A0058_I Will Deliver Them
Date: 13th January 2002 Ref: A0058
Place: Kambah P.S.
Title: I Will Deliver Them
Text: & Judges 20:18-35
Illust: It was in 1953, & a group of men in England had heard from reliable sources that Josef Stalin, the then dictatorial rule of the USSR was planning a systematic purge directed at the Russian Jews. These men felt the responsibility to pray & fast for the Jews in Russia & so they set aside 1 day of prayer & fasting. A number of prayer groups across Britain Fasted on this day & met in the evening for prayer devoted primarily to this topic. Within 2 weeks Josef Stalin had died at the age of 73 with no advance warning of sickness. No member of the groups prayed specifically for his death, they just committed the situation to God. Those prayer meetings with fasting, changed the course of history – {Israel & the Russian Jews}
I. The Task
A. Right Cause
i. People of Israel had a task to punish the tribe of Benjamin. It was a just & right cause. Nothing wrong with the venture
B. Salt & Light
i. We have a Just & Right Cause, we want to see people saved, we want to see the bondages of sin & guilt lifted from their lives sanity to be restored to those who are unstable, the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf hear, the terminally ill healed.
ii. We want to see the powers of Hell broken off our lives, our families & the people in this city
iii. We have a calling as the Church of Jesus Christ to be salt & light, to this lost world & to break down the gates of Hell.
II. We Can Do It
A. Right is on our side
i. The danger is that we can be like the Israelites in our text. Notice & v18, they went to the Lord & enquired who shall lead us? There was no doubt about their action the only question was which tribe was going to go 1st & therefore which tribe’s prince would be the Commander in Chief. They do this & get soundly whipped
ii. The next time, having been stung by their defeat they again go up yet this time the question was accompanied by much weeping & they also sought counsel of the Lord. & v23. Shall I go? And the Lord answered their question. Yes. – They get whipped again. 40,000 casualties & Benjamin only had 26,700. What’s going on?
iii. We can be like that, shall we witness to this person, outreach here, invite this one, We get a witness that it is right & we step out in Faith & get soundly whacked over the head, they abuse us, nobody turns up, nothing ever changes.
B. We are strong enough
i. I want to look at another aspect here, The Children of Israel outnumbered the Benjamites 400,000 to 26,700, 14 to 1. They thought there are plenty of us we are just going to get out there & do it. We are easily strong enough The only question is who goes 1st.
ii. Same can be with us, we are talented enough, that’s what I love about our Song Service, we aren’t no chance we can rely on self. But other areas we are vulnerable. If we have the right video, the best band, the right sermon when my friends finally come to church. We know the right words. We are clever enough.
iii. On both occasions the Israelites set themselves for battle in the same manner, we see it recorded in v22, where they again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. There was no thought to alternative tactics or strategy.
III. FAST Breakthrough
A. Offerings
i. Twice they had attacked & been soundly defeated, we can learn a lot from their response. & v26. & I want to look at 4 things
ii. 1) The offered offerings. Remember offerings were for the cleansing of Sin. They laid aside their pride in the wrongness of their brother Benjamin & in the rightness of their task & got their hearts right with God 1st.
B. Humble Yourself[i]
i. 2) They gathered together, humbled themselves & came before the Lord with tears & with Fasting. They put aside their fleshly desires for food & sustenance & waited upon the Lord. We need to acknowledge our need for God & in humility enter this time of prayer & fasting ~ Mat 17: 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (NKJV)
ii. David in 2 of his Psalms speaks of fasting as a humbling affliction. Ps 35:13 ..I humbled myself with fasting;..(NKJV) the word for humble is also the same word translated afflict in other passages. Also in Ps 69:10 .. I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,…(NKJV) We may combine the various expressions used & say that fasting is a form of mourning & a means to humble & to chasten oneself.
iii. Fasting is also a means by which a believer brings his body into subjection. Our bodies with their physical organs & appetites make wonderful servants, but terrible masters. We see Gal 5:17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: (KJV). Fasting deals with the 2 great barriers to the Holy Spirit that are erected by mans carnal nature. These are the stubborn self will of the soul & the insistent, self gratifying appetites of the body. Rightly practiced, fasting brings both soul & body into subjection to the Holy Spirit.
iv. It is important to understand that fasting changes man, not God. The Holy Spirit, being God, is both omnipotent & unchanging. Fasting breaks down the barriers in man’s carnal nature that stand in the way of the Holy Spirits omnipotence. With these barriers removed the Holy Spirit can work unhindered in His fullness through our prayers.
C. The Lord brings the Victory
i. 3) Another thing to note is that the 3rd time up they changed strategy, they thought about what they were doing & what they were involved in. And they came up with a strategy to overcome the enemy.
ii. 4) Finally we need to understand that we need to rely on God. & v 28 God said “I will deliver them into your hand. – The victory comes from God. & v 35 ~ God will not allow His glory to be taken by another. We must rely on Him totally in all we do. In our outreach as a church, in our witness to our families & friends & in our daily lives.
IV. Altar Call
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[i] Shaping History through Prayer & Fasting. Derek Prince. p. 114, 115