No Substitute for Victory

Greetings, my friends. I hope that the hand of the Lord would be upon everyone that reads this. I hope that it be upon the sinner to drive him/her to repentance and upon the saint to lead him/her to victory. There is an old saying, that in war… there is no substitute for victory.

Jer 48:10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

What Jeremiah is talking about here is being and active party in the Lord’s warfare. In the Old Testament days they had to fight literally for the kingdom of their God. Today, we fight the spiritual warfare for the kingdom of our God. And you know what, we need to be drawing some blood.

Joe 3:9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

Joe 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

Joe 3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

Joe 3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

Joe 3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

Joe 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

When Goliath stood on one hill, and the host of Israel of the other, he marched down in his armor with his weapons into the valley to face the chosen one of God. He marched down into the valley to defy the armies of the living God. But notice the following verse:

1Sa 17:48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

You see, David was not doing the Lord’s work deceitfully. When the giant came near David, David ran toward the giant.

You see, Goliath had made ready for war. You see, Goliath, though large, was a weak mortal who said “I am strong” in the face of God that day. You see, Goliath had come to the valley of Jehoshaphat where the Lord plead for his people. He had come to he valley of decision where decision was rendered and hand of the Lord destroyed him. The Lord had called him to come to that place so that judgment could be executed and that victory could be proclaimed.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened after that he had let the Israelites go. So he pursued them and trapped them by the shore of the red see. The Israelites fretted but Moses said that they would not see those Egyptians again. God parted the waters. The Israelites passed through. And Pharaoh with all of his host marched down into the valley between the walls of water. But what Pharaoh didn’t realize was that he also had come to the valley of Jehoshaphat where the Lord plead for His people. He had come to the valley of decision and decision was rendered. Pharaoh and all of his host perished in the waters.

If Goliath had not came to the valley and challenged for a single man to fight, he might have killed some Israelites in the battle. If Pharaoh had not pursued Moses into the Red Sea, he might have had opportunity to hinder Israel at a later time. But God proclaimed among the heathen to make ready for war and to come to the valley of decision so the decision could be rendered and these would not be able to continue to be a hindrance to His people. Remember, without battle, there can be no victory.

Jesus came to this world and began to fight the works of the enemy. The truth was preached unto the poor, infirmities were made whole, and people were freed from the bondage of evil spirits. Everywhere Jesus went He was beating the devil. So the devil made ready for war. He had to fight and try to destroy Jesus who was doing so many righteous works.

He, via the religious leaders and the Roman empire, caught Jesus. He had him accused falsely and nailed to a cross at a place called Golgotha. But notice the following scripture:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

The devil, thinking to destroy the holy one, had come also to the valley of decision. He had come to the valley of Jehoshaphat where the Lord plead for His people. And Jesus Christ, having drawn the devil out in battle to that day, destroyed him forever. And because He did, we have victory to live over sin today.

So when the enemy comes to make war with you and your family, grab your sword. When the he seems so big and powerful, run towards him. And when you do battle, draw his blood.

2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)

For the enemy comes and fights, that in fighting he may be defeated in the valley of decision.

God bless, be the elect!

Such as I have...

Greetings in Jesus’ name. I want to talk a little bit tonight about “such as I have…”

When the beggar at the temple called out to the Apostles, he was expecting money to help him survive since he was unable to work. Peter however, was not a rich man. He didn’t own large quantities of land or have tremendous resources of wealth to pour into his ministry… but he had something else.

He had that power of the Holy Ghost dwelling inside of him and he had that faith that God would hear him. And such as he had, he gave unto that man. And you know what… that was better than anything else he could have given to him.

I know that when working for the Lord we would often like to have a nicer, bigger building or better songbooks or a larger donation to the poor. We’d like to be able to set up nice powerful equipment to reach thousands in an open-air outreach service. We’d like to have our own printing presses to print out tracts and literature by the millions.

Some of us have some of those things no doubt, but most of us probably don’t have most of it. And indeed, all of those things might be of a great help… but not any of them nearly so helpful as “such as I have…”

What God really wants us to give to the souls of the world are not all of those carnal things, even if they are used in the most effective way. He wants us to give of the Spiritual things that come from Him alone. Because that’s what they really need. They need Jesus Christ doing a work in their life.

So the next time you find yourself lamenting over resources or thinking of how much you could accomplish if you only had that certain thing… remember “such that I have…”

God bless!