The LORD Is My Banner

Good morning. I bring you greetings from my church, family, New City Fellowship. As many of you know, and every time I'm here, it's a mixed bag, right? And a lot of faces that are very familiar to me. I grew up here. I was here longer than Pastor Tim was until I left.

We were sent out, it's been almost four years ago now, can you believe that? It'll be four years this October. And, yeah, so Pastor of the church there in Marion, and greetings to you from them. It's been wonderful to see how God has continued to use this church, both to encourage me, you know. I call Tim less frequently these days, but, you know, it's good to have him as a resource, as I've learned the ropes of pastoral ministry. but it's been really neat to see sort of the spiritual DNA of this church take a life take on a new life in a local church in Marion the hospitality the love for one another the devotion to God's word the desire to see Christ exalted to live under discipline and grace and fly that metaphor that Jerry Bridges uses to fly on the dual wings of discipline and grace and God's doing some marvelous things in our church.

And I mean that. I just stand back and I'm amazed. We're going through a bit of a downsizing right now ever since the loss of our brother Paul Savage about a year ago. Until this summer, we'll lose about 25% of our members due to people moving. My parents moved to Florida most of the year anyway. But people getting jobs moving, some deaths and so forth.

And so as we shrink, though, it's been marvelous for me to see, you know, for a young church planter, that's like the things that keep us up at night, you know, people, you know, and Jelena, she left, but she's here smiling, but I couldn't help but notice your big smiley face, Jelena. I wish you were at New City today, by the way, but they miss you, and you're still a member there, technically. But anyhow, it's been really neat to see God at work.

I could go on with many stories but just the Gospels at work in our midst as I sure it is here too and that wonderful Let me pray and then we turn to God Word okay Father, I thank you for this service. I thank you, God, for providing all that we need to be here, not just physically, but spiritually, that we would have a desire to be here and to hear your Word. God, we confess our continual dependence upon you. you give us ears to hear and so we ask for ears to hear your word today that we would rejoice in the gospel I pray that your word preached would be an encouragement an edification, a correction a training to this body of believers as we look to the pages of scripture we pray that you would accomplish this through the powerful working of your Holy Spirit in our midst and do it as we have our attention drawn to Christ and the life we have in him we pray in Jesus name, Amen I would ask you to turn to Exodus 15.

My sermon text isn't until Exodus 17, but I just want to give you an idea of where we are, some context. I'm preaching through the book of Exodus right now at our church, and I stumbled upon this portion of Scripture that I never really stopped to think about it before. But, of course, in Exodus 15, you have the song of Moses. The people of Israel have been redeemed from slavery.

The Red Sea has parted. Pharaoh's army drowned. And most of chapter 15 is this worship service. And the people, for the first time since Moses first came back, they bowed and worshipped because God had worked this salvation for them and they were in awe. And then the very next scene they start complaining. The very next scene.

And I've always just read over this as if it just kind of like these episodes that happen in between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai. I just read them as if they were more of the same. You know, Israel's in trouble, they complain, God bails them out and corrects them and teaches. I just lumped it in. But it's fascinating that they don't go straight from the Red Sea to Sinai.

There are these episodes, these scenes in between, and in fact there are six of them. There are six of them. And it takes place over the course of about two or so months. you can look at the time stamps through the text in Exodus 12 it says this was happening in the first month in Exodus 16 it says in the second month they arrived in the wilderness of sin which is just the name of the wilderness it not actually referring to sin I always used to wonder about that And then it says in chapter 19 verse 1 on the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

So three months, two or three months. Some people argue 50 days, because they want to see the analogy between this and the 50 days between Christ's resurrection and Pentecost. That's one thought out there. But all of this happens. The point is, these six episodes happen within about a two or two and a half month span. And what is this about?

And I found some some commentary here that was helpful to me. And I'll share it with you. It's from a book called Echoes of the Exodus. And just listen to these words. I think they're really helpful for situating us in the context here. Escaping from Egypt is only the first half of the Exodus.

It's easy for us to forget this. In an age where freedom is understood as merely being free from something, freedom from oppression or from constraint or from whatever, this aspect of liberation, as wonderful as it is, it's only half the deal. In the Scriptures, more emphasis is placed on freedom for. Not just freedom from, but freedom for. For worship, for flourishing, for growth, for love and service and obedience and joy and glory.

Human beings are not designed simply to be freed from all constraint. Slaves to nothing but our own passions. You see, everybody serves somebody. So the point of the Exodus is not just for Israel to find deliverance from serving the old master. It is for them to find delight in serving the new one. See?

And that's what God's doing for his people here. He's preparing them to meet him at Sinai. in a similar way God is at work in the lives of us as believers today in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verses 16 and 17 Paul says this so we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being renewed day by day for this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison Paul also sees the life of the believer being in a similar kind of context where God's preparing us to meet him. And in the meantime, he's taking us through episodes in our lives that are necessary for us to really enjoy the glory that will be ours when we see Christ.

So from Exodus 15.22 through 18.27, there are six episodes of preparation. I see an analogy in these with the six days of creation as God preparing the scene as it were for him to be with his people to dwell with them Bringing his people to himself, to worship him, for him to dwell with them. Not since Eden has God dwelt with his people like he's going to at Sinai and through the tabernacle system.

And so God is leading them to himself and teaching them along the way, preparing them to meet him. And let's fly through what's happened so far. Very first, in chapter 15, verse 22, they're at the waters of Marah. If you know the story of Ruth and Naomi, when she comes back she says, don't call me Naomi, call me Marah, because the Lord has made my life very bitter.

Marah means bitter. And the first episode is they come to a place where it looks like there's water, and when they get to the water, they're so thirsty, the people of Israel, they get to the water, and it's bitter water, they can't drink it. right and so it's this is different than the other just when they're thirsty and such because it's the it's the disappointment right have you ever had something that looked good from a distance like you you ordered you ordered online and it finally arrives and you open up the box and it's not what you had in mind or their parts missing or you you know whatever it is it's the disappointment and God's teaching his people in that first episode that he's the one who can turn bitter circumstances into sweet victory right he's the one that does that then in chapter 16 it's the narrative of the manna he took his people into a desert place where their souls hungered and then he fed them with bread from heaven jesus of course saying i am the bread from heaven right and so this he teaches them he can he can provide for them not just change their disappointments into victory into sweetness of victory but also the one who can provide for them when it looks like they're going to starve. Then there's the story of Masa and Meribah where the people quarrel with Moses and put the Lord to the test.

And Moses is told to strike the rock with a staff and water poured forth. Of course, we know from 1 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul says that rock was Christ. Christ followed them through the wilderness and provided for them water. And in that narrative, it's amazing. You see the people again complaining. They've shown themselves to be complainers.

They start doubting Moses and accusing him of having murderous intentions. Why did you bring us out here to kill us? You could have left us as slaves in Egypt, you know. And you see with the manna, they start hoarding it. And they start seeking for it when there's not going to be any. One thing God does to prepare us to worship him, to meet him, is he shows us our sin.

Right? Through the trials. He shows us our sins so we can repent of the sins and realize more of His grace. And that's what happens at Massa and Meribah. In later scenes, God will send plagues. He'll send His wrath when the people complain like this.

But in this case, He just gives them grace. It's amazing. He just gives them grace because Moses intercedes for them. And He gives them water from the rock. And this happened at Rephidim. And this brings us to the same place that today's my text is from.

So join me in Exodus chapter 17, verse 8. Exodus 17, verse 8. The water from the rock happened at a place called Rephidim. And it's in this same place, Exodus 17, verse 8, that Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.

So Joshua did as Moses told him, and he fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side.

So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun, and Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua and I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord is my banner, saying, A hand upon the throne of the Lord.

The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. God is leading his people back to himself to worship him in the wilderness at Mount Sinai. And the theme of this episode is that the Lord is the one who grants victory to his servants as they look to their banner. The Lord is my banner. And this passage starts with an unprovoked attack. All of a sudden, Israel faces their first battle.

It says, very suddenly, Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim, the same place where they had been without water and were complaining Amalek who is Amalek Amalek is Esau grandson You can read about him back in Genesis chapter 36 So he comes from Esau line They were distant relatives of Israel then Jacob and Esau, Jacob's other name Israel, and Esau had Amalek, Jacob had the twelve tribes, and that's who we have here. So you would think that Amalek would know something about Israel's God and that they might have some hesitation because of what even generations later or about a generation later the folk the people of Jericho feared because they knew what the Lord had done to Egypt right but Amalek is not fearing Amalek comes brazenly and and in spite of what they should have known because of their lineage just a few generations back and in spite of what had just happened with Egypt, Amalek comes and brazenly attacks Israel. It was also a vicious attack.

This attack is remembered in Deuteronomy, the second giving of the law to the next generation of Israelites. In Deuteronomy chapter 25, you can turn there if you like, but you can just listen along. I just want to read for you how this is remembered. This is not just a brazen attack, but a vicious attack. At that time, Moses said, remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary.

See, they were without water. They needed water from the rock. They were faint and weary. And he cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. You see? Amalek's attack, we get more detail.

Amalek, when Amalek attacked, he came to Israel and looked at the ones who were in the back, right? The little ones in the flocks. And he attacked the tail end, right? Maybe those who were still thirsty. It was a brazen and a vicious attack. And notice again, this happened at Rephidim, the same place where they had thirsted, where God was providing water from the rock and where the people had quarreled with Moses and put the Lord to the test, where they deserved wrath but instead got grace.

And all of a sudden Amalek comes and attacks. And I just draw your attention here to a quote by Puritan Thomas Watson. He says this, Satan loves to fish in the troubled waters of a discontented heart. Right? More about this in a little bit. But Satan loves to fish in the troubled waters of a discontented heart.

Amalek saw a weakened Israel and they thought it was an opportunity to attack. But our enemy Satan is also at work watching for us when we discontented when we grumbling when we doubting God promises And that when our enemy attacks But just on, when you read the narrative, the people had provoked God, right? But it got grace. And now the people are attacked by Amalek and unprovoked.

They didn't provoke Amalek, but those are the ones who attacked him. That's kind of what's working in the narrative here. So what happens? I would say the next thing we see in the text is a humble response. Moses speaks to Joshua and choose men for us, go fight with Amalek. And Moses decided for whatever reason, the text doesn't say, he decided to go up on top of the hill and hold up the staff.

Joshua did as Moses told him and fought. And we have this narrative about how Moses and Aaron and Hur went up on the hill. And when Moses held up his hand with the staff of God, This is the staff that Moses had with him when he was tending sheep in Midian for Jethro, his father-in-law. It was the staff that, when he threw it down, it turned into a serpent.

It was the staff that budded. It was the staff that Moses touched the Red Sea with. Not the Red Sea, the Nile River, and it turned to blood. It was the staff that Moses held up in the Red Sea party. It was this staff. Now Moses is holding it up. whenever his hands grew weary it would lower and then the people would start to lose so they prop him up they give him a seat and prop up his hands and the victory is theirs but let's see, let's just meditate I think there's a wisdom lesson in this from Moses and you'll see this more as you read the next two episodes when Moses' father-in-law Jethro comes you see Moses' humility in fact the book of Deuteronomy says something to this effect there was no man as humble as Moses was Moses was the most humble man in the whole world and it makes you wonder how Moses the most humble man in the world wrote that but that aside Moses here shows his humility and saying the temptation for some of us is saying oh let's take charge lead the way especially Moses is the one who always been at the point he's been leading the people and fighting the battles but now he gives authority he delegates authority to Joshua the one who would succeed him again this brings a new theme of delegated authority God prepares his people, this grows throughout the rest of the universe, he prepares his people to worship him by teaching us that we're dependent on each other.

This is something that God does to prepare us to meet him and to worship him rightly. Moses understands his role and he delegates the task to Joshua Maybe he understanding at this point that Joshua would have the role of being the military leader which happens in the book of Joshua. Maybe he's at work here preparing Joshua for his future role in this way, to lead the people of Israel against their enemies in the Promised Land.

So, delegated authority. Moses, similar response. He gives authority to Joshua. You go fight, I'm going to go pray. Right? That's what's happening.

Very similar to Acts chapter 6. If you're familiar with the story of the Jerusalem church, there's some argument between the widows, the Hellenist widows and the Jewish widows, and the apostles delegate the task to deacons so that they can dedicate themselves to the word of God and prayer. Moses, similar here, in a similar way, he gives the responsibility to Joshua to go fight.

He goes up on the hill. But it's not just a delegated authority, but also Moses actively depends on God. again he takes the staff of God this means of grace if you will this emblem of God's presence and power to work through him for the sake of his people and he held it up and when he held it up God's people prevailed and he wasn't just dependent on God but he was also dependent on the means of grace God had given him not just the staff but also other people Moses received help from other servants fellow saints Aaron and her helped Moses they got him a seat and we need this don't we need people around us to hold us up to encourage us one of my favorite quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer he says this a lot of times the gospel in my brother's mouth is stronger than the gospel in my own heart right we we need we need each other he but the Aaron Aaron and her held up his hands again this is a portrait of prayer I see the same thing at work throughout the scriptures in the New Testament the Apostle Paul twice asks for prayer many more times than that but twice that I have in mind turn over with me to 2 Corinthians 1.11 this idea of being dependent on the saints in prayer looking to the Lord together the idea of Moses holding up the staff as a prayer to God but also being encouraged and helped by the fellow saints 2 Corinthians chapter 1 In the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, Paul is talking about how they thought they'd received the death sentence. But God brought them to this place so they'd realize they couldn't depend on themselves, but depend on the one who gives life, to depend on God.

But at the end of this, Paul talking about their sufferings and so forth, he says... 2 Corinthians 1.11, you also must help us by prayer. He's telling a local church in Corinth, you also must help us, me the apostle, and these other apostles, the missionary team. You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

And also you can turn over to the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 4, verse 2. Paul tells the church, another church in Colossae, continue steadfastly in prayer. being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the Word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

The Apostle Paul saw prayer as real work. He was dependent on other saints to do the work so that he and his apostolic team in the battle, as it were, could do the work of the ministry. We need each other to hold each other up to the Lord. And this is hard work. Later on in Colossians 4, verse 12, Paul mentions to the church in Colossae this guy Epaphras.

Colossians 4, verse 12. Epaphras was from Colossae. He says, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you. And notice how Paul describes Epaphras. Always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. That word for struggling is the same word Paul uses in chapter 1.

It's the word agonizomai. He strives. He's agonizing. in prayer for the saints, right? So this is a call for me as I consider Moses on the hill holding up the staff, how helpless you would feel watching the people on the ground, the battle going back and forth, and you feeling your arms get weak, but then being propped up by others. We need to pray for each other.

We need to communicate to each other what's going on in our lives, what we're struggling with in terms of our sin struggles and temptations, the trials and sadness, the things that happen in life that we need each other. We need to communicate and we need to hold each other up and learn to agonize and strive in prayer. So I would just submit that to you that that scene of Moses holding up the staff and Aaron and her there and Moses looking over the battlefield with this means of grace, the staff held up high is a portrait of us depending on one another and pleading to God for the victory.

Well, speaking of the victory, this text ends with a memorialized victory It says Then the Lord said to Moses This is the first time the Lord has given directions in this episode this is his direction write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Now I think that's fascinating. I mean, if God's purpose was so that no one would ever remember Amalek, he shouldn't have written this in the Bible, right?

The point is, Amalek will become a nothing. what seems so big right now will only be turned to reflected on in terms of victory and glory what God's done for you, right? And it's fascinating. It says in verse 15, Moses built an altar and called the name of it the Lord is my banner saying a hand upon the throne of the Lord. That's a difficult thing to translate but you can look at your sub footnote.

I think it means just clinging to the Lord, right? And notice the last line. The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. It's fascinating. So it's recorded in a book for Joshua. Of course, Joshua needed this.

When the baton was passed to Joshua in Joshua chapter 1, he had a book from Moses, and he was supposed to read it and reflect on it, and from it take courage and instruction of the Lord's presence and his promises that would be met out. Joshua chapter 1, we hear about this book, these things that were written down for Joshua to prepare him and equip him. An altar built for all of Israel to unite and worship, to thank God and to worship him for the victory he'd won for them, their first military engagement.

And then we get to where I'd like to settle here in this last part, and where the title of the sermon comes from this phrase that the Lord is my banner. This is the kind of thing, if you find those posters with all the names of God in the Bible, this is one of them on there, the Lord is my banner. What does this mean? What does this mean? There are some churches that, I just heard about one recently, some folks had visited there.

Some congregations have banners on poles, and they run around, different sort of church culture, charismatic persuasion or whatever, but they run with banners. And I wonder sometimes how many people who see banners in a church service know what the banner means. How does that draw them? I'm curious about that. But what does this talk about banners? What are we supposed to take from this?

And what does it mean that the Lord is our banner? This is where I'd like to settle. It says here, the Lord is my banner. Moses had held up a staff They didn say the staff is my banner They looked through the staff and saw the one who gave the staff its power right The Lord is my banner And this is the point The word for banner means that which is raised up right So it has a connection to the staff here.

That which is raised up. The word for banner, the Hebrew word for banner, means that which is raised up. The other time it's used in scripture, a significant place is the bronze serpent on the staff. Remember that? When the people of Israel were complaining and God sent serpents in and started biting them and they started dying. but if they looked at the bronze serpent that Moses made, they would be healed of the serpent's bite.

And that's a banner. It's the same Hebrew word. It's that which is raised up. I would say it demonstrates. In a similar way as you might see, especially in an older depiction of a battle, you might see a general on a hilltop or even just the military standard out in front of the army, right? To give the military, those who are following, confidence that they're still fighting.

I mean, we have this commemorated in our Star Spangled Banner, right? I mean, the song we sing. To see the flag, to see the thing raised, it gives you encouragement, right? We're still in this fight and we still are united and all this stuff. It had this focus and this function. But again, it's interesting.

They say the Lord is my banner and this points us straight forward to Christ. Christ is our banner. He's the one. He says to Nicodemus, just as Moses raised up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man will be raised up that everyone who looks on Him would find life. And then saying, the Lord is my banner, I think they're pointing forward prophetically to Christ.

So what else? What's in this text for us as believers in the New Covenant? We've gotten some wisdom. We've seen some connections to prayers in the New Testament, apostolic ministry. We've seen some applications here. But as I consider this episode as a whole, I think about Amalek.

Amalek is the feature here. They're the ones that start this episode. Amalek came and fought, and they're the ones that end this episode. The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. I'm like, well, why didn't God just wipe them all out then? If he wanted to blot their name out, right?

And if he had such ability to win against them, why didn't he, you know, why is he going to prolong this battle, right? Why is he going to make it keep happening? And I think we face a similar question as Christians fighting our Amalek. I would say Amalek is a type of an anti that we know Our struggle is not against flesh and blood Emelech is like our sinful flesh And follow me on this Emelech is like our sinful flesh.

And again, I alluded to this a little bit ago. It's an unprovoked attack. Have you ever had this experience as a believer, as a person who loves Jesus and is looking forward to the promises that are yours in Him? Have you ever had this experience of you're going along minding your own business, So you think and all of a sudden out of the blue comes temptation to sin.

Like I wasn't asking for that, but here it is. Right. Could be someone something somebody says to you or the way a person drives in front of you or something you see on a computer screen or whatever it may be. Right. And all of a sudden the temptation is there as it were almost unprovoked. But if you trace that back, you'll you almost always find yourself having already been lackadaisical in your faith. remember Satan loves to fish in the waters of a troubled heart and while Israel is complaining about not having water as they're doubting God's goodness and Moses' intentions as God is showing them grace in spite of themselves this is us as believers we're grumbling and God's just pouring grace out to us but it's at the same place in Rephidim that Amalek comes and attacks And so if I'm going to think about this and how it applies to my life, I have to think about it in terms of my enemy, my sinful flesh.

That when I am being ungrateful, when I'm doubting God's goodness, it will seem that in an unprovoked fashion temptation comes in and assaults me. The attack comes when we are physically weak. Like the people of Israel were thirsty. Their little ones were still catching up. They were faint in the wilderness. Our flesh rises to power, it seems, when we're physically weak.

You ever, you know, it's Pastor Tim who says this, sometimes the most spiritually beneficial thing you can do is take a nap, right? Just because when we're weak in our physically, temptations to sin increase. And when we're physically weak and spiritually anxious, our Amalek attacks. And God uses it. This is why He doesn't destroy them all at once. He uses it to humble us and to remind us of our dependence upon Him.

Right? He would have us continue to lean on His grace. He would have us continue to rejoice. Rejoice in the victory of the cross when daily we fall into sin and we feel our frailty and we wonder why we're still tempted and why we still have these same battles that we've always had. And it's God's purpose in it, I'm convinced, is to humble us and remind us of our dependence on him so that we can rejoice daily in the gospel.

We battle it from generation to generation until we enter our promised land. That's what Deuteronomy 15, 19 says. That passage when Moses recounts how Amalek attacked, it was such a vicious attack, in that same passage, Deuteronomy 25, Moses says, Therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you in the land that the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

You shall not forget. So like, another similarity is when we enter the promised land, the new heaven and new earth, where Christ is and God dwells with us and we with him, the flesh will be gone, vanquished. One more connection as I considered this theme. It would kill us in our despair. It's fascinating. I did a search.

Okay, where else does Amalek pop up in Scripture? You might remember the scene where King Saul is going out to battle and his son Jonathan dies and he's mortally wounded. and in 2 Samuel 1, David finds out that Saul has died. And David is curious and he finds a young man who was there. And I'll just read this for you. 2 Samuel 1, verses 5 through 13. Then David said to the young man who told him, How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?

And the young man told him, By chance, I happen to be on Mount Gilboa. And there was Saul, King Saul, leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and horsemen were close upon him. Right here, Saul, mortally wounded, enemies pressing down and this young man sees him and when he looked behind him he saw me and he, King Saul, called to me and I answered here I am and he said to me who are you? and I answered him I am an Amalekite and he said to me stand beside me and kill me for anguish has seized me and yet my life still lingers right? so this young man the Amalekite said so I stood beside him and killed him because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen and so this is another just similarity your flesh when you sin your flesh and Satan would use it and the demonic forces that oppose you as a child of God walking in the light your flesh would convince you that because of your sin, because of how sorely tempted you are and how many times you fail, that you're as good as dead on your feet and you may as well just give up, right?

Notice it's an Amalekite who goes with that plan, right? And I think this is purposeful in the wisdom of God's scriptures. our flesh would tell us well you're a failure you can't go on it's no use trying your enemy's pressing down you're mortally wounded give up right we go along with that now this is absolutely the case this would absolutely be the case for all of us were it not for Christ our banner right the Lord is our banner Christ is our banner Christ is the one who was raised up so that you would be saved from sin Like Moses rose the staff up so that the people of Israel would be saved from Amalek and defeat their enemies, Christ is the one who was raised up so that we would be saved from sin, so that we would be saved from the temptation that rises suddenly. When you are suddenly confronted and attacked with temptation, when it seems like it's come from outside of you and you don't know what's going on, but it's a real temptation and you're sorely tempted to sin, look to Christ.

Look to Christ. consider his temptation in the wilderness. Consider how he responded. Consider his grace. Consider his intercession for you. Consider his beauty. I love in Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews says over and over again, consider Jesus.

Consider Jesus. Look to him. Look to Christ when you're tempted. In the aftermath of falling into sin, in the aftermath of having a bitter argument with your spouse or someone you love, with your child, with your parents, in the aftermath, when we're so tempted to look at ourselves or to continue looking at the other person in bitterness and we would just want to give up.

Well, let's just hide until this all blows over. I'll just be bitter with you until, you know, time heals all wounds. No, it doesn't. Time gives room for bitterness to grow and defile many. In the aftermath of sin, such as a bitter argument with a loved one, a fellow Christian, look to Christ. Consider His grace toward you and how much more annoying you are to Him than this other person is to you.

Look to Christ to your banner to him who was raised up so that you can find the way forward to lay low and ask for forgiveness and to show mercy to show grace In the shame of failure look to Christ also Look to Him to be victorious over sin and temptation Look to Him to be victorious in the face of the battle. Look to Him to be victorious in the aftermath of having fallen. Charles Spurgeon, I love this.

It's in his devotional, Morning and Evening, June 28th. The June 28th entry. If you have that book, dust it off. I want to read this for you. It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes from self to Jesus. It's always what the Spirit is doing.

Turning our eyes from ourself to Jesus. But Satan's work is just the opposite of this. For he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. Satan insinuates, your sins are too great for pardon. You have no faith. You do not repent enough.

You will never be able to continue to the end. You have not the joy of his children. You have such a wavering hold of Jesus. All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self. He tells us that we are nothing, but that Christ is all in all.

Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you. It is Christ. It is not your joy in Christ that saves you. It is Christ. It is not even your faith in Christ that saves you, though that be the instrument. It is Christ's blood and merits that save you.

Therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ as to Christ. Look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope. Look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. we shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers and our doings our feelings it is what Jesus is not what we are that gives rest to the soul if we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God it must be by looking unto Jesus keeping your eyes simply on him let his death his sufferings his merits his glories his intercession be fresh upon your mind when you wake in the morning look to him when you lie down at night look to him oh let not your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus follow hard after him and he will never fail you and God's given us his spirit to do precisely that to see him lifted up to have victory over the enemy this is why Paul says in Galatians 6 far be it from me to boast in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

And as we consider Christ, we see that Christ is the greater Moses. Moses interceding for the people, saving them from God's wrath and saving them from their earthly enemies, the Amalekites. We have a greater Moses. We have Jesus. We heard it read this morning for us. Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses.

And in Hebrews 7.25 we have this. Consequently, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him. Since he always lives to make intercession for them. Jesus is praying for you, Christian. He's holding you up. Robert Murray McShane said this.

If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room. I would not fear a million enemies yet distance makes no difference he is praying for me we need to know and look to him who is interceding for us on the hilltop as it were to find victory and to wrap this up lastly realize that God has put us in this fight together to fight our common enemy together it's fascinating in the text of scripture which is why I feel like I have God's sanction for considering that I, as a Christian, my Amalek is the flesh, is the spiritual powers that oppose me. The reason I feel like God leads, you know, I think that I have permission to do that is because of Ephesians 6.

You know, it's the passage where Paul says, our struggle isn't against flesh and blood, but against these spiritual powers, against these authorities, against the schemes of the devil. And it's fascinating. Every time I grew up, and it's no fault of those teaching me, but it's just the way I processed it, or probably a mix, because we're pretty individualistic in our culture.

Every time I imagined putting on the armor of God, it was just me. I was the only one in the armory. There was only one suit of armor, and I had to make sure I put it all on. But do you realize Ephesians 6, the armor of God passage, is a corporate passage? The putting on is everybody put this on. And you see that especially at the end. at the end of that passage in in Ephesians 6 verse 18 this is this is where when we're really in the in the groove of like thinking about the different pieces of armor we're like Paul he breaks it here because he doesn't use the metaphor and he He moves on from the helmet of salvation.

And then he says, oh, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And then he says, praying at all times in the spirit. And you're like, well, Paul, couldn't you have thought of a piece of armor for prayer? No, just pray. Pray at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me.

Again, the corporate identity of this, that we together need to look to Christ, to the one who was raised up to save us from sin and lift one another up in prayer knowing that Christ intercedes for us as well. That's what this weekly habit is all about. Coming together to worship the Lord, to hear His word preached. It's about seeing Christ more clearly.

Through the week, you sinned a lot this past week. I know you did. And I know you were tempted a lot. And it's coming again this next week, right? So we need to pray for one another. and we need to look to Christ, the one who saves us from our enemies. The rest of this service is about that too, as we conclude with songs and as we commune around the table.

I'll go ahead and fence the table now. It's what the theologians talk about, who the table's for. We're going to have communion today. Communion is a wonderful means of grace God's given us. We don't have Moses' staff, but we have this means of grace. We have a tangible thing, bread and a cup.

We can smell it, taste it, feel it. See it. You can hear the words spoken. This promise of the gospel, Christ being for you, saving you from your enemies, it's for all those who have, by God's grace, faith in Christ. And those who recognize their relationship with other believers, it's communion with Christ together. So I just want to encourage you now, as we conclude the service through a song and the Lord table and so forth that this table is for all those who have faith in Christ and recognize themselves to be a part of the body of Christ Not that you have to be a part member of this body, right?

I'm not a member here and I'm going to partake. But that you recognize and that the person across the room who's also a Christian is with you in Christ, right? You have to recognize that too. I just want to close in a word of prayer, okay? And we'll move on with the rest of the service. Father, we come to you, God.

I thank you for your word. I thank you that... And it's hard for me to thank you, God, for this because life is hard and it's full of bitter disappointments and interminable... what seems like interminable, unending pain. But this life is... we grow weary. Father I thank you for the struggle though I thank you for I thank you for leading us into places and situations circumstances in our lives that we come to the end of ourselves I thank you that you allow us to feel the weight of temptation and sin I don't thank you God for sin itself but I thank you for what sin does which is drive us to Christ.

And I thank you for when you drive us to Christ in our need for always meeting us there for always refreshing our souls for always showing us your grace for always giving us the victory in Christ. So as we journey through this wilderness Father please build us up in our most holy faith and teach us to fight well as we look to Christ our banner who is lifted up and who intercedes for us. We pray in His name.

Amen.