DEUTERONOMY 20 ON THE VERGE OF BATTLE2021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Deuteronomy 20 On The Verge Of Battle

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 2021. And if the Lord wasn't involved, well then the priest was not to be part of that because the Lord was not sending them into this battle. It wasn't the Lord's battle. It was something that the people had done on their own.

And so the priest is involved because God is involved. And when you think about this in context to the promised land, of course, the people were instructed by the Lord to take the land, to go in and to conquer the land that God had given to them. It was God's instruction and God's design. And so God says, I'm with you in those battles. He sends his priest to represent him. He is faithful.

demonstrating through that that he has chosen these battles. Now, after the promised land is conquered, this passage would still apply because Israel could be attacked by an enemy at any time.

They were to conquer their territory and to take the land that God had given to them. But there was still going to be pockets of enemies that would be within the land that were to be dealt with over the years to come. But also there would be surrounding nations that could decide at any time to come and to bring an attack against the nation of Israel.

And so in that regard, as an enemy attacks, then you can think about it this way. God is allowing that attack. He's choosing that battle because he allowed for the enemy to come and to bring this attack. And so it would be appropriate for the priest in that regard to come and attack.

speak on behalf of God to the people and say, look, God's chosen this battle. He's chosen. He's with you. And so he is going to be involved in their battles that are to come as well, that are attacks by the enemy. But the other aspect to consider about this is after they've conquered the promised land, God also spoke about expanding their territory.

Now, he didn't grant Israel the idea of, you know, you can just go and conquer anybody you want to. But he did promise them, if you look at Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse 8, it says, now, if the Lord your God enlarges your territory.

And so the idea there is that God, if he chooses, may lead them into other battles, may lead them to conquer other territories. He may enlarge their territory. And so God will be choosing them. Again, it's not up to them to just go face whatever battle they want to, but at his leading, at his prompting, they will have opportunity to take new territory as he leads them. And so in all regards,

The promised land is God's instruction. The attacks that come that they didn't initiate, God allowed. And then the new territory that God wants them to take, it's all the Lord's choosing. It's all God working on their behalf and bringing about these battles and leading them through them. And so there they are on the verge of battle in any of those instances. And God says, take a moment to meet with the priest and

to allow me into the battle plans and the preparation for the battle that is to take place, and allow me to speak to you in this regard. Now, as we think about this for ourselves, again, the point is, let God choose your battles. We have, again, a variety of different types of battles that we might consider for ourselves personally this morning.

In spiritual battles, we don't really have a choice, right? We are in a spiritual battle. We are in a spiritual war. But we can stop and recognize that when we have those intense seasons of spiritual battle, that God has allowed these for a reason.

God has chosen to allow us to experience this aspect of spiritual war, to have this idea, you know, kind of peek into the spiritual realm. And so there is the opportunity to understand God has chosen this for us. And I would apply that to internal struggles as well. Many times this would be like an outsider coming to attack, right? Many times we are attacked internally because

It's by surprise. Now, of course, some things in our life we bring upon ourselves by our behavior, by what we expose ourselves to, by what we allow to continue in our lives. But there's also those times where there's an internal battle, an internal struggle, an emotional struggle, a mental struggle that happens

It's not necessarily the fault of anybody, but it's just an aspect of living in a fallen world with a body that has a sinful nature. There is this battle, and you need to understand that God allows these things. He's with us. It's not a statement of His departure from us, but it's a battle that He's chosen for us. When it comes to conflicts with people, let the Lord speak.

Choose your battles. I think this is an important one. Of course, there are those occasions where people outside of us, through no provoking of ourselves, they come against us. But there are a lot of times where we're engaged in the battle and

We need to make sure that it is the Lord who has chosen that battle for us. That sometimes there are battles that are worth fighting for and sometimes there are not. But can the priest come in and deliver God's message to you in the midst of that personal conflict that you are having is the point to consider.

Adversity in life, again, temptation, again, these are things that pop up in life because of our fallen condition, our fallen world. And so as they pop up, we understand the Lord's allowed this. He's permitted it and he has a plan through it. And so he has chosen these battles for us. And then finally, steps of faith. There are opportunities that God sets before us. As I've mentioned many times in the past, a step of faith is not just going and doing something and it's a step of faith because you don't know the outcome.

No, faith is obedience to God at his word. Whether or not you know the outcome is really not the point. The real issue is, has God told you? Has God spoken to you? Is this a step of obedience that you are taking? It's not a step of faith unless it's a step of obedience. And so here we have these opportunities. We can engage in battles where we don't know the outcome, where, you know, we can call it a step of faith even if the Lord hasn't spoken to us about it. But it's

Has God chosen that battle? And I would encourage you to consider that this morning. The priest needs to be involved. There needs to be a connection to God in the battles that we face. And he can speak to us and provide us what we need in the various types of battles that we encounter in this life.

Well, there's a lot more to say on that, but I think it continues to develop and is understood further as we work our way in the next couple verses as well. So let's move on to point number two this morning. Here's point number two. Trust God to fight your battles. Trust God to fight your battles. First of all, you want to make sure that the Lord is in it, and so he has chosen the battle. And if you know that God has chosen the battle, then you can trust God to fight your battles.

And that's why the first point is important because if you don't know God's in it, if you don't know God wants you to fight this battle, well, then there's no basis for you to trust God to fight your battle. But when you know you've brought in the priest, you've connected with the Lord, you know that you are where God has called you to be, and yet you have this battle, you have this thing that you're facing, this struggle that is going on, now you can trust

Trust in the Lord, knowing that you are where he has you and you can trust him to fight on your behalf. You can trust him to work in the midst of the situation. Check out verse three. It's the message from the priest. Verse three says,

Here the Lord says, through the priest, I'm with you and I'm going to fight for you. So do not be afraid.

The priest speaks to the people on behalf of God and says, do not be afraid. Now, verse 1 gives us a little bit more context to this because it sets the stage saying, when you go to battle and you see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you. The idea here is the children of Israel, when they would go into battle in the promised land, they didn't have horses.

They didn't have an established military like many of the other nations had. Their military was volunteers. All right, it's time to go to battle. Send out the word to all the tribes of Israel who's available to come and fight. And the people would gather together with whatever resources they had and they would go to battle with that. They didn't have a line of horsemen that were trained warriors on the horse.

and the nations that they would be coming against often would have these trained military. They would have horses involved in the battle and chariots. Now, when you're a foot soldier on the battlefield in those days, a chariot, it's like facing a tank, right? It was something that would be seemingly impossible to defeat as a foot soldier, right?

And so the horses and chariots really speak of a superior military might, superior military power. And God says, when you see this enemy that you're coming against and they've got stronger weapons, they've got stronger defenses, they've got more impressive firepower, do not fear. But he also says, when the people are more numerous than you.

So you're outnumbered and you're outgunned. Don't fear, the Lord says. You're facing this battle. Again, we can consider the different types of battles that we face. We can consider the different types of things that we're encountering in this life, the different struggles and warfares that we're engaged in. And many times we can look at the situation and see, I'm outgunned, I'm outnumbered. It looks like certain win for the enemy.

Any logical military person would look at the situation and say, it's right to be afraid in this context because this enemy has greater numbers and greater forces and is almost certainly guaranteed the victory. And the message that God delivers to the people in that case is, do not fear.

Again, this is the Lord's battle. This is the Lord's will. He's brought you into the midst of this battle. You can trust God to fight on your behalf. Verse 4, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you. And so the message is in spite of the battle that is going to happen against this superior enemy,

It only looks like they're superior on the outside, in the physical realm. But God is with you and God fights for you. Remember when the servant of Elisha, Elijah or Elisha, I forget, I always get those two reversed. But the servant walks out and sees this huge military army out against them and freaks out and runs in and tells his master, the prophet, and says, hey, we're outnumbered, we're surrounded. And

He says, ah, don't worry about it. Greater is those who are with us than those who are with them. And the servant's looking like there's two, I can count two of us. How are we greater? And the prophet said, Lord, open his eyes. And he saw then the forces of the Lord, the spiritual arena and the battle that was going on there and understood then that the Lord was with them and the Lord fights for them.

This is something that we need to understand as well. Trust God to fight your battles. Remember the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel? Zechariah chapter four, verse six records it. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

The way that God works is often contrary or counter to what we see physically or what we can think logically. The way that God often works is well beyond what we're able to imagine or strategize. And so when we're faced with a seemingly impossible situation with a personal conflict, we're

When we're faced with a seemingly impossible situation with an internal mental or emotional battle, when we're faced with a seemingly impossible situation with whatever kind of battle that we're facing, we go back to point number one, make sure that this is a battle the Lord wants me involved in. Make sure this is where God has me. And if not, then, well, that's first things first. I need to settle my heart with the Lord and be where he wants me to be and engaged in what he wants me to be engaged in.

But once that's settled, now I can come to this battle that seems impossible by faith and say, God, you have me here. You brought this battle to me. You put me in the midst of this battle. And so I'm gonna trust you to fight in this battle, even if I'm outnumbered, even if it seems like the enemy has superior forces and power. Lord, I'm gonna trust you. It's not by might, it's not by power, but it's by your spirit. And so Lord, would you lead by your spirit

And work out these situations for your glory. Well, the next couple of verses here in Deuteronomy chapter 20, God says, you're outnumbered, you're outgunned, but now you need to be outnumbered even a little bit more. He's going to walk through some dismissals for the army that gathers together as they call the volunteers and they all show up. All right, we're ready. Here we are for battle. God says, any new homeowners in the midst, you guys should take off. Verse five.

Then the officers shall speak to the people saying, what man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. God says, here's an exception. Everybody 20 and older, you know, you're enlisted now in the military, except, hey, if you just purchased a house or just built a house, you're a new homeowner, but you haven't had a chance to live in the house yet, hey, you're exempt from this battle. You can just go home

Enjoy the home that you've just purchased or built for a little bit. Then he dismisses the new business owners in verse 6. Also, what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it.

So you've planted a vineyard, you've planted a crop, you haven't got to partake of the fruit of your efforts yet. God says, you know what, this battle is not for you. Go home, enjoy the fruit of your vineyard, and maybe next time there's a battle, you can be part of that. But for now, no, you need to go home and partake of the efforts that you've been investing in. Then he goes on to dismiss those who are newly engaged. Verse 7.

And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her. The betrothal for them was like an engagement for us. So they had made a commitment to get married. They were making plans and arranging, you know, the wedding ceremony. God says, if you're in the midst of that, you're newly engaged, you're about to embark in a new family life, you're dismissed from this battle.

Now keep in mind, they're outnumbered, right? They're outgunned. But God's saying, new homeowners, you haven't experienced living in your home yet, go home and experience that. New business owners, you haven't experienced the fruit of the investments that you've been making, go home and experience that. Newly engaged, you're about to get married, go get married. Go, you know, begin your family and do those things that have been set before you in that regard.

And then finally, he dismisses the fearful in verse eight. The officers shall speak further to the people and say, what man is there who is fearful and faint hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart. Are you afraid? Hey, your fear might infect others. So don't participate in the battle. Go home and be fearful at home. Don't cause others to be afraid as you're freaked out in the midst of the battle. And so God gives all of these exceptions, right?

Where you could imagine us in the physical world saying, no, no, we need everybody that we can get, you know, and even your grandpa, you know, bring your grandpa too. Like, no, no, no, don't worry about age limits. Don't worry about, we're outnumbered, we're outgunned. Like, we need all the help we can get. God says, no, new homeowners, new business owners, newly engaged, fearful. Why don't you just go home? Just go home and sit this one out. This would be a great test of faith for the leaders of the army, the leaders of Israel, the leaders of Israel.

and the soldiers that stayed. They would truly have to trust God to fight their battles. We see a good example of this actually being fulfilled and lived out through Gideon in Judges chapter 7. We'll get to that in a little bit as we continue to work our way through the Bible in three years. But the Midianites were there against Israel.

An army of 32,000 gathered together from Israel to fight against an innumerable army of the Midianites. And God says, you got too many people and whittled them down to then 300 was the final number that faced against the Midianites. And you know what? The Lord fought their battles. The Lord proved faithful to his word. Pastor David Guzik says, to God, the size of the army wasn't important.

the heart of the army was far more important. He didn't want people who might be distracted from the real battle. God could do more through a smaller army that was really committed to him than through a bigger army that was full of compromise. All of those who had these divided interests, they weren't fully invested in the battle. God says, let's remove them from the ranks because I can do a lot more with those who are fully committed to me, fully committed to this battle.

than a great number of people who are half-hearted, whereas David Guzik says full of compromise. Trust God to fight your battles. Trust him to fight on your behalf, to be involved in the situation where he has placed you. And for some of us, that means going back to point number one and saying, you know what, maybe I've involved myself in some battles that I don't belong in because God's not in them.

God hasn't called me to those battles, and so perhaps I should not be engaged in those battles. But those battles that he has engaged me in, I need to trust him to recognize it's not by might, not by power, but by the working of the Holy Spirit. And so there is the opportunity for us to trust God in the midst of the battles that we face. Now, in thinking about all these dismissals that happened, it's a little bit of a side note here, but I would encourage you to consider this.

There are some battles that are really good, that are really valuable, that are really honorable, that need to be fought, but it might not be your time to fight it. There are some battles that need to be fought. They're battles of the Lord, and there's God's people that are going to be involved in that battle, but that doesn't mean that it's your time to be engaged in that battle. It might be a good and godly war. It might be a good and godly endeavor and great step of faith.

but God may have other priorities for you. And notice how he sets these priorities. Hey, you need to establish your family. You need to be invested in your home life. And there's seasons of your life that you need to be focused on that and not over here engaged in a battle. That you need to allow the Lord to direct your priorities. And as much as you might want to fight in that battle, God might say, you know what? You just need to go home

and get things squared away at home. You need to establish a solid foundation in your home life. Later on in the future, there'll be other battles. Trust me, there's always gonna be battles. There's gonna be plenty of opportunity for us to be engaged in the battles of the Lord. But for right now, perhaps you need to think about and allow the Lord to say, that's not your priority right now.

You need to be focused instead on this aspect of your life. And you can think about that in the New Testament and the idea of deacons and elders, they were called to be tested first and their home life had to be in order, right? Like maybe they are called to lead in this great capacity, but before that can happen and before they engage in that battle, there needed to be these things set in order at home.

And where they might be weak and vulnerable to temptation, says, no, no, let them be tested first, right? And so maybe you would be fearful in battle and you'll break in battle and cause great damage. If you were engaged in that battle right now, maybe you need to go home and be established in your spiritual life and be healthy spiritually and be a giant spiritually and prepare yourself

for the next battle that you would be able to be part of what it is that God is doing. But where God has you in the midst of the battle, when it is your time, trust God to fight your battle. Don't measure your success. Don't give up when it looks impossible. Trust God to accomplish his work on your behalf. Well, moving on to verses 10 through 18, we get the third point to consider this morning, and that is prefer peace when possible.

Prefer peace. In the midst of all of this talk about warfare and battle, we need to understand also God's heart is the preference is peace when that is an option. Check out verses 10 through 12. It says, when you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you and serve you.

Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it.

Now God's going to make a distinction in these verses. In fact, let's go ahead and jump down there right now quickly. Verse 15, thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. Verse 16, but of the cities of these peoples, which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall not let nothing that breathes remain a

And so God makes a distinction. For the promised land, he's already given them instruction. They're not to try to make peace. They're not to try to compromise and coexist with the inhabitants of the land. They are to drive out the inhabitants of the land completely. That instruction was given for that particular plot of land that God was giving to them.

But again, there was going to be opportunity where God would say, I want to expand your territory. And so he would send them beyond those initial borders that they would inherit. And so God says in that case, in those situations, when you go near a city, first offer peace to it. And the offer of peace was not just a let's coexist, but hey, you guys, we're taking over this territory. You can either be our servants or you can fight us.

So will you surrender now or will you surrender after the battle is essentially the idea there. But the offer of peace that would be given, hey, this doesn't have to be a battle. This doesn't have to be a fight. Let's settle this in a different way. And of course, this is important for us to consider. As believers today, you know, sometimes there are those who go around and there's a little bit of enjoyment that comes from stirring up a fight.

And some people, some of us perhaps, kind of get a little bit excited about a battle. And it can be a little bit, you know, stir in the pot can be lots of fun for some people, right? And I think it's important for us to consider as believers that we need to be careful to be about the Lord's business.

And as fun as it might be to stir up some people and watch them fight, or to stir up someone that we can kind of argue with them and have those kinds of debates and battles, and maybe they're playful battles, or maybe they, you know, start out playful, but then kind of turn into more serious battles. You know how that happens, right? Things escalate, and we were just joking around, but now we really are at war with each other. I think it's important for us to remember, going back to point number one, letting God choose our battles.

And being careful to not engage in battles that the Lord is not leading us into, that the Lord is not in, where he can't send the priest and say, hey, God is with you, he fights for you, so don't be afraid. And if we don't have that message from the Lord and we don't have that connection to the Lord, then we ought not to be engaged in that battle. And so as there comes opportunities for battle, we need to understand the Lord's preference is not always to fight.

The Lord's preference is not always to win a battle. He says, look, when you go outside of this territory, again, here and here, I've given you specific instruction, so follow my instruction there. But outside of that, you need to prefer peace. When you have the opportunity, first give the option for peace. Paul tells us in Romans 12, verse 18, "'If it is possible, as much as depends on you, "'live peaceably with all men.'"

Now this introduces a few things to us. First of all, it's not always possible. It's not always up to you. Sometimes there's going to be conflict and battle with people around you through no doing of your own. But as far as it's up to you, and as much as it is possible, sometimes you're going to have to fight. Some battles God's going to call you into, and he's going to be with you, he's going to fight for you. But don't default to the fight. Don't default to the battle of

Do your best, as much as you can, as much as in your realm of authority, to live peaceably, to work out a way to resolve the situation without the fight, without the battle. And I think for us as Christians today, of course, this is really important because our ultimate endeavor is to bring people to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And if we're not careful, we'll enter into the battle and seek to win the battle without peace.

thinking ahead, and we'll see this a little bit later in the passage as well in just a few moments, but without thinking ahead about what is our ministry opportunity to this person going to look like. Could I remind you this morning, there is no person who really is your enemy. They might count you as an enemy, but there is no person that you are to count as an enemy. As Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. No person is our enemy.

The people are the ones that we're fighting for, not really fighting against. It's a spiritual battle, even when it's a physical manifestation of that spiritual battle coming against us. And so for us, if it is possible, as much as depends on us, we're to live peaceably with all men. For the end results, for the hope that we might be able to then have a bridge, an opportunity to bring forth the gospel.

You can think about the Apostle Paul, right? The enemy of the Christians, the enemy of the church, wreaked havoc in the church. But God wasn't calling the Christians to battle against Paul. In fact, God called Ananias, hey, go pray for Paul. He's just had a vision from me and I told him you were coming. Prefer peace when it's possible. For the children of Israel, if the city would make peace, then they were to have peace. They were to come to terms and work out an arrangement.

If they would not have peace and God has instructed them to take this territory, well, then he says, well, then you are to besiege it. And he gives them instructions for how they are to conduct themselves in battle in that situation. Some battles are optional and we should seek peace where they are. Now, some battles are not optional. And again, that's where verse 15 and all the way through 18 come in, where God says that the cities of this territory, the land of Israel that I've given to you,

There's no option there. You are to battle. And for us, this is important to understand because sometimes we want to fight when the Lord wants us to make peace. And sometimes we want to make peace when the Lord wants us to fight. And we need to get back in sync. Again, it takes us back to point number one, bring in the priests. Hear what the Lord has to say about this battle. Is this of the Lord?

Is this what he wants? Does he want peace in the midst of this situation? Or does he want to bring about a victory through battle? Prefer peace when possible. Important for us to ask, is this battle worth fighting for? And again, you can think about this in the context of spiritual war. In the spiritual battles, of course, the hosts of darkness come against us. There is no option for peace. God says, get victory in the name of Jesus.

We are to have victory. We are to put on the full armor of God that we may be able to stand. And after doing all things to be able to stand, we are to engage in that battle, not sit on the sidelines, but we are to engage in that battle. That's not a time to prefer peace. I'm just gonna step away from the spiritual battle. The internal struggles, this is a little bit of an interesting one to consider because sometimes we want to be rid of internal struggles that God's not ready for us to be done with yet.

And sometimes we need to make peace with God's plan and God's time frame. Like, I wish I was over with this. I wish I didn't have to struggle with these things in my mind or in my heart. I wish I didn't have these emotions. And we want to make peace and be done with those things. And God says, no, no, this is a battle that's going to go on for a little bit. You need to continue to work out these things. Conflicts with people, that's pretty obvious. Sometimes we need to make peace with people that they're, from their perspective, they're our enemies.

But they're not really our enemy. And so we need to make peace. And there's sometimes that God wants us to fight. And I'm not talking about, you know, doing some kind of physical altercation. I'm saying that there is some type of conflict that needs to take place, that needs to happen. And although we don't like to rock the boat, sometimes we need to rock the boat because that is what's best for the situation. We need to prefer peace, but be willing to fight when God calls us to it.

Again, adversity in life, temptation, these are things that we can be seeking the Lord about and deciding and understanding where does he want us in this? Does he want us to be engaged in a battle or does he want us to be at peace with his plan and allowing him to accomplish his purposes for us? Well, finally, I want to finish up here in verse 19 and 20 for point number four, and that is let God set the limits of battle.

Let God set the limits of battle. And this isn't an exhaustive look at all the limits, but it's an interesting example that he gives for us to consider this morning. Verse 19 and 20 says, "'When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. If you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man's food.'"

Here God sets some limits. He just gives a very specific example. When you are laying siege to a city, you are not to cut down all the trees around it in the use of your battle.

Specifically, if you see trees that are around the city that are fruit trees, you are not to cut those down.

You're to make a distinction. If it is not a fruit tree and you know and you can verify it's not a fruit tree, well, then you can use it for that purpose. But if it's a fruit tree, God says, you may not cut that down. There's a limit. You are to conquer this city, right? God has led you to this. He's in this battle. He wants you to do it, but he has limits, boundaries, parameters for how this battle is to be fought. Pastor David Guzik says this.

They had to take a long-term view and see that their immediate need for wood was less important than the long-term good of the area. Sometimes those immediate needs that we have, those urgent things, cause us to step over some limits that God would have us to live within. And sometimes in the midst of a battle, we can come to a point where we're like, whatever it takes, whatever it costs, I need to accomplish victory.

But God says here, you need to have a long-term perspective and to think bigger than, you know, just this immediate battle. And you need to understand that after this battle, well, there's people that are going to live here and you're going to live here. And so there needs to be the protection of those resources that will be needed in the region. Sometimes you and I can engage in a battle and win, right?

while losing the opportunity to ever have fruit from that situation. The fruit trees were not to be cut down. And that perhaps is something interesting for us to consider in that way. That, you know, sometimes there is fruit that can be born out of conflict. There's a work of God that can be done. There is a work of the Lord that should be accomplished. But if we go about the battle in the wrong way, we destroy the fruit of God.

that god intended and so yes i can win that argument i can win that debate i can win that promotion over somebody else perhaps right i can i can win that battle while never again having an opportunity to minister to the people who were involved in the battle but if i can allow the lord to set the limits to make sure i preserve the fruit there is a way to battle that still gives us opportunity later

to share the gospel, to be a witness, to exhibit the love of Christ to people around us. Sometimes we win a battle and we destroy the fruit of a person's life through our accusations, through our slander, through the words that we share about somebody. Think about it this way. I'm just going to use Roman because he's sitting back there looking vulnerable. Good man, good husband, good teacher, led by the Lord.

And Roger decides, I'm gonna go to battle with Roman. And Roger starts going around and talking bad about Roman and convincing people of some things that were not true. Meanwhile, Roman has ministered to so many people. Over here, Eli's heart has been touched by things that Roman has shared and ways that Roman has ministered, and he's just so blessed. But now Roger comes and cuts down that fruit tree in Eli's life. He says, oh, did you hear about Roman? And destroys that fruit tree

that would continue to develop and be produced in Eli's life from Romans ministry. You see, sometimes we're so engaged in the battle that we cut down others and we destroy the fruit that could have been produced, that could have continued to go on. We destroy the fruit of the work that God is doing.

Through other people, the people that we're fighting against. And we destroy their fruit in the lives of others. It's a serious thing to consider. And so, again, the important thing is that we need to let God set the limits of battle. That as we're engaged in conflict, no matter how frustrated we might become, no matter how difficult things might be, that we don't overstep. There are some battles that we must fight, but we must not fight them at all costs. We must allow the Lord to set the parameters.

So that we win battles without destroying all of the fruit. Because God fights for us. And we're in the battle because that's where he has us. And it's his battle, so we can trust him in that. And so we don't have to, you know, pull up all restraint and completely let loose. No, we're to set limits and boundaries so that we don't damage the work of God in other people's lives that he is seeking to accomplish. Let God set the limits for battle.

There's a famous saying attributed to Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, various other people. The only safe way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend. In thinking of battles, it's a good quote to consider. War always has casualties. Battles, they always have victims. There's always going to be damage. The safest way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend. And so when we can pursue peace with all people, when we can prefer peace when it's possible, it's much safer.

Much less damage. But if we have to fight, let's try to fight in a way where we can still make the person our friend. Try to fight in a way where the fruit tree is not cut down, where there's not that lost opportunity, but to fight in a way that afterwards, kind of like good sportsmanship, we can shake hands and be friends. I think if you look at the life of Jesus and the battles that he fought with the Pharisees, the religious leaders, those who came against him, they were always enemies against him on their part, not his part, right?

And he fought in a way that if they were willing, they could be friends. On the verge of battle here, Deuteronomy chapter 20, we need to consider these things. And between all these different arenas that we've been looking at, all these different types of battles that we might face, I would suggest we're always on the verge of battle, right? That's part of life. We're always on the verge of battle. We're always in the midst of battle, coming out of battle, going into battle, facing battles on various fronts. That's part of our life.

And so it's appropriate for us to then let God choose our battles, to evaluate which of these does God want me to be engaged in? And where he wants me involved, then I need to trust him. Lord, you fight my battles. The children of Israel would go into battle. They would still be part of the battle. They had to take those steps of faith and be engaged in the war, meanwhile trusting God to accomplish the victory on their behalf. But when there's opportunity for peace, let's pursue that. Let's prefer that.

But when we have to fight, let's let God set the limits so that the fruit is not destroyed. Let's pray. Lord, we come before you this morning and as we celebrate our freedoms today and remember, Lord, the work that you accomplished at the beginning of this nation, the founding of this nation. Lord, we rejoice in that. We celebrate in that, Lord. We recognize that they came to a point, those who were there at that time, Lord, where they heard your call and were led by you.

to battle, and they trusted in you. They were outnumbered and outgunned, and all of these things, Lord, we can kind of see it fulfilled in the founding of our nation, and we thank you for that, that work that you've accomplished. Lord, now for us, as we face our own battles, personally, internally, Lord, as a family, as a community, Lord, there's a lot of fights taking place. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to be very discerning,

about which of those battles you want us to engage in. Lord, would you lead us by your spirit. Lord, that we would not trust in our might or our power, but by your spirit. Lord, you would lead us and you would accomplish your purposes. Lord, remind us of the preference of peace. Lord, when we get kind of sucked into battle without really thinking about it, without giving you opportunity to lead us, I pray you would help us to recognize that and to pursue an opportunity of peace, a different route,

Lord, perhaps this is a battle that doesn't need to be fought. Help us, Lord, to recognize that, to offer peace. Lord, when we do have to fight, when you do want us to engage in battle, help us to be submitted to you, Lord, that we would fight in the ways that you prescribe, that we would battle in ways that, Lord, you would desire for us, that we could still honor you and represent you

Lord, that there could still be a multitude of fruit that comes even from this battle. And so, Lord, whether it be a step of faith that you're calling us to take, to go forward in, help us to trust you in that. Lord, whether it be some conflict in our life, Lord, help us to trust you, to rest in you, and to allow you to accomplish your purposes. Show us, Lord, how you want these things to impact our day today and tomorrow, this week, and

Lord, may you resolve battles that we're facing. Lord, may you bring us to terms of peace with those around us or situations that we're facing. Lord, help us to allow you to lead us into the battles that you desire, that we might have victory for your name, for your glory, for all eternity. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

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