# Stand For The Lord

Category: Integrity & Godly Character
Key Passage: 2 Samuel 5:17-25
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: June 7, 2024

Tonight’s missionary letter is from the Bowman family. He is the African field director. He says, “Dear praying friends, as the world has been slowly loosening its restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic, the governments of Africa have been tightening up since the continent as a whole was affected much later than the rest of the world. African governments know that they do not possess adequate infrastructure to take care of such a pandemic and have therefore dispatched their military to enforce business closures and curfews. Generally speaking, African households do not have the capacity to have on-hand reserves for such closures. And sadly, our missionaries believe there will be more widespread suffering because of the restrictions themselves than from the pandemic. However, God’s people are responding to the need.”

Every missionary has been reaching out to their church members as well as their communities in which their churches are located. In spite of the restrictions and sickness, one church was planted and scores have received Christ as Savior. God always wins. I happily report that within the past year with B.I.M.I. in Africa, 6,055 decisions for Christ have been made, and there have been 1,068 baptisms.

These are just the ministries that our missionaries are actively working in currently and not counting the national churches that are already autonomous. Also, just this past year, 26 churches have been started with hundreds of students enrolled in Bible institutes and colleges located all over the African continent. Be in prayer for our national pastors in Africa who are living by faith on a completely new level right now. Through your support and some other individuals, we have been sending funds to help our pastors and their families. God is blessing the labors of his faithful servants. Thank you for your part in making this possible. Until all nations hear, Eric Bowman.

Second Samuel, chapter number five. It has been a couple weeks since we’ve been on the life of David. We’re at the point where David was king of Judah for seven and a half years, and then God made him king of all Israel. He just became king of all Israel recently here.

Remember his first—what’s the first thing he did after becoming king of all Israel? He went and took Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been held captive by the enemy for over two centuries. It was a mighty fortress, and he went and took it. He made Jerusalem the capital. It was a big move for them to move the capital. By the way, praise the Lord for our president that made our embassy in Jerusalem. That was a big move, and praise the Lord for that also. What a blessing that is.

But he just did that, and now there are battles. Anytime you do something for the Lord, there are battles. Someone said, “Higher levels, higher devils.” That’s almost scary. But praise the Lord, God can handle all the devils; He’s got all power.

We’re going to look very briefly at this battle right after David became king and he took Jerusalem. We’re in 2nd Samuel, chapter 5, and we’re going to start in verse number 17.

Would you please stand? Second Samuel 5. We’re going to start in verse number 17 right there. The Bible says, “But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David King over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. And the Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Ephraim. And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into mine hand?” The Lord said, “Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.” David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there, and said, “The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me as a breach of waters.” Therefore he called the name of that place, Baal-perazim. There they left their images, and David and his men burned them.

And the Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.” And David did so as the Lord had commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gezer.

It was just a couple chapters ago, actually chapter number 27 of 1st Samuel, that David starts off that chapter. He said in his heart, “Saul’s going to get me; he’s going to kill me.” It wasn’t true, but he said that in his heart. So, it is very important what you say in your heart. That’s very important.

He kept saying in his heart, “Saul’s going to get me,” and he kept saying, “There’s just a step between me and death.” So he said, “The best thing I can do is go down to the Philistines.” You remember that, chapter number 27? He moves; he leaves Israel and Judah and goes over to Gath.

What is Gath? Gath is one of the capitals of the Philistines. Remember Goliath? Goliath of Gath. David goes over there and is living with the Philistines, serving under Achish. He’s a leader there. Finally, Achish says, “I’ll give you this city down there, Ziklag. You can live down there, and you kind of have your own place, but you’re under my thumb, if you will.”

David lived with the Philistines for a year and four months. It got to the point that the Philistines were going to battle with Israel, and David went and gathered with the Philistines. He told the Philistines, “I’ll fight for you.” I don’t know myself; I don’t think he would have, but we don’t know because the Philistines said, “No, we don’t trust you.” Enough of the leaders felt that way.

So David lived with them for a year and four months, even offered to fight with them. Eight years or so later, now he’s king of all Israel, and here come the Philistines. I’m sure in a year and four months, David had formed some friendships and some bonds. He knew old Joe over there, and he formed a good friendship with old Fred over there; he was his bud. And yet, when God blessed David, here come the Philistines.

Now, friend, let me just say a word or two, especially to our young people here. Young people, watch this: the world will act like they’re your friend, but just wait a little bit. When you try to serve the Lord, so often the world is the one that comes after you. It’s just a sad deal. That’s exactly what’s happening here. David is getting blessed by God; he just took the capital city, and sure enough, all the Philistines are coming after David.

The crowd that sometimes you think is your best company will turn on you. That’s a sad thing. Can we just change gears for a second? Sometimes when we are maybe a little worldly—even us Christians—I’ve seen this more than once. Maybe at our preachers’ fellowship, God is blessing one of the pastors there and his church is growing, and I’ve watched some of those other preachers start going after that guy, shooting at him a little bit, because of God’s blessing. That’s a sad thing, even among Christians. I’ve watched Christians where somebody gets a new car or a new house or a new boat, and people just go after them. That’s a sad thing. We don’t want to be like the Philistines. God’s blessing David, and the Philistines are coming up to get David.

The Bible talks about in Romans 12, “Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” If God’s blessing somebody, hey, say, “Praise the Lord! God is blessing you.” David is being blessed, and his old pals, the Philistines, are coming after him. We don’t want to be a part of that.

Sometimes when we separate from the world—the Philistines represent the world, the flesh, and the devil—sometimes when you separate from a wrong friend, not with a bad attitude, not with a know-it-all or a better-than-thou attitude, but you just say, “Man, I love you, but I’m just trying to grow in the Lord. I’m going to go to church and be involved in church activities.” You might not even have to say that. Typically, when you sell out for the Lord, a lot of times you’ll kind of spread out from them anyway.

But here is what you hear sometimes: “You think we’re better than we are now, don’t you? You think your music’s better than our music. You love that church more than you love us. I bet you’re putting money in that offering plate.”

That’s going to happen when you separate from the world and start living for God and start growing and trying to accomplish something. The Philistines are going to come after you. That’s kind of what’s going on with David. David is growing, God’s blessing him, he’s reestablishing the kingdom, it’s united, and they have Jerusalem as a capital, and those old Philistines are coming. Anytime you try to do something for the Lord, just mark it down: the old Philistines are going to come.

And here’s what you often hear: “Well, you’re judging me,” or “Quit preaching at me.” And half the time you haven’t said a word, but so often they are just convicted a little bit. Don’t get stirred up about all that; just keep doing right. God wins the battles. Don’t get too shook up about it.

The Philistines are coming after David. David lived with them for a year and four months, but now God is blessing him, and they are coming after him. You’re going to find that in the Christian life, sometimes when you just try to live for the Lord and separate from the world, the world is going to come after you. It’s just going to happen.

Let’s look at a couple other things real quickly here. Look in verse number 20. “The Lord said, ‘Go fight,’ and he went and fought, and God blessed him here.” Look at verse number 20. “And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there,” and what are the next three words? “The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me.”

Here’s the thing briefly: David remembered where his blessings were coming from. When he was on top, and things were going his way, and God was blessing him, and he was having victories, David remembered that the victory was coming from the Lord.

Does the Lord ever say, “I don’t know if I can bless so-and-so much, or Pastor Paul so much, because if I did, he’d forget where the blessings come from”? I am impressed with anybody that gives God the glory and stays humble. The older I get, the more impressed I am with someone that stays humble over the long haul, not just starts off humble. It’s tough to be humble anytime because we all have this thing called pride. We all battle it every day. I know I sure do. And that’s tough enough, but when God’s blessing, it is so easy to change.

When God brought a victory here, David said, “The Lord hath broken forth on these guys. The Lord brought the victory.” Can I just encourage you? Maybe it might be a prayer: “Lord, I want to always remember where the blessings come from. I know they are not me, and I don’t want to pat myself on the back and act like I’m all that. I want to always know the victory comes from you.” I wonder how much more the Lord would bless us if the Lord knew that we always gave Him credit.

If God’s not in it, it’s not going to happen. It’s just a good thing if we solidify in our minds: any victory I have, it’s the Lord. The Lord brings the victory. David had a great victory; he was winning over the Philistines, and he said, “The Lord hath broken forth a breach on these Philistines.” Maybe that’s why God could bless David so much, because David knew it was the Lord.

Just staying humble. William Carey, he is called the father of modern missions. A great, great missionary. William Carey was a young man. He started off in a shoe store, not selling, but repairing shoes—just a shoe cobbler. Before Nikes and New Balance, and before Congress was around.

William Carey was doing that, and the Lord called him to the mission field, and he went to India. The British government had control over it at the moment, and they were not fond of William Carey at the beginning. They would not even give him a place to land when he first went over there. But God blessed William Carey in a great way. He was a gifted man; God put His hand on him. He was gifted at linguistics. He could pronounce things properly, not like your pastor that cannot. He was instrumental in the link between India and Britain through languages. He became very famous, very noted, very popular.

Near the height of his fame, he was invited to a banquet, a big state dinner, with many high-ups and British officers present. One of the British officers disliked William Carey. So the officer said, “Well, what about your great William Carey? He was just a shoemaker.” William Carey, who was on the side, heard that. He didn’t get huffy and puffy or mad about it. He didn’t go home and complain to his wife for the next three weeks. They say William Carey just went over and said, “Sir, I never even made it to a shoemaker. I was just a shoe cobbler.” And he walked away.

Now, friend, that is what you call a man that God could bless, and he still stayed humble. Old David here knew that God brought this victory. That is a great lesson for us: always remember God brings the victory.

Now, let’s get a couple more things if you would. Look in verse number 21. “And there they [the Philistines] left their images.” Those are their idols, whether made of wood or whatever. David and his men burned them. Why did David and his men burn those idols? In case a little later on, when they were not doing so well, they would be tempted to pray to that idol, or maybe in a fleshly moment, they’d be tempted to go back to those idols. So they burned them. They were burning the bridges, if you will, to the world.

Look over to Acts chapter 19 quickly. There is a great revival going on there. Paul is preaching, and people are deciding to live for the Lord and give up their sinful things. In Acts 19:19, many of them which used curious arts—satanic material—brought their books together and burned them before all men, and they counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver.

There is much debate about the equivalent of that today, but most say around $5 million. Can you imagine having this material—satanic books, magazines, maybe the equivalent of pornography or all kinds of wicked things today—and they could have said, “I’m going to keep it,” but they took it and burned it. That is what David and his men were doing when they burned these idols.

Here is what applies to you. We are going to apply a couple of things before you go home. I often say this: the best thing you can do when you start a new job is to witness to someone the very first day. Why? Because when you first get in there, you stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone knows, “Be careful, the preacher is over there; that guy is going to preach at you.” You can’t go back; the reputation is out. Everybody knows. You have burnt your bridges; you are identified.

When I was a young man, traveling from Florida to Michigan and then over to Bible College, I was listening to cassette tape—and praise the Lord, it wasn’t an eight-track!—and it was questionable music. I decided to give it up, stopped at an exit on Interstate 75, put it in the trash, and went on.

My wife has a very similar story. She was a young Christian growing in the Lord and giving up her music. She was convicted over her music at a car wash, took all her music, and put it in the trash. She got in her car and headed down the road. A little while later, the devil said, “Man, that’s a lot of money.” She turned the car around, went back to the car wash, looked in the trash can—but it was all gone. Sometimes the Lord burns those idols for you.

Burning your bridges back to the world is important. A whole lot of those Israelites said, “Hey, we like to go back to Egypt.” Maybe that is part of the reason God led them by way of the Red Sea. David and his men burning those idols was not a coincidence or an accident. It may be equivalent to you deleting Facebook, or maybe saying, “I’m going to give my spouse permission to check my computer anytime they like to.” It may be, Mom and Dad, you’re going to say, “I’m going to check your phone.” But burning your bridges. Maybe tonight is the night God is speaking to somebody about burning some idols in your life. You burn them so that in a moment of weakness, Satan cannot get you to go back there.

I thought about a good, godly man in our church. When he got saved, he gave up drinking, but he still had a bar in his house with a lot of expensive liquor he had collected over the years. While he was on vacation, he gave permission to the Christian men who were house-sitting for him. They went into that bar and poured it all out. That man was burning his bridges. He told me recently, “I haven’t touched a drop in years now.” Praise the Lord, he burned his bridges.

That is why David and his men burned those idols—so that in a moment of weakness, they would not have to turn to them. I wonder how many Christians would still be serving God today if they had burned any bridges. In a moment of weakness, all of us have moments of weakness. You burn the bridges. Is there a bridge you need to burn tonight? I think about my mom when she got saved; her dad wasn’t saved yet. She started a little fire in her backyard and took her immodest dress out there and burned it. They didn’t want a way back to the world. What a wise thing.

Let’s get a last thought here. Look in verse number 19. David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into mine hand?” And the Lord said, “Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.”

Now jump down to verse number 23. “And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.”

Here’s the thing: David just kept going to the Lord: “What do you want me to do now, Lord?” God’s plan was not always the same, but David kept fighting. In God’s time, in God’s way, God brought the victory.

Maybe it’s your marriage; you are defeated in your marriage. Can I encourage you? Keep going to the Lord: “Lord, what are we going to do now? What will we do now?” And God, in His time and His way, brings a victory.

Maybe it is some sin you are trying to overcome, and you say, “Preacher, I’ve been battling this sin for years and years and years, and I don’t know if I ever will overcome that thing.” Can I encourage you? Keep fighting the good fight. Just keep going: “Lord, how can I win now? What do you want me to do now?” There is always going to be a fight to get home to heaven. You just keep going to the Lord: “What do you want me to do?” He will tell you different ways, at different times, through different people. But God brings a victory in His time.

Just keep going to the Lord. Don’t give in. Don’t say, “I can’t win over that sin.” No, no, just keep asking, “Lord, how do you want me to fight the Philistines this time? What do you want me to do this time?” The second time, He didn’t say, “Go up”; no, He said, “I want you to go behind. Wait for the sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees.” God brings a victory in His time and His way. Stay in that fight.

Original File: Stand For The Lord - Pastor Chisgar