Continuing Pastor Kyle's message, Plague #10 was the death of the firstborn. Why the firstborn? God considered Israel His own firstborn among the nations and warned of this retribution on Egypt in Exodus 4:22-23. But, in the plague, God provided a way out, which foreshadowed the sacrificial redemption of the coming Messiah Jesus Christ at the Cross. Again, the gods of Egypt Serket, Meshkenet, Sobek, Renenutet, Osiris, Hu, Wadjet, Maat, and Sekhmet were silent. All these false gods were judged and proven powerless and worthless.
2 Kings 6:16 “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
What do we all need to know about the protection of the Lord in the battle. The only chooses then and now are to quit/surrender or to continue to fight alongside God. We are in a battle today against viruses, against Satan, against the God-rejecting world system, against the dark/godless principalities of this world, and against our own sin nature of the flesh desires. We can give up and give in, or choose to continue fighting the good fight beside the Lord. and with His supernatural protection. (1) God’s protection in the battle is 100% real. The Cosmos belongs to the Creator and the battle is the Lord’s. From a human perspective, the enemies of God provide no path to victory, but they discount the spiritual power of their Maker. When the chips are down, God has His people’s backs. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
Ephesians 6:12-14 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore.”
This is spiritual armor for battle for the hearts, minds and souls of others against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. The battle is real and God’s protection is real also. Each day, we are walking out our doors and into the mission field and we have the choice to put on the full armor of God. The longer that we live, the more we can be tempted to live humanistically in this distracting secular culture and not trust in the power of God. For those of you who feel fearful right now, I want to encourage you to fear not because God’s protection in the Believer’s life is 100% real. It’s not a fairytale, it’s not a pleasant thought we tell ourselves to feel better or a make-believe divine protection. God is spirit, so like air or gravity, you cannot see spiritual forces in the heavenly realm, but you can feel their effect and see their affect. You cannot see faith, the fruit of the Spirit or the protection of the Lord, but you can feel it in your heart. We can look back over our lives and see it tangibly and crystal-clear.
(2) Do not be afraid, but be smart about it. Know Scripture and properly use Scripture. As Believer’s we are not to put God in challenging situations, to make God have to come through because of our great faith. The kingdom of Heaven has a King. Have a healthy reverential fear of the Lord, Almighty God, our Creator. Don’t be fearful, trust Him. Battles are won by Christians that pick up the armor of God, put it all on and step into the fight, standing firm with the right protection. Don’t be afraid of what is going on around us in this world because God is in charge of everything in our lives. As Jesus told Satan in Matthew 4:7, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Keep encouraging others to hang in there and protect each other also in these times as we keep fighting the good fight.
(3) Fighting God is a losing battle. The lesson we see from Pharaoh is the God always wins. You cannot beat or outsmart the Lord. Doing life our own way will eventually cause us to harden our hearts against God.Romans 1:23-24 tells us that “instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So, God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.” Doing life our way, eventual God gives us over to our depravity. Some of you have been holding out on doing something that God has been asking you to do for a long time. Maybe a sin that you are holding onto and won’t let go of and start taking steps towards healing. Maybe something that is taking you away from God’s things for your life, distractions that are sucking your time and energy for church and devotional activities of the Lord for you. Maybe it’s procrastinating on those good godly things. Whatever it is, confess any sin in your life, surrender to whatever God is asking you to do, take the steps and go along with it. The protection of God is real, but too many are fighting God instead of fighting the battle alongside the Lord. Or maybe we are fighting the wrong battle; not where God wants us to fight or where the battle is the hottest.
(4) God always offers a way out. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” If you are in a sinful battle, God says that He will always provide you a way out. As a mature Christian that knows the Word, Will and Way of God, we learn to recognize sinful situations. Things commanded to not do for our own good and those things that are not pleasing in the eyes of the Lord are to be avoided, while those things commanded to do and the thing that are pleasing in the eyes of the Lord are to be willfully done with joy. We do not want to go down a path away from the Lord that we do not want to go. God is more interested in our character than our comfort or carnality. People that we are trying to reach for Christ are not going to relate to our creature comforts and pagan pleasures; they are going to be drawn by our walk with the Lord, the trials of life that we have overcome alongside God, and what we had to surrender to get to the solid foundation that we stand on in Christ. We are all in a battle today. God will always make a way out. He is a “way maker”.
Our battle plans for the fight is to keep ourselves in a good mental place with the protector Lord, to keep spreading our personal testimony and share the good news of the Lord. So, don’t let the enemy take away the good day that the Lord has made for you today, Keep fighting the good fight.
In Christ, Brian
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