Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. ¹⁹Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.

 

²⁰Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” ²¹After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

    “Give thanks to the LORD,

       for his love endures forever.”

²²As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. ²³The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

 

²⁴When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. ²⁵So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. ²⁶On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day.

 

²⁷Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the LORD had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the LORD with harps and lutes and trumpets.

 

²⁹The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

 

The year is approximately 742 B.C.  154 years after the tremendous victory God gave Jehoshaphat.  Ahaz was a wicked king.  He only lived to the age of thirty five.  He did have a godly son--Hezekiah.

 

¹When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.

 

²Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

 

³Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field. ⁴Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. ⁵Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying, ⁶“Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” ⁷Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

“‘It will not take place,

it will not happen,

⁸ for the head of Aram is Damascus,

and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.

Within sixty-five years

Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.

⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.

If you do not stand firm in your faith,

you will not stand at all.’”

¹⁰Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹“Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

 

¹²But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”

 

¹³Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?

 

¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and^£ will call him Immanuel. ¹⁵He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. ¹⁶But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. ¹⁷The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”

 

Faith is not an option!

 

As the Lord told Ahaz....

 

    “If you do not stand firm in your faith,

           you will not stand at all.’”

 

There is no getting around it.  If we lack faith we hinder greatly what God can and would do.

 

Mat. 13:53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. ⁵⁴Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. ⁵⁵“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷And they took offense at him.

 

But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”

⁵⁸And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

 

Mk. 9:17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

 

¹⁹“O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

 

²⁰So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

 

²¹Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. ²²“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

 

²³“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

 

²⁴Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

 

²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

 

²⁶The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

 

Jesus again emphasizes the power of faith...

 

Mk. 11:20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

 

²²“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

 

 

Mat. 9:27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

 

²⁸When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

 

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

 

²⁹Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; ³⁰and their sight was restored.