HE HAS OUR BACKS

“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we were among you for your benefit,”  1 Thessalonians 1:5

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle captured the essence of persuasion in a book called Art of Rhetoric.  He presented a very cogent description of the three foundational pillars necessary in persuading others.  Each of these pillars appeals to a different part of our “humanness.”  If we are going to persuade others, we will usually appeal to the ethos, pathos, and logos receptors of the person we are trying to persuade.  Advertisers, philosphers, coaches, conmen, salesmen, and politicians, in fact, anyone in the persuasion business, taps into the power of these three aspects of human nature.

 Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address has been  broken down regarding ethos, pathos, and logos ever since he scratched it on a napkin and delivered it over a hundred years ago.   Although his speech was very short it is one of the most powerful speeches in history. It touched on all three principles of Aristotle’s philosophy of persuasion- thus it touched us. 

Many of us unknowingly make appeals using these principles in our everyday lives.  Anytime we try to sell a product, idea, or service we will use techniques that will tap into ethos, pathos, and logos.  I believe that we should always keep these things in mind when we are presenting the gospel message to those around us.

Essentially, ethos means character.  It has the same root as ethics.  It appeals to others not so much through the message, but through the person presenting it.  We often judge a message first by the credibility of the person delivering it.  If we have qualms about the deliverer, we will have qualms about the message.  Our first impression of the message will always be the messenger. How many times have we heard the comment, “You can’t believe that.  Look at the source.”  No matter how fine the message, it can be negated by an unreliable giver.  Conversely, some are persuaded by a good messenger with a lousy message.  The optimal situtation, of course, is a good communiqué delivered by an honest communicator.

Paul was one of the greatest evangelists of all times.  He had that critical credibility through his consistent Christlikeness.  His message was accepted by many because people saw an honesty in him that made his word honest. We know that two people could say the same words, but one set of words could carry more weight because the person giving them has more character. When Paul spoke to King Agrippa in Acts 26, he was able to get an audience because of his integrity, courage, and character.  In other words, his ethics. His life pointed to something more than what others have and that made people want to listen to him.  It made a powerful king want to listen to him. Do we have that part of the persuasion formula?  Do people look at us in positive way that will make a message of God’s love seem logical coming from our lips?  If they don’t, we are fighting a uphill battle trying to give the gospel to others.  Our lives should point people to Jesus before our words or few will even listen to the words.

Pathos means feelings and emotion.  It is the passion that we express and it is passion that others feel.  We appeal to others emotions with our own emotions.  That well-known saying “people don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care,” is true.  That is the Pathos portion of our message.  If we don’t love those to whom we are presenting love, they will have little love for what we are presenting.  If we live our Christian lives looking like we are sucking on lemons, we will have a hard time persuading others that our life is the life they want to experience.  One way of showing we care is by being excited about who and what we care about.

Agrippa was moved by the emotion and enthusiasm with which Paul spoke. He was passionate about Jesus and everyone he met knew it.  The old camp song, “If you’re happy and you know it… clap your hands…stomp your feet…etc.” is sending a message.  If we are happy in Jesus, it should show.  Paul did what we should do- he told Agrippa what Jesus meant to him personally and that special relationship showed in his words and actions.  He told what kind of impact Jesus had on his life.  He told Agrippa the same things that we can tell others about our own lives.  It is not wrong to appeal to that emotional part of people.  It is a hole that they want to fill.  Emotion is not wrong.  Passion about Jesus is not wrong.  In fact, without passion for Jesus, we will have a hard time persuading anyone to step into a relationship with Him.

Logos means word of reason or logic.  Some believe that believing in God is illogical.  I find that it is just the opposite.  If I believe believing in God is logical,  I should be ready to express that. 1 Peter 4:14 says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” Paul did not just make an emotional appeal to King Agrippa.  He appealed to the reasoning part of the king as well.  Some of the most intelligent men in history have accepted the reasonableness of the scriptures.  Yes, there are intelligent men on the other side, too, but the case for God is not one without support in the creation around us.  We must, with confidence, be ready to point out the trueness of the Word whenever the opportunity arises.

The gospel is emotional, but it is not all about emotion.  The gospel is reasonable, but it is not all about reason.  The gospel is the perfect blend between feelings and logic.  Neither rules, but neither is lost.  A faith built on just one will be lacking and will not hold up when under attack.  And of course, the gospel is built upon the character of Christ.  We cannot allow our lack of character to come in the way of sharing the great character of Christ.  We need to live holy lives (ethos) so that we can take the Holy One to others.  When others see our passion for the message (pathos), they will listen to the message.  When we then give them the reasons for believing (logos), they will begin to think. For many that is the first step in the acceptance of the God of this universe.

We are all called to be lights and share Christ with those around us.  If we think about all that God has done for us, why would we not share?  We should think about ethos, pathos, and logos and ask ourselves if our message reflects all three.  In 1 Thessalonians  1:15 Paul puts it well, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only (Logos), but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance (pathos). You know what kind of men we were among you for your benefit (ethos).”   People use persuasive principles every day for nefarious reasons; we have the greatest truths about life to share, and certainly, we should do all we can to make the message clear to everyone we can.

There was once a preacher who was upset because a mere actor drew bigger crowds than he did.  He asked the actor why that was so.  The actor responded, “because I present fiction as truth and you present truth as fiction.”   That is the key for us as well.  We have the truth.  The way we present that truth is key to its receptiveness by others.   No other message we can give is more important than, “(He is) the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but by Him.”  Like the fearless Paul in front of a powerful king, let us stand boldly in front of a skeptical world and give “the reason for the hope that lies within us.”

This is part two of a devotion on Assurance.  If you have not done so, you should read Part 1 first…

So why do we doubt?

First of all, I think it is a misunderstanding of the gospel of salvation.

The Gospel is the Good News that Christ died for me and if I believe that I have eternal life.

There are about 40 things that happen at that moment in time when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,  none of which are visible on the outside.

These things are automatic.  But there are many things that can happen because of our new power and standing… but those are not automatic.  When things that may hopefully be a result of the gospel are made a part of salvation, that is when we begin to lack assurance.

Listen to these verses.  They are simply stated.

Acts 16:31 says, “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

Romans 8:1- “there is no condemnation  for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

This is relationship.  This is justification.  This is instaneous.  It is fully realized.

There are other verses that are fellowship.  It is called sanctification.  They are progressive.  They will be realized in different degrees in different lives.

So feelings and experiences come and go, but the Word is forever.  Don’t rely on the world around you for your assurance, but the promise that is within you.

Romans 8:9 tells us, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.”

but if we do have the Spirit,  it tells us in Romans 8:16 that “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”  That means saved to eternal life.

In 1 John the words “we know” are used 14 times.  John tends to stress what he is trying to get across in numerical ways.

In gospel of John he uses the verb Pis-te-oh or to believe 99 times.  That is why it is called the belief book.   

In John 1:12 says “to all who received Him, who believed in His name, he gave the power to become children of God.”  To conclude the book of John in chapter 20 and verses 30-31 John records, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

So why do we doubt?  First of all, the fact is that that many do not understand the gospel, and add subjective things to it that cannot be quantified.

They try to use subjective means to evaluate an objective truth.

Believing on Christ is a yes or no proposition, but when we add other things to it, it brings up hundreds of different questions.

One of the salvation tests that people use comes from James- loving the brethren.  Now I have questions…. How much, what ways, how long, and at what point is it not enough and I lose my salvation or prove that I never had it.  Loving people is so subjective and God did not give us a formula to follow.   

So the first place to look for the lack of assurance is adding good works to the salvation mix.

The other night I awoke at about 4 in the morning thinking about this devotion.

I watch a lot of old western shows.  (you know the ones. when guys are shot and it makes a red blotch but doesn’t make a hole in the shirt) and I got this picture of a train waiting at the station.  It was called Salvation Station and there was a sign that said destination Heaven.

And the steam engine was called grace.  The cars behind the engine carried our works.  My Sunday school class was in there.  Dave Smith had a few jalopies he had fixed up for some poor families, John Miller had some homeless guys he had shared the gospel with, and John Oltman and Pete had a toolbox the size of a railroad car.

But what I noticed was that none of those cars contributed anything to the trip.  They had no engine, no power, some had lots of cars, some had few, some were loaded, some were almost empty.

The key was the engine.  Without it nothing left the station.  We are like that.  Without the Grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, all of our works are fruitless. We would look like those sad railroad yards with loaded or empty cars just sitting. Our works go to heaven for rewards, but they do not contribute in any way to the journey.  That is all in Christ.

Another reason we doubt is because of feelings.  We just don’t feel saved.  Maybe we saw someone’s conversion and they had emotion we never experienced.

They sob or scream or dance a jig or maybe do all three and we didn’t feel that way when we were saved.  Maybe ours was not real.  But even though it looks like those converts got a dose of old-time religion, it really doesn’t mean a thing.  As an old pastor once said, “You can’t tell by the honk of the horn how much gas is in the tank.”

Your conversion experience was your own; don’t measure it against any others. So, our feelings will fluctuate.  Our emotions are unreliable.“Doubt my feelings what they will… Jesus is my savior still.”  We are just as saved when we feel bad as when we feel good.  We not saved because we feel good, we feel good because we are saved.  Why do I know I am saved, because the Bible tells me so.

Another reason we doubt is because we don’t have an incredible testimony like some others.

Some people have a theatrical testimony.  A book or movie just waiting to happen.   They came from a life that we have never experienced.  Maybe we didn’t go from bad boy to good boy, we went from good boy to forgiven boy.  So maybe outwardly we haven’t changed that much.

Believe me, we were every bit as bad as that bad boy in God’s eyes.  We shouldn’t sell ourselves short.  We are professional sinners and the changes that took place in us were just as drastic as the ones that took place in the motorcycle gang leader that came to Christ in a lonely backwoods bar.

Finally, a big part of doubt is not remembering a certain place or time. My assurance does not rest on my ability to remember, it is based on God remembering me.  My memory of what happened does not affect what did happen.

A man goes into the doctor.  “There is something wrong with me.  I can’t remember anything.”  

“Sit down, let’s talk about it.”  

“Talk about what?”

DL Moody once said, “It is not necessary that we should be able to tell where or how we have been converted, but it is important that we should be able to say that we are converted.”

Old Scottish lady who was admonished by her minister for being too certain of her salvation.  She said,  “If I am not saved Christ has more to lose than me.”  Before the indignant preacher could voice his dismay she said, “All I have to lose is my salvation, but Christ will lose His integrity.” She is right, that would make God a liar.  And He cannot lie.

Hebrews 6:18 says  “So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

Titus 1:2  “In the hope of eternal life, which God who never lies, promised before time began.

Romans 3:3-4 “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means, Let God be true though everyone be a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

John 14:6  “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to Father but by me.”

You know there is an old saying that says, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.”  But that is not true.  It should be “God said it and that settles it, whether I believe it or not.”

When Jesus went to the tomb of the late Lazarus,  Martha says to Jesus, “If you would have been here, my brother would not have died, but even now I know that God will give you whatever you wish.”  Jesus said Lazarus will rise again, but Martha thought he was talking about the final resurrection and said she knew that.

Jesus then said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whosoever lives by believing in me will never die.”

Then He asked Martha the question that he asks all of us…. “Do you believe this?”

Martha said yes.  “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is come into this world.”

So can we believe Jesus when He says, “ I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father but by me, “ And then asks, “Do you believe this?” If we say yes, even though we die we will never die.  Be assured.

I have been fighting a hoarse throat and runny nose for a few days, so it is a good thing that this is a written devotion.  I often wish that I had a better voice with which to share the gospel, but if I had a better voice, I could share  the gospel better, but I could never share a better gospel.

There is no more important message than that of the gospel.  Every sermon that is given in our church is built on the foundation of the gospel.  If someone without Christ hears a sermon without the gospel, it becomes just  a good moral story or practical set of instructions.  There are a lot of self-help books out there, but what we really need are true-help books and there is only one of those.

But as wonderful as the gospel message is to share and to hear it is even more important to understand.  As important as we all know salvation is, there are still many who are unsure they have truly received it.

I have talked to many who are uncertain about their salvation. Typically I hear some version of the following.  “Well, I hope so.  I think I am better than most.  God is a good God so I think he will take me.  I have done this and this and this, so I feel pretty good about it.”  And many of those thoughts came from people in the church.

Of course there are many that preach this lack of assurance from the pulpit, so of course there will be many confused people out there.

I spoke to someone awhile back who said the scariest verse in the Bible to her is Matthew 7:21-23 and it sometimes debilitates her.  I will paraphrase it-  “Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven and many will say they have done all kinds of thing in my name, but I will send them away because I did not know them.”

I told her that should not be a scary verse for several reasons, but the main one is John 3:16.  I quoted the verse one line at a time and asked her a question after each one.

“For God so loved the world  (are you part of the world?) yes…  

That He gave his one and only son (do you know who that is?) yes… Jesus  

That whosoever (is that anybody?) yes…

Believes in Him  (do you believe in Him) yes…  

Has eternal life (what kind of life?) Eternal. 

So what do you have?  Eternal life…  

Who needs to be afraid of the verses in Matthew 17.  

Only those who do not have???  Eternal life.  

Is that you.  No.

Don’t be scared…

Someone who can answer the way this woman did ought to be able to say, “Praise God! Glory to God! I know that I’m saved!”  Yet many Christians don’t know they’re saved. They go around with their shoulders all bent over—drooping, wondering, and worrying. They remind me of question marks with their heads bent over, rather than exclamation points standing straight and tall and saying, “I know whom I have believed!”

Rather than being shouting Christians, they’re doubting Christians. Rather than having a “know-so” salvation, they have a “hope-so” salvation. 

Somebody once said, if you could have it and not know it, you could lose it and not miss it. But the truth is, if you have salvation, you know it; and if you have it and know it, you can never lose it.

Please be aware of the powerful word “believe” and the part it plays in our salvation. It is a verb that can change lives and I don’t mean in a Tony Robbins way.

Now there may be some who read this who have had few doubts and others who have many.  Hopefully, what you read over the next couple of weeks can be an encouragement to you or maybe others who struggle with assurance.

If any of us has doubts, we are actually doubting one of two things.  We are not trusting Jesus for our salvation or we are not trusting that the Bible is true.

Some people believe it would be presumptuous to be certain of their salvation.  In fact, part of the reformation movement was backlash against the sin of presumption in the Catholic church.  

But I am not being presumptuous when I say I am certain I am going to heaven. I know I don’t deserve heaven and if I got what I deserve I would be forever separated from God. But I am saying I believe what God has said and I am going to rely on it.

So we can bank on these things because God’s Word never changes. Isaiah in 40:8 tells us that “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of God stands forever.”  and in Matthew we are told that “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words shall never pass away.”

Why do we need to be assured?  Because our service is hampered by our lack of confidence. When I was coaching I told players to learn their assignments well, so well they would not have to think about it. I told them that not knowing made them hesitant. They couldn’t get the job done because they weren’t confident they could get the job done. In the same way, if we lack confidence in our salvation it is hard for us to confidently share the good news of eternal life..

During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays. Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally, in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell into the net but all were saved. Ultimately, the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net. God has given us a safety net to work over as we cross the bridge of life. Our confident understanding of Him allows us to serve unhindered by doubt.

So why do we doubt?

This is part one of a two-part devotion on Assurance…  Stay tuned for next weeks Part 2 on Tuesday. Cliffhanger!

“But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment, whoever does so destroys himself.” Proverbs 6:32

“So far, so good.”  That was heard coming from a man passing by the third story of a skyscraper after falling out of a window on the fiftieth floor.  He was, in essence, correct, but only for a few more feet.  That is also the common belief of those who find themselves caught up in sinful acts.  After falling from the window of faith, things might seem pretty good for awhile on the way down and that will lead to a false sense of security.  The proverbs verse above isolates the sin of adultery, but there are many sinful behaviors that can be penciled into the verse.  The point is that every fall has its terrible conclusion and denying it on the way down does not change God’s law anymore than the denial of gravity can change a rapid descent.

Lack of judgment leads to self-destruction. Once one decides to take the path of poor judgement, there are fewer and fewer routes back to righteousness.  The root cause of poor judgment is self-deception.  Once we entertain first steps of sin, each step gets easier.  The first step is always the hardest, but the easiest to return from.  Every step taken after that is harder to return from, and soon, return seems out of the question.  At some point pride will take hold of us and return to the right path becomes admission of wrongdoing, and that is sometimes too hard to face.  We might say we would rather be in misery than admit that we caused the misery.  Self-destruction is accompanied by some very typical behaviors.  If we understand those, maybe we can help others who are going down the wrong path or at the least will avoid our own trips off the straight and narrow.

It is important to know that the domino of bad choices never starts in isolation.  It normally entails a sequence of unwise decisions, each one escalating in severity.  The steps of sin are slow and short at first and then pick up in speed and stride until they may even reach a sprint.  I ‘ve watched many a marathon  and I notice that there are check points along the way where coaches will shout out instructions and the runners will often change their tactics to keep going strong.  When someone is in a sin marathon, there are tactics, outlined by Coach Satan for every step of the way.  Dutifully, it seems, everyone on his team follows his instructions to the tee.

First of all, those in sin must separate themselves from spiritual truth-tellers. They must avoid places where these people hang out.  Church, Bible studies, and other Christian haunts are off limits.  They must avoid being alone with anyone who might try to bring the Bible into the conversation.  Of course, those people must be replaced with others.  Non-Christians are fine, but the best people to hang with are wishy-washy Christians with milquetoast spirituality who  emphasize passive tolerance for all behavior.  These kinds of Christians are great because they give the illusion that the backslider has not totally left the faith, and lends some credence of credibility to his actions.  Eventually, in the later stages, even these pseudo-Christians will be left behind because even their wimpy Christianity is too much for completely backslidden turncoats.  Those falling away must put themselves in the position to avoid the truth from Ecclesiastes: “It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools.”  (Ecclesiastes 7:5)  Instead, they listen to the songs of fools and eventually join the choir themselves.

Secondly, after people and places begin to be left behind, new habits will replace the old ones. Habits that were rejected for years suddenly become palpable and eventually habitual.  Hobbies and interests will change and such things like music and movies degrade to an explicable low level.  We are warned about this behavior in Romans: “And let not your behavior be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God.” (Romans 12:2)  At first the wanderers  begin to play at their worship and worship their play, but eventually they abandon their worship and live for their play.  There may be sporadic returns to the people and places of their life in the spirit, but it will be short-lived because there are too many references to “do the right thing” and “obey God’s Word” and “avoid sin” and all kinds of intolerant and discriminatory verbiage.  But those brief returns are just enough for the wanderer to blame future absences on the prejudice of obviously hypocritical Christians.

Lastly, but really all along the way, the self-destructive backslider must put the blame on everyone else.  He cannot be to blame.  After all, he did his best and everyone else let him down.  He gave God a try, but God was found wanting.  They deceive themselves into thinking they have it all figured out and everyone else is clueless.  There is no one who is exempt from the attacks.  Anyone who might question the backslider, correct the backslider, convict the backslider, rebuke the backslider, or confront the backslider is the enemy.  Backsliders are self-sufficient and dependent on no one.  Anyone in their way who disagrees with their direction will be run over.  The brave who stand up to them will receive their ire and probably their wrath.

Unfortunately, self-destruction is really a misnomer.  There is really no such thing as self destruction that stands alone.  When one self-destructs, he takes others with him. If he were the only one affected, maybe his behavior could be overlooked.  After all his bad choices would only be affecting his own life.  Sadly, that is not life.  He does the opposite of throwing himself on the hand grenade for others.  He throws others on the hand grenade for him.  That is what the self-lover (which is what a self-destructor is) does not realize.  He hurts those around him, as much or more as he hurts himself.  Sometimes even more because he has to drain feelings from himself to carry on this self-destruction, but those around him retain their feelings and those feelings feel pain.

When someone puts his own desires first, none will thrive.  Not him, not those around him.  The Lord of the Rings tells the story of two hobbit-like people named Sméagol and Déagol who decided one day to go fishing. Ordinarily they were simple folk who could find delight in the smallest things, but everything changed for these two when, in the course of their fishing expedition, Déagol finds a ring on the bottom of the river. This ring, however, was no ordinary ring, for it had been designed by the evil warlord Sauron and promised to grant great powers to its wearer.  Seeing the ring, Sméagol instantly wanted to have it, and upon Déagol’s refusal to hand it over, “he caught Déagol by the throat and strangled him, because the gold looked so bright and beautiful.”

This story shows what happens when we covet something or someone else.  Our desire to have what belongs to another can twist us into to people we can hardly recognize.  If our sinful desires cannot be resisted, reputation, families, careers, and lives can be ruined.  If we find ourselves going off the path of righteousness, even slightly, we must right our course.  Proverbs 12:12 says, “Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.”  We cannot sow wickedness and expect to reap righteousness.  The saying “so far so good” can be trumped by another saying, “All’s well that ends well.”  Sinful self-destruction does not end well.  It will never end well.  Not for the sinner and not for the innocent.  Those who backslide plunge into a pool whose ripples will go out to distances and places not imagined.

We need to keep ourselves on the right paths, so that others know where they, too, can travel. We must speak up when we see a wanderer even if we will face derision.  We need to remember the truth revealed in Psalm 119:1, “How happy are those whose way is blameless, who live according to the LORD’s instruction!”  We need to spread that truth.  God has promised us that “(He) will make known to (us) the path of life; and in (His) presence there is fullness of joy; and at (His) right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  (Psalm 16:11)  Why would we walk any other path?  Why would anyone?

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9

It is easy to get tired when we fight a prolonged battle of any kind. Whether we are trying to lose weight, break a habit, change an attitude or battle against someone battling against us, it can be a long and tedious road. Sometimes the battle fatigue gets so heavy that we start to lose heart. We look at the mountain ahead of us instead of the the next step. We fixate on the enormity of the task and get the overwhelming desire to just put the work aside and give up. As we know, however, if we stop doing something, it is twice as hard to get going again and sometimes, unfortunately, we never do.

Chapter 17 of Exodus records the battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites. The Amalekites were descendants of Esau, so this was sort of a family feud. Amalek was the leader of the Amalekites, and in Deuteronomy 25 we learn that they took advantage of the exodus from Egypt by picking off the old, sick, and weary that lagged behind the group. It was much like the predators in Africa which follow herds and wait for one to get separated from the larger group and then attack. “Remember what the Amalekites did to you on the journey after you left Egypt. They met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary.”

Now they were once again in a battle with those same people and Moses was reminded of their dirty tricks from the past. Moses told young Joshua to choose a fighting force and that Moses would stand atop a hill with the rod of God in his hand. Moses would raise the rod of God and as long as his arms were raised, Joshua would have the upper hand in the battle.

Joshua and his men fought hard, but as Moses began to become fatigued and started to lower his arms, the tide of battle would turn in favor of the Amalekites. Finally, when it looked like Moses could not hold on any longer, his brother Aaron and a man named Hur raced to help him. Exodus 17:12 records what they did, “When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.”

Moses knew he had a job to do and others depended on him doing it. But regardless of how important it was, there was a limit to his physical strength. We are not God. We are not all powerful. We will reach our limits in our battles. We can learn much from Moses, Aaron, and Hur in these verses and the lesson of these verses is two-fold.

First, the rod that Moses raised to heaven was his reliance on God’s strength while engaged in battle. It was like the prayers we raise in difficult times. As fatiguing as it may be, we must continue to go to Him and to raise our prayers to heaven. It is often easy, especially in trying times, to neglect going to Him for our strength. When we are fighting evil, we must remember that God, too, is engaged in our battle. We are not asked to fight the battle alone. Moses was in the battle, but so was Joshua and hundreds of others. When we are in a battle we can enlist others to help us as well. God expects that. He will bring those people into our lives that can help us to fight and to remain strong.

Secondly, we need others to strengthen us in moments of weakness and we need to strengthen others when they face difficulties in their own battles. When Aaron and Hur supported Moses, it was as though they were coming alongside him in prayer. They supported him when weakness ravaged his body. They did not replace God, but helped Moses to remain strong in God.

Our support of others should always point them to who God is and what he can do. Our battles might be small like better eating habits or large like handling the loss of a loved one, but regardless, the rod of God needs to remain pointed upward so that God can be engaged in the battle, as well.

First Timothy 2:8 says, “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” Keeping our eyes on Jesus and our hearts raised to him is the only way we can fight the battles before us. Remember what John said in his gospel, “I have said it before, and I will continue to remind you as my brothers and sisters – we cannot do anything apart from God.” (John 15:5). We should be quick to support others in prayer and not be afraid to have others join us in prayer. All of us are in battles and we need each other for support. God did not reprimand Moses for his fatigue, but answered his prayers and the support of Aaron and Hur with a victory over the Amakekites.

Prayer is our link to victory. Joshua defeated the Amalekites with the sword, but we too have sword to take into battle with us. Our sword is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17 says, “Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.” It is the only offensive weapon we have. All of the others are defensive. So it is important that we know how to wield the Word as God would want us to and we will only know that through prayer.

In James we learn that we should “confess your sins (weaknesses) to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed (strengthened). The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. (James 5:16)

A man had a dream about going to Hell where he went into huge banquet room that was filled with food and people, yet all were starving because their arms were splinted and they could not get the food to their mouths. Then he dreamed he saw the same banquet room in heaven yet everyone was enjoying the food. They were feeding each other. We all need help and we can all give help. With each other’s help “(we) will soar on wings like eagles; (we) will run and not grow weary; (we) will walk and not faint.”