When your enemies overwhelm you
Date: June 28, 2026
Good to see everyone out tonight. Okay, my microphone’s working for sure. I’m glad to see you in church on a Sunday, and I’m honored to have some guests with us tonight. We appreciate you being with us. We’ve got the Hartmans here with us tonight, married right around a year. Congratulations to them. As Brother Chip would say, one honeymoon, you know.
I asked how many fights, and they said, well, not too many. And I said, “Now, has he learned to say the magic words, ‘Yes, dear?’” And she said, “For the most part, he’s getting it.” Great people, great people. Good to have them with us tonight, just great folk. And good to have the Van Horns with us tonight. We’re honored to have them, serving the Lord for years and years. We get to have a part in Brother Sir Apollies—am I saying that right?—in India. We get to have a part in his ministry, and we kind of got led to him by way of Brother Paul Van Horn, and we appreciate that. They are doing a great, great work over there. We’ve got to preach to them over there before; it’s just amazing, amazing work. Good to have them with us tonight; they have a part in a lot of works across the world, and that’s just the awesome thing.
The Lord’s been good to us today, all day long. Junior church, we had some visitors over there, and we had four young people ask the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Savior this morning. Then we went out this afternoon, and five of our people, just out and about, got to see someone pray and ask the Lord Jesus be the Savior. So, just a great day, an outstanding day. We want to thank the Lord. I like it that our buildings are being used all day long to spread the gospel. The church that comes in in the afternoon, they meet now—of course, I’ve talked with their pastor many times, and we were texting this afternoon—but seeing some of the folk coming in there carrying their Bibles, I said, “Praise the Lord, you got your Bible.” I was talking to him. Now, brother, they call him Bishop Joseph. That’s a Bible word. I’m all right with that. Catholics kind of stole it, but it’s a Bible word. I asked him one time, “What do you preach in typically?” Typically, he preaches in Swahili. Some of his members were saying, “Well, he preaches in that, but he’ll preach in a different dialect.” I would tell you that different dialect, but I can’t even say the dialect, much less the language. I said, “I got to come in and hear that sometime,” but they said, “Please do.” Praise the Lord, this building’s being used all day long to share the Bible and share Jesus Christ. That’s a good, good thing. We’ve got some little bumps here and there, microphones, whatnot, but that’s all right. It’s just been a good thing. Keep praying for the clothes on the property; let’s keep praying for that that’s coming. I’m excited about God blessing and working and all those things. It’s just been a great, great day, and an honor to have guests with us tonight. Thank you for being with us. Ushers, if you come for offering next Sunday will be a special day: God and Country Sunday. I’m excited about sharing. Our nation was really just somewhat formed out of revival.
We’re going to talk about that next Sunday morning. Next Sunday night, of course, we’ll have service like always. Then after service, we’ll watch The Great Awakening. Now, Sights and Sound put that movie together. It’s a great movie, and we’ve got permission to show that. We’ll show that; we’ll have service next Sunday night, and then after that, we’ll watch that. You hang around. It’s a good, good movie about George Whitefield, and it’ll bless your heart.
Now, I almost scared to say this—it’s just one time—but you are allowed next Sunday night after our regular service, if you bring some refreshments… Oh, should he even say it? Should he even say it? After service, I can’t hardly say it, but you understand, we’re watching the movie afterwards, you can eat. I won’t say in here, but you understand you can eat those refreshments while we’re watching the movie. How about that? I just can’t bring myself to do it. I won’t go there. I’ll leave it alone. Pastor sometimes says things, y’all. We’re going to leave it alone. Praise the Lord for good folk in our church. Awesome, awesome people, willing to jump in there and do whatever, working for the Lord. I love it. Praise God for people, faithful soul winners, and faithful work—doing your part: nursery workers, teachers, bus workers, and givers. Man, our church has been so blessed with givers. This building program just showed God’s people giving. Thank you for being great people that just love the Lord. That’s awesome.
I’m excited to see what God will do. We’re far from where we ought to be, but we’re trying to please the Lord and stay humble. I’m just excited to see what God will do and looking forward to the future days and God’s goodness on our church. Praise the Lord for it. Brother Marley, what a blessing the Hunters are, just doing a little bit of everything around the church. Praise the Lord for them. Continue to pray for Ms. Stacey, you know, dizzy. How many years has it been now, Brother Martin? Five years. Can you imagine five years every day of your life battling dizziness? They went to a flea market, maybe one of the first times they’ve been to a flea market in years. Imagine—I don’t know, maybe not. Ms. Stacey is going to go shopping no matter what, you know. But you’ve got to stop for everything; you just get dizzy. All the people are hearing you, and you just have to stop. Brother Marlin said, “Man, it’s hard for me to stop, Pastor,” you know. He’s just battling everyday dizziness for five years but still faithful to the things of God, just in here, blessed and in good spirit. Praise the Lord for the Hunters. Would you pray for them, please? Brother Marlin, would you lead prayer for all the requests?
No requests? Yes, sir. I’ll fly away. All right, let’s see if we can find that one here. Standing as we sing, let’s see here. 361. 361, first and last, “I’ll Fly Away.” 361. This life is a life shall show. 100. Just one more soul. 100. The preachers are weary, the singers are tired. The church, as we know it, is losing its fire. Discouraged from bearing the load, but we must determine to walk down the aisle. It would be worth every struggle; it would be worth a life. There is still one more soul, so preachers keep preaching and singers go sing and keep sharing that Jesus is King, rejoicing for just one more soul down the aisle. Every struggle reminds us still. Last one, Miss Jennifer. 43. 43. “His Name Is Wonderful.” 43. 43. His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. Lord. Let’s do one more time. His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. Jesus, my Lord, His wonder. You may be seated. Boy, that’s a good fitting song to end our song service with. That’s a great one, whoever brought that up, and a good way to finish. Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Second Chronicles chapter number 20. Second Chronicles chapter 20 in God’s Word.
In God’s Word, if you haven’t figured it out yet, that’s right after First Chronicles. I’ve studied that out; it took me a while. I’m from Tennessee, but I found it out: Second Chronicles is right after First Chronicles. I thought maybe right before Third Chronicles, but I studied it out. So, Second Chronicles, chapter number 20, in God’s Word tonight. Aren’t you glad we get to work with the Lord?
Sometimes we talk about working for the Lord, but that’s really not accurate. We get to work with the Lord. That’s a privilege. It really is. We get to go on the journey with Him. If you’re in the nursery or wherever you’re at serving the Lord, you get to work with Him. That’s just a privilege. It really, really is. We serve a mighty God.
We’re going to look at it just a bit tonight. I hope it’s an encouragement. We’re going to just be very biblical, kind of just go through this account in Scripture tonight. I love it, and I’m just glad I’m on His team. He’s a mighty gospel, just saying. He really is.
Second Chronicles chapter number 20. Would you stand, please, as we read God’s Word, just to show the Word of God respect? Second Chronicles chapter number 20. We’re just going to read the first two verses to get us started out tonight. You there tonight? Amen. Good deal. And it says, “And it came to pass after this also that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them, others beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.” Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, “There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea”—now, that would be the Dead Sea they’re speaking of there—“beyond the sea on this side, Syria. And, behold, they be in Hazen Zantamart.” If you say, “How do you pronounce that?” listen to Alexander Scorby; he’ll tell you how to pronounce it, all right? “Which is in En Gedi.”
Let’s just pray. Would you pray this from your heart? Would you pray, “Lord, make this story real to me”? Would you ask the Lord to make this story—this is a true story from God, from the Bible—make this Bible account real to you? Would you pray the Lord do that to your heart tonight?
Father, we do ask that, Lord. Father, I believe You’ve led us to just cover this. Lord, help me to point out everything You want pointed out, but nothing You don’t want. Lord, help our minds not to stray up, but us to focus on it. Lord, I pray that You would lift us up, give us energy and strength and faith and courage from Your Word and from the victory You brought here in this passage. Father, we thank You and praise You for what You do. Father, we’re asking in faith because we’re asking in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. Jehoshaphat was…
Jehoshaphat was… was one of the fat brothers, amen, Jehoshaphat. Of course, some teasing, but he was a king of Judah, the southern part. Israel had split; there had been somewhat of a—I wouldn’t even say a civil war—but a split: ten tribes up north, typically called Israel, and then down south, these two tribes, Benjamin and Judah. They were the smaller of the two, just two of the tribes. The king at this point was Jehoshaphat.
Now, Jehoshaphat was a good king. He had a weakness, but he was a good king. These nations, really three of them, were coming against the southern part of Israel, Judah. They were outnumbered. We don’t know by how many—maybe they had twice as many, maybe more. We’re not sure, but they were outnumbered.
Here’s the thing: Judah, on this side, on the east side of it, it was bordered for the most part by the Dead Sea, and that was a little bit of protection. It’s kind of like we’ve got oceans around much of us, three parts of us, to protect us. They had that on the east side: the Dead Sea.
But they came to Jehoshaphat and said, “Hey, these three tribes, nations, kings are coming against us. We’re outnumbered.” He said, “Well, they’re on the other side.” They said, “No, no, they’re on their own. They’re in En Gedi.” That means they’re on this side of the Dead Sea. They’ve already somehow crossed the Dead Sea—maybe by the north, maybe by the south, maybe by boats, some of them. But they had met in En Gedi. In other words, this great host, they’re knocking at our door. They’re here. They’re ready to do battle. It’s a great multitude.
Can you imagine if you said, “Well, China’s crossed the sea and they’re yoked up with Iran and Russia, and they’re here, and they’re already on our coast, ready to go”? That’s what’s going on. Jehoshaphat, notice what he does. Look in verse number three, chapter 20.
Now look at verse number three. “And Jehoshaphat feared, watch this, and set himself to seek the Lord.”
I met with someone recently who is going through an incredibly tough time. They said, “I’ve fasted nine days.” Said they had to. One night they had about three bites of steak because they were seeking the Lord. Oh, wow. Jehoshaphat said, “Man, I’m not going to go to anybody else trying to get help. When’s the last time I’ve just really sought the Lord?”
Jehoshaphat feared, but he set himself to seek the Lord. Watch this: “And proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” Jehoshaphat says, “Boys, it’s time to do business with God. This isn’t time to mess around.” He proclaimed a fast. By the way, I love our sign out there. By 1815, there have been what? 1,400? Fourteen. Governmental proclamations for prayer and fasting by 1850. We didn’t have enough space to put all of it on the sign, but the majority of those governmental proclamations were by our founding fathers. So those that say, “Well, we’re not a Christian nation,” tell them to put that in their pipe and smoke it for a while, not literally, you know. But wow, Jehoshaphat is saying, “Hey, I want everybody. Let’s seek the Lord as fast.” Wow.
Verse number four: “And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord.” That’s Jehovah. Even out of all the cities—notice that—out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. Wow, that’s a good statement. Man, I just love that. Can you imagine thousands and thousands out of all the cities? Wouldn’t that be wonderful to see America out of all the cities? Thousands coming for one thing: just seek the Lord.
I’m for voting, and when it comes election time, I’m preaching and all that. If you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain. But, friend, you know what? I’m all about that. If you’ve been around here very long, you know that it’s not going to be D.C. and some president or some congressman or all the rest; it’s going to be the Lord that keeps America great. Someone gave me a hat that says, “Make America Godly Again.” Man, I like that.
Boy, all of Judah, they’re there, just seeking the Lord. Can I confess a little bit here? You know what I’m prone to do in the middle of the battle when there are pressures on and you get pulled here and there and yonder—everybody’s saying this—I’m tempted to look at all that and try to figure out how I’m going to handle it, what I’m going to do, instead of seeking the Lord. Praise the Lord for old Jehoshaphat. I know our military, and we can do all this, and I’m for all that, but fellas, at the end of the day, it’s not going to be all that; it’s going to be the Lord. Let’s just get focused on seeking the Lord. Old Jehoshaphat, a pretty good king, he had his weaknesses, but he did a good thing. He had all Judah seeking the Lord; he proclaimed a fast for everybody. That came out of all the cities, them coming to seek the Lord. What a wonderful statement. I love it.
By the way, this thing of us praying at 7 o’clock every night has been a good thing. I’ve heard couples say that’s got me and my spouse praying today. Wherever you’re at, 7 o’clock, us just going—think about it—wherever you are, we can still meet at the throne of grace together. It’s a good thing, 7 o’clock, just us seeking the Lord. I’ve enjoyed very much seeing our church family come down as a church family, some on our knees. We can all get on our knees, but we all can’t get up from our knees. Some on the front row or second row, but all of us just as a church family coming out—that’s a wonderful sight. I’m not saying we’re going to do it permanently, but it might be a good thing for us. It’s just a great thing. If someone says, “Well, it’s a little hard to come down and humble ourselves,” that’s a great thing. Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. I love to see you come pray.
One of the most beautiful sounds—sometimes we’ll have prayer meetings, and we’ll say, “All right, we’ll meet and discuss,” and then you kind of go wherever in some corner of the auditorium, and you pray yourself up by two or three. At some of those times, I just love to kind of listen. You hear mumbling all over the auditorium, just people praying. Man, that’s a beautiful sound. It’s an awesome sound when you get God’s people seeking the Lord. Great things are about to come when you do that. Judah is just together, seeking the Lord. It’s amazing what God will do when the weakest of Christians praise. It’s amazing.
We can’t read all these verses, but let’s skip down to verse number 12. Jehoshaphat preaches a little sermon, if you will. Let’s jump down to verse 12. He says, “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do.” I like that. Here’s a great statement: “But our eyes are upon Thee.” Boy, that’s a good statement. If I can just keep my eyes on the Lord in the midst of the battle, in the heat of everything—that is so very, very priority. It’s key.
Verse number 13: “And all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children.”
Now, we’re about to see a great victory. Just think about this: maybe a little one. I look out and I see Zoe here. I can’t believe Zoe is about to go into third grade. Praise the Lord, she’s been in our school all these years. She’s growing up on us, you know. But imagine Zoe when she grows up and gets married. Are you going to get married, Zoe? She says yes. Okay, I understand. She gets married and has children. How many children are you going to have, Zoe? She says she thinks she wants two. Not like seven or eight or ten or something? We’ll find out. Imagine she has two—Zoe, I hope you don’t mind me using you as the illustration—and then her children have children.
We were out this afternoon; Brother Josh and I got to talk to a 95-year-old lady. Maybe Zoe is 95 years old, and maybe she has great-grandchildren who come to visit her. They start settling down, “Hey, Grandma, Great-Grandma, what do you call Great-Grandma? What was Great-Grandma?” “Get out of here!” “Great Granny,” okay, you know. And Zoe says, “Hey, you should have been there! Our whole nation—we had these enemies coming—and the whole nation…” She starts telling her great-grandchildren about this day. “You should have been there. They came. Thousands came out of all the cities of America, out of Judah, and they all came. Our King Jehoshaphat preached a little message to us, and we all came.” She’s telling her great-grandchildren the story. I love it. Even their children were involved in that day, and they all came there to seek the Lord.
The prayer and both—they were so wise—they kept their eyes on the Lord. What about that verse over there in Isaiah? “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in Thee.” I like that next verse: “Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” What about over there in the New Testament where He says, “Set your affection on things above”? Over there in Hebrews, it says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” Boy, praise the Lord, old Judah, man, they got their eyes focused. Imagine the children, years and years later, telling their great-grandchildren, “You should have seen it.”
Let’s keep reading the story. Let’s jump down to verse number 14. In verse number 14, look at this: “Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah”—Lord, we’re done with those names, amen—“a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And he said, ‘Harken ye, all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou, King Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord unto you: Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’”
Whatever you’re facing out there, friend, you’re not battling flesh and blood. You’re battling our adversary, the devil, and principalities and powers. That’s what you’re battling. That’s why you ought to keep your eyes on the Lord. Don’t get your eyes on all those people; that’s just the facade. The real battle is with the devil.
They kept their eyes on the Lord. The battle is not yours; it’s God’s. Look at verse number 16: “Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz: and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go up against them: for the Lord will be with you.”
Man, I like that. It kind of reminds me of when Moses was coming to the Red Sea. We mentioned this morning, he said, “Put that rod out,” and the Red Sea split. Right before that, though, remember they said, “Lord, Pharaoh’s coming after us, what are we going to do?” That’s Exodus 14:14. It’s such a great passage. We memorized that one a year or two ago. It is: “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Remember that? Let’s say it from Exodus 14:14. Here we go: “The Lord shall fight for you.” It kind of reminds me of that: just stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. You need to get out there, but you didn’t have to fight. God’s got this thing. That’s a wonderful thing.
I like the Spirit of God that came upon that prophet and gave him the message. The Spirit of God giving us a message too—we got it. Holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Yeah, we got it.
Let’s keep going. Look in verse number 18. “And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground.” Can I just stop? I hope I’m not getting off too much. I like many, many things Trump’s done, but oh, I long for a Christian president who bows his face to the Lord. It would be a wonderful thing. He’s made many great decisions; he’s done so much good. I voted for him; I’d vote for him again for the most part. But I’d love to have a Christian who would say, “Hey, Christ is my Savior,” and bow before the Lord. Jehoshaphat did. I love it.
“And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.” Man, you talk about a true praise and worship service—yeah, they had it. And the Levites of the sons of the Kohathites and the sons of Korah stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high. Praise them.
By the way, if you want to praise the Lord, feel free to do it. If you raise your hands… This morning in the morning service songs, one of those songs, Brother Kevin was back there just praising the Lord in the back, ushering back there. Now, if you’re doing it for show, man, go somewhere else; we’re not about show. But if you’re doing it for the Lord, friend, raise your hand. Praise the Lord. If you want to shout a little bit, that’s all right. Praise the Lord; He deserves it. It’s a great thing.
These singers are lifting their voices up on high; they’re praising the Lord. Wonderful, wonderful service. You call that faith? The battle has not even been won yet, but it’s been promised, and they’re believing in God.
Then they rose up early in the morning. The next day they said, “Well, we’re a little worried today.” No. They went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God; so shall ye be established. Believe His prophets; so shall ye prosper.”
When he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that they should praise the beauty of His holiness as they went out before the army. Man, he’s putting the choir out front! All right, choir, you’re out there before the army, before the Marines, before the special forces. You’re out front, choir! What’s going on? As they went out before the army, they began to say, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever.” Isn’t that interesting? Anybody thankful for that right there? Praise the Lord for it.
When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set up ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood against the inhabitants of Mount Seir utterly to slay and destroy them. When they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped—look at this—helped to destroy another. Judah didn’t have to shoot any bow and arrows. They didn’t have to get their swords. They killed each other. That must have been some rough singing; that must have driven people crazy! I’m joking with you there now. It’s a wonderful thing. They killed each other.
Watch this. Let’s keep going. Verse number 24: “And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.” They found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away. They were three days in gathering of this spoil; it was so much. Can you imagine it took three days to gather in the money? When God brings a victory, God brings a victory. When God does it, He does it right. I’d rather God bring a victory any day than this old arm bring victory, if I can. Defeat is all I can bring. Man, He brought a victory in three days. Honey, when you come back, bring the wheelbarrow next time. There’s just so much.
We’re talking about America; we’ll do it a lot next Sunday, God and Country Sunday. But, friend, that’s kind of America. God’s been so very, very good to America. I love our early American heritage, seeking the Lord, and we’re so blessed as a nation. Judah was blessed. Three days in gathering.
The next verse will be done. Just look at what they did. Verse number 26. It’s awesome. I love it. “And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the Valley of Berachah.” They had been gathering three days, and on the fourth day they assembled. For there they blessed the name of the Lord—that’s Jehovah. Therefore, the name Berachah means blessed. Therefore, the name of that same place was called the Valley of Berachah unto this day. They had another true praise and worship service, not this rock and roll concert thing. Man, the Lord deserves the glory, the credit.
Hey, friend, in the midst of the battle—and we’re all in battles. Someone said, “Be good to everybody because everybody’s having a rough time.” Someone said you are either in a battle, just coming out of a battle, or about to go into a battle. We’re all there. What an example! Let’s come seek the Lord. Keep our eyes on Him. God gave an answer. They believed that answer, and they sang praises to the Lord. They kept their focus on the Lord. Wow, what a victory the Lord brought.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Heads bowed, eyes closed. Has the Lord spoken to you? Let’s just come before the Lord. He’s been so very, very good. Let’s seek Him in the middle of our battles. Let’s get our eyes. Let’s turn our focus away from all our problems and let’s get our focus on the Lord. He’s got all the answers. Let’s seek Him tonight. Let’s praise Him tonight. Would you stand, please? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Let you be obedient. Have you come to old-fashioned altar call? It would be a wonderful thing. You just be obedient as the Lord guides you.
Father, thank You for Your power, Your mind. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for this great example, Lord, just showing us Your muscle and Your power and Your might. Help me, Lord, help us to keep our eyes seeking and focused on You in the middle of our battles. We look to You, Lord. Thank You. You’re our glory. We love You tonight. Bless these few minutes in a special way. In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Would you come just seek the Lord? Wherever you have to seek the Lord, you’ll be obedient to Him. Let’s praise the Lord. Let’s listen to the Spirit of God, to His message. Let’s tune out the world, all the noise in the middle of a battle. Let’s tune all that out. Let’s tune into Him. Let’s get our eyes on the Lord. The battle’s not ours; it’s God’s. It’s the Lord. Let’s tune into Him. Let’s love on Him. Let’s praise Him. Let’s worship. Let’s in our hearts make a melody in our hearts to the Lord.
You know, if you look back at the history of Christianity, those that have accomplished the most have been those that kept their focus on the Lord. It’s not been our arm of might, not at all. It’s been those that kept their eyes on the Lord. He brings a victory. What a great, great story. I hope it was an encouragement to you tonight.
Original File: 2026-06-29 - Pastor Paul Chisgar - When your enemies overwhelm you - Sunday PM = 06⧸28⧸2026