The Restoration Of His Power

THE RESTORATION OF HIS POWER

Study Text: Judges 3: 7 - 12

Introduction:

- Whenever the power of God is lost, the people of God cannot prevail over the enemy as expected of them because the presence of God has been withdrawn, and the glory of God will be missing.

- When the Israelites could not prevail over the Philistines in the days of Eli, it was due to the loss of the power of God, and Phineas’ wife lamented that the glory has departed.

- Restoring the Lost Power to our Lives and Ministry is very important if we are to enjoy His presence and see the manifestation of His glory.

- A look at the early Church shows that something is missing in most Christian lives today. It is the supernatural power of God.

- They received the power of the Holy Spirit, and did many exploits with it. Souls were won and the Church increased daily, and many signs and wonders were wrought by their hands which drew many to Christ and glorified Him.

- The Holy Spirit is ready to do His work in our lives and ministry today just like He did with the early Christian, if we will give Him space.

- All during the 400 years covered in the book of Judges, the nation of Israel followed a predictable pattern.

- They would serve God faithfully while they followed the strong leadership of their judges. When a judge died, they had no leader, and they would desert God, and began to live in disobedience to His Law, giving themselves to the worship of the pagan gods of the Canaanites.

- When they rebelled against the Lord, He would sent His judgment upon them, by allowing Israel to be oppressed by their enemies.

- After a time, Israel would repent of their sins and God would raise up a deliverer. God would use this person to defeat Israel’s enemies and set them free.

- This story has much to teach us, if we will allow it to. Like Israel, we often follow the same pattern of disobedience, chastisement and restoration.

- Our problem is not the Moabites, the Ammonites or the Amalekites. Our problem is the flesh. Every one of us has problems with our flesh.

- Sometimes we win our battles with the flesh; sometimes we lose our battles with the flesh; sometimes we don’t fight against the desires of the flesh at all.

- We are literally in a fight for our very spiritual lives every day. It is a fight we must win, every time we enter the arena.

- This passage gives us the help we need to fight and win the battle with the flesh. They won their battle with those who oppressed them and you can too.

- You do not have to be a slave to your fleshly passions. You can be free from the grip of sin. You can walk in victory if you will fight the battle and fight it God’s way

- We shall discuss the topic under three subheadings:

1. The Dilemma of the Disobedient

2. The Deliverer of the Defeated

3. The Deliverance of the Dominated

1. The Dilemma of the Disobedient

- These verses describe the horrible oppression Israel suffered because of her rebellion against the Lord.

- Their problems stand as a warning to all those who would walk away from the God Who redeemed them. Let’s look at these verses and learn from them.

- Israel faced three nations because of their rebellion against God. They faced the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Amalekites. All three of these nations were continual problems for Israel, and all three were connected to Israel by blood.

- The Amalekites were descended from Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. The Moabites and the Ammonite were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. After Lot and his daughters were delivered from Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s daughter got him drunk, had sexual intercourse with their father and conceived Moab and Ammon, from whom descended these two nations.

- All three of these nations were a continual thorn in the side of Israel. They were constantly attacking, hindering and seeking to enslave the people of Israel.

- Just like Israel was repeatedly attacked by these nations, the believer is continually attacked by the flesh.

- Our flesh has its own desires. It does not like the way of holiness and the way of righteousness. The flesh likes the way of evil and the way of Satan, Eph. 2:1-3; John 8:44.

- The flesh will do everything in its power to enslave us and prevent us from reaching our fullest potential in Jesus Christ.

- Don’t be deceived, your flesh hates God and everything God stands for. Your flesh will never submit to the Word of God. It must be forced into submission by a strong show of force. – Rom. 7:14-25.