WHEN WE START FACING THE INVINCIBLE FOES...
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
I. WHEN YOU ENEMIES AGREE: COME LET US MAKE WAR...
WHEN YOU PROBLEM IS INVINCIBLE...
A. INVINCIBLE: incapable of being conquered
2 Chronicles 20:1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab,
and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came
against Jehoshaphat to battle.
A. THREE GROUPS FORM A COALITION AGAINST THE NEW WEAK KING...
1. MOABITES
2. AMMONITES
3. MEUNITES
B. Ahab the evil wicked king was dead...
Just a the Preacher warned the DOGS licked his blood...
C. Ahab's wife was JEZEBEL, she was just as wicked and evil as Ahab.
The same dogs licked her blood and ate all but her head and hands
to leave EVIDENCE that God's word and God's man were true...
D. AT AHAB, A STRONG LEADER'S DEATH, there was a move of Israel's
enemies to REBEL and RESIST Israel's authority...
E. MOAB AND HER ALLIES DECIDED TO KICK OFF THE ISRAEL'S
CONTROL...
F. ISRAEL COULD MAY HANDLE ONE GROUP BUT THIS 3 NATION
ARMY WAS INVINCIBLE..
II. WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN SOMEONE COMES RUNNING WITH BAD NEWS?
THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE QUICK TO BEAR BAD NEWS...
2 Chronicles 20:2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There
cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria;
and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
A. Don't you just love anonymous news...
B. I think THEY SAID HAS BREED MORE FEAR THAN THE DEVIL...
III. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN THEY COME FOR YOU...
WHAT WILL WE DO WITH THE NEGATIVE---INVINCIBLE NEWS...
OUR ENEMY HAS A GOAL...
A. A drunk man woke up laying in a graveyard... He lay real still trying to get his
bearings, and suddenly he realized: I AM IN THE GRAVEYARD...
FEAR LAUNCH the man into running wildly.
In the dark he ran and ran... He ran into a tombstone and hurt himself.
He turned and ran into another tombstone, he was bruised and bleeding.
Finally as he was running he fell into an open grave and he lay there until
morning. When the workers appeared to finish digging the grave, they
explained to the drunk: THERE IS NOTHING HERE IN THIS GRAVE YARD
THAT CAN HURT YOU...!!!
He said: MAYBE SO, BUT IT CAN SURE MAKE YOU HURT YOURSELF...
PART A: 2 Chronicles 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared,
B. FEAR IS NOT OF GOD...
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love,
and of a sound mind.
C. AN ATTITUDE OF FEAR IS DESTRUCTIVE...
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear
hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
IV. THE ENEMY CATCHES THE NEW KING AT A WEAKEST TIME...
WE MUST LET FEAR DIRECT US TO THE RIGHT PLACES...
A. THE NEW KING IS NOT READY FOR THIS BATTLE...
B. THE FEAR MUST YIELD TO PRAYER and seeking God's plan.
Chronicles 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and
proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of
all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
C. The new King has enough sense to PROCLAIM A FAST and a
GENERAL CONVOCATION or gathering of the people..
D. WE HAVE ONE HOPE... ONE CHANCE...ONLY BY GOD'S HELP...
V. THIS MUST BECOME A PERSONAL PRAYER...
NOT JUST PREACHER WOULD YOU PRAY FOR ME...
2 Chronicles 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem,
in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou
over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might,
so that none is able to withstand thee?
7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people
Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we
stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry
unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou
wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they
turned from them, and destroyed them not;
11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession,
which thou hast given us to inherit.
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great
company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are
upon thee.
13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and
their children.
A. THE KING GRASPS THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE MOMENT...
(place these on power point, 2 on a slide)
B. THE KING PRAYS 224 WORDS IN THE KJV...
*1. Jehoshaphat remembers history....
YOU ARE THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS...
*2. You are the God of the Heaven
*3. God, You rule everything... You are our God, but you also rule over
the heathen... GOD IS IN CONTROL
*4. God is OMNI-POTENT, all power in heaven and earth belongs to God.
*5. There is no power that can withstand God's power.
*6. YOU GOD ARE OUR GOD... You choose us, we serve you.
*7. God, you lead us here and drove out the Canaanites out before us...
*8. God, you choose ABRAHAM TO BE YOUR ETERNAL FRIEND, and you
gave Him this land.
*9. We dwelled in Your Gift to us.
*10. We have built You a church, a sanctuary for You to dwell in.
*11. We have been taught when we are in TROUBLE to come and stand
before You at Your House. We have been taught to CRY out before You,
and You PROMISED TO HEAR US.
*12. God we need you to see that our enemies, the Moabites, Ammonites.
and the Edomites to TAKE AWAY YOUR PROMISE TO US.
*13. God, You are the faithful judge, judge them please...
*14. God, You know we can not fight them and win...
We can't God.
*15. God, WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO...
*16. God, we have come together and prayed, WE WILL TRUST YOU
COMPLETELY... OUR EYES ARE FIXED ON YOU LORD...
Fodder from Dakes.
VI. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PRAYER, THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD COMES...
FAITH IGNITES MAN AND GOD...
GOD HAS A MAN THAT WILL STAND AND DECLARE GOD'S PLAN
BEFORE THE VICTORY
A. THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVES UPON JAHAZIEL...
2 Chronicles 20:14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah,
the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the
Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou
king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz;
and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see
the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be
dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
B. GET RID OF ALL FEAR...
C. COMPLETELY TRUST THE UNSEEN HAND OF GOD...
D. THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS...Don't steal...
E. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FIGHT
F. STAND STILL...
G. JEHOSHAPHAT BELIEVED GOD WOULD COME AND HANDLE THIS...
VII. THE PEOPLE CHANGE THE MODE... PARADIGM SHIFT...
THEY LEAVE PETITION AND GO TO WORSHIP AND PRAISE...
EVEN BEFORE THE VICTORY...
2 Chronicles 20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground:
and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping
the LORD.
19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the
Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
A. JEHOSHAPHAT HAS THE GUTS, NERVES AND FAITH TO ACCEPT
GOD'S MAN AND GOD'S WORD AND BEGIN TO PRAISE AND SING...
2 Chronicles 20:20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the
wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear
me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God,
so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the
LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before
the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
VIII. SOME THING HAPPENS WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE BELIEVE GOD'S
WORD AND BEGIN TO SING AND PRAISE...
GOD WORKS A MIRACLE...
2 Chronicles 20:22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set
ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which
were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of
mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an
end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked
unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and
none escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them,
they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and
precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could
carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
CONCLUSION: Now how will we apply this lesson to our hearts?
God has a plan, WILL YOU RELEASE IT?
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
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