DEUTERONOMY 25:17-19 REMEMBER YOUR ENEMYS TACTICS2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Deuteronomy 25:17-19 Remember Your Enemys Tactics

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015.

As we look at this passage this morning here, Deuteronomy chapter 25, verse 17 through 19, God is speaking to the children of Israel through Moses as they're preparing to enter into the promised land. And it's kind of Moses's farewell speech, the whole book of Deuteronomy. And so he's giving them this instruction from the Lord to remember a battle that took place, to remember a

And it really reminds me of something that we experienced as a nation a while back. And of course, you might be able to connect the dots already and be thinking about September 11th, 2001. And one of the things that took place after the terrorist attack that took place in Egypt

there was a kind of a campaign. There was a slogan that went around and continues to come up year after year saying, we will never forget.

And ever since that took place, there's been kind of that idea, that thrust, that for us as Americans, we wanna make sure that we never forget what took place there, how the catastrophe happened and how it happened kind of unexpectedly. We weren't expecting to wake up that morning and hear that on the news and watch those things unfold. It took us by surprise. And so we want it to never happen again. We want it to never forget.

what took place there on September 11th. Now, as we have that kind of that slogan going around and that continues to keep coming around year after year, we're reminded of what took place. And it's really an acknowledgment

of our tendency to forget. One of the reasons why it's a slogan and it comes up year after year is because we all recognize, we all acknowledge, it's pretty easy for us to forget. And if we didn't set aside some time, if we didn't set aside and remind ourselves of the devastation, we would forget and then it would cause us to go back to a condition of being unprepared and unexpecting of those kinds of attacks.

And it's a similar situation, what God is reminding the children of Israel about what happened to them as they were coming out of Egypt into the wilderness. And so verse 17, he says, remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt. Now, what was it that Amalek did? We'll get to see that in the next verse. He'll describe some of the tactics that were used by Amalek as they attacked Israel.

But the main thing here is God says, you need to remember what they did. I want you to make sure that you don't forget what they did so that later on when you have opportunity, you'll deal with them accordingly.

So that later on, you don't kind of get soft in your response because you've forgotten about the devastation. You've forgotten about the severity of what they did. But so that later on, you'll respond with the amount of force that is required. You'll respond appropriately, which is appropriate to what they've done to you. Now, as we look at this reminder that God gives to the nation of Israel, I am sharing this today with you as a good reminder for us.

that not talking about, you know, some physical enemies or people in our life, but you do have an enemy. You have several enemies and you need to remember what they've done and remember how they've brought devastation in your life so that you can respond appropriately.

our enemies as believers are not the people around us. Remember, Paul said that your enemy is not flesh and blood. Our struggle is not against the people around us, but we have spiritual enemies. So your enemy, we could kind of summarize it in three ways. The devil, your flesh or your sinful nature, and the world. And that's usually the kind of how we summarize the enemies against us as Christians. The devil is

the flesh, and the world. As we look at Amalek, usually Bible teachers will look at Amalek and say Amalek is a picture of the flesh, which I would say, you know, definitely fits. It is a picture of our sinful nature. But I think as we look at this today, it doesn't have to be just your sinful nature, but it can be those outside attacks that Satan brings as well. And so these are reminders for us. As the reminder is given to Israel, it's a reminder for you that

to remember, to think about, to consider, to not forget what the enemy has done to you, what your sinful nature has done to you, to help you and I to deal ruthlessly with the enemy and not soften our response, not compromise in our walks, but to be faithful, to deal with our enemy the way that God desires us to. And so the title of the message this morning is Remember Your Enemy's Tactics.

That's what God wants you to do today. He wants you to remember to think back and don't forget the tactics of your enemy. And sometimes we forget the enemy's tactics.

We forget the devastation. We forget the hurt. We forget what took place. And because we forget, we put up with things that have no place in our lives, that shouldn't be there. We allow things to go on that really should not be happening. We kind of just make peace and live with things that we should be dealing with and getting rid of. And so there's four points this morning that I'd like to highlight for you to help you remember your enemy's tactics and then help us to respond appropriately.

The first point is found in verse 18, and that is that your enemy attacks from behind. Look again at verse 18. It says, how he met you, talking about Amalek. So he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear. So he talks about this event that took place, this attack that happened where Amalek attacked the nation of Israel.

Now, the event that he's referring to takes us back to Exodus chapter 17. You don't have to turn there, but if you'd like to, you can look it up later on and see some of the details of that battle. But there in Exodus chapter 17, Amalek attacked Israel and then Israel had to turn and fight back. Now, this was very early in the Exodus or the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, right?

If you think about Exodus chapter 12 and 13, that's all dealing with the Passover. And so that's the night that Israel leaves Egypt. And then Exodus chapter 14 is when they cross over the Red Sea on dry ground.

Exodus chapter 16 is when God provides manna for the children of Israel. So this is all very early as they're leaving Egypt. It's very early in their wilderness experience. And then the next chapter, chapter 17, Amalek comes against Israel and attacks. It's their first battle. And the thing to note about this is that Israel did not know they were at war. Israel knew that God was leading them out of Egypt and

Israel knew that God was going to take them to the promised land and there would be battles in the promised land, but they were not expecting war right now. This wasn't part of the territory that they were expecting to fight for. They were just traveling. They were still escaping while this was taking place. And while they're still escaping, not expecting the war, Amalek comes up from behind them. He sneaks up behind and attacks the rear ranks.

It would be kind of like if I walked behind Jake and bumped him on the head and knocked him out and then walked around, you know, kind of boasting to everybody like, hey, see that big guy right there? I took him down. But, you know, I didn't do it in a way that's honorable. I did it in a sneaky, underhanded, dirty tactics kind of way, right? Coming up behind and attacking that. We understand that's not a good thing to do. Now, when it comes to war, war is not going to be pretty no matter what.

It's always going to be filled with casualties. There's always going to be devastation. There's always going to be ambushes and surprises and things like that. And so it's not that war is not including those things, but that Israel, the main thing here is that Israel didn't know they were at war.

And so we could maybe liken it to 9-11. You know, it was a war that we didn't know we were participating in. And then there was this attack. Or you could think about maybe Pearl Harbor. We were kind of on the brink of war, but it was that first attack. We didn't know we were at war. And then it came. And that is the way that Amalek attacked the nation of Israel. Now,

Again, war is messy. There's gonna be casualties. It's going to be devastating things that are happening. It's not like, I don't know about you, but I have this picture of the Revolutionary War in my head. I don't know if you have the same picture, but I picture the British troops fighting

lined up in bright colored uniforms, you know, out in the open field, like, hey, you know, here I am, easy to spot. It's like, I'm just standing here for target practice. And then every once in a while we break for tea. That's kind of the picture that I have. I know it's not exactly accurate, but it's not like, you know, war has to be like that. It has to be civilized. Okay, timeout, timeout, you know, break for tea. That's not the issue here. The issue isn't that there was a battle or that there was war, but that they came up from behind and attacked us

a nation that was not expecting it, a nation that was not at war. And then they attacked the stragglers there at the end of the company, the stragglers who were falling behind, those who were left behind. And we'll see in the next portion that they were tired and weary.

Now, as we look at this attack of Amalek upon the nation of Israel, again, we're not just talking about that physical thing, but God wants them to remember that so that later on they deal appropriately with the nation. But as we look at it this morning, we also need to remember that our enemy uses the same tactics. Only as we consider these things, we need to understand that the stakes are much higher. We're not just talking about loss of life,

temporarily in this world, we're talking about and dealing with things of eternity. And so the enemy of your soul, the enemy of you, your flesh, the devil, the world around us, the enemy is seeking to destroy us, not just temporarily, but eternally. And your enemy would love to take you out before you even knew there was a war going on.

Before you even had an opportunity to try to defend yourself, before you had an opportunity to learn how to fight and to battle, before you had an opportunity to even know what was going on, the enemy would love to destroy you and cast you into hell before you even have a chance to understand what is going on. Now you're here this morning and so at some point you discovered there is a battle, there is a war. And so the reminder here is don't forget that.

Don't forget that this is the way that the enemy works. Satan would love to destroy you. And what he does, the way he approaches is he attacks from behind. He tries to take advantage of you in areas that you are not expecting a battle. In areas where you are not expecting an issue or a fight. He tries to come up by surprise to catch you off guard so that he can destroy you.

Your flesh, your sinful nature behaves in the same way. That it rears up, it craves and it lusts after sinful things, but it seeks for those opportune moments, those times when you're not expecting it. Have you ever had that happen where you're in a situation, maybe you're sitting in a church service and there's all of a sudden this thought, this temptation, this

This, well, thing that begins to boil within you. And you're like totally off guard. You're not expecting that kind of battle in this kind of context. In those ways, that sneaking up from behind, that's the way that your flesh behaves. That's the way that Satan operates. Paul warned us in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12. He said, therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

The one who thinks he stands, you think you're strong, you think, you know, you've settled that issue, you've got that figured out, you've got that handled. He says, you should take heed. Because the way that our flesh works, the way that Satan works is he looks for those who are in that comfortable position, that they think they stand and then comes up from behind to bring an attack. There's a need for us to remember the enemy's tactics.

to not get comfortable, to not begin to think that we've got things handled, but to take heed, to pay attention, recognizing that this is the way that the devil and our flesh operate. Now, if you think about before Jesus,

you believed in Jesus Christ and began to follow him, this is the way that the enemy was working in your life, seeking to destroy you, working, your flesh was craving after things before you understood, before you recognized there was a war, there was a battle. But the Lord had mercy on us and he showed us, he opened our eyes to the spiritual realities and the eternal that is at stake. And it's a reminder this morning not to forget that.

Satan would have preferred it if you never had a chance to hear the gospel and you just went straight to hell. That's his objective. Your flesh would have preferred it if you never had a chance to hear the gospel and respond to it. That's our sinful nature. It's an enemy against us seeking to destroy us. Don't forget that.

Don't forget the hurt, the devastation that our enemies desire to bring. And so Amalek came up from behind and attacked the stragglers. And so it's an encouragement to us to not be a straggler. I like what Pastor John Corson shares about this. He says, "'Precious people, be oh so careful "'that you don't grow weary "'somewhere in the middle of life saying, "'I fought the fight, now it's time to cruise.'

He says, Amalek attacks the back of the pack and he'll be waiting for you. There's a tendency that we can have as we've become believers, we're walking with the Lord for some time and then we've grown, we've accomplished victories, we've served, we've done different things and then there is a tendency, there is a temptation to just kind of like, all right, I can just cruise now. I mean, I've grown enough, I've done enough and I can just kick back but he encourages us, be careful.

Because that's where Amalek attacks. That's where the devil, that's where the flesh is looking for that opportunity. Don't be a straggler, but be on the front lines of the battle. Be at the front of the pack. That is, be invested in the kingdom of God and be going forward and growing forward in your relationship with God. So remember,

your enemy's tactics. First of all, he attacks from behind. Secondly, as we continue in verse 18, your enemy attacks the tired. Notice again in verse 18, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary. Here's how your enemy works. He looks for the weak, the weary, the tired, and he pounces on

Now again, this is what Amalek did to the children of Israel. Amalek came up from behind, found the stragglers, those who were tired, weary. They were trying to keep up, but they couldn't keep up. In the midst of war, there is going to be casualties. There's going to be surprises. There are going to be those who die because of fatigue. They're tired, and this is what happens. But the idea conveyed here, what Amalek did is really another level than that.

It's not, you know, troops fighting against each other face to face and there's a battle and there's casualties and there's, you know, strengths and weaknesses shown. But those who are lagging behind, remember Israel didn't know they were at war. Those who are lagging behind were the weak, the sick, the women, the children, the elderly. It would be similar to and probably the same as in war today, the attacking of civilians.

which is atrocious, which happens. It's happening, you know, in our time right now. Lots of innocent people being attacked. They're not part of the war. They're not part of the battle, but they're being attacked by their enemies. And this is the way that Amalek operated. They came up behind Israel. They looked for the weak. They looked for those who couldn't defend themselves, those who couldn't, you know, protect themselves, those who couldn't keep up, the tired and the weary, and they attacked.

And they wiped out those who were in that condition. And this morning, it's a reminder for you to remember your enemy's tactics. This is the same way that your enemies operate. Your enemy attacks the tired. But again, the stakes are much higher than in the case with Amalek and Israel because we're dealing with things of eternity. Your enemy would love to take you out, would love to destroy your life in a moment of weakness.

in a time of tiredness. At some point, you discovered, the Lord revealed to you, there is a war going on. Don't forget that. Remember, this is the way that your enemy operates. The devil is looking for that opportunity. He's looking for those moments of weakness. He's looking for those times of weariness that he can exploit to cause you to turn away from God. Your flesh is

is also looking for those moments, those opportunities. Your enemy waits for you to be tired. And you can think about it this way. When you're tired physically, think about a season in your life, maybe a time in your life where you just, it was exhausting. You're physically exhausted. And I could bet that the majority of the time you're experiencing those seasons of exhaustion physically, there's also something going on emotionally, right?

that in tandem with this physical whatever it might be, there's also emotional battles that are taking place because the enemy is taking advantage of those physical ailments, those tiredness, the weakness that is there

to bring in those emotional attacks to go along with it while you're in a weakened condition so that then he can attack you spiritually as well. Again, the whole objective is to destroy you, to cast you into hell, to turn you away from God, to keep you from the eternity that God has for you. That's the way that your enemy operates. He looks for those moments of tiredness, of weariness. That's how your flesh operates, right?

understand it's not a fair fight. The enemy is not looking at, well, you know, I want it to be a real good sport. You know what I mean? I want it to be a fair fight. And, you know, Harvey looks pretty tired. So I'm just going to have one hand behind my back and then we'll fight. The enemy has no mercy like that. He has no pity. He's not looking for a fair fight. Your enemy waits for those times of weariness to then mount a full attack, to then...

come against you as best he can. He waits for those devastating events. Maybe you experience something devastating. You lose your home. You lose a loved one. There's some kind of tragic thing that happens in your life and you're just wrecked. You're just overwhelmed by it. That's an opportunity for your enemy, the devil and your flesh. Seek out those opportunities in order to cause you to stumble, to cause you to fall.

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Princess Bride. Anybody like that movie? It's a good movie, right? You remember when Inigo Montoya, he's on the cliffs of insanity. He's waiting at the top and Wesley, the man in black, he's climbing up the cliffs and Inigo, he drops down the rope for him and helps pull him up. Now they're enemies. They're about to fight to the death, but he helps pull him up rather than just let him fall off the cliff. And then when he gets him to the top, he says...

Hey, hey, hey, hey. You know, as Wesley starts to draw his sword, he says, no, no, no, put that away. Sit down and rest. So Wesley like pulls off his boot. He's shaking big old rocks out of his boot. They're just talking and they're resting so that then as they fight to the death, then it's a fair fight. That's not the way that your enemy works. Your enemy doesn't, hey, why don't you take a few moments, catch your breath,

No, in those moments of the most difficult times of your life, in those moments of fatigue and tiredness, those emotional battles and those things that are happening on, that are going on, that's the enemy's opportunity to attack. And you need to remember your enemy's tactics and remember that this is the way that your enemy operates so that you never again trust your flesh. You must not trust your flesh.

But sometimes we begin to trust in our flesh. We begin to think things like, you know, I don't struggle like I used to. Wow, I mean, look at, I used to battle in this area and this was a real weakness of mine and I don't really do that anymore. It's not really an issue any longer. Wow, that's amazing. And we can begin easily to have confidence in ourselves, in our flesh. I've conquered that. I've beaten that area. I've dealt with that issue. It's not a battle for me any longer. But then...

something happens. Something happens that leaves you tired and weary. There's some kind of event that happens. You're in this vulnerable state and bam! That issue that you thought was done with, that you thought was handled, the things that you thought, I would never do that ever again. Those things are now right in your face and the battle is as fierce as it's ever been.

It's in those moments your flesh, your sinful desire mounts a full attack and it begins to crave like it hasn't craved in a long time. It begins to desire like it hasn't desired in a long time. The enemy, Satan, will come against you in those times. You can't trust your flesh. You can't trust that you've got things handled. Again, if you think you stand, take heed lest you fall because your enemy will

waits for those moments of weariness. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5, verse 8, he says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He says, pay attention, be on alert, be sober, be vigilant. Why? Because you have an adversary. The devil is roaming about like a roaring lion. He's looking for an opportunity. He's looking for a

He's looking for a weariness. He's looking for those devastating things. And we're all going to experience those things. It's not a failure that we get tired. That's part of who we are. That's part of our nature. But in those moments of weariness and in those moments of tiredness, he's seeking to devour you. He's looking to destroy your life. So be sober. Be vigilant. Don't forget, this is the way that the enemy works.

He attacks from behind, tries to catch you off guard, to try to take you out of the battle before you even know there is a battle. He tries to wait for those moments of weakness, those moments of weariness, to try to bring this attack, to get you to fall and to turn away from God. And why does he behave this way? Verse 18 also goes on to say, and he did not fear God. That's point number three. Your enemy does not fear God.

Remember your enemy's tactics. Remember what Amalek did in the wilderness to Israel. This is the same way that your enemy operates. Amalek came against Israel. They were sneaky. They were dirty. They were underhanded and they weren't concerned about judgment. They weren't worried about standing before the United Nations to have to give account for the way that they conducted war. They did war however they wanted to do war because they didn't have to give account to anybody. They didn't have to give

They weren't worried about standing before God to give an account for how they conducted war, how they attacked the people, how they attacked the weak and the weary. In addition to that, they didn't regard God's people. Thomas Nelson puts it this way. He did not fear God is a way of saying that he had no regard for the special status of God's people. Amalek not only didn't fear God in the sense that, hey, we can do whatever we want. They weren't worried about standing before God to give account for their actions, but

But also, they didn't care that Israel was God's chosen people. They didn't care that God loved them greatly and had these plans for them and was going to use them mightily in the world and to bring forth the Savior. They didn't care that they had this special place in God's plan and God's heart. They had no regard for God's people. You need to remember that your enemy is the same. Your enemy does not fear God.

But as you think about your enemy as opposed to Amalek, again, the stakes are much higher. Eternity is at stake. Your enemy would love to take you out to destroy you before you even know there's a battle. While you're in those moments of weakness, because there is no fear of God. The enemy is not concerned. So if you think about Satan, he's not worried about standing before God to give account. So no holds barred. It's street rules or jungle rules or whatever you want to call it.

He'll do whatever he can do, whatever it takes. He does not fear God's judgment. He's not worried about standing before God. He's going to do everything he can do, whether it's fair or not, to bring destruction in your life. And your flesh, your sinful nature is the same way. It's a battle that we face. We have the sinful nature and it doesn't fear God. Other things are more important to our sinful nature than standing before God. We're more concerned with

our desires and cravings and what we want. Your enemy does not fear God. The enemy doesn't look at Richard and say, oh, you know, Richard's really special to God. God really loves him a lot. I better not mess with him because, you know, he's really special. I mean, you can think about the account of Job, right? God said, hey, he said to Satan, have you looked at Job? He said, yeah, I've looked at Job. I can't figure out a way to attack him. You have this hedge of protection around him. I really want Adam, but I can't.

If you remove that hedge and let me at him, well, then I'll be at him. God said, hey, there's none righteous like Job. There's none who walks with me like Job. Job had a special place in God's heart. God's attention was on him. And that didn't deter Satan. That didn't keep him from saying, oh, yeah, I'm going to mess with Job. No, he said, yeah, give me Job. In fact, give me more, give me more, give me more. He desires to destroy your life in the same way.

Your flesh does not fear God. The devil does not fear God. And they will use whatever means necessary, whatever tactics they can to bring you to destruction. These are serious enemies that we face. The stakes are high because we're dealing with eternity. So what do we do? Well, that's point number four. Verse 19, point number four is conquer your enemy in times of rest.

Your enemy comes at you, unfair tactics, dirty, underhanded, sneaky, trying to take advantage of weakness and exploit it. But we're not left all by ourselves just to sit there and be defeated. Verse 19 says, "'Therefore it shall be, "'when the Lord your God has given you rest "'from your enemies all around, "'in the land which the Lord your God is giving you "'to possess as an inheritance, "'that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek "'from under heaven.'"

He says, you shall not forget. Notice he says, therefore, because this is the way that Amalek treated you, because of the tactics of Amalek, because this is the way that they behaved, therefore, when God gives you rest, that is, the idea is Israel on the edge of the promised land, Moses is giving these things here in Deuteronomy. They're about to enter into the promised land and then there's going to be a bunch of battles.

as they take the promised land that God's given to them and drive out the inhabitants of that land. But Amalek wasn't part of that. So after you do all those battles, you get yourself established there in the land. Well, then go back and attack Amalek. Then go back and deal with Amalek when you have rest from your enemies all around. From this, we get a really awesome picture. And that is,

You are enabled by God to conquer your enemy in times of rest. In Exodus chapter 17, when this attack took place, Amalek came against Israel and there was this battle that ensued. And you would remember the battle because it's the time where Moses stood on the hill over the battlefield. As Joshua led the troops into battle, Moses stood there with his arms extended and

And as long as he had his arms extended, Israel was winning the battle. But then his arms got tired and as they began to fall, then Amalek began to win the battle. And so Aaron and Hur came alongside and lifted up his arms, helped him, one on each side, to hold up his arms. And as they held up his arms, then Israel was able to be victorious in the battle. But that was the battle. That wasn't the war.

That was one battle, but that wasn't the end of Amalek. And so what God is saying is that wasn't the time to deal with Amalek back in Exodus chapter 17. God didn't send them to chase after them or to go back to their hometown and deal with the rest of the nation. They won the battle, but that wasn't the time to deal with the war. God says, right now you have stuff to do. He's leading them out of Egypt. They're gonna go receive the law, build the tabernacle,

At this time in Deuteronomy chapter 25, God's still saying, that's not the time to deal with the people of Amalek. You still have stuff to do. Go into the promised land and inherit what I've given to you. Fight the battles there, deal with that. And then when that's done, when you have rest later on, then go deal with Amalek. And when you deal with Amalek, he says here in verse 19, blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

So don't just make them suffer a little bit. Don't just remove most of their land and just give them a little peace to settle in. He says, wipe them out completely. Israel is going to be God's instrument of judgment against Amalek. And so they are to wipe out the people of Amalek altogether, completely without exception. And then notice at the end in verse 19, again, he says, you shall never forget. Don't forget Amalek.

You're to deal with them with great severity. So don't forget what they did to you. Don't forget the way that they attacked, the way that they behaved. If you forget and just coexist with them, they're gonna destroy you. You need to make sure that you don't forget what they did and let them carry on as normal. But you need to make sure when you have those times of rest that you go back and you deal with that war that is going on. And again, it's the same for us.

We are to conquer our enemy in times of rest. The way that God calls us to battle is not the way that we would typically think of battle. The way that we battle is in times of rest. The way that you battle Satan is not by you chasing after and mounting an attack and trying to search out and defeat Satan. The way that you defeat the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms is not by

chasing after, mounting an attack. And the way that you defeat your flesh is not by you attacking your own flesh. And it's not, as we saw in Romans chapter 7, it's not by creating laws and rules to regulate your flesh. The way that you have victory, the way that you conquer your enemy, well, it comes from this idea of rest. Our victory comes from rest. Number one, you rest in the

You rest in the work that Jesus accomplished for us upon the cross, that by believing in him, we are forgiven of all sin. How do you deal with, how do you conquer your sinful nature, your desire for sin, your cravings for sin? You rest in the work of Jesus Christ, in his mercy, in his grace. But then you also rest in the work of the Holy Spirit, which speaks of our sanctification. That is, not only are we saved,

But sanctification is the Holy Spirit working in us to make us more like Christ, to deliver us from sin, to deliver us from those things of the flesh and to cause us to draw near to God and to be more like God. And so our victory does not come from battle. It does not come from us attacking the devil, attacking our flesh, making laws and regulations. It comes from rest. So how do we do that? How do we conquer the flesh?

And there's one thing that you need to remember about that. Here's how to conquer the flesh. Here's how to conquer the enemy. Feed the spirit. This is our charge as believers. You want to be victorious in your life? You want to have a victorious Christian life? Here's what you need to focus on. Just one thing. Feed the spirit. Walk with God. That's what it means. To invest yourself in a relationship with God. God's not calling you to chase after a battle.

He's calling you to chase after him, to make him your pursuit. You don't attack the flesh. You deny it and feed the spirit. You deny it and turn yourself to the things of God. And in this life, as we have these enemies, the devil, the flesh, the world, there's going to be battles and there's going to be the war. And the war is going to be ongoing.

And the battles are gonna come and go. There's going to be battles that we face as believers in Jesus. And when you encounter a battle, you're gonna have moments of tiredness. You're gonna have moments of weariness. You're gonna have things happen. There's going to be attacks. Satan will seek to devour you. Your flesh will seek to cause you to be tripped up. There's going to be those moments. And this morning, I wanna encourage you to win the battle when those battles take place. But don't win the battle

By trying to fight. Win the battle by resting. Exodus chapter 17 is a great picture for us where Amalek attacked Israel. They came and fought against Israel at a place called Rephidim. And in this place, the name Rephidim, it means resting places. So they came up from behind, they attacked at the resting place and it was there that they had victory over Amalek. They had victory over the enemy.

In a similar way, you will often be attacked in a resting place. Again, when you're tired, when you're weary, when there's those times of weakness, those difficult seasons, the devil will mount his attack. Your flesh will rear up and crave and thirst and desire. And the way to have victory in those battles is by resting in the work of God. We have the picture there in Exodus chapter 17 of Moses saying,

praying for and interceding while the battle is taking place. And as long as he's interceding, they are victorious in the battle. And we have a spiritual parallel to that in James chapter 5, verse 16. Here's what James says. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Now that last part of the verse is real popular and famous. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. But it's connected to the first part. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another. And as we pray for one another, those prayers are effective. They're powerful and they avail much. And so when you are in the midst of a battle, whether it be from an attack from the devil, an attack from your flesh, when you have those battles,

I would encourage you to read through James 5.16 and then do what it says. That is, reach out to others around you. Let them know, confess, this is what I'm struggling with. This is what's going on. Invite them, ask them to pray for you. That you would have the Moses, Aaron, and Hur on the mountain overlooking, praying for you. And that you would rest in the work of God and rest in the strength of God, rest in the victory of God.

We should never come out of a battle and say, yeah, I was successful. I was victorious because I'm so strong. Yeah, and I'm really disciplined. Yeah, I'm pretty awesome. You should take my training sessions. I'll teach you how to win battles. That should never, never. We won't win battles that way. We're gonna be defeated that way. No, instead we should rest in the work of God. Rest, rest.

invite others to intercede on our behalf and rest and trust in God and never in ourselves. And so when you're in the midst of the battle, win the battle by resting in God, by looking for that intercession, bringing people around you to help you seek the Lord and trust in him. But then also, not just the battles that we face, but think about the war. And I want to encourage you to win the war that is raging around you. It's not just those individual battles, but

But your life is in the midst of a war. The enemy's not content with, well, I'll just battle you once or twice and give up after that. Remember when Jesus was taken by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted? Three times he's tempted by the devil. And then it tells him, it says at the end, so the devil left for an opportune time. That wasn't it. That wasn't the end of Jesus's temptation. That wasn't all that he had to face. He left waiting for another opportunity to come back.

when there's weariness, when there's tiredness, when there's brokenness. That's the way that the enemy works. And that's how it's gonna be for the rest of your life. And so you need to prepare yourself to win the war. You need to prepare yourself because there's gonna be more battles. And how do you do that? Well, you conquer the enemy in times of rest. And I would ask you to think about this. God said, now's not the time to deal with Amalek. You've got stuff to do. And in your life, you've got stuff to do.

You, probably God has you working. Probably God has you taking care of things around the house. Probably God has you involved in serving in different capacities. There's things that you're supposed to do. You're to be involved with. But the way to win the war primarily deals with what do you do the rest of the time? What do you do with your times of rest? You come home from work after, you know, a long day. You've worked hard. You've worked hard.

And now you're gonna rest. You're gonna unwind. You're gonna relax. How do you do that? What are you involved with in your times of rest? Now a lot of times it's very easy in our culture, I think, to just come home, sit on the couch, turn on the TV, and we just veg out for the rest of the day. That's super easy. And I'm not saying that nobody can ever do that. But here's what I will say. If that's all you ever do, you're not gonna win the war. You're not preparing yourself for the war.

That's not the way to find victory. You need to use your times of rest to feed the spirit, to prepare yourself for the battles that are ahead. There are going to be battles ahead, guaranteed. It's a struggle though, because when we're, well, we have an opportunity to rest, what do we want to do? We want to rest. My show's on, the game's on, I'm tired, I need to relax. And there's appropriate time to relax. And that's, I'm not saying that that's wrong.

but when that's all that we do if we don't use our times of rest to also feed the spirit and draw near to god and develop in our relationship with god we're not going to be prepared for the next battle we're going to be caught off guard we're going to experience defeat and destruction because we're not ready for the war i would encourage you to consider your vacation time think about your vacation time you get days off from work probably listen don't use all of your vacation time

To indulge your flesh. It's easy to do, right? I mean, hey, I got time off from work. I'm going to just sleep in however long I want. Just whatever my body wants. I'm going to eat whatever I want. I'm going to sleep as long as I want. I'm going to watch whatever I want. I'm just going to just enjoy myself. Hey, nothing wrong with enjoying yourself and enjoying rest. But don't use all your rest to just indulge your flesh. Make sure you feed the Spirit.

You know, for me as a pastor, I take Mondays off. That's my day of rest. I don't always get physical rest, but that's the day I don't study. I don't, you know, I don't engage in the things around here. But here's what's interesting about that. For me as a pastor, Mondays are the hardest day for me to spend time with God because I just want to rest. It's work, right?

to spend time in the word. That's the hardest day for me to spend time with God because I want to rest. I don't want to think too hard. It takes some work. It takes some effort. But listen, the way to win the war is by feeding your spirit. You conquer the enemy in times of rest. There's always going to be battles and I would encourage you, the frequency of your battles, let that be an indication for you of, of,

the amount of time that you need to be spending with God. It's proportional. The intensity of your battles, the frequency of your battles that you're going through indicate your necessity of drawing near to God. And as many battles as you have, you need to be seeking the Lord more. You're like, well, hey, I read the Proverbs every day. I don't know why I still struggle. Well, listen,

It's not sufficient. You're still being defeated. You're still walking in defeat. Your relationship with God is not sufficient to sustain you in the battles that you face. You need to feed the spirit more than that. If you're experiencing defeat, if you're experiencing these battles, let it be the indication for you. You need to do a better job at feeding the spirit and drawing near to God. And as you do, notice the instruction he gives to them is to blot out remembrance of Amalek.

In your times of rest, you feed the spirit, you draw near to God, and you need to make sure that you wipe out the remembrance of the things of the flesh. No compromise. You know, well, okay, okay, fine. I can do a little bit of things I know I'm not supposed to do. A little bit of this won't hurt me. No, don't put up with it. Don't allow like a little bit of that sin. Don't allow a little bit of that area that you know is a weakness before it.

Don't allow a little bit of it to coexist with you. I can have a little bit of this in my life. No, blot out all remembrance. Remove yourself completely from those things. And then again, he says, you shall not forget. Later on in Israel's history, this instruction, this command is given to King Saul. But you know, Saul forgot what Amalek did.

As he was sent out to go attack Amalek, to blot them out completely just as God instructed, he didn't do it. He went and attacked. He conquered most of them. He saved King Agag. He kept most of the animals and the things that he wanted. And it cost him the kingdom. It cost him his life. Ultimately, at the end of his life, he was put to death by an Amalekite because he didn't

deal with them in the way that God called him to. He forgot. He didn't pay attention to what they had done to Israel in the wilderness. And as a result, he lost the kingdom. He lost his life to an Amalekite. The same thing will happen to us if we don't feed the spirit in our times of rest. If we don't find victory by drawing near to God as we have that opportunity, we're going to experience destruction. We're going to lose just like Saul did.

We're going to miss out. We're going to experience defeat. We're going to fall prey to the enemy's attacks. Remember your enemy's tactics. It's a good reminder for us this morning. Your enemy, the devil, your enemy, the flesh, your enemy, the world, they desire to destroy you and they don't hold back. Your enemy attacks from behind, looking for an opportunity to catch you off guard, looking for an opportunity where you're weak and tired because your enemy attacks the tired because your enemy does not fear God.

Don't forget you're in a war. Don't forget about the battles. Don't forget about the devastation and destruction and hurt and pain your flesh and Satan have brought you already. Don't forget about that. Don't get comfortable and complacent and just think, well, I can just coast now. Sometimes we forget. And when we forget, we put up with things that should never be happening in our life. We allow things to go on that should never happen.

We keep ourselves from things that we should be involved in when we forget. Eh, it's not that important. I'll get around to that later on. No, feed the spirit. The way to have victory, you conquer the enemy in times of rest. Well, this morning we're gonna close the service with a time of communion. Ronnie's gonna come up and lead us in a song. And it's interesting that God gave us communion as a remembrance, as a reminder that,

so that we would not forget. And so it's the perfect opportunity for us to remember what Christ has done for us. Jesus gave us the bread and the cup. He said, these are reminders. They represent my body being broken and my blood being shed for you. It represents to us and it reminds us of the cost of sin, the price that was paid on our behalf, that we could be forgiven, that we could have everlasting life.

And so this morning, let's take time to remember Christ and what he has done for us. And this morning, if you're in the midst of a battle, whether it be attacks from the enemy, attacks from your flesh, attacks from the world, this is an opportunity for you as you partake of communion, rest in Jesus, rest in his forgiveness, rest in his work, call out to him, trust in him, receive what he accomplished for you upon the cross.

And if you're not in the battle at this moment, you know, this day, like you woke up today and hey, it's just a nice day to come to church. It's not a struggle. It's not a battle. Listen, this is a time of rest for you. Engage with Jesus. Take this time to seek him, to encounter him, to talk with him, to call out to him, to worship him. Feed your spirit. Invest yourself in the things of God.

The ushers are gonna pass out the bread and the cup. And anytime during the worship, you can go ahead and partake. Just between you and God, as you do business with God, as you remember him and connect with him, you go ahead and partake as the Lord leads. And if you don't take at the end, Ronnie will give you an opportunity. But let's worship the Lord together. Remember him and feed the spirit that we can be victorious in the battles ahead.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.