WEBVTT 00:00:01.102 --> 00:00:23.187 I wonder what would happen individually and collectively, if we stopped just taking shots from the enemy, if we stopped this defeatist mindset and attitude that can creep in and we started living with the confidence of a God who can do anything and everything. 00:00:23.187 --> 00:00:26.347 I wonder how our church would change. 00:00:26.347 --> 00:00:27.865 I wonder how your life would change. 00:00:27.865 --> 00:00:29.365 I wonder how your family would change. 00:00:29.365 --> 00:00:30.986 I wonder how the city would change. 00:00:30.986 --> 00:00:48.368 I wonder how the world would change if we just changed our posture from a posture that understands and truly believes and receives what God's death over victory was meant to do inside of us. 00:00:48.368 --> 00:00:51.426 That's what I wanna explore this morning. 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:55.469 Hashtag FTW, hashtag for the win. 00:00:55.469 --> 00:01:08.887 That's a popular hashtag in social media and usually they'll do hashtag for the win, like when somebody drops a game-winning bucket or when the Huskers score that game-winning touchdown Lord willing, once this year at least. 00:01:08.887 --> 00:01:15.447 But I've noticed this trend in the Bible. 00:01:15.447 --> 00:01:22.926 It's hashtag FTW and it's kind of like the Bibles for the win and it's called flip the weapon. 00:01:22.926 --> 00:01:26.289 Everybody say flip the weapon, flip the weapon. 00:01:26.289 --> 00:01:30.287 I wanna talk this morning about flipping the weapon. 00:01:30.287 --> 00:01:38.362 Since I've written Forgiving Challenge, which came out a couple of years ago, I've seen this amazing trend, truth throughout the Bible. 00:01:38.362 --> 00:01:47.846 That's fascinating and it's more than fascinating, I hope you hear highly encouraging for each and every one of us that have come into this place this morning. 00:01:47.846 --> 00:01:50.121 That might've felt like you know what I feel like. 00:01:50.121 --> 00:01:51.847 I've been taking it on the chin a lot lately. 00:01:51.847 --> 00:01:57.126 I feel like God's, I feel like that enemy's been working in my mind a little too much lately. 00:01:57.126 --> 00:02:10.823 There's this trend throughout the Bible that whenever the enemy throws weapons at God or his people, that God ends up flipping the weapon of the enemy that was meant to destroy you and actually ends up the enemy gets destroyed by his own weapon. 00:02:10.823 --> 00:02:32.784 It's really cool, and I'm gonna open up God's word and show you some moments where that happens, because my hope is that if I can show you repeatedly, over and over and over and over, through the Bible, that God flips weapons, then that means whatever weapon may be coming against you right now, that he can flip that very weapon and that your end is not where you're at right now, that God is still working in you. 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:35.665 And so I got a theme verse for us today. 00:02:35.665 --> 00:02:38.628 It's in Psalm 37, verses 12 to 15. 00:02:38.628 --> 00:02:49.366 It says this the wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. 00:02:49.366 --> 00:03:05.945 The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and the needy, to slay those whose ways are upright, but their swords the enemy's swords look at this will pierce their own hearts and their bows will be broken. 00:03:05.945 --> 00:03:20.927 I wanna bring this truth out of scripture because I believe that if I can show you this, it will give you confidence that, no matter what is coming at you or after you or against you right now, that in the hands of a mighty God he can flip it. 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:31.628 That that weapon that might be after you right now, that may feel strong, that may feel like it's taking over you, that may feel like it's too powerful, actually in the hands of God is not any of those things. 00:03:31.628 --> 00:03:41.207 I'm not saying it's not real and that we don't need to like deal with those weapons, but what if the things that were meant to destroy you could actually be the thing that destroys the enemy? 00:03:41.207 --> 00:03:45.765 What if the worst parts of your story might be turned for God's glory? 00:03:45.765 --> 00:03:54.527 What if some of you may be struggling with addiction right now and you break free from that and actually end up helping free others from the addiction that you might have one day been underneath. 00:03:54.527 --> 00:04:00.384 This is just what our God does, and so is it even possible. 00:04:00.384 --> 00:04:03.527 Maybe it's not addiction that you're struggling with. 00:04:03.527 --> 00:04:16.788 Maybe you've been dealing with chronic anxiety or bullying or cancer or enormous debt or infertility or sexual sin. 00:04:17.779 --> 00:04:22.550 I don't know what the weapon is that, as I say, weapon today is gonna keep coming to your mind. 00:04:22.550 --> 00:04:34.925 But what I do know is that sometimes the hardest pieces of our story and the weapons that feel the strongest end up being the thing that God flips for his glory and end up actually in the hands of you to now use to bring freedom to others. 00:04:34.925 --> 00:04:36.766 Wouldn't that be cool if God could do that? 00:04:36.766 --> 00:04:52.507 Because the enemy wants you to hear in those weapons that come after you especially if one of those weapons might even be your own brokenness and sin that now you are washed up, you are done, you are used, that God couldn't use somebody like you. 00:04:52.507 --> 00:05:01.446 But I came to bring the truth of God today, to destroy the lies of the enemy, to tell you and remind you that there is no weapon formed against you that shall prosper in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:05:01.446 --> 00:05:11.728 So we're gonna fund today Actually found 12 flip the weapon stories in the Bible, some really well known, some not as well known. 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:14.127 I'm sure there's more, but here's what we're gonna do. 00:05:14.127 --> 00:05:22.002 I'm gonna start the sermon by preaching about my favorite Old Testament weapon flip it's the book of Esther and then I get to. 00:05:22.002 --> 00:05:24.427 Because I'm the preacher, I get to choose what I want to do up here. 00:05:24.427 --> 00:05:28.326 I get to end with Jesus okay, the greatest weapon flip of all time on the cross. 00:05:28.326 --> 00:05:30.125 So we know where we're starting. 00:05:30.125 --> 00:05:33.865 We're starting in Esther, we're ending in Jesus, but where we go in the middle is kind of up to you. 00:05:33.946 --> 00:05:42.365 Honestly, I found 10 other stories and actually, as I open up God's Word in Esther, I'm actually gonna ask you to get your phones out and you're gonna vote on which ones you wanna hear about. 00:05:42.365 --> 00:05:43.829 I've got them all prepared. 00:05:43.829 --> 00:05:45.305 I can go an hour and a half if you want me to. 00:05:45.305 --> 00:05:59.223 I don't think we're gonna go that long, though, but we can if you want, and so, on the screen in just a moment, you're gonna see those 10, you're gonna text vote nine to 94,000, and it's gonna give you a prompt and you're gonna vote on which one of these 10 do you want to hear about. 00:05:59.223 --> 00:06:02.805 We may get to three of those, we may get to four of those, we may get to five of those. 00:06:02.805 --> 00:06:03.221 I don't know. 00:06:03.221 --> 00:06:04.427 I got to count down clock. 00:06:04.427 --> 00:06:07.083 In about five minutes I'm turning it to Jesus, that's what I know. 00:06:07.083 --> 00:06:09.786 So it's kind of a choose your own adventure type of sermon. 00:06:09.786 --> 00:06:11.170 Probably really different. 00:06:11.170 --> 00:06:13.783 I'm actually curious is it gonna be different at nine than it is at 11? 00:06:13.783 --> 00:06:15.129 So who do you wanna hear about? 00:06:15.129 --> 00:06:17.067 We got 10 biblical characters up there. 00:06:17.067 --> 00:06:28.026 You can vote right now and as you vote we'll start seeing the percentages on there as I dive into the book of Esther, I think, by the way, even our tech team made it possible that even androids get a voice in this. 00:06:28.026 --> 00:06:30.827 Yeah, it's really good. 00:06:30.827 --> 00:06:36.968 That normally isn't inferior weapon, but today it works. 00:06:36.968 --> 00:06:38.944 So we're gonna have some fun today. 00:06:38.944 --> 00:06:42.603 Everybody say flip, flip, cool, keep voting. 00:06:42.603 --> 00:06:45.702 I'm gonna talk about Esther and we'll see where we land here in a few minutes. 00:06:45.702 --> 00:06:51.800 Esther is perhaps I think it is the craziest weapon. 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:52.343 Flip of all. 00:06:52.362 --> 00:06:52.944 The Old Testament. 00:06:52.944 --> 00:06:55.334 Esther is a book of the Old Testament, a book of the Bible. 00:06:55.334 --> 00:07:00.925 It's 10 chapters long and so there's really four main characters in the book of Esther. 00:07:00.925 --> 00:07:03.173 There's the king Xerxes of Persia. 00:07:03.173 --> 00:07:10.795 They're kind of the enemies to the Israelites or to the Jewish people, or they've known to persecute and be oppressive to the Jewish people. 00:07:10.795 --> 00:07:21.516 There was a beauty pageant that King Xerxes held to basically raise up the new queen, and I know that's not really politically correct, but Esther is going to win that battle. 00:07:21.516 --> 00:07:27.413 And so Esther would be win the battle of the beauty queen and show she would be the queen of King Xerxes. 00:07:27.413 --> 00:07:34.610 But Esther has a secret that she never told Xerxes that she is in fact Jewish, and so we've got this happening. 00:07:35.365 --> 00:07:42.814 At the same time there's a guy named Haman who's the highest royal official in the land and he's the chief persecutor of the Jewish people. 00:07:42.814 --> 00:07:51.065 Everybody say hey man, that's not cool, you don't have to say that, but that's cool that you did so. 00:07:51.065 --> 00:08:01.711 Hey, man concocts this plan to completely annihilate the Jewish people on the 13th of the upcoming month, which in that day was Adar, a day quickly approaching. 00:08:01.711 --> 00:08:08.377 In their story, haman's decree is that if anyone doesn't bow down to him, that they would be killed. 00:08:08.377 --> 00:08:13.064 Now the fourth character Esther's the queen Xerxes is the king Haman's, the chief royal official. 00:08:13.851 --> 00:08:26.055 The fourth character is a guy named Mordecai, and Mordecai's actually the cousin of Esther, but really in this story operates more like an uncle or a really good godfather to Esther and he's kind of the leader of the Jewish people. 00:08:26.055 --> 00:08:32.445 And Mordecai refuses to bow down to Haman and Haman's furious, and so he plots to kill Mordecai. 00:08:32.445 --> 00:08:37.784 In fact, not only does he plot to kill Mordecai, but his family and friends convince him to do this in Esther 514. 00:08:37.784 --> 00:08:48.894 They say have a pole set up reaching to a height of 50 qubits at 75 feet high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. 00:08:48.894 --> 00:08:53.053 This suggestion delighted Haman and he had the pole set up. 00:08:53.053 --> 00:08:56.452 So all the plans are in work and the pole is set up. 00:08:57.245 --> 00:09:03.851 But as he has this decree, there's something else going on in the background, and here's what it is God is working behind the scenes. 00:09:03.851 --> 00:09:05.831 God is working in the background. 00:09:05.831 --> 00:09:10.231 Don't you know that when the enemy throws weapons at you, that we have a God who's always working? 00:09:10.231 --> 00:09:14.509 Sometimes it's in the background, it's behind the scenes, and that's what's happening here. 00:09:14.509 --> 00:09:24.890 And so Mordecai is a really smart dude and he picks up on what Haman is doing and he knows that not only is his death but also the death of all the Jewish people is impending unless he does something about it. 00:09:24.890 --> 00:09:33.211 And so Mordecai goes to his cousin, esther, and in the most famous verse of all the book of Esther, he says who knows, esther, maybe you were born for such a time as this. 00:09:33.211 --> 00:09:37.775 Tell the king that you're Jewish and just maybe he'll find favor on you. 00:09:37.775 --> 00:09:39.928 It was really risky, it was really bold. 00:09:41.085 --> 00:09:46.693 Through some fancy word play and manipulation, all four of the main characters end up at a banquet table together. 00:09:46.693 --> 00:09:53.052 And it's so great what happens at this table Xerxes, mordecai, esther and Haman. 00:09:53.052 --> 00:10:02.852 It was at this table that Esther revealed that she is in fact Jewish, risking her life, but rather than that, working towards her detriment. 00:10:02.852 --> 00:10:07.990 Xerxes found favor in her, in his eyes, and the king heard her out. 00:10:07.990 --> 00:10:12.633 And not only did he hear her out, but he also said I will grant you any request that you want. 00:10:12.633 --> 00:10:16.754 Her request is that her people, the Jewish people, would be saved. 00:10:16.754 --> 00:10:24.610 And not only does Xerxes grant this request, but then he also promised to avenge the death of the man who set up this nasty decree. 00:10:24.610 --> 00:10:29.166 And sure enough he finds out it's the dude right across the table, haman. 00:10:29.166 --> 00:10:32.192 So look at how this ends Esther 7.9. 00:10:32.784 --> 00:10:36.225 One of the eunuchs attending to the king said hey, king. 00:10:36.225 --> 00:10:41.111 There's a pole reaching to a height of 50 cubits that actually stands by Haman's house. 00:10:41.111 --> 00:10:43.669 He had it set up for Mordecai. 00:10:43.669 --> 00:10:47.773 Who spoke up to help the king, and the king said impale him on it. 00:10:47.773 --> 00:10:51.274 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. 00:10:51.274 --> 00:10:52.570 You can't make this stuff up. 00:10:52.570 --> 00:10:55.812 Haman becomes the first hangman somebody. 00:10:55.812 --> 00:11:02.745 He set the pole up to kill Mordecai and a day later he's killed on his own pole. 00:11:02.745 --> 00:11:03.811 How good is that? 00:11:03.811 --> 00:11:06.065 That is really good. 00:11:06.065 --> 00:11:07.664 And the Jews party that day. 00:11:07.664 --> 00:11:10.024 They celebrated that day, they feasted that day. 00:11:10.024 --> 00:11:10.793 And don't you know? 00:11:10.793 --> 00:11:14.256 That's still a Jewish holiday that they celebrate today, called Purim. 00:11:14.256 --> 00:11:26.039 Again, I'm just trying to show you that, while the enemy may throw weapons at you, god is working, god is behind the scenes and God will always get the last laugh. 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:26.442 Amen. 00:11:27.186 --> 00:11:27.979 Who else have we got? 00:11:27.979 --> 00:11:29.562 All right, let's see what we got. 00:11:29.562 --> 00:11:35.889 Do I get the results or am I just going by the screen? 00:11:35.889 --> 00:11:39.498 Benaiah, okay, I figured you guys would choose Benaiah. 00:11:39.498 --> 00:11:41.836 It's the one really obscure. 00:11:41.836 --> 00:11:43.416 All right, actually, let me look at that. 00:11:43.416 --> 00:11:48.177 I got Benaiah, jonathan in the armor bear, shadrach Meshach and Abednego Jehoshaphat. 00:11:48.177 --> 00:11:50.236 Poor Peter only got 2%. 00:11:50.236 --> 00:11:53.438 That's actually one of my favorites. 00:11:53.438 --> 00:11:53.980 Don't go on it. 00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:55.636 I might flip the whole thing and just do that. 00:11:55.636 --> 00:12:01.302 Okay, benaiah, jonathan, shadrach, jehoshaphat. 00:12:01.302 --> 00:12:02.635 All right, you guys are testing me today. 00:12:02.635 --> 00:12:03.130 I get it. 00:12:03.130 --> 00:12:03.914 I get it. 00:12:03.914 --> 00:12:04.336 That's good. 00:12:04.336 --> 00:12:05.355 You wanna test your pastor? 00:12:05.355 --> 00:12:06.855 So let's talk about Benaiah. 00:12:07.572 --> 00:12:08.537 Who is Benaiah? 00:12:08.537 --> 00:12:11.394 Some of you are like I know these other giants, but who's Benaiah? 00:12:11.394 --> 00:12:19.576 What he's most famous for is actually a book written by a pastor today called Mark Batterson, and the title of the book is In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. 00:12:19.576 --> 00:12:23.056 It's a great name for a book, but it comes directly out of the scripture. 00:12:23.056 --> 00:12:26.996 So there's only a few passages about this dude, but they're really quick and they're really action packed. 00:12:26.996 --> 00:12:30.494 So I'm actually glad you chose it, because we might actually get to another one because you chose that one. 00:12:30.750 --> 00:12:32.255 So who is Benaiah and what did he do? 00:12:32.255 --> 00:12:35.918 King David, the same David that slayed Goliath. 00:12:35.918 --> 00:12:40.674 He was king and he appointed 30 mighty men to be in his army that kind of supported him. 00:12:40.674 --> 00:12:42.534 Benaiah was one of his top three guys. 00:12:42.534 --> 00:12:46.378 One of his top three guys, and his story is found in 2 Samuel 23. 00:12:46.378 --> 00:12:47.815 And again, I love these verses. 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:53.580 This says Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Capsule, performed great exploits. 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:56.558 He struck down Moab's two mightiest warriors. 00:12:56.558 --> 00:13:00.198 He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 00:13:00.198 --> 00:13:02.755 I wonder where Batterson got the title for his book. 00:13:02.755 --> 00:13:08.517 We might be able to use Benaiah in Omaha right now, with all these mountain lions coming up in on us. 00:13:08.517 --> 00:13:10.796 I think they're getting closer to our church. 00:13:10.855 --> 00:13:17.898 Anyway, this is where he flips the weapon, verse 21, it says and Benaiah struck down a huge Egyptian. 00:13:17.898 --> 00:13:23.456 Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, benaiah went against him with a club. 00:13:23.456 --> 00:13:28.395 He snatched the spear from the Egyptians hand and killed him with his own spear. 00:13:28.395 --> 00:13:30.514 How good is that? 00:13:30.514 --> 00:13:35.994 He goes into battle with a five iron and he ends up grabbing the dude's spear and slaying the guy. 00:13:35.994 --> 00:13:52.293 Which tells you that sometimes you may go up and fight against people, against enemies that are bigger, stronger, mightier and way more equipped than you, but if God is on your side, he can flip the weapon of the enemy that came in to destroy you, and you can actually have that weapon in your hand to take your enemy out. 00:13:52.293 --> 00:13:54.153 How good is that? 00:13:54.153 --> 00:13:55.778 What do we got next? 00:13:55.778 --> 00:13:56.572 Who's after Benaiah? 00:13:56.572 --> 00:13:59.135 Again, the Jehoiada, of course you would pick that one. 00:13:59.135 --> 00:14:01.976 Jehoiada is where we're going. 00:14:02.029 --> 00:14:04.317 That's Jehocha fat, by the way, fat with a pH. 00:14:04.317 --> 00:14:07.674 You guys remember that slang term, fat with a pH. 00:14:07.674 --> 00:14:18.234 If you're younger you may not recognize that, but fat with a pH was like you would say that if something's really cool so like the latest rap album or like Mike White would be fat with a pH. 00:14:18.234 --> 00:14:22.754 All of those things and all transparency before you bring it back into your vocabulary. 00:14:22.754 --> 00:14:26.095 It also could describe a shapely woman with curves, so be careful how you use it. 00:14:26.095 --> 00:14:28.856 But anyway, this story is fat with a pH. 00:14:30.330 --> 00:14:34.575 Jehocha fat is the great, great, great grandson of King David in the Old Testament. 00:14:34.575 --> 00:14:46.477 At this time, the Israelites had not been faithful, even though God had been so faithful, and so the nation of Israel was split up into two kingdoms the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. 00:14:46.477 --> 00:14:52.937 And Jehocha fat was the king of Judah, and his story is found in second Chronicles, 20. 00:14:52.937 --> 00:15:02.392 Chronicles Some people deem that to be the most boring book of the Bible, and we're going to get a really cool story which tells you. 00:15:02.392 --> 00:15:03.836 By the way, the Bible isn't boring. 00:15:03.836 --> 00:15:04.298 You are. 00:15:04.298 --> 00:15:08.059 That was mean, sorry. 00:15:09.889 --> 00:15:11.076 Jehocha fat's a rare dude. 00:15:11.076 --> 00:15:22.297 He actually seeks the Lord's advice, unlike the kings and judges before him, and so there was some major enemies that the Israelites constantly have in the battles of the Old Testament. 00:15:22.297 --> 00:15:28.595 And so what's happening is the Israelites are still powerful, and so they've actually gotten multiple nations conspiring against them. 00:15:28.595 --> 00:15:37.658 And so in this case, in the Bible, where we're going, it says that the Moabites and the Ammonites, along with some of the Muneites, all waged war against Jehocha fat. 00:15:37.658 --> 00:15:41.254 I have in my notes that I wonder if the termites and cellulites join them as well. 00:15:41.254 --> 00:15:44.235 You get the picture it's all theites coming at him. 00:15:44.809 --> 00:15:45.894 And what does Jehocha fat do? 00:15:45.894 --> 00:15:49.635 He calls it fast which I think is really awesome to seek the Lord's advice. 00:15:49.635 --> 00:16:00.126 And so, after this fast, the spirit of the Lord, it says, comes upon Jehaziel, son of Zachariah, son of Baniah, and I thought, oh, that'd be really cool if that's the same Baniah. 00:16:00.126 --> 00:16:00.549 It's not, by the way. 00:16:00.549 --> 00:16:02.476 So, anyway, we're gonna move forward. 00:16:03.673 --> 00:16:05.078 And Jehaziel says these words. 00:16:05.078 --> 00:16:16.899 He says don't be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, because you've got all these nations conspiring against you, for the battle is not yours but God's. 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:18.996 I love that phrase. 00:16:18.996 --> 00:16:27.697 But God, man, you can put a lot before that comma but God, because God's butt is bigger than any one of our problems that we may bring to him amen. 00:16:27.697 --> 00:16:31.710 And so he goes on and tells them the next day, you're gonna march down against them. 00:16:31.710 --> 00:16:34.836 And then he says this you actually will not have to fight this battle. 00:16:34.836 --> 00:16:40.308 Take up your position, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you Judah and Jerusalem. 00:16:40.308 --> 00:16:42.330 Don't be afraid, don't be discouraged. 00:16:42.330 --> 00:16:45.850 Go out to face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you. 00:16:46.476 --> 00:16:49.125 And Jehoshaphat heeds these words, and so on the next day. 00:16:49.125 --> 00:16:57.708 As they're there, they're literally praising God and worshiping him and they're singing give thanks to the Lord, his love endures forever, before the battle even happens. 00:16:57.708 --> 00:17:02.870 And as they're singing, they're standing in the exact spot that Jehaziel tells them to stand in. 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:07.627 And they see the men from all the other nations start to invade Judah. 00:17:07.627 --> 00:17:13.349 And as they're invading Judah to destroy Judah, the word of God says this is what happens. 00:17:13.893 --> 00:17:22.430 It says the Ammonites and the Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seer that, by the way, is the Mughnites, which were their partners in this. 00:17:22.430 --> 00:17:28.289 And so the Ammonites and Moabites rise up against the Mughnites to destroy and annihilate them. 00:17:28.289 --> 00:17:33.719 And after they finished slaughtering the men from Seer, they helped to destroy one another. 00:17:33.719 --> 00:17:37.031 How good is that. 00:17:37.031 --> 00:17:43.894 The enemies planned to work together, but they destroyed one another in the process. 00:17:43.894 --> 00:17:49.875 Jehoshaphat and Judah got to just stand and watch. 00:17:49.875 --> 00:17:57.074 Then, when everyone is dead this is what it says they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground. 00:17:57.074 --> 00:17:58.609 No one had escaped. 00:17:59.586 --> 00:18:11.750 So 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. 00:18:11.750 --> 00:18:15.292 There was so much plunder it took them three days to collect it. 00:18:15.292 --> 00:18:29.835 Because when we fight against the enemy, not only do we eventually have the weapons of the enemy in our hands, used to destroy the enemy, but we also get the spoils of the victory as well, so that when we go into new fights in the future, we're stronger. 00:18:29.835 --> 00:18:35.893 We've now got the gold and the silver and the clothing on our side, so we're in a better position to fight with whatever comes forward. 00:18:35.893 --> 00:18:42.111 Because some of you are in a fight right now and you're not sure how you're going to make your way through it. 00:18:42.111 --> 00:18:50.054 God just wants you to know that He'll fight for you, and not only will he fight for you, but you'll be walking into your future with the plunder of the enemy. 00:18:50.054 --> 00:18:53.875 So you don't walk in the future the same way that you're walking in this morning. 00:18:53.875 --> 00:19:00.114 Amen, jonathan and the Armor Bear, such a good one. 00:19:00.114 --> 00:19:02.771 This one's in 1 Samuel 13 and 14. 00:19:02.771 --> 00:19:11.548 So if I'm dating what I've just told you, this is before Jehoshaphat, before Baniah, a few chapters even before. 00:19:11.548 --> 00:19:22.490 David will flip the enemy's weapon, goliath, his sword, and cut Goliath's head off and raise up Goliath's head to all the Israelite people and says this is how you want to get ahead in life. 00:19:22.490 --> 00:19:27.990 But you didn't tell me to preach on that one, so you missed out on more of that story. 00:19:27.990 --> 00:19:30.827 Shame on you, but I snugged it in anyway. 00:19:30.827 --> 00:19:36.574 Jonathan and the Armor Bear, 1 Samuel, 13 and 14. 00:19:37.065 --> 00:19:39.693 At this point, the Israelites were enemies with the Philistines. 00:19:39.693 --> 00:19:43.432 Right Goliath was a Philistine, so this is the Philistine, that same area. 00:19:43.432 --> 00:19:53.731 They were mighty, they were powerful and they continued to raid the Israelite people, so much so that, as we enter into the story of Jonathan and the Armor Bear, the Israelites actually had no weapons. 00:19:53.731 --> 00:20:02.490 If they wanted to sharpen an axe or anything like for agricultural purposes, they had to go into the Philistine country to even have a weapon sharpened. 00:20:02.490 --> 00:20:06.807 And so, on this day, when there's a battle about to take place, this is what it says. 00:20:07.108 --> 00:20:12.715 On the day of the battle, not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand. 00:20:12.715 --> 00:20:15.953 Only Saul and his son, jonathan, had them. 00:20:15.953 --> 00:20:22.875 There were two weapons in all of Israel Jonathan and Saul and they're getting ready to fight. 00:20:22.875 --> 00:20:25.571 This is not a good position to be in, by the way. 00:20:25.571 --> 00:20:27.127 So here's what happened. 00:20:27.127 --> 00:20:29.108 They're close to one another. 00:20:29.108 --> 00:20:32.010 Most of the Israelites run all the way away. 00:20:32.010 --> 00:20:34.950 Tens of thousands run away, far away from the battle. 00:20:34.950 --> 00:20:37.184 They're scared, they're afraid, they're not going to enter into it. 00:20:37.184 --> 00:20:38.028 They've got no weapons. 00:20:38.028 --> 00:20:39.989 They're making the logical choice. 00:20:39.989 --> 00:20:49.413 Six hundred of the Israelites, including King Saul, just crossed the river to get to the other side so that there would be no battle. 00:20:49.413 --> 00:20:51.330 They have a safe distance if they need to retreat. 00:20:52.904 --> 00:21:07.474 But Jonathan we got to give Jonathan some credit stands up in 1 Samuel 14, verse one, and he says this one day, jonathan's son of Saul said to his young armor bear come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side. 00:21:07.474 --> 00:21:09.549 Then, in verse six, he doubles down. 00:21:09.549 --> 00:21:13.775 He says come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. 00:21:13.775 --> 00:21:15.830 That is slang talk in the Old Testament. 00:21:15.830 --> 00:21:18.692 Y'all, why don't you uncircumcise men over there. 00:21:18.692 --> 00:21:24.711 Let's go over there because perhaps the Lord loved this, will act on our behalf. 00:21:24.711 --> 00:21:28.530 Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few. 00:21:28.530 --> 00:21:34.352 So it doesn't matter whether we go to six hundred or 10,000, if the Lord wants to act, the Lord will act. 00:21:34.352 --> 00:21:36.288 And Jonathan's crazy. 00:21:36.328 --> 00:21:38.851 But I think there's one person that's a little bit crazier than Jonathan. 00:21:38.851 --> 00:21:39.165 You know who. 00:21:39.165 --> 00:21:41.351 It is the armor bearer. 00:21:41.351 --> 00:21:44.432 Because what does the armor bearer not have? 00:21:44.432 --> 00:21:48.906 You had one job, dude Bear arms. 00:21:48.906 --> 00:21:50.913 You were an unarmed armor bearer. 00:21:50.913 --> 00:21:54.249 That's what the story should be Jonathan and the unarmed armor bearer. 00:21:54.249 --> 00:22:00.990 But he goes up with them and they climb up this hill and I picture, like Jack Bauer, my generation, macgyver, older generation. 00:22:00.990 --> 00:22:06.029 I picture those guys like climbing up, it's what it says, climbing up over the hill and all of a sudden, these two. 00:22:06.069 --> 00:22:09.694 The Bible says take out 20 Philistine men in half an acre. 00:22:09.694 --> 00:22:10.729 That's it, half an acre. 00:22:10.729 --> 00:22:15.180 They take 20 out and as they do this, it says panic struck the army. 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:18.271 And as you look into the scripture, you see that it was God that sent the panic. 00:22:18.271 --> 00:22:21.373 And so now the battle's over here. 00:22:21.373 --> 00:22:23.332 Jonathan and the armor bearer are battling. 00:22:23.332 --> 00:22:27.567 Now Saul is recognizing there's a commotion over there and we're short. 00:22:27.567 --> 00:22:30.452 Two guys, my son and his unarmed armor bearer. 00:22:30.452 --> 00:22:34.192 And so they recognize and realize this, and so they start marching over. 00:22:34.192 --> 00:22:39.071 And as they go over to the other side, it says Saul and all his men assembled and went to battle. 00:22:39.071 --> 00:22:45.796 But when they got there, they found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with what? 00:22:45.796 --> 00:22:47.470 With their own swords. 00:22:47.470 --> 00:22:49.709 How cool is that? 00:22:49.709 --> 00:22:55.334 They stole Israel's weapons and actually Israel's weapons still ended up killing them. 00:22:55.334 --> 00:22:57.210 It just happened from a Philistines hand. 00:22:58.113 --> 00:23:03.512 What, how amazing is this story? 00:23:03.512 --> 00:23:09.231 We don't have to always fight, we don't have to always give it our best. 00:23:09.231 --> 00:23:38.654 We just gotta fight with God on our side, and all things are possible, and sometimes even Our own weapons can get taken away from us, not even as like a punishment, but sometimes, I think, to remind us that when we fight in this world, it's not with our own weapons, our own resources, our own talents, our own power, our own strength, our own grit, our own ability, but rather it's with God fighting for us. 00:23:38.654 --> 00:23:51.951 Not only did they get their weapons back, but again they got the plunder of the enemy, and I just imagine that all of Israel rejoiced around the campfire that night. 00:23:51.951 --> 00:23:59.413 I imagine the 600 got to say things and see things to one another that were really awesome. 00:23:59.413 --> 00:24:16.992 But I just imagine in the campfire, jonathan and the unarmed armor bear lock into eyes with all these arms around them now saying how cool that God did this through us, because when God flips weapons, we have a story and a testimony to share. 00:24:16.992 --> 00:24:22.632 So I don't want to be certainly in the 10,000, no thanks on the 600. 00:24:22.632 --> 00:24:23.828 I want to be in the two. 00:24:23.828 --> 00:24:25.548 That says I'll go wherever God. 00:24:25.548 --> 00:24:36.933 Perhaps the Lord will act on my behalf Because I and those of us who come along with us in the two we'll get to see God work in ways that nobody else saw and we'll get to tell stories and lock eyes about. 00:24:36.933 --> 00:24:43.313 Wasn't it cool when we opened up a new campus and God showed up in a mighty way and look at how he worked through this? 00:24:43.313 --> 00:24:46.790 Amen, that's what God does. 00:24:46.790 --> 00:24:52.387 Shadrach, meshach and Abednego here we go. 00:24:52.387 --> 00:24:58.228 I like to call them Rack, shack and Benny At this point. 00:24:58.248 --> 00:24:58.869 The Israelites. 00:24:58.869 --> 00:25:00.911 You notice the Israelites have a lot of enemies. 00:25:00.911 --> 00:25:04.590 The Israelites enemies are the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar is the king. 00:25:04.590 --> 00:25:13.590 And Nebuchadnezzar sets up this 90 foot gold image Many think it was of himself and says that everybody here, when the music stops, has got to bow down to me. 00:25:13.590 --> 00:25:22.471 All in the area do, except for three guys Shadrach, meshach and Abednego. 00:25:22.471 --> 00:25:28.588 And as Nebuchadnezzar approaches them, I think it's one of the most mature faith professions in all of the Bible. 00:25:28.924 --> 00:25:35.853 These three boys say this the God we serve can deliver us and he will deliver us from your majesty's hand. 00:25:35.853 --> 00:25:39.634 But even if he doesn't come on, that's good. 00:25:39.634 --> 00:25:53.113 My God can, my God will, but even if he doesn't, we want you to know, your majesty's, still being respectful, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold that you have set up. 00:25:53.113 --> 00:25:55.288 Oh man, that's good. 00:25:55.288 --> 00:26:12.795 Sometimes the enemies actually a lot of times the enemy's weapons come at us not because we're being unfaithful or disobedient, but we're actually being faithful before God and we find ourselves in these really hard, difficult circumstances. 00:26:12.795 --> 00:26:17.944 So they say in the midst of this fiery furnace in the background that they're gonna get thrown into. 00:26:17.944 --> 00:26:23.984 My God can, my God will, even if he doesn't Kind of like the spirit of Jonathan. 00:26:23.984 --> 00:26:26.984 Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. 00:26:26.984 --> 00:26:28.825 Because why can we say these things? 00:26:28.825 --> 00:26:32.940 Because if God is for us, then who can be against us? 00:26:32.940 --> 00:26:34.325 So what happened? 00:26:34.325 --> 00:26:36.884 They actually turned the furnace into a fire. 00:26:36.884 --> 00:27:04.333 They turned this up 10 times the amount, and the word of God says that the only ones that were destroyed were the soldiers that threw them into the fire themselves, because when they looked into the fiery furnace they saw a fourth man, jesus Christ himself, which tells us that when you're in the middle of your problem, god is right there with you, he is right beside you. 00:27:04.333 --> 00:27:08.055 We don't talk about this part of the story very much. 00:27:08.464 --> 00:27:15.813 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted Shadrach, meshach and Bendigo, servants of the Most High God, come out, come here. 00:27:15.813 --> 00:27:32.412 So Shadrach, Meshach and Bendigo came out of the fire and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisors crowded around them and they saw look at this that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was ahead of their hair singed, their robes were not scorched and there was no smell of fire on them. 00:27:32.412 --> 00:27:39.701 But what that verse doesn't tell you is what a few verses earlier told you they went into the fire with one other thing. 00:27:39.701 --> 00:27:40.664 Do you know what it was? 00:27:40.664 --> 00:27:45.286 They were bound by ropes that tied them up. 00:27:45.286 --> 00:27:56.922 But when they came out of the fire, there was only one thing that burnt off of them, and it was the very ropes that bound them up, the very thing that the enemy said I'm going to bind you up. 00:27:56.922 --> 00:28:11.044 They got loosed in the midst of the fire, which I came to remind you that sometimes the enemy wants to bind you up, but in the presence of a mighty God, the only thing that's falling around you is the chains that are meant to have been fallen for years now. 00:28:11.044 --> 00:28:32.348 God is a God that can destroy the ropes that were meant to bound you up, because we're not a people that operate from a posture of defeated, tied up, got nowhere to go, because we have a God who shows up time and time and time and time again. 00:28:34.036 --> 00:28:35.760 I don't have time to get into the other stories. 00:28:35.760 --> 00:28:37.086 I'm disappointed in how you voted. 00:28:37.086 --> 00:28:48.556 I wanted to tell you about the apostle Paul, who was Saul, that God flipped from a persecutor to the main. 00:28:48.556 --> 00:29:01.839 There's some Google lists where he's a top 10 most influential person ever to live and I wanted to tell you in his story that when you got thrown into prison, most people would look at that and be like Paul. 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:09.287 That really stinks that you're in prison and you can feel free to write about how hard prison is and how the food sucks and the guards temperamental and you're lonely. 00:29:09.287 --> 00:29:10.542 But Paul didn't do that. 00:29:10.542 --> 00:29:11.067 You know what he did. 00:29:11.067 --> 00:29:23.287 He penned the book of Philippians, which is a book all about joy, and I just like the fact that he turned an opportunity from a prison sentence into writing sentences from prison that still bring freedom to us today. 00:29:25.154 --> 00:29:26.356 But I didn't get to tell you that one. 00:29:26.356 --> 00:30:05.182 I didn't get to tell you about Moses and the Red Sea walking on dry ground through the thing that was meant to stop them, the obstacle in the way, and not only was it an obstacle in the way, but when they walked through dry ground into their next season, they got to look back at the Red Sea actually then destroying their enemy, which is a reminder that as we walk into the future, not only do we walk into the future with God's promises, but we walk into the future with our past no longer behind us, and some of you need to let go of your past and move forward, and this is the day to do it. 00:30:05.182 --> 00:30:12.819 But I didn't get to tell you that one either, really ticked. 00:30:12.819 --> 00:30:14.371 You didn't choose David, because there's a part of it. 00:30:14.371 --> 00:30:14.994 I'm not going to say it. 00:30:14.994 --> 00:30:16.038 Maybe 11 will choose it. 00:30:16.038 --> 00:30:18.104 Come back, come back. 00:30:18.104 --> 00:30:19.709 Come back and vote, vote. 00:30:19.709 --> 00:30:20.191 You got to vote. 00:30:20.211 --> 00:30:28.797 Let's practice voting, but the clock's running and I certainly don't want to miss out on the greatest weapon flip of all time. 00:30:28.797 --> 00:30:37.300 His name is Jesus Christ and he came down into this world off of his throne on a mission to save you and me. 00:30:37.300 --> 00:30:42.058 And everything hinges on this man, jesus, even the calendar that we flip every day. 00:30:42.058 --> 00:30:46.596 You cannot be reminded of a cal, even looking at a calendar, without this man's influence. 00:30:46.596 --> 00:30:56.858 And everything flipped on that night when he said one word to tell us die, it means it is finished or paid in full. 00:30:56.858 --> 00:31:04.300 And I bet when the enemy heard that word, I bet he laughed because he thought he destroyed Jesus. 00:31:04.300 --> 00:31:07.171 But Jesus didn't say I am finished. 00:31:07.171 --> 00:31:08.275 He said it is finished. 00:31:08.275 --> 00:31:09.057 And what is the it? 00:31:09.057 --> 00:31:13.147 It is the sin of all mankind, past, present and future. 00:31:13.147 --> 00:31:17.467 Paid in full so that nobody has to pay that again. 00:31:17.467 --> 00:31:26.586 It's done, it's over, and so, whatever weapons the enemy wants to throw at you, they are no longer valid because our God destroyed them. 00:31:26.586 --> 00:31:29.222 It is finished, it is paid in full. 00:31:30.214 --> 00:31:41.167 And now this torture instrument, the cross, which didn't even have a word to describe the pain and the suffering in Latin, and so they came up with this new word excruciating X out of crux, the cross out of the cross. 00:31:41.167 --> 00:31:45.326 This symbol of torture is not a symbol of torture for us anymore. 00:31:45.326 --> 00:31:46.938 It is a symbol of victory. 00:31:46.938 --> 00:32:07.940 We wear it as our necklaces, some of us name our churches after it, we talk about it like it's where victory is, because it is where victory is and this is the message that we get to take forward in the future is that our God can flip the enemy's weapons, and that's exactly what he did on that night when he died for you and he died for me. 00:32:07.940 --> 00:32:20.722 This was a reminder to tell you, especially in light of the tomb that would come three days later, that whatever weapon has come against you, it has been destroyed in the mighty powerful, strong name of the weapon flipping God. 00:32:20.722 --> 00:32:23.448 That we have done over. 00:32:23.448 --> 00:32:47.803 And so, whatever weapon you may be feeling and facing right now, I'm not saying it's not big, I'm not saying it's not powerful, I'm not saying it's not real, but what I am saying is, in the presence of a mighty God, it is finished, paid for, done. 00:32:47.803 --> 00:33:08.683 So, whatever it is that you're facing, we don't need to carry on with the posture of I've been defeated, because the cross tells me I can cross from a sinner into a saint, from death to life, from anxiety to peace. 00:33:08.683 --> 00:33:12.557 We all face weapons. 00:33:14.780 --> 00:33:21.744 Last night my only living grandparent passed away, my dad's mom, arlene. 00:33:21.744 --> 00:33:25.641 Some of you know her, have met her 95 years old. 00:33:25.641 --> 00:33:28.928 She passed away on what would have been the 72nd wedding anniversary. 00:33:28.928 --> 00:33:48.755 It's around my grandpa and the siblings were around grandma last night and they were around her bedside singing holy, holy, holy in the midst of death. 00:33:48.755 --> 00:34:14.099 And I think what a beautiful picture of a woman who lived a beautiful life, whose shoulders I get to stand on today in many respects because of her faithfulness and how she served her family and her church that as she's breathing her last, her sons and her daughters are crying holy, holy, holy. 00:34:14.099 --> 00:34:14.599 Why? 00:34:14.599 --> 00:34:22.842 Because that's what you do in the presence of the enemy's weapons he flips the weapons for his glory. 00:34:25.615 --> 00:34:46.938 So what do you need, flipped today, like you, to stand in this place right now, because I feel that too many of us have been beaten down, too many of us have had this posture of we're just going to take it on the chin, we're going to take it in our mind, we're not going to fight back, but God is saying today you don't even need to fight back, just tether up with me and I'll take care of things for you. 00:34:49.081 --> 00:34:57.838 And so we just sit and stand in the presence and goodness of a weapon flipping God. 00:34:57.838 --> 00:35:01.128 So what needs to be flipped today? 00:35:01.128 --> 00:35:03.936 Is it a relationship that's lets you down? 00:35:03.936 --> 00:35:07.206 Is it an addiction that's overcome? 00:35:07.206 --> 00:35:10.956 Is it a loss of a loved one that you can't get past? 00:35:10.956 --> 00:35:16.469 Is it a past sin that you still can't move on from? 00:35:16.469 --> 00:35:21.358 Is it a season of waiting where you're trying to have a baby and you can't? 00:35:21.358 --> 00:35:26.608 Has debt piled up so high that you can't see your way out of it? 00:35:26.608 --> 00:35:35.382 I don't know what your story is, but we worship a God who flips weapons today, and I'll tell you what our greatest weapon of offense is today. 00:35:35.382 --> 00:35:36.184 You know what it's called. 00:35:36.184 --> 00:35:39.041 It's called worship, and so that's what we're here to do. 00:35:39.041 --> 00:35:43.157 We're here to battle against the enemy and bring our weapon of worship. 00:35:43.157 --> 00:35:48.476 Lift up your hands in this place today, because we serve a mighty God, a God who turns things. 00:35:48.476 --> 00:35:51.125 Come on, lift up your hands in this place today. 00:35:51.125 --> 00:35:54.052 He is a God that is taking care of everything.