Stand
For God And Gain
The Victory
Christians
need to have strong, loving, humble and obedient faith in God. Christians are
loved, redeemed, protected and provided for by their Heavenly Father. Our faith
in the Almighty should cause us to shout out, "Our God He is alive"
and "Victory in Jesus." God is for us and, "...If God is for us,
who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) Those that honor God and are
dedicated to His cause are assured of eternal victory. An account in 2
Chronicles 20 shows us how God helped His people when they were faithful to
Him. This gives us reassurance of victory in Jesus today.
Jehoshaphat
was King of Judah at that time.
It
was a time to stand before God. When word came to Jehoshaphat
concerning the invasion he realized that it was time to stand before God.
"Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great
multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side
It
was a time to remember who God is and what He has promised. We do well
when we remember that God is Creator and we are His people. Jehovah, the true
and living God, rules the kingdoms of the earth. In His hand is all power. In 2
Chronicles 20:6-13 we read, "O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God
in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in
Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand
You? Are You not our God, who drove out the
inhabitants of this land before Your people
It
was a time for strong leadership. God has always raised
up great men and women to stand strong for His cause. Such was the case here.
"Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel
the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a
Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the
assembly." (2 Chronicles 20:14) Jahaziel stirred
the people with the cry, "the battle is not yours, but God's." He
told them to do what they could and then to "stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord." (2 Chronicles 20:16-17) There is tremendous value
in great leadership!
It
was a time of drawing closer to God. The people rededicated themselves
to God and reaffirmed faith in God. This rededication was lead by Jehoshaphat
himself. Churches need elders, deacons, preachers, and teachers taking the lead
in rededication to God. Churches do what the leaders do. This was the case with
the nation of
It
was a time of action from the people. They rose up early and went to do
as God said. As they went they were again challenged by Jehoshaphat to hear
and believe God. "So they rose early in the morning and went out into the
Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me,
O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and
you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper." (2
Chronicles 20:20.) Jehoshaphat led the people to praise God for victory even
before they received the victory. "And when he had consulted with the
people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise
the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:
Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever." (2 Chronicles 20:21) God
gave victory to them as they began to sing. "Now when they began to sing
and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and
Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated." (2
Chronicles 20:22)
It
was a time for God to give victory to His people. God divided those
attacking
It is time to
get right with God and to stay faithful to Him. To go to heaven you must hear
the gospel (Romans