Good evening. Let's open tonight's
services with hymn number seven from your Spiral Gospel Hymns
hymn book, number seven. And let's all stand together. The head that once was crowned
with thorns is crowned with glory now. A royal diadem adorns the
mighty victor's brow. The highest place that heaven
affords belongs to Him by right, the King of kings and Lord of
lords and heaven's eternal light. The joy of all who dwell above,
the joy of all below, to whom he manifests his love and grants
his name to know. ? To them the cross with all
its shame ? ? With all its grace is given ? ? Their name an everlasting
name ? ? Their joy the joy of heaven ? Please be seated. Good evening. Let's open our
Bibles together to Psalm 87, for our call to worship, Psalm
87. We had our required community
meeting here last night, and as we hoped, no one showed up. So that's a good thing. No neighbors
came to object of our call to worship. plans so we'll present
those the minutes to that meeting will be presented to the to the
to the city it was a me and Trisha and what's your name and Janelle we're here alright Psalm 87 Verse one. His foundation. We know who that
is. Christ is the foundation. He
is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of
Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are
spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. I will make mention of
Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. Behold Philistia and
Tyre and Ethiopia. This man was born there. And
of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her. And the highest himself shall
establish her. The Lord shall count when he
rideth up the people, that this man was born there, Selah. As well the singers as the players
on instruments shall be there, all my springs, all my springs. Now you know Zion, the holy mountain,
that's a reference to the church. Notice how this psalm ends, all
my springs, All the fountains of grace. All the blessings of
God. Are in her. Our Heavenly Father. Oh, how
hopeful we are that you'd be pleased to. Open that fountain
of life. For for sin and for cleansing. Lord, we come before you in need
of your grace in need of your mercy. We're in need of. Seeing thy dear son and finding
in him. All our salvation and all our
joy. All our righteousness, all our
justification before the. Pray that you would open the
springs. Of water, the water of life. And that you would enable
us to drink freely. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Number 229 from the hardback
terminal. Let's all stand together again
229. Tell me the old, old story of
unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his
love. Tell me the story simply as to
a little child For I am weak and weary and helpless and defiled
Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Tell me the story slowly, that
I may take it in, that wonderful redemption, God's remedy for
sin. Tell me the story often, For
I forget so soon The early dew of morning Has passed away at
noon Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Tell me the story softly With
earnest tones and brave Remember I'm the sinner Whom Jesus came
to save Tell me the story always If you would really be In any
time of trouble, a comforter to be. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the same old story when
you have cause to fear That this world's empty glory is costing
me too dear Yes, and when the world's glory is dawning on my
soul, Tell me the old, old story, Christ Jesus makes the whole. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Zachariah? chapter 10, Zechariah chapter
10. I've titled this message, Fighting
the Good Fight. Fighting the Good Fight. This
is a spiritual battle that all of God's people are engaged in. And the irony of fighting in
this fight is that victory is only won through surrender. And the Lord makes it clear that
we are to labor to enter into his rest. Paul said in 2 Timothy
chapter four, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course,
I've kept the faith. kept the faith. That's what it
is to fight the good fight. That's what it is to finish the
course. It is to keep looking in faith
to the Lord Jesus Christ as our conqueror. Henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge shall give unto me in that day and not me only. Now I'm still quoting that passage
from second Timothy chapter four, not me only, but to all them
that wait for his appearing. So every believer is called of
God to engage in a spiritual warfare. In our text in Zechariah
chapter 10 verse 5, they shall be as mighty men which tread
down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle.
They shall fight. They shall fight because the
Lord is with them and the riders on horses shall be confounded. Now the horse in the scripture
is a symbol of strength. Some trust in chariots and some
in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God. This battle that you and I are
fighting is a spiritual battle that's fought in the heart between
the flesh and the spirit. Every child of God is painfully
aware of the reality of this spiritual warfare. They long
for that day of uninterrupted peace. Every child of God knows
that they have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ
that he has already got the victory. He has already conquered Satan.
Hell has been defeated. The grave has been has been opened
and there's no battle to be fought there. He's he's he's won that
battle. Let me show you that in. in Exodus. Chapter 14. The children of Israel are standing
on the banks of the Red Sea. The Egyptians, Pharaoh and his
army, are pursuing hot behind them. God has put a cloud between
them and the Egyptian army. And Moses is standing there looking
at the Red Sea thinking, what are we going to do? What are
we going to do? And in Exodus chapter 14, at
verse 13, Moses said unto the people, fear ye not, stand still. stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord, which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians
whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more
forever." You're not going back to Egypt. I'm gonna drown the
Egyptians in the sea. And look at the next verse. The Lord shall fight for you
and you shall hold your peace. Hold your peace. Don't raise
a finger. Don't try to turn around and
fight the Egyptians. I'm gonna take care of them.
You hold your peace. Hold on to your peace. Hold on
to Christ. And the battle's not yours, it's
the Lord's. That's the battle of redemption.
And the Lord has fought that battle, and he has won that battle,
and we have gotten the victory in our conqueror, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who has drowned Pharaoh and his army, and has brought
us safely. All the Egyptians came across
on dry land. The scripture says they walked
through that Red Sea by faith. Now that's a picture of our redemption.
We don't engage in that battle. We don't fight that battle. He
fought it for us. We do what? Hold our peace. Hold
our peace. The Lord's going to fight this
battle for you. Hold your peace. Now, once they got across the
Red Sea and they found themselves in the wilderness, they had some
struggles, didn't they? They were needing water. They
were needing bread. They were needing direction.
And now the battle begins and the Lord directs them step by
step through that wandering in the wilderness. And that's where
we are. That's where we are. We are.
We are being called on by God here in Zachariah chapter 10
to fight. The good fight. Of faith. We long for that day, as I said,
for that in an uninterrupted peace. We have peace with God,
but the peace of God is being interrupted, isn't it? By the
battle that rages in our hearts between our flesh and our spirit. The battle to believe God, the
battle to trust him, the battle to rest in in Christ is a battle
that we fight all the days of our lives. We keep hoping that
it will get easier, but with each skirmish, it only reveals
more and more of our weaknesses and more and more of our inability
and more and more of our dependence upon Christ. And so as we grow
in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, these battles that
we are fighting this battle of faith is the means by which the Lord
grows us and causes us to depend upon Christ. The scripture refers
to these struggles as necessities. They're necessities. They're
what the Lord has ordained for us. We could say that the way up
is down. And that's true, isn't it? It
is true. In our text, we are not only
called on to engage in this spiritual warfare, but we are also promised
a victory. We're promised a victory. Notice
what the Lord said in Zechariah chapter 10 at verse five. And
they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies
in the mire of the streets in the battle. And they shall fight
because the Lord is with them. And the riders on horses shall
be confounded. Now here we have a picture that
the Lord's given us of foot soldiers, foot soldiers that are holding
the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God in one hand,
they're holding the shield of faith in the other hand, and
their feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel, and
they're fighting men on horses. And the scripture says that those
are along the riders on the horses shall be confounded. As I said a moment ago, the horse
is a picture in the scripture of man strength. God said is
not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, sayeth the Lord. You're not going to fight this
fight on a horse. God's gonna have to knock us
off our high horses, isn't he? Just like he did for Saul of
Tarsus. And so the battle that we're engaged in is not so much
against someone else, it's against the horse of our own making. That thing that we would trust
in for our strength outside of Christ. And that horse needs
to be confounded, doesn't he? Notice, turn with me over to
Zechariah chapter 12. Zechariah chapter 12. Look at
verse four. In that day, saith the Lord,
I will smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with
madness. And I will open my eyes upon
the house of Judah and I will smite every horse of the people
with blindness. Now, there's the battle that
the Lord has put us in. And he says, I'm going to smite
your horses with blindness. Every time you attempt to find
your hope or your trust or your satisfaction outside of Christ,
I'm going to smite that horse with blindness. and cause you
to see that all of your hope and all of your salvation is
completely bound up in Him. And so these losses that you
have are actually going to be victories. Because in each loss,
how many losses we all experience in this warfare that we're engaged
in, And every loss becomes a victory. Every time we trust in a horse
and the Lord has to make that horse blind, we come to realize
once again, all of my hope is in Christ. He is my life. He's
all my salvation. And he's all my desire. Though
he make it not to grow. We look at our own lives and
we think, well, there's no spiritual growth here. I'm just, uh, you
know, we, we do grow in grace because we find ourselves more
and more dependent upon Christ. But when we look at ourselves,
we think, you know, though we make it not to grow, you know,
my, my, my spiritual progress is, is I don't see it. I don't see it. All I see is
the battle that I'm in and the losses that I have. In Genesis
chapter 49, Jacob is blessing each of his sons and he blesses
Dan. And Dan's name is translated
judgment. And he says of Dan, he says,
you will be like an adder that will bite the heel of the horses
and cause the riders to fall. And that's what the judgment
of God does, doesn't it? Every time we try to find something
outside of Christ for our hope, the adder of God's judgment bites
the heel of that horse and causes the rider, once again, to fall
into the dirt and to find himself trusting Christ. So that's a
good thing. These battles are good. It's
not a... It's not a physical battle, it's
a spiritual battle. You war not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities and powers in high places. I
was looking at, I heard recently that our annual budget next year
in America is, we're going to be allocating $700 billion for
our military. And, you know, that's a good
thing. But then I thought, well, how does that compare to the
rest of the world? Well, you add up China and Russia and the
next eight nations, and they come up to what one nation is
spending. China is about $250 billion,
and Russia is about $70 billion, about one-tenth of what we're
spending. Now, what's my point? My point is that if America wanted
to take over the world, I guess they could with the strength
of their military. if they wanted to be an aggressor,
but with all that power, with all that power, all the strength
of America could not fight the battle that we're talking about
right now. No, no, it's not a physical battle. It's a spiritual battle. No amount
of power, no amount of strength, no horse, regardless of how strong
he is, can engage in this warfare. And you can't engage in it, and
I can't engage in it. It's something the Lord has to
enable us to do. Go back with me to Exodus chapter
15. Exodus chapter 15. Look at verse one. Then sang
Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake
saying, I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously,
the horse and his rider had he thrown into the sea. Look at
verse 19 in that same chapter. For the horse of Pharaoh went
in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and
the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them. But the
children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. Look at verse 21. And Miriam
answered them, sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously,
the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. Oh, how many times we mount that
beast. We get on that horse thinking,
I'm going to run this race on the back of a horse. And God
says, no, go back with me to our text. Go back with me to
our text. And they shall be as mighty men
which tread down the enemies in the mire of the street in
the battle. And they shall fight because
the Lord was with them. And the riders on the horses
shall be confounded. Listen to what David said in
Psalm 33 verse 17. A horse is a vain thing for safety. Neither shall he deliver any
by his great strength. All the military might of this
great country that you and I live in cannot deliver one soul, cannot
deliver one soul from the spiritual battle that only the Lord can
do. He's the only one that can do
it. Turn with me to Psalm 76. Psalm
76. A good verse, verse 5. The stout-hearted
are spoiled. They have slept their sleep,
and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy
rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and the horse are
cast into a deep sleep. Oh Lord, cause it to be that
I cannot find my hands. Cause it to be that I don't look
to my works for any of my hope. Cause it to be that I don't mount
that horse of pride and self-righteousness thinking that I can deliver myself.
That's what the Lord's saying here. My people are gonna fight,
but they're gonna fight on their feet. They're not gonna be on
a horse. The rider, the horse, and the riders have been thrown
into the sea, all the things that men trust. Again, I read
Psalm 33 verse 7, a horse is a vain thing for safety. A horse is a vain thing for safety.
Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Some trust in chariots and some
in horses. but we will call upon the name
of the Lord our God. This battle is won in prayer
and through preaching. It's not engaged by brawling. It's not engaged by the strength
of the flesh. The flesh can fight a lot of
battles, but this battle can't be fought in the flesh. It can
only be fought in the power of the Spirit of God. Turn with
me to Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. The Lord's telling us in our
text, my people are gonna fight. And they're gonna be engaged
in a battle. And I'm gonna be with them. And in that battle,
their horses are gonna be knocked out from under them. And I'm
going to make sure that they get the victory. Now, what is
the victory? What is the victory? The victory is believing God
to the end. That's the victory. It's having,
that's what Paul said, I have fought a good fight. I have kept
the faith. And henceforth there's laid up
for me a crown of righteousness. I'm ready. The Lord has enabled
me to believe God to the end. And these battles that I've been
engaged in have been for the purpose of causing me to trust
God. Showing me the vanity of my horses. That's what God's
doing. He's showing us how weak and
unable our horses are. Ephesians chapter 6, look with
me at verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord and in the power of His might. Trust Christ for
your strength. That's what Paul said. His strength
is in my weakness. When I'm weak, then I'm strong.
Verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places, That's where the battle is. It's not
against flesh and blood. Wherefore take unto you the whole
armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil
day and having done all to stand. Stand. Remain right here. Stand right here on this rock. Stand, therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth, that comes by preaching, and
having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet
shoved with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith you should be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying
always with prayer and supplication in the Spirit, See, this battle's
fought in the closet. It's fought in prayer. It's fought
by the Spirit of God in the preaching of the gospel. That's where the
battle's fought. There's no mention in this spiritual
armor of horses, is there? The Lord doesn't say anything
about getting on a horse. No. For though we walk in the flesh,
2 Corinthians chapter 11, for though we walk in the flesh,
we were not after the flesh. Turn with me to that passage,
2 Corinthians chapter 10. We walk in the flesh. and the
spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit
so that we cannot be what we would be. We long for that day
of uninterrupted peace. Our peace is interrupted now,
isn't it? Our peace with God is not ever going to be interrupted.
That battle's been fought, that battle's been won, but the peace
of God, our experience. For though we
walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal. They're not fleshly. They're not by wisdom. They're
not by argument. They're not by anything. They
are spiritual. They are mighty through God to
the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God and bringing in every captivity, bringing in every
thought to the obedience of Christ. That's the battle. looking to
Christ and his perfect obedience to the Father. He was obedient,
the scripture says, even unto death. He laid down his life
for his sheep. There's our hope. That's why
Paul said in Hebrews chapter 4 that we labor to enter into
his rest. That's the battle. The battle
is to get off the horse, to trust Christ, To rest in him and to
see that this is a, this is a spiritual battle against principalities
and powers. We're not, we're not fighting
men, not even fighting ourselves.
We're fighting spiritual battles here. Turn, turn with me to Luke
chapter six, Luke chapter six. You know, I was thinking, Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter
11, if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom in the
churches. God hates contention. He hates brawlers. One of the
qualifications of an elder is that he cannot be a brawler.
He cannot be looking for a fight. Is that just for the elder? No,
the elder is just one who has proven himself to show some spiritual
maturity. Those things are for every one
of us. We're not fighting in a physical fight here. It's a
spiritual fight. So what do we do when we're confronted
by man? Well, look at Luke chapter 6.
Luke chapter 6 at verse 26. Verse 27, but I say unto you,
which here? If you have ears to hear, let
him who have ears to hear hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches. Love your enemies. Do good to
them that hate you. Bless them that curse you. Pray
for them which despitefully use you. And unto them that smiteth
thee on one cheek, offer also the other. And him that taketh
away the cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every
man that asketh of thee. And of him that taketh away thy
goods, ask them not again. And as you would that men should
do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if you love them
which love you, what thank have you? For sinners also love those
that love them. And if you do good to them which
do good unto you, what thank have you? For sinners also do
the same. And if you lend to them to whom
you have hope to receive, what thank have you? For sinners also
lend to sinners to receive as much again. But love ye your
enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again. And
your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of
the highest. For he is kind unto the unthankful
and to the evil. Be therefore merciful as your
father is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not
be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive,
and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given unto
you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For
with the same measure that you meet, wherewith it shall be measured
to you again. And God make us gracious to those
who would despitefully use us where it's the Lord. The Lord
gives us those experiences once again to get us off our high
horse and to cause us to trust Christ. One other verse, Proverbs chapter
26. Proverbs chapter 26. Verse 21, as coals are to burning
coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. Yeah, we run into situations
in this world where God puts people in our lives in order
to try to stir up contention, doesn't it? Doesn't he? And they're all. They're all
means for the Lord to say, no, the battle is not yours. It's
you get off that horse. Wait on me. It's it's I've got
this. I've got this. Go back with me
to our text. Well, reverse 5 one more time.
And they shall be as mighty men which tread down their enemies
in the mire of the street in the battle. They shall fight
because the Lord is with them. And the riders on horses shall
be confounded. And I will strengthen the house
of Judah. And I will save the house of
Joseph. And I will bring them again to
place them. put them in their place for I
have mercy upon them and they shall. Notice how many times
in that verse God says I will strengthen, I will save, I will
bring them again, I will have mercy upon them and they shall
be as though I had not cast them off for I am the Lord their God
and will. hear them. Now that word hear
doesn't just mean you know sometimes we somebody say, yeah I heard
you, I heard you. No, that word hear means not only to listen
but to answer. God says they shall, they shall
come to me in their battles. I'm gonna do this. They're gonna
find themselves in need of me and when they come And when they
call on me, I will listen to them and I will answer them and
I will deliver them from every enemy and I will keep them and
present them faultless before my father, faithful to the end,
faithful to the end. That's the purpose of all these
things. Our heavenly father, Thank you for your word. Might it be so? In our hearts,
in our experience. Causing us. To trust Christ. For everything. For it's in his
name we pray. Amen. Number 374 let's stand together
374. Jesus calls us o'er the tumult
of our lives while restless sea. Day by day his sweet voice soundeth,
saying, Christian, follow me. Jesus calls us from the worship
of the vain world's golden store, from each idol that would keep
us, saying, Christian, love me more. In our joys and in our
sorrows, Days of toil and hours of ease, Still he calls in cares
and pleasures, Christian, love me more than these. Jesus calls us by thy mercies,
Savior, may we hear thy call. Give our hearts to thy obedience,
serve and love thee best of all. Did you hear that?