Is Christ the Center of Your Life?
Sermon By: Evangelist Robert Osborne
Exodus 17:8-15
8. Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
10. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12. But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
15. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: (The Lord is my Banner)
Numbers 2:1-3
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2 Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.
3 And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah (which is a Lion) pitch throughout their armies:
Standard-a symbol carried on a pole and raised high in the air, like a flag, to rally a tribe or a group of warriors in battle.
Banner-a flag, ensign, streamer, or emblem attached to the end of a standard. Banners served as rallying points for military, national, or religious purposes.
In the First Battle of Bull Run in the Civil War, Gen. Thomas Jonathan Jackson was leading the Virginia troops of the Confederacy. One man from another division saw Jackson mounted on his horse, leading his troops, and pronounced, "There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!" They did so, and the Confederacy won a decisive and surprising victory at the outset of the war, dashing the Union’s hopes for a quick victory. And Thomas Jonathan Jackson was thereafter known as Stonewall Jackson. That day, he was the "banner" for the Confederate troops. Although shots were flying all around them, they saw Jackson, standing before them, as impregnable as a stone wall, and rallied behind him. Similarly, the Lord is our banner. Although demands and accusations may be flying all around us, we are to look to the Lord who stands before us and rally behind him.
The story of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte was a great Emperor of the French and his famous words were "He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat." In one of his battles he was beginning to lose and cried out to his trumpet bearer to sound retreat but instead he sounded reveille meaning press on. Napoleon and his army was being defeated but begin to press on three times Napoleon told his trumpet bearer to sound retreat but it always came out as reveille. Through this Napoleon’s army defeated their enemy. After battle Napoleon asked his trumpet bearer why he didn’t sound retreat as commanded and his reply was “Sir, I was never taught to play retreat. Because of this Napoleon’s army became the ultimate army because they pressed on. They had their eye centered on victory not defeat.
In the battle against Amalek Moses became Israel’s center focal point and as long as the kept their eye on him and his rod was raised the Israelites prevailed but when his arms fell then the Israelites would lose. But thank God for some faithful servants of Moses named Aaron and Hur who was in one mind with their leader and they helped carry the load and the Israelites won the battle. Because of this win Moses made an altar and called it “Jehovah-nissi” (The Lord is My Banner) CHRIST IS THE CENTER OF MY LIFE and I WILL STAND BEHIND THE ALTAR. PRAYER raises the standard and lifts up the banner.
We all have great ministry’s and we will succeed and become greater when Christ and the Church becomes the CENTER OF ALL OF OUR LIVES! The Israelites center point of their city was the Tabernacle of God and they were faithful to it. We have got to be faithful to Christ and our church! You can’t get any strength unless you are faithful to church. The church is like a army and a army is in rank and file and nothing can break through rank and file. When we wave our banners we it is glories in the sight of God but it scares the enemy to death. We are of the tribe of Judah and Judah is praise.
We all have the choice of making Christ the center of our life or all of the things that bombard us in this world. It is either the world or Christ and if you choose Christ the he has got to be the CENTER OF OUR LIFE! Not our spouses, children, family be cause God is a jealous and no flesh will glory in his presents. If you say you love God and lift up your families he could just take them away. Not even your job, sports, T.V., magazines or any other thing in this world should be your center. ONLY JESUS CHRIST SHOULD BE THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES!
If he is the center then we can fight any devil out of Hell and we will win it doesn’t matter what he brings sickness, affliction, finances, hate, greed, envy, strife. It doesn’t matter what comes your way Christ will always raise up a Standard and the Enemy has to flee. Isaiah 59:19
19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him
If you feel like you life is nothing and you are aggravated and you feel like you are torn apart then something has broke through your focal point.
God is looking for some people who will either get Right or get left. He is looking for a bride who has made herself ready. He wants those who will be faithful servants and help the body of Christ grow and bring for new babes in his sheepfold. Those who will focus on him and what he wants done will be the ones who will come through at the end.
Jesus should always be our focal point and it should never be blurred. Holiness should be our standard and we should live as Christ lived
We will never lose a battle as long as Christ is the center of our life for he has so many banners and they are all ours as long as he is the center of our life.
His banners:
Love (Song of Solomon 2:4) Joy which is strength (Nehemiah 8:9) Peace that passseth all understanding (Philippians 4:7) Grace and Mercy (Is 30:17) truth (Ps. 60:4)
In our life we have trials and troubles and we fight and fight to win. We live in an awful time and things are not going to get any better. The only hope we have is Jesus; and if Jesus is not the center of our life then we have no hope. Seeing the Lord and rallying behind him as our “banner” is all that we have.
Romans 8:36-39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
