Joshua's First Fight

[0:00] Exodus chapter 17, if you would, please find your place. And we got through verse number 7, the last time we were together in this book, verse 1 through 7.

[0:12] We saw how the Israelites were traveling to a place called Rephidim, and they were again without water to drink. And so they turned on Moses, and the situation got pretty ugly.

[0:23] And so much so that Moses feared for his own life, saying that the people would be almost ready to stone me. And he cried to the Lord and said, what shall I do unto this people? And so when Moses didn't have answers and didn't have solutions, he cries to the Lord, but the Lord had an answer for him.

[0:40] And we saw that in four parts last time that the Lord said to Moses, Moses, keep going. I gave you orders. I didn't rescind those orders. You keep going. Secondly, he said, Moses, you keep leading.

[0:53] You're the leader. You're the one I trained and called and fit for this position, so do your job. And then thirdly, he said, Moses, keep believing. Don't ever stop believing. Keep faith. Don't ever lose faith.

[1:04] And then finally, keep obeying. The Bible says Moses did so in the sight of the elders. So we're going to pick it up now in verse number 8, because something else happens in Rephidim, and that is an enemy arrives, an unexpected enemy named Amalek, and they show up.

[1:21] And if we were to look and cross-reference in a few other places, I think it's in Deuteronomy and another place in 1 Samuel, we'll see that this attack of Amalek was a, they laid in wait for the people of Israel at Rephidim.

[1:35] They laid in wait. They were, this was an ambush. And it says in Deuteronomy that they fought against the hinder parts to those that were weak. And I forget the other term there, but it was the more feeble folk of this traveling band of Israelites.

[1:53] The Amalekites attacked them from the rear, and it was a very, very ugly thing, and a surprise for them to be under attack. All right, so we're going to pick it up now in Exodus 17 from verse 8 to the rest of the chapter.

[2:09] The Bible says, Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out, men, and go out. Fight with Amalek.

[2:21] Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 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.

[2:33] And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon.

[2:46] 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. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and the people with the edge of the sword.

[2:59] 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.

[3:12] And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nisi. And he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

[3:24] Now, this is a fascinating story to me. And we very, the portion of this that just gets preserved in our minds is that Moses is up on that mountain, and he's holding up the rod of God.

[3:40] His hands are held up. But when he gets tired, he's just like, Just got to take a break. You know how you get that feeling in your shoulders? You just can't hold him up forever. And so he's shaking it out.

[3:51] He's trying to get a wiggle, and he's taking a breath and a break, and the thing turns on Joshua, and Amalek starts to prevail. And then Moses, and back and forth, I'm sure he was, until finally these men found out we need to hold his hands up.

[4:05] And we get sucked right into that portion of the story because it's absolutely fascinating that God allowed the determined, the determination of this battle was based upon the physical stamina of Moses.

[4:23] And when he could hold his own, when he could hold that rod up, they won. They prevailed. But when he couldn't, and so it's a very interesting thing to me to see how God is operating here in this situation.

[4:36] It captures our interest, and we even applaud those two men, Aaron and Hur, for their part because no man can do it by himself, and therefore those two men were invaluable to the victory that day.

[4:48] We can focus in on them as well. But I want to remind you that we cannot overlook that down on the valley floor, down below, the man Joshua was fighting for his life, and fighting for the lives of all the men, women, and children of Israel.

[5:06] He was in the bloody mess. And this morning, I want to focus down onto that valley floor where the battle was waged and eventually won. Moses was instrumental.

[5:18] So were Aaron and Hur. God deserves the glory, but it was Joshua that wielded the sword until the setting of the sun. And in verse 14, the Lord said unto Joshua, write this, or he said unto Moses, rather, write this for a memorial and a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua.

[5:38] Rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. Write it down and then remind him of this battle and how this thing, this event took place.

[5:49] It's evident here to me that God wanted Joshua to remember this event. Specifically, it's about Amalek and what Amalek did and how Amalek attacked them and the fact that God is going to recompense that nation accordingly in the future.

[6:07] But what I find interesting is that's not what it's all about, rehearsing that, because why would that need to be rehearsed in the ears of Joshua so strongly? The reason I say that is because Joshua, in his lifetime, we know he takes over for Moses some 40 years down the road.

[6:24] He becomes his successor. So you think, well, yeah, he needs to have, you know, an understanding of these things, a memory of these things. True. However, God never commissioned Joshua to wipe out and utterly destroy the Amalekites.

[6:40] Do you remember who God, he commissioned to do that? Does anybody remember? Saul. King Saul. 400 years later, King Saul. So, what is it so important here that he says, write it in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua?

[6:58] Well, it is about the Amalekites, but I'd have to say there's, the connection there is not as strong as maybe some other things that Joshua needed to hear in the future and that Joshua needed to be reminded of.

[7:12] There's some things that we can study this morning that God wanted Joshua to remember. And I believe these are important things that God would have us remember about this very battle because the Christian life is likened unto a battle.

[7:28] And as soon as you enlist in the war, there are going to be battles that show up for you to fight. And they'll show up when you're not expecting them. And you're not aware of them and you're not prepared for them.

[7:40] And you didn't even know that this was such a thing. But before you find, before even long, you're in a battle, you're fighting or you're getting beat around and you don't know what's going on. And so let's take some lessons here from what God had Moses write down in a book to remind Joshua and we'll read from this very passage and learn some things.

[8:01] And before we do that, let's pray again and go to the Lord for help this morning. Father, we ask, please, Father, please help. And please allow your word to help and strengthen us and to teach us and to shape our minds for the battles that lie ahead in our Christian life.

[8:25] many in the room are probably facing some things this morning. Others, going to face them in the future. And until you call us home, we're going to have a fight on our hands, whether it's the world, the flesh, or the devil.

[8:41] We are not going to escape this life without a fight. And so, Lord, strengthen our hands for the battle this morning. And as these words were rehearsed in Joshua's ears, I pray you'd rehearse them in our ears and that you'd open us, our ears, and give us ears to hear and to receive these words.

[9:00] And may they bear fruit and strengthen and prepare us for the battles that lie ahead. May we be victorious through the Lord Jesus Christ and in his strength, we pray. Amen.

[9:12] Amen. All right. First of all, God wanted Joshua to remember a few things. I want to read again verses 9 and 10 if you'd look back there where Moses said to Joshua, Choose us out, men, and go and fight with Amalek.

[9:26] And tomorrow I'll stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God. And in verse 10, So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek. Now, could you imagine, first of all, when Moses says, okay, Amalek has just ambushed the rear of the people and it's not good, he turns to Joshua and says, Joshua, choose some men and get back there and start fighting with them.

[9:56] And I want you to consider that Joshua is not looking at a standing army to choose from. He's not looking at trained men who have been enlisted and have experience in battle.

[10:08] Moses looks at Joshua and says, we got to do something, do it. Joshua's never done this before. This is the first time his name shows up in the Bible.

[10:21] And there he is taking a bunch of men, and by the way, he has no experience being a captain of the host of the Lord, he's not that guy. And yet, Moses says, something needs to be done, I need you to do it.

[10:35] And Joshua did so. And Joshua did as Moses had said to him. What he did was he obeyed what was commanded of him.

[10:49] He's never been there before. He could have told Moses, Moses, what do I know about battle? I'm not your guy. I've never done this before. We both know that.

[11:00] You know why I point that out? Because that excuse has been used among people of Christ for ages and ages and ages. I've never done it before. I don't know what I'm doing.

[11:11] I can't do it. Pastor, why would you ask me to do that? I can't do that. Lord, why would you call me to do that? I can't do that. I've never done that before. That excuse just keeps getting regurgitated out of the fearful mouths of God's children.

[11:26] And it's been going on and it continues to, but not Joshua. When Moses told Joshua, choose out men, go out and fight against them. Joshua did as Moses said to him.

[11:39] And what Joshua did was obeyed what he was told to do. And Joshua, number one, the Lord said, you know what, Moses, write that down. Write down in a book of memorial and rehearse that in the ears of Joshua.

[11:51] Remind him of his obedience. Remind him that I blessed his obedience. Remind him that when he obeys me, things work out. And when you disobey me, things don't work out.

[12:04] That's something you ought to remind him. I'll rehearse that in his ears that I bless obedience. Joshua could have said, why? Why, Moses? I mean, you need to tell me how it's going to work and then I'll, you know, then I'll consider it.

[12:18] He could have said things like we say, well, why do I have to do that? Or he could have even said, hey, wait a minute, where's this mighty God of ours? Why doesn't he just send the hailstones again? We've seen that before.

[12:30] Where's the mighty wind and the darkness and the flies and the lice and the boils? Why doesn't he do that? But no, that's not what's for this situation.

[12:41] Joshua, go fight against him. And Joshua did as Moses said. Remember that God blesses obedience. And Joshua needs to remember that obedience that he had that day because there's going to come some time down the road where he's told to sneak into the land of Canaan, a land of giants, and sneak through there as a spy and bring back a report of the land.

[13:06] He's going to, years later, take over for Moses and be instructed by God to go march around that city seven times and don't say a word. Just be quiet. Just march around at one time a day.

[13:17] And Joshua, you're going to have to remember. Remember how you obeyed God back then? Remember how you just did what you were told and the Lord took care of it? That's something you want to remember going forward that I bless obedience.

[13:29] I bless obedience. And obedience shows faith. It shows faith. When you just do what you know is right to do and it displays that you believe that God's word's true and that it will come to pass and that he sees and acknowledges and blesses your obedience.

[13:48] People are afraid to do a number of things. They're afraid to enlist in some event or to hand a track out to somebody or to strike up a conversation of witness for the Lord Jesus Christ because they feel like I'm not trained.

[14:02] I don't know how to do it. And they give excuses and they don't obey what God said to do. God tells you that there's a lot of things the Lord says. Here's one. You don't like to hear about it but today's the day to hear about it.

[14:14] God says that you ought to be a giver. And he teaches you in the Bible that a tenth of what you earn belongs to him. That he's blessed and given to you and you in turn ought to give back to him.

[14:26] It's a matter of obedience. And God blesses obedience. But there are many that say oh I can't afford to do that. I can't trust God with my money.

[14:37] I can't trust God to do that. I have to be wise. I have to do this. I want to do this. And you don't want to give to the Lord. And there's some of you that are just like that. And you hold on to what's God's.

[14:50] And there's a number of things we could talk about here. I don't want to just get stuck on giving. That's never been my thing. But some of you need to hear it once again. The Lord blesses obedience.

[15:03] Joshua you need to be reminded of that going forward that God blesses your obedience. And when you just in faith obey the word of God he sees it.

[15:13] He doesn't miss a beat. God sees your faith. He sees you trusting him with your children, with your grandchildren, with your job, with your finances, with your gifts and abilities, with prayer, with a track, with spending time in his word because you believe it's the right thing to do.

[15:33] God blesses obedience. It's a key to the Christian life. The Bible says to children to obey your parents. The Bible says to adults to obey magistrates and obey them that have rule over you and submit yourselves.

[15:49] And above all of this the Bible says we ought to obey God rather than men. We ought to obey God. And there's some things that are just plain as day in this holy Bible that are written to you.

[16:02] God's looking for your obedience. You can argue about it. You can desire an explanation. But that's not the way Joshua did it. Joshua just he did as Moses said to him. He didn't seek an explanation and God didn't look for his approval of it.

[16:18] He just obeyed. God's looking for your obedience too. There's something else that Joshua needed to be reminded of down the road. Some things that needed to be rehearsed into his mind.

[16:29] In verse number 11 we read that it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. Now we kind of just skip right through that because we know how the battle ends up and how the men come and they support the arms of Moses.

[16:46] We know that Israel wins and Joshua wins the victory that day. But if you could put yourself in Joshua's shoes if you could get down there on the battle floor and see that there was times in this battle that the enemy was prevailing against him.

[17:04] It wasn't a matter of saying Joshua hold on because in 10 minutes it's going to get better. There was no word of that. There was Joshua prevailing just running them back and then what's going on?

[17:19] We're losing on this flank and they're coming in on this side and they're starting to push us back and they're starting to gain the victory and what is going on here? Why is it that when I'm fighting the battle for God and for his people and Moses told me to do it and I'm doing what I'm supposed to do I'm losing because that happened.

[17:41] The Lord allowed Joshua to experience moments of defeat in his life or in this battle. He allowed him to feel like the victory was slipping away and you know I hope you understand this and I see this in this moment because I experienced this in my life that when things start to turn that immediately your mind gets flooded with thoughts.

[18:10] Thoughts I can see Joshua saying God prevailed against Pharaoh with all of his acts and he brought us across the Red Sea and all of this just so quickly vivid in his mind saying but we're going to get defeated and we're going to get killed or captured by this enemy here?

[18:26] Maybe it's because of our sin and our chiding against Moses here wanting water and complaining and God's now he's punishing us and all of these things can come upon him because he sees that he feels himself going down.

[18:40] Amalek is prevailing. Joshua, you need to be reminded of this. You need to remember that Amalek prevailed against you.

[18:51] Moses says, hey Joshua, my hands were heavy and they fell. I couldn't intercede to God and the Lord allowed the tide to turn against you.

[19:02] You felt that fear. You felt that confusion. You didn't have anywhere to turn. You know what it's like to have the enemy prevailing against you but you didn't quit and you kept fighting until God reemerged back into that situation and Israel once again prevailed over Amalek.

[19:23] The Lord finally showed up and turned things around but remember Joshua how you fought through that adversity. Here's the point. Remember Joshua that being down is not the same thing as being defeated.

[19:40] Being down for some days or sometimes months or seasons of your life is not the same thing as being defeated. There was moments when Joshua felt low.

[19:53] When he felt that he was down but he kept fighting. And isn't it true church that when adversity enters our lives and situations kind of flop in front of us that we're flooded with thoughts.

[20:06] Oh I never should have done this in the first place. This is all because we come up with ideas why Lord why has this happened to me I'm trying to do right. And it's like the fog of the situation clouds your eyes of faith because the Lord still loves you.

[20:23] The Lord still cares for you. He knows what you're dealing with. His grace is still sufficient for this situation. You're still told to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and fight the good fight of faith and yet you just you lose sight of all of that so fast when the enemy begins to prevail.

[20:42] And yet the eyes of faith need to hear the voice of the new man saying no no you're still a child of God. God still knows your situation. He knows your heart.

[20:53] He hears your cry. Keep fighting. Don't give up. The Lord never leaves. He can work in this. The Lord's grace is still sufficient. Remember that at the lowest point it's not the end of the story and that God will bring you out.

[21:10] There are storms that will come and those same storms will go. Being down is not the same thing as being defeated. You can read in the book of Job we can read an account of a man a righteous man an upright man that feared God and eschewed evil and then we can see how he suffered in bitter agony.

[21:35] You can read about another man David who was an innocent man yet he was exiled and his life was threatened and he was in great peril. You can read about a prophet named Jeremiah who preached the truth and obeyed the Lord God and what's written for our learning is that he was tossed into a dungeon and tossed into a different prison times over his life he's just locked up because he was doing right.

[22:00] You can read also of the Lord Jesus Christ who innocently tasted the bitter cup of the suffering and the death for our sins and though he was down he was not defeated he rose victoriously Job got it all back David got the throne and the kingdom Jeremiah was freed and he was a free man while all his persecutors were taken into captivity being down in the moment hurts having Amalek prevail in the moment hurts but it's not the same thing as being defeated you still have God he hasn't changed his word hasn't changed that's where you need to get a hold of these promises and live by faith and trust him when Amalek's prevailing Joshua remember that remember what it's like when they prevailed over you and how you kept fighting something else in verse 12 Moses' hands were heavy they took a stone put it under him these two other brothers

[23:03] Aaron and Hur they stayed up his hand the one side and they did that till the going down of the sun but in verse 13 Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword with the edge of the sword I want you to realize that was a real battle going on that was life and death for the man Joshua the sword was in his hand and he and his brothers alongside of him were fighting for their lives the stakes cannot get any higher than that they had to fight they didn't just talk about it they didn't come together in a little huddle and pray about it no they had to literally go out there and put their fight it's kill or be killed what do you want to do they weren't passive that day they didn't wait for the Lord to deliver them there was a fight they had to engage in and they didn't get the victory without fighting and so Joshua remember that let this be written down and rehearsed in your ears that victory does not come without fighting you've got to fight you fought that day and what's interesting here is true with us any victory the time has a way of just kind of just kind of wiping away the details and the horrors it has a way of just kind of you know leveling everything back out to where yeah I remember that that was a long day that was a tough one because you live to see another day and you go on to fight another battle and you can forget of what the memory of the battle it's easy to forget the hours of battle and the minutes within the hours and the moments of one on one interaction and fighting and how you're just fighting for the next ten minutes of your life and it's easy to let time just kind of erase that and level it down to where it's just one big thought of yeah we won that one you forget those moments and those decisions within the fight that spared you the battle wasn't handed to you that day

[25:20] Joshua you need to remember this you fought for your life and there's going to be more battles to fight and if you want a victory in those battles you're going to have to engage just the same you're going to have to get just as serious and put everything you have and fight for your life remember Joshua you fought for that victory Moses interceded with God but you experienced the battle Moses' hands got heavy and he put them down but you couldn't afford to have your hands get heavy you couldn't put your sword down and take a break that day you had to fight and Christians this life is likened to a fight and if you want victories over things in your life that don't belong there then you're going to have to fight you're going to have to make up this is my life and I'm losing and it's time to get this sword out and get serious and engage in this fight if you want the victory you're going to have to fight for it you can't sit around and be passive and say God will fix it that wasn't the case with Joshua that will not be the case in your Christian life there's real enemies there's real opposition and they're not going to go away you need to stand up and fight it's easy to forget the little victories you've had in the past it's easy to glance over those little small steps you took when you first got saved and how the Lord brought you out of that gave you victory it's easy to just kind of look past all of those things but it's worth remembering that that was a fight and that was a decision you made to drop that or to move on to that or to commit to this and to engage in that to get into the battle those little battles that you fought with the edge of the sword they were life and death and the ones forward are going to be the same and this Christian life is like into a fight and it's a good life and it's the best life to live and it's worth fighting for you could be losing some battles today you could be here this morning and not have your heart right with God there could be certain battles in your life where you're just you've been giving up ground for a long time it's time to realize you're not going to get victory unless you pick up this sword and go fight there's something else that the Lord reminds Joshua of through Moses' writings he reminds him by the end of this chapter that there's more battles ahead in verse 14 the Lord said unto Moses write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the years of Joshua for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek under heaven in verse 16 he said because the Lord had sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation he realized that this is the first military victory but it's only the beginning of many in verse 13

[28:27] Joshua discomfited Amalek and the people you know what that means it means that he defeated their military and that they were broken up and scattered they were sent off running and retreating they were no longer a military band or force that's discomfited they scattered them in winning in defeat they dispersed them as they retreated so they're no longer a standing army that's posing a threat to the children of Israel but they were not annihilated they were not utterly wiped out with the edge of the sword what does that mean?

[29:05] it means they're still out there and they'll be back and the day's gonna come when they do group back up and they come after you with full force so you write down and rehearse this in the ears of Joshua that it's gonna be from generation to generation these battles will continue on until God does in fact wipe out or utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven until that day you're gonna have battles that was a great victory but it's not the end of all strife they'll be back for more Joshua you can't let your guard down there's more coming remember this there's more battles ahead and just the same the Christian life is a life of battles you can win one and you can fight one and the next day could be a complete another spiritual battle coming at you and it's gonna continue until God in fact does make an end of all strife there's one more thing

[30:05] I wanna conclude with from this passage and that is I don't wanna forget or miss the role that Moses played in this scene he's the one that we kinda quickly land on and just remember and I'm kinda trying to circumnavigate this to point out what needed to be rehearsed in the ears of Joshua but along these lines he's also writing what Moses did that day and so I don't wanna dismiss the role that Moses played because he ascended that hill with the rod of God and when Moses is up on top of that hill he can look out and see the entire scene the entire plane he can see the entire army of Amalek and where they're at he can see where Joshua is making his moves and assembling the men and the armies and how they engaged in battle that day Moses overlooks the whole thing you might say he can see the big picture and with his rod in his hand as he holds it up he is acting as an interceder to God for the people down below fighting and engaged in battle now perhaps in this battle there's times that Joshua got a glimpse of Moses perhaps he could look up and see those hands held up high in the rod of God and he just it encouraged him to continue fighting because God is gonna win the victory they're going to get this enemy defeated and it helped

[31:38] Joshua to get that glimpse of Moses but the truth is he couldn't stand there and stare at Moses he couldn't wave to him and say he had to keep his eyes on the battle he had to be engaged with what was in front of him with the present situation the happenings where he stood those glimpses to Moses could have been reassuring to him they could have given him confidence to keep fighting but he couldn't be relying on just staring at him he had to fight and this sounds to me so much like our Christian life that we have somebody up on high high above that can see the situation from start to finish from beginning to end somebody that we know him as one that had his hands outstretched for us in paying for our sins on the cross and at times he gives us a glimpse a glimpse of him a glimpse through faith that just stirs in our hearts to carry on that we can be victorious that we can win this fight and he's like that inner cedar that Moses was he's speaking to God he's speaking to God on the behalf of the soldier that's fighting now I want to turn you to one reference and we'll be finished would you flip to Romans chapter 8

[32:55] Romans chapter 8 verse 34 chapter 8 verse 34 the Bible says who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again and now get this who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us now get a hold of this like really get a hold of this you already know these things you know that Christ died for our sins you know that he's forgiven us of all trespasses you know that he's granted to us eternal life you know that the

[34:00] Bible says Christ said Hebrews 13 I will never leave thee nor forsake thee you know that God cares for us casting all your care upon him for he careth for you and you have these concepts in your mind and heart while you're living for God and engaged in the Christian life that God loves me God won't let me down he'll never leave me nor forsake me but would you add this one to this list or maybe put it above some of the others that while you're fighting while you're living by faith down here he is at the right hand of God making intercession for you for you he's on your side he cares about you he wants you to keep fighting he wants you to go on and not quit and he's saying God have mercy on them help them give them power make a way give them faith give them confidence strengthen their hands the Lord is up there today making intercession for you the one that loved you and gave himself for you there's times where you can look up and get a glimpse and see your intercessor and by faith take a hold of that and let that encourage you and strengthen you to go on to not give up that Jesus

[35:28] Christ is on your side you not just the church not just this church but you personally he's making intercession for you I think you need to see Jesus Christ in that light it's a role that he's playing for you as intercessor you can see him as your savior as your guide as your helper see him as your intercessor because that's real and when you're down there in the battle and things are tough and when Amalek's prevailing realize you have an intercessor he's on high and he's interceding to God for you remember that you have don't overlook any longer don't overlook that truth and hold on to that one so Joshua is going to assume the leadership role he's going to take over for Moses down the road and there's some things that took place in this battle in this first battle where the first time ever he's the captain of this host now he's going to start fighting the battles he's going to lead them to war this is all brand new and some things took place that day

[36:42] God said Moses write it down write it down but not just write it down rehearse it in his ears and remind him what took place that day remind him that God blesses obedience he'll always bless your obedience to him when you do what's right you've got God's blessing remind him that being down is not the same thing as being defeated there's a brighter day coming you keep fighting you keep fighting until the adversity lifts until God shows himself through and is strong don't ever give up wait patiently for the Lord remember that every victory does not come unless there's a fight you have to fight for it and this Christian life is worth fighting for remember fourthly Joshua there are more battles to come they're going to keep coming until God utterly wipes them out under heaven forever and there's a promise in that thought that he will do that you can take comfort that one of these days you're going to fight your last battle but until that day keep fighting and finally we too have an interceder

[37:56] Joshua had an interceder up above we have an interceder that sees the battle he knows what you need he knows where you are and he cares and he's interceding to God for us some things that Joshua needs to remember in his first fight more battles to come but don't forget that first one Joshua there's some big time lessons that we can pull from that I hope it helps you this morning if you're facing adversity or if you feel like you've been getting tossed around and Amalek's prevailing over you may God help you to see some of these things and apply them this morning let's pray father this story written for our learning written for us to apply to our lives and to the battles that we find ourselves engaged in daily some through the different seasons of life they come and go and times get tough Lord I want to thank you for your

[38:58] Holy Spirit thank you for access to you thank you for our lovely and strong savior the Lord Jesus Christ thank you for making intercession for us God help us to fight help those here that are struggling with their obedience help them to take faith to pick up the shield of faith and start walking by faith to learn what it's like to live the Christian life the best life to learn what it's like to experience victories it's worth the fight help us to believe that bless our obedience Lord strengthen those that are down give courage this morning Christian do you this morning need to be reminded of these things is this for you maybe these truths need to be rehearsed in your ears this morning you need to remember that God's still looking for you to obey his word he'll forgive your sin he'll strengthen you in the inner man but he wants to see you obey it's a key to the

[40:22] Christian life you've had these truths rehearsed in your ears I want to invite you if you need to talk to the Lord over something to come forward and pray about it and just spend some time with God this morning on the altar it's a great place to talk things over with God and I invite you to do that now if the Lord leads