#9 The “Names of God”
Series
"JEHOVAH-NISSI"
("The Lord my Banner!")
TEXT: Exodus
17:8-16
INTRO: It is very
fashionable these days to march with a banner waving: Some have marched to the
following:
"Ban the
Bomb"
"No Nukes"
"Equal
Rights"
"Women's Lib"
"Strike"
"Save the
Everyone marches to some banner, even
if it is not written on a placard and held for all to see, all one has to do is
look and listen to find out what banner they march to. Our very lives should reflect the very
glory of God … and thus show Him off as our banner.
ILLUS: The other
night I took our family dog for a walk.
It was a full moon, so bright that we cast a shadow as we walked
along. But of course the moon has
no light of its own. It shone, and
it lit us up so brightly, because the sun was shining on it. It merely reflected the sun's
light. In the same way, we have no
glory of our own, only such as is reflected from the light of Christ that shines
upon us. That is what we live for:
to bask in that radiance, to reflect it, to bring it to the world around us, not
for our own sake but for the praise of his glory. -- John
Guest in Only a Prayer Away.
Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 2.
PROP.
SENT: The Scriptures
teach us that as God's people we are to raise high the Lord Jesus as our Banner
for all men to see! We do this by
how we speak and what we reveal in the way we live! The Lord is our
Banner!
I. BANNER OF GOD'S AUTHORITY
Ex. 17:8-9
A. Attacked! Ex. 17:8
1. Forces of this world are opposed to
God and His people!
2. Our walk with God will be
challenged by this world!
a. The world will challenge our
values.
b. The world will challenge our faith
in God.
c. The world will challenge our
passions and emotions.
3. You cannot live godly and go
unchallenged in an ungodly world!
a. Society will challenge your
sincerity and faith.
b. Sickness may challenge your trust
in God's goodness.
c. Trials will challenge your patience
in God's will.
d. A permissive moral atmosphere will
challenge your spiritual discipline and God's ideas of right and
wrong.
4. Ultimately however, it won’t be the
challenges or the damages from the challenges that win, but the testimony in
spite of the challenges that we lift up!
Crippled hands raised to God in glory can be a great
banner!
ILLUS: Five or
six years ago I visited a church in Connecticut. In the middle of the Eucharistic
liturgy, when the whole congregation was kneeling and singing the "Alleluia," I
saw a woman near me with her hands lifted in praise. The thing was, those hands were terribly
twisted and gnarled, and she had a pair of crutches near her. Dear Christ, I thought, what makes
Christians sing "Alleluia"? Clearly
there was something besides self-interest welling up from that woman in the act
of praise. -- ames S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale
House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 17.
B. Attacking!
Ex.
17:9
1. Standing with the staff of
God!
a. Moses’ staff was the symbol of
God's authority and power.
b. It was a symbol or banner of God's
presence and authority!
c. Notice Moses took it to the top of
the mountain for all to see!
d. He wanted
e. Moses held this authority and power
in his hands, so do we today!
ILLUS: The gospel
is not defense, but rather attack, and it is up to the world to decide its
position! The gospel is glad
tidings; and we will not allow the gladness it gives to be taken from us!
-- Martin
Niemoller in Exile in the Fatherland; letters edited by Hubert G. Locke. Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no. 15.
2. Top of the hill was Moses' place of
prayer, he often went to the top to pray and be with
God.
a. Symbol of prayer as the source of
receiving this authority.
b. It is by prayer that God's gives us
His authority and power.
c. The disciples learned this with the
boy who was an epileptic in Mark 9:14-29,
their authority in trying to cast the sickness out of this boy didn't work, when
they asked Jesus why, He responded that they hadn't
prayed!
d. If we don't pray we won't receive
God's power or authority!
e. We dare not stand up against this
world or Satan unless we have God's staff in hand!
II. BANNER OF GOD'S ABILITY Ex.
17:10-13
A. Army!
Ex. 17:10-12
1. The effective nature of carrying a
banner is determined by having more than one person marching to
it!
2. Different responsibilities – one
heart of unity!
a. Joshua led the actual
fighting.
b. Moses prayed and held up the Lord's
staff and gave God's orders.
c. Aaron and Hur supported Moses'
weakness, they helped support him in his weakness – as his arms tired they help
keep them up!
d. They all had different jobs to do
but one heart to do it! And one
banner to march to!
e. By working together God was able to
show Himself strong through His people and they were able to be victorious! It took their unity for His power to be
demonstrated!
ILLUS: During
Operation Desert Storm, the Iraqi war machine was overwhelmed by the Coalition
Forces' ability to strike strategic targets with never-seen-before
accuracy. Unknown to the Iraqis,
the Allied Supreme Command had dropped Special Operations Forces (SOF) deep
behind enemy lines. These men
provided bombing coordinates for military targets and first-hand reports on the
effectiveness of subsequent bombing missions.
To avoid unintended targets,
pinpoint bombing was often required.
A soldier from a SOF unit standing on the ground would request an
aircraft high overhead to drop a laser-guided missile. Using a hand-held laser, the soldier
would point at the target. The missile would hone in on the soldier's target for
the hit.
In much the same way, the prayers
of Christians focus the attention of the spiritual powers on high. -- Steve Schertzinger in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching
& Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership.
3. Their unity was evident by their
mutual support and that support was an indication that God was their
banner!
B. Assurance Ex.
17:13
1. In prayer and unity there will be
victory!
a. You will note that while Moses kept
his arms up with the help of Aaron and Hur it states here that Joshua overcame
the enemy with the sword!
b. It was the combined efforts of them
all working together under the same banner that allowed them all to win that
day!
2. The disciples on the day of
Pentecost were "in one accord" and victory
came!
3. When
ILLUS: God will
inevitably appear to disappoint the man who is attempting to use him as a
convenience, a prop, or a comfort for his own plans. God has never been known to disappoint
the man who sincerely wants to cooperate with his own purposes. -- J. B. Phillips (1906-1982) -- Edythe Draper, Draper's
Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc., 1992). Entry
4468.
4. Joshua had victory, not because
they were just good fighters, but because God was their banner – this assured
their victory!
III. BANNER OF GOD'S ACTIVITY Ex.
17:14-16
A. Announcement! Ex.
17:14
1. Memory serves as a fact that God is
our banner, His activity is recorded in our life's
story.
a. It is good to remember what God has
done; it is like waving the banner of the Lord's
goodness
b. It is a banner we can continue to
march to!
2. Moses was told not only to write it
down for memory but to be sure Joshua is told about
it!
a. This is why we should give
testimony to God's goodness.
b. A testimony is like waving a
banner.
ILLUS: One Sunday
on their way home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said,
"Mommy, the preacher's sermon this morning confused me. The mother said, "Oh? Why is that?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said
that God is bigger than we are. Is
that true?" The mother replied,
"Yes, that's true, honey." "And he
also said that God lives in us? Is
that true Mommy?" Again the mother
replied, "Yes." "Well," said the
little girl, "if God is bigger than us and he lives in us, wouldn't He show
through?" -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 303.
c. It is not enough to write down in
our memories what God has done; they need to be spoken to our
brethren!
d. We are to announce that God is our
banner and our power!
B. Altar (Prayer & Praise) Ex.
17:15-16
1. When we are weak we have an altar –
one of prayer and praise.
a. The altar was a place to bring a
sacrifice; here it was a reminder of hands lifted up to the throne of God – of
prayer!
b. The very purpose of an altar was to
be able to bring a sacrifice.
c. We are called to offer up to God a
“sacrifice of
praise.” (Heb.
13:15-16)
2. Praise is another way of waving the
banner. It is not as much about an
“experience” as much as it is about an “expression” of God as our
Banner.
ILLUS: I am
dismayed by the popular phrase "worship experience" to describe the church's
corporate worship. Worship has the
capacity to transform us, because it focuses our hearts and minds on God--God
seen in one another, in ourselves and in the world around us. However, the phrase "worship experience"
suggests that worship is important because it induces feelings. In this context worship is focused more
on the worshiper than on the One worshipped. ... We need to ask ourselves what a
true worship experience is so that if we had one, we could recognize
it. -- Mark Horst in “The
Christian Century” (Nov. 11, 1987). Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no.
2.
3. Jesus himself was our sacrifice, “the Lord our
Banner!” He said in
John 12:32 "But I, when I am
lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto
myself."
CONCLUSION: Which banner are you waving before
the world, banners of equal rights, of liberation, of no bombs, or some other
temporal thing? These by themselves
will never bring a lasting change to the world, only the “Lord our Banner” can
do this! In your life wave before
the world the real banner – “Jehovah-Nissi” – THE LORD OUR BANNER! It is a banner you can march to and live
by!