Marvin asked me if I had any
water, and Rupert said, well, I think it's water in that bottle.
If y'all know anything about Wilkesboro or North Wilkesboro,
our claim to fame is we were known as the moonshine capital
of the world. That's where racing got its start,
and that's where I'm from, and it is water. Oh, it's such a pleasure to be
here. I met your pastor several years
ago. I think it was at Brother Rupert's. I don't know how many
years ago that's been. And I saw him again back at Brother
Don's conference. And I've known Brother Rupert
for several years. He has been a dear, dear friend
to me and my family. I told Sandy, my wife, last night
I've always looked to Rupert as my pastor. Most time preachers
don't have a pastor like you have a pastor. And I've always
honored him and respected him. for the gospel he preaches. What
a blessing, what a blessing. You would open your Bible this
morning to the book of Exodus chapter 17. We'll be looking
at verses 8 down through 16. In these verses, here in this
book of Exodus is recorded this battle that's going on. This
is not a battle between flesh and blood. It's not a battle
against the Christians and Islam. It's something deeper than that. It's a battle that rages within
every child of God. and will never cease. Not in
this life. Not in this life. It says, the
first word of verse 8 says, then. That's referring back to what
had just been spoken and been recorded in the first seven verses.
You remember the children of Israel had come out of Egypt.
And God leads them, leads them into this desert place called
Rephidim where there's no water. I've never been in a desert like
that, physically. And God led them to this place
where there was no water. They began to chide against Moses.
They were at the point of killing Moses. He said, Moses said, what
am I to do? And God gave him instruction.
God said, I will go down and I will stand on Horeb, on this
rock, and you smite that rock and out will come water. What
a picture of grace. God in his justice smoked the
Lord Jesus Christ, that rock. That's what it says in 1 Corinthians
10. That rock that followed them was Christ. And they all drunk
of that water. And out from that rock flows
God's grace and God's mercy to sinners. And it's a picture of
the Holy Spirit of God that indwells every child of God. Then. Remember that. Then. Then came Amalek and fought with
Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, Choose
us out, men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will
stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.
Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and he fought with Amalek
and Moses. And Aaron and her went up on
the top of the hill. It came to pass when Moses held
up his hand that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand,
Amalek prevailed. Moses' hands were heavy, and
they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat there on,
and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side
and on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going
down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek
and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said
to Moses, write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in
the ears of Joshua, who I will utterly put out the remembrance
of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and
called the name of it Jehovah-Nishi. For he said, now watch this,
verse 16, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have
war with Amalek from generation to generation. This is a war
that God has sworn will take place from generation to generation,
and it's still raging today. It's still going on in the hearts
of God's people. We see this here in this picture.
It's a very clear picture of this conflict, this war that
goes on not just out here. My problem's not, we do have
a problem with the world and with Satan and all this religious
mess. But the biggest war I have is
in here. You know, you can kind of get away from the world for
a little while. You can cut your TV off and your radio off. I
don't have to listen to it if I don't want to. But I cannot
get away from what's going on in here. I cannot get away from
it. It is a war that goes on continually. And let me say this, if you don't
know anything about that war, you don't know God. You don't
know Him, simple, plain as that can be. There is a war. There
is a war. As I just mentioned in the first
seven verses, it talks about how God visited His people. God
gave them water. And then, then, came Amalek,
who was a pitcher of the flesh, that came out and attacked them. But remember this, they're in
a desert. Water is very scarce. Water is
very valuable. They fought over wells. They
fought over wells. You know what Amalek wanted?
They wanted the water. Then came Amalek. Then came the
flesh, then raised up this flesh here, after the Holy Spirit comes
in saving grace to a believer. And God gives them faith to believe.
You know what salvation is? That's when God indwells an individual. God sets up His reign in that
person's heart. That's salvation. It's not anything
we do, but it's when God takes over. It's when God butts in. It's when God sets up His throne
in your heart and He reigns. He reigns. He reigns. As Rupert read, why do the heathen
rage and the people imagine a vain thing? We don't want Him reigning
over us. And the flesh still says that.
We won't have Him reigning over us. After He comes and makes His
abode, Galatians 5.17, the flesh The flesh lusteth against the
spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary,
the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that
you would. This battle. This battle. Now listen. Ignorant of what
the Word of God teaches about the nature of a believer has
caused much distress in a lot of people. Most people have been
taught and are being taught that when God saves you that some
way sin is some way eradicated. How foolish. That's all religion
is trying to do is reform the old man. The Gadarene man, you
know what they did? They bound him with chains. They
bound him with fetters. But you know what happened? He
broke them every time. You cannot tame that old man.
You cannot put him under enough religion. Now, they might try
to reform him and put a coat on him and a new dress on him
and all these things, but the hog someway turns back to its
wallowing in the mire again. And the dog someway goes back
to licking its vomit again. You said, preacher, how vile
that is. That describes the old man. And
he's not improved. Did you hear what I said? He
has not improved. If anything, it seems like he
gets worse. The longer I live, it seems like
I sure thought he would improve a little bit. Don't you wish
when you come in this morning you could have locked him in
the car and he wouldn't have come in with you? Whether it's
standing to preach or to stand and lead singing or to try to
sing or try to listen or anything. What is it that hinders you the
most, Amalek? And ain't I telling you the truth?
You know exactly I'm telling you the truth. He's not improved.
Not improved. Listen. A changed heart is nowhere
spoken of in the Bible. God never changes anything about
the fallen man. Rupert was talking about when
we was coming down 79, he saw those people carrying those crosses.
Just right on past it. I don't know if you saw this
or not, but it was a huge billboard. Said, be an organ donor, give
your heart to Jesus. This old wicked, wow, corrupt
heart. He's trying to give me something
new. He didn't come to fix up the old house and patch it up.
He didn't come to pour wine in the old bottles. He come to put
it in a new bottle. It's something new that had never
been there before. It's a new creation that only
God can create. And He's new. He's the new man. The Bible says it's the divine
nature that cannot sin. That cannot sin. Explain that. I just can't. I
just believe it. Can you explain it? Boy, I can't.
I just know it's true. I know one day, all I had was
an old van. And something happened. Something happened. Paula knew it. Oh, and I thought the old man would go.
And he's still there. Sticking his up over Rugby's
head. Wanting the preeminence, wanting the glory, wanting the
praise. That's what we see here. That's what we see here. God creates life and abides with
us. Without the new birth, there
is no salvation. You must be born again. God must
give you what you don't have and what you cannot produce.
Religion, I was in it for years. I don't know how young I was
when my mama took me to church, but she took me until I got big
enough to do what I wanted to do. And then I did what I wanted
to do. Religion didn't change me, but I was religious. And then I got religion again.
Went to preacher school and all these things. and still did not
know God. I was just like Paul who was
before a blasphemer." A blasphemer. In justification, righteousness
is imputed unto us. We are declared righteous. In
sanctification, in the new birth, righteousness is imparted unto
us. We are, listen to me, we are
made righteous. Isn't that good news? That's
good news to somebody struggling with sin. Your heart desires
to be righteous. If you know God, everything in
you, that new man wants to be righteous. He is righteous. And,
boy, when I hear, I am righteous, oh, it sets me free. The shackles
fall off. And every believer, there are
two natures. The one sinful, the other sinless. One that is born of the flesh,
the other that is born of God. One carnal, one spiritual. These two natures differ from
each other in their origin, in their character, in their disposition,
and in their deeds. They are opposed to each other. In opposition. You see this illustrated
in the life of Abraham. God told Abraham, he said, you're
going to have a son. Abraham's pretty old, him and Sarah both.
And Sarah comes up with the idea. She says, why don't you take
my handmaid in and see if she'll conceive and have a son? That
sounds good, doesn't it? Well, it seems to work. They
have a child. It's a male child, and they call
him Ishmael. Ishmael lives in the house, I don't know, 13 or
14 years, and there's no turmoil in the house. Everything's fine.
Oh, we've got Ishmael. Ishmael's going to be the promised
seed. Through him's going to come Christ.
Oh, this is him. God says, no. That's what you did, Abraham.
That's what you produced. The older he gets, the deader
he gets. And God opened up Sarah's wound. That's a miracle of grace. And
in her wound was conceived a child and he was born called Isaac.
And I can just picture Abraham holding up Isaac in his hand
and said, look what God gave me. Look what God gave me. Look what God did. And as the
boy grows up, as Isaac gets a little older, Sarah looks out the window
one day and she sees old Ishmael mocking Isaac. You read the story, it says,
when Abraham died, both them boys buried him. Your old Ishmael,
that man that was born first, will mock Isaac. Wants to preempt
the city. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. Isaac says, no, it's
mine. Ishmael's the other bond slave. Isaac's of the free woman. And Isaac, now watch this. Till
Isaac was born, there was no conflict in their house. None. But as long as Isaac's in their
house, Ishmael can't get along with Isaac. Let me tell you another illustration.
A whole family can be religious. The whole road can be religious.
Religious. Baptized, I don't care how many
times, made professions, it don't matter. God single one of them
out. And God put his nature in there.
You know what's going to happen to the rest of that family? They're
going to turn on him. Why does a heathen rage? Why
does it? Is it that man? Is it his personality?
No, it's Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ dwells, Christ
dwells, Christ dwells. Galatians 4.29,
but it is in that which was born after the flesh persecuted him
that was born after the spirit, even so is it now. You see that
illustrated in Abraham. Abraham had Isaac, and Isaac
had Jacob, who had two names. Jacob, he was named that by his
mother and father. And he had another name called
Israel. That's the name God gave him.
He wrestled. God wrestled with him. He didn't
wrestle with God. God wrestled with him. God broke him. And
God broke him down. And God said, what's your name?
What's your name? God knew what his name was. God
knew exactly who he was. But he wanted him to confess
it. And he said, I'm Jacob. I'm that old surfer. I'm that
old trickster. You know what God said? I'm changing
your name to Israel. Our Prince was God. You ever noticed in the Scriptures
a lot of times he still refers to Him as Jacob and refers to
Him in Israel maybe in the same verse of Scripture. Listen. He had a dual personality. Two
distinct natures. One manages trusting God, and
he's walking in unbelief. Does that sound familiar? The Holy Spirit refers to him
one time as Jacob, and the next place refers to him as Israel.
Listen. In the same chapter, in Genesis 45, Joseph has just
revealed himself to his brothers. He'd come in and he said, I'm
Joseph. He said, you go back and you tell your daddy I'm alive.
It says in verse 26, When Jacob heard this news, then
Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed it not. But in the same chapter, two
verses later, it said he saw all the wagons and everything
that God sent. God sent them wagons to get Jacob,
bring him down to Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted. For
he believed not, verse 26. Then verse 28, And they told
him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them.
And when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him,
the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And Israel said, It
is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive. One minute he's speaking in unbelief,
but then God revived him and Israel said, It's enough. Take me to Joseph. Take me to
Joseph. Let me read you this. This has
blessed my heart. Jacob was a dying. When Jacob had made an end of
commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed and
yielded up the spirit, and the physicians embalmed Israel. Jacob died. Israel was embalmed. Jacob, the old man, died and
fell off. But Israel is preserved. Israel is preserved. The only thing that prevents
us from being with Christ in glory is this old Jacob. Nothing
else has to happen. Nothing. Nothing. In this world, there will always
be a conflict with the flesh and the spirit. Just as Ishmael
persecuted Isaac, sometimes we act like Jacob. Sometimes we act like Israel,
and sometimes both. I remember when I was in religion,
everybody talked about Romans chapter 7. You're familiar with
that chapter. They said, oh, that's talking about carnal Christians.
I think it's just the opposite. It sounds to me like a man struggling
with sin. That that I would do, I don't. The very things I hate is the
things I do. Does that sound familiar? And Paul said, O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
What I understand in Roman times when they were going to sentence
a person, make him suffer for his crimes, you know what they
would do? They would take a dead corpse and tie it to his back
and he would have to carry that dead corpse, rotting dead corpse
with him everywhere he went. Does that not sound familiar?
Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's my deliverance. That's
our deliverance. We must never forget who makes
us to differ. What makes you to differ? What
makes you to differ? When our Lord hung on the cross,
he hung between two things. Both of them at one time reviled
him. Both of them persecuted him, mocked him. But something
happened to that one man. God opened his eyes and he said,
Lord, remember me when you come into thy kingdom. What made the
difference between this thief and that thief? The one in the
middle. The one in the middle. Who makes
you to differ? Why did God show you mercy? Why
didn't God pass you by? God leaves this with us, this
old nature. God could have took it away the
moment he saved us. Yes, he could. If he had so seen
fit, he could have removed it. But he didn't. To teach us that
it's him and him alone. And also to teach us to not be
content with this world. Now to our passage, verse eight.
Amalek fought with Israel in Rephidim. They had, Israel had what they
wanted. They wanted this water. The name Amalek implies warlock. Our flesh is ever making war
with our spirit. You know where Amalek came from?
Amalek is the grandson of Esau. Does that sound familiar? I hate it, Jacob. Heard something that just blessed
my heart. You remember when God told King Saul? He said, you
go down to this country and you kill everybody. Don't leave anybody
alive. You know who that bunch of people
were? The Amalekites. You know what King Saul did?
He kept the king alive and he kept some of the sheep alive.
And he thought, we're going to offer these to God. We're going to
keep this king alive. If you'll go back and read a
little bit farther in Saul's life, When Saul in 1 Samuel chapter
1, when David, he asks and inquires about Saul and what happened
to King Saul. And this man comes up and he said, I came upon Saul
and he was leaning upon his sword. And Saul turned and looked at
me and he said, who are you? He said, I am an Amalekite. The very thing he should have
destroyed came back and destroyed. If that don't get your attention,
I don't know what will. And because he would not kill
the Amalekites and had compromised with the Amalekites and showed
mercy to the Amalekites, God took the throne from him. Did
he? He said, that don't seem like something that big. God
rejects the flesh every time. Don't compromise with the flesh.
Don't compromise with your old nature. It will destroy you. will come back to haunt you. Amalek was Israel's first enemy,
just as the flesh is ours. Amalek was conquered by Joshua,
our Christ, our King. But Amalek was eventually conquered. I like it here in these verses.
Moses told Joshua what to do. Joshua, who is a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the first time Joshua is mentioned is right
here. The name Jesus is the same name
as Joshua. Joshua is our great king. Joshua is our great captain.
Joshua is our great defender of the Lord's host. He is our
deliverer, but he was obedient unto Moses. He took upon himself our human
nature and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. He was born under the law, lived under the law, fulfilled
the law, and died under the law in obedience to the law. Numbers 24, 17. And I see him,
but not now. I shall behold him, but not now.
There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise
out of Israel. and shall smite the corners of
Moab, and destroy all the children of Seth. And Edom shall be a
possession, and Syria also shall be a possession for his enemies,
and Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that
shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of
the city. And when he looked for Amalek, he took up his parable
and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter
end shall be that he perish forever." How did Joshua defeat Amalek? That interests me. We could spend all day talking
about this old man in here. We could spend all day talking
about how he got in there. I want to see how I can deal
with him. Because that's something I deal with every single day. And if you read, I know if you
read many commentators, everybody's going to have different opinions
about what this means about Moses standing up on the mountain,
lifting up the rod, and Moses' hands got weak and his head began
to fall down. As the rod was held up, the battle
went their way. When the rod came down, the battle
went the other way. I know this can picture us praying
to God. And as we pray, what happens?
You try to hold your hands up just for a few minutes, you grow
weary. Boy, that describes us. I don't
even know what to pray for as I should. But he prays for us
with groanings which can't even be uttered. This could be a picture
of him. He had rised, helping us, prevailing
in prayer, holding up our hands. But here's my little take on
it. Moses is a picture of the law of God. The rod is a picture
of the justice of God. That very rod is what God smoked
the rock. It's the very thing God smoked
the Red Sea. God's law must be honored. God's justice must be satisfied. As long as God's law and God's
justice is held up in honor, the battle goes our way. I think it fits. The law must
be satisfied. Moses couldn't hold the law.
That shows the weakness of the flesh. The law was perfect, but
we couldn't keep it. And God put Aaron, who is the
priest, and Herb, who is the prince, on either side. The prophet, priest, and king
held up the authority, the rod, the justice of Almighty God,
and said, it is finished, it's accomplished, and the battle
goes our way. If the rod, if the justice of
God ever falls, we're going to hell. That's right. God cannot Just
lay down His honor. He cannot just lay aside His
justice. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. Surely die. That's how we prevail over sin
and Satan. That's how we prevail. How are
we to overcome this old man? Let's try to resist Him. Everybody
quotes this verse and they misquote it. Resist the devil and he'll
flee from you. How many have ever heard that?
Is that what it says? Submit yourself therefore to
God. Resist the devil and he'll flee
from you. He don't flee from you. He flees
from Christ. He flees from our Joshua. Boy, I love this. I wish
we'd sung this song earlier. We're not the right man on our
side. The man of God's own choosing. I'm glad He's on my side. He's my Joshua. He's my conqueror. He's my priest. He's my king. He's the one that upholds the
justice and the righteousness of Almighty God. He's the only
one that can. When Moses comes down off the
mountain, They were having this feast and they were worshiping
this golden calf and Moses had the law, the tablets. He threw
them down and broke them. That's what happens when the
law was in man's hands. But you know what God did with
them? He gave him another sin and he put them in an ark for
safety. They're in Christ. And if I'm
in him, And He's in me. I'm secure. That's my victory. That's my hope. That's my peace. That's my rest. Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Oh, thank God for our Joshua. And God told him to Moses to
make a memorial. And raise up this enzyme. Raise
up this banner. Jehovah Nisha, the Lord our banner. You know where God's people rally?
Around that flag. Around Christ. The first thing
to go into battle is that flag. And you know what the enemy attacks?
That flag. If you come up my driveway, I put up a flag post
several years ago and got a flag up on it. There's a couple days
you might come by it and this flag just lays limp. It's still
a flag. It's still a flag in all its
glory. We'll come by it someday when the wind's blowing. And
that thing's stretched out. This is the same gospel. It's
always the same gospel. Christ is always in his glory
and his majesty. But let the wind blow. It's more
than just a limp flag. It says victory's The battle's not uncertain, it's
won. It's won. Let me read you a passage
of scripture in closing. Isaiah 59, 19. I mean, Isaiah 59, 19, I'm sorry. So
shall they fear the name of the Lord from the West and his glory
from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in
like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard
against him." Whatever that enemy is, it may be outwardly, it may
be inwardly. When the enemy comes in like
a flood, God will raise up a standard, and the Redeemer shall come to
Zion. And unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob,
saith the Lord, as for me, This is my covenant with them, saith
the Lord. My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have
put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of
the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed-seed,
saith the Lord, from henceforth and for evermore." May God bless
you.