Preparation #44 (Gideon part 2, The weapons of our Warfare)

Sunday, October  10,  1999

Brian Kocourek

 

Last week we examined the life of Gideon and we found his life to be like that of so many other men that God has called through out the ages. His life as we see it in the scriptures began in total obscurity.   There was no gradual dawn of events that proclaimed he had arrived, but his calling sprang forth from a need in his time and generation.  So was the coming of Elisha,  who emerged from among the seven thousand faithful but unknown men, not one of whom was known to Elijah.  John the Baptist came up out of the Wilderness.  Moses invaded Egypt from the backside of the desert. One man with One God. That's all it took to turn the world upside down in their day, one man yielded to his One God.

 

HAVE NOT I SENT THEE 62-0124   052   Now notice.  Gideon,  would been in a terrible condition. He was out there threshing out his wheat. And the first thing you know, he looked over there. And he'd just heard that prophet's message. Now, you'll get that in the 7th to the 10th verse; you can find where he met... The prophet come and gave the message, telling them that to remember that God was God; and He's the same God that delivered them, and for them just to return to Him. Now, wouldn't that be a message for today? My, certainly it would.

 

And since that is the Message for today I feel good in taking our time to study this great man of God, Gideon whom God raised up from a nobody to conquer the invading armies of the Midianites. One man yielded to his One God and they turned the plans of Midian upside down. Many of his countrymen must have passed this lonely wheat thresher many times while he was out tending to his fields and yet they had no clue that he was to become the deliverer of their nation. They might have seen that he was a hard worker, but that was about the all they knew about him. They never saw what God saw in him, and so many times throughout the history of man, God has looked down upon man and seen a need and supplied the people with their answer to that need not by sending forth legions of angels, but by coming down and selecting out from their midst one man, talking with that one man and using that one man to deliver their nation, or to turn the world of the enemy upside down, as we saw in the life of  Samson, and now Gideon.

 

HAVE NOT I SENT THEE 62-0124    054   Now, Gideon, when he was out there threshing his wheat, no doubt but that prophet's message was going through his heart, what that prophet said. "I'm the God of--of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. I'm the One that brought you out of Egypt. I'm the One that give you what you've got. Turn to Me." There he and his father out there threshing this wheat, and an Angel came to him--or he thought it was an Angel. It happened to turn out it wasn't an Angel; it was God Himself, 'cause it's capital L-O-R-D. You see?   055   And when He spoke to Gideon, Gideon was a little surprised. He said, "Now, mighty man of valor..." He didn't know he was. Maybe you don't know you are. You might be many of those mighty men of valor tonight, setting here. "You saying the--the little church, small group?" Oh, my. There was only two there, him and his daddy. There only has to be two here, you and Christ. That's all it takes to be a mighty man of valor. That's right.

 

Last week we examined this man Gideon and his calling by God and we saw in him so many weaknesses, and yet through all of those weaknesses, God poured forth His own strength. In perfect weaknesses he became strong. "In perfect weakness there is perfect strength". 

 

We examined the type of men that God chooses to call, and if you look into the life of every single man of God used by God throughout the entire scripture, you will find that He never does choose a man who is lazy, or indolent, and who is regarded as a failure in life. No, on the contrary, he uses men gifted with energy and ambition, and drive.

 

Now this does not mean that he uses their ambition, their energy or drive.  No on the contrary, he first beats it out of them until they come to realize that without Him they are nothing. God brings His men through the fiery trials of faith until each man learns how to submit his ambition over to God's ambition. His Drive over to God's purpose and his plans over to God's plans.  Brother Branham taught us that the real gift God gives to the man is to get himself out of the way. 

 

PROVING HIS WORD 64-0816  133  "What is a gift, Brother Branham, " It's something you know how to get yourself out of the way. See? As long as you're there, it'll never work. William Branham is the greatest enemy I got. See? But when I get him out of the way (See?), then Jesus Christ can use the body. See?

 

So we see the beginnings of the man of God, not just Gideon, but all men of God, how they begin in obscurity until God calls them forth from their hidden life. Then after God calls them,  He equips them for the ministry. And that gift that God equips them with is the ability to get their own thinking set aside, and let God's thoughts take over.

 

 

 

After God calls a man into His service, He proceeds to fit him for his special ministry. This is God's way, His Divine purpose and plan. Brother Branham taught us that if you are called to be a prophet, you were born with the gifts to be a prophet. If you were born to be a teacher you were equipped at birth to be a teacher. And so we see that there are two parts to Gideon’s preparation, and the first came forth in his previous life; and was shown forth or displayed in his occupation. Now the word occupation comes from the root word to occupy. And that is what so many people do. They just occupy a desk, or a position somewhere.  But their avocation is what speaks louder than anything else about their life, for their avocation is what they do with their time when they are not laboring in their occupation.

 

The apostle Paul was a tent maker by occupation but his avocation was to preach and teach the Word of God. David was a shepherd by occupation but his avocation was to write songs and psalms. Matthew was a tax collector, but his true calling came froth in his avocation as an Apostle and witness of Jesus Christ. Peter and Andrew were fishermen by occupation but God called them to become fishers of men.

 

And thus Gideon must have had an avocation beyond the farm work that he was so industriously applying himself to. And I believe God's word gives us a hint when we are told he was watched by the angel of the Lord doing his occupation (threshing out the wheat ) from behind the wine press. And thus the winepress speaks of the stimulation of revelation, and therefore, I believe His avocation was found in studying the word of God, and looking to see the hour and condition of the church. because when the angel of the Lord came to him, he knew that God's presence had departed from the people, for he said, If God is present then where are all the miracles? He knew how to worship and He knew how to sacrifice unto God, yet he was the youngest in his fathers household.  

 

IF GOD BE WITH US 61-1231E    029   And here comes a prophet out for that hour and gave them the Word of the Lord. Remember, He never give them some manmade theology. He said, "I am the Lord that brought you out of Egypt, show My mighty hand, showed My power." I'd imagine Gideon was setting right there listening at him. "I am the God that did these things. And I've done all this for you, and yet you've not obeyed My commandments. In all this, you have not done it."    030   Now, I want you to notice another thing that might encourage you. Immediately after that prophet's message, the Lord appeared on the scene. Amen. As soon as he gave his message, the Lord appeared under a tree. The Lord came after the message of the prophet, setting under a tree. The prophet gave... The people fell away, got off in their isms. God sent His prophet. Soon as the prophet got through with his message, the Lord followed the prophet's message for deliverance.  Oh, we are living in a grand time. Immediately when the prophet went off the scene, what happened? The Lord came on the scene. As soon as John went off the scene, the Lord came on the scene. Very strange how God works, but He does it, works in mysterious way.   031   We read the Scripture here, where Gideon, scared, out by the winepress, thrashing out enough wheat, before the Philistines or the Midianites found him. Him and his daddy, out there getting a little grub for their winter's food, thrashing it out secretly, so they couldn't find them. 'Cause they just come in like grasshoppers and took all they had.   032   That's the way the Devil does. We get a little church started, everything going fine. (How many preachers don't know this to be the truth?) Just about the time everything's going along fine, some old impostor will come right amongst that group and tear it to pieces (That's right.), snatch the church right from a man, if he can do it. See, that's the Devil. Come in like grasshoppers and take out what's been given. Now, when...     033   Gideon certainly was a Scriptural man. When the Angel of the Lord said to him... And if you notice, it wasn't the Angel of the Lord here. It said, "And the Lord," capital L-O-R-D. It was not an Angel. It was God. It was a--a theophany in a man, in the form of God, like appeared to Abraham back in the wilderness, and looked like a man. So therefore, being a Messenger, He was the Angel of the Lord.And He appeared to him. And He said, "Thou mighty man of valor," said He's going to take him, and deliver Israel by him.  034   And Gideon asked that question. What a Scriptural man that was. That's the kind of man that God comes to, somebody who knows. Gideon said, "If God is with us, if You are the Messenger, then where is the miracles that the prophet told us about?" He knowed everywhere God went, His miracles followed Him. He knowed that wherever God would be, miracles would be there.And how can you expect God today to work in amongst people who doesn't even believe in miracles? How can it be?And He called him a mighty man of valor. Said, "Now, by this, you're going to deliver Israel."Now, that looked like a man setting there, and it was a Man. And he looked at Him, and he said, "Nay, my Lord, if God is with us, then why is all this trouble upon us? And where is the miracles that we're told about? Where is the things that God used to do?"   035   Now, there is a good way to trust whether the messenger's right or not. If he has a form of godliness, he will deny that power to do those miracles. If he's a messenger from God, he'll not only speak of it, but he'll have it to produce it, and to show that the God that he talks about is with him and in him. He said, "If God was with us, where is all of His mighty miracles? 'Cause we understand..." Listen how Scriptural Gideon was. In otherwise, he said, "If... We understand that God is a great God of mighty workings. He's a great God of miracles. And if He is for us, and if He is with us, and He's the same yesterday, today and forever, where can I see His miracles? Where can I see this God in action?

 Where's He at, if He's for us?"   036   The mighty man of valor could refer back to the old Word and know It's right, because he knowed this, that God is a supernatural Being. And wherever a supernatural Being is, He'll do supernatural signs, because the supernatural is in Him. You just can't get out of it. How can you stand in the face of wind, without having wind blowing? How can you get in water, without being wet? Water's wet. That's the chemical of it. It's wet. And when you get in water, you're going to get wet. Right. And when you get in the Presence of God, the supernatural, there's going to be supernatural signs and supernatural workings of a supernatural God.

 

Last week we saw how the Lord sets the stage for the trial of our faith. He allows the enemy to come in like a flood, but we learned a Bible principle,  that when the enemy comes in like a flood the Lord will be there to raise up a standard.    

 

I PETER 1:6    Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:  7    That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:   8    Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:    9    Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls.

 

In the book of ISAIAH 59:19, we read… 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.  20    And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.   The Redeemer shall come to His People, His Elect.

 

Now, this week I would like to dwell on this principle. Because we are about to go through a time of great trouble and distress. A squeeze is predicted by the scripture to come on all those who dwell on the earth. An economic depression is prophesied to come in judgment and plagues are to follow and then the atomic fire, and we must be prepared for the beginnings of these sorrows, for surely the Lord has never in the history of His church ever came to them when every thing was turning up rosy.  He comes when the enemy has come on like a flood. And so we see the Lord set forth the scene. The Midianite army has come forth in such numbers that they appeared to be as many as the sands of the sea.

 

JUDGES 6:1    And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.   2    And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: [and] because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which [are] in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.  3    And [so] it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;   4    And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 5    For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; [for] both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.   6    And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. 

 

Now, let's look at this scene here. Did not God promise this scene would take place? In Deuteronomy chapter 28 He said,  DEUTERONOMY 28:15    But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16  Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field.  17    Cursed [shall be] thy basket and thy store.  18    Cursed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.  20    The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.   33    The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:     36    The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 38    Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather [but] little in; for the locust shall consume it.    43    The stranger that [is] within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.   44    He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.  45       Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:   46    And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.   47    Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all [things];

 48    Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all [things]: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.  49    The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;  50    A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:   51    And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which [also] shall not leave thee [either] corn, wine, or oil, [or] the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.   52    And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.

 

And so we see the setting, the Children of Israel had left off worshipping the One and True God and so Allowed the cursings to come forth as he had promised them. And He is the same Yesterday, today and forever.  Therefore we see for ourselves the set up.  God always sets the stage for His presence to be needed. And we see in the book of Judges the people were under siege by the nation of Medes.

 

THE SET - UP

A vast army of Midianites gathered against Israel. They covered the fields, swarmed over the valleys, and looked like grasshoppers for multitude, their camels were like the sands on the seashore. The hearts of the strongest sank and the people left the cities and hid in caves. And today we see the same fears coming upon the people. Leaving the cities and moving into hide-outs in the mountains fearing what is coming on the earth.

 

Every true follower of Christ knows what it is like to be suddenly confronted at times with what  looks to be “insurmountable odds” against them.  A work seems impossible, temptations increase, trials multiply, friends fall away and adversaries gather in numbers and become persistent in their attacks upon character, reputation, and happiness.  The temptation is so strong at times that to give up the combat and go back to privacy and obscurity seems the best solution. The heart grows faint and sick sometimes as we notice the enemy appeared to be without number. There is no doubt that at these times the elect of God would go down; had it not been for the  presence of God with them.

 

But we are promised by God in His Word at times like these, "when the enemy comes in like a flood then there shall be lifted up a standard against him. And we are so grateful that the standard can only be where the standard bearer Himself is, and that would in our midst. And the Shekinah Glory or Pillar of Fire is not God, but is an indicator of His Presence with us. For where it is, there He is also.

 

Now, it was during these times that Gideon was approached by the Lord to do His Work, but Gideon showed his weakness and requested God to show him a sign.  And you all know that there will be no more signs, for Brother Branham taught us that we have seen our last sign and there it is behind me on the wall. Isn't it interesting that we can not simply take God at His Word but we are such weak people that we continue to seek after signs to help us believe. Isn't it strange that we would seek after signs from Heaven rather than to rest upon the Word and faithfulness of God?  Gideon had been told that he should be the deliverer of Israel. The Spirit had fallen upon him. God had promised him that his presence will not depart from him, He said, “I will be with thee;” and yet here he was begging for a few paltry signs to be granted to his eyes, though the Lord Himself had spoken through his ears to his soul. The word of the God was not enough for this man. If he could just see some fleece drenched through and through with water, while the ground was dry all around, then he felt he could go forward and do the will of God. A little wet wool would be so convincing to the judgment, so vitalizing and inspiring to the faith that, after that, he would be able to go out and meet a perfect multitude of the Midianites!

 

Now, let's look at how God blessed Gideon.  When Gideon finally got the courage to blow his trumpet and call to war the sons of Israel to battle, 32,000 men of Israel showed up to fight. But

 

THE SIFTING PROCESS

Judges 7: 1- 3  (read)

Gideon had, after his summons, only thirty-two thousand men to oppose an army vastly larger. Hopelessly inadequate even as that number seemed, yet the Lord informed His servant that he had too many. The Lord knew knew the weakness of these men in this army that Gideon did not know. So the Lord sent a trial of their faith: "Let all that are fearful of heart return home, whereupon twenty-two thousand promptly went back.

 

 

 

This was, a fearful falling away, and really showed the fear among God’s people. Two out of every three in the army of Israel were cowards.  No doubt we see the same falling away today is due in part to great fear among the people. You visit some of these camps in the message and the people live in fear, and that is why they are afraid to approach the doctrine of the Presence and Godhead. They are afraid and so they stop moving forward.  But does this d\falling away weaken the church? I dare say not. For if it did not weaken Gideons army then how could it weaken the church of the Living God.   SHOW US THE FATHER 59-0419E  028   God can't use anything that's afraid. You know, Gideon had to send them all back was scared. And if you're afraid to testify of your healing before it comes, God can't use you. If you're afraid to tell the people you've received the Holy Ghost, don't worry, I doubt whether you ever get it or not. See? God wants heroes. He wants something that's brave. God wants something that'll stand up and talk, that's not a scared to tell your boss or anyone else, "Jesus Christ the Son of God has saved me from a life of sin."

 

Judges 7: 4 - 7 (read)    Next we see another falling away take place. The first falling away was from those who were afraid to take God at His Word. That was 2/3 of the falling away. Then the next third were those who were not even fit to be in the Lord's army and they gave away their fitness by a simple thing that they did. Can any one tell me what it was and why this showed they were not fit?    PERGAMEAN CHURCH AGE  60-1207   019   And you know why I like to stand and pray? Jesus said, "When you stand praying, pray, 'Our Father Who art in heaven... Then forgive one another.'" You see? And then Gideon chose his army one time by the ones that stooped and bowed down and lapped the water, or the ones that stood up and got the water. You see? So the ones that fell, they'd been prostrating themselves before idols, and he knew they wasn't subjects to go. So the one who stood with their eye up watching all the time. That's the way we do: stand and pray. Now, I believe in kneeling and praying too; but, standing and praying, I think it just means something to us somehow.

 

We have the same in this hour. The greatest splits in this message came over the Parousia doctrine.  No other doctrine in this message has caused so much fear and hatred to be shown.  The seven thunders and the return ministry preachers have been welcomed right in Jeffersonville at their conventions. None of the other doctrines which came forth among the message people have caused the people to fear like their opposition to the presence has.

And yet we saw another great divide come even among the Parousia ministers. Some began to preach a female Holy Ghost and led many into false worship. But what is strange is that the majority of the people in this message have gobbled that down and the fullness of the Godhead in the bride nonsense, and yet at one time these men of which some preached Parousia and others did not are now in the same camp, and they have left the camp of God over the true understanding of the Godhead. But they left, we didn't. they separated from the camp of the living God, away from his Presence, we didn't. And so to did the army of Gideon fall away, because God knew that in that army which was too many in number, that unbelief and pagan tendencies were still their, so God told Gideon to get rid of those who prostrated themselves in their pagan way.

 

One individual often does what a whole congregation is not able to perform. The “Three Hundred” of Gideon did easily what the fearful “twenty-two thousand,” who departed in fear could not possibly have done.  Last week we spoke of this brotherhood of the three hundred, so this morning I want to turn our attention to one more factor in this battle that is about to take place here in the book of Judges. 

 

Judges 7:  8 - 15

THE MIDIANITISH TENT

Look how the Lord took into consideration the failing strength and the sinking heart of his servant Gideon. He stepped in at critical times when he had lost almost all his congregation, and shows His divine love bringing assistances just at the very moment it was most needed. So He said to him:  “If thou fear, go thou with thy servant, down to the host and thou shalt hear what they say; and afterwards shall thine hands be strengthened.”

 

The whole scene is full of significance and suggestion. The talk in the Midianitish tent is still going on, still overheard and, to this day, still a great factor in the success and victories of God’s people. Many of us are permitted to go down and hear what our foes are saying. And, to our amazement, we have discovered again and again that they recognized God’s presence in  our lives, realized our full strength and were themselves already defeated in heart. We have overheard the talk in the tents of the world and found that, in spite of their swarming numbers, and sounding trumpets,  that sinners are anxious, disquieted and miserable. With all their bluster and show they rush to every place of amusement to drown their thoughts and forget their cares; they drink and travel not only to get rid of heart burdens, but to obtain deliverance from themselves.  And though you are openly ridiculed, yet in the recesses of their minds they respect you and when you enter their presence the dirty jokes stop and the filthy talk ceases. This tells you they know who you serve is the God of the universe.

I remember one time at Otis elevator One of the guys who would like to tease me about my commitment to God came to me and said he was quite concerned because of a storm that was coming very dark and fast. The rain had already begun and he couldn't go out to his car to go home, so he asked me to pray and I did and the rain stopped and the clouds went away and he knew what kind of god I serve.

 

Judges 7: 16-22

THE WEAPONLESS BATTALION

It is noticeable that the Three Hundred went into the battle against Midian without a single instrument of war. There is no mention made of their having anything in their hands but pitchers, lamps and trumpets, and none of these are considered military weapons by any country in any age. This 300 men of God, Gideon's army went forth to battle and achieved a stupendous victory without the use of sword, javelin, battle-axe or any engine of war. Oh if we as Christian would only learn this wonderful secret, that in the holy life we need no carnal weapons for attack or defence.

 

II CORINTHIANS 10:4   (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

 

There are the weapons we are to use in our warfare against satan. bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

 

As Israel never dreamed of walls falling down before a shout and armies vanquished by harp playing and singing, so to we entered into a life of consecration to God but we brought with us the power of argument, stinging replies and severe verbal retaliation, with all our other human and carnal methods which we think are necessary to protect ourselves, and do we by this advance God’s cause,  or do we only bring confusion.

 

A spiritual man knows that success never will come by the use of carnal weapons.  The Spiritual Christian knows he is perfectly safe in God and a victor over every kind of foe so long as he remains in God. Therefore if we are Genuinely godly people,  we should not be upset by attacks of tongue and pen, but rather we should just go on in our work without rushing before the public in self-defense or some sort of retaliation. It is perfectly wonderful to see how God can and does defend His own, and He has promised us that He will do so. He has said, “No weapon formed against thee shall prosper.” Even Jesus said, “They who live by the sword shall perish by the sword.” This saying can be applied to those who are always contending, snapping, snarling, insinuating, slandering and abusing their fellow beings. They will go down by just such weapons as they have pitilessly used on others.

 

A still more wonderful utterance is to be found in the Psalms in the words, “Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; therefore shall He deliver my feet from the net.” Here is a man who has had laid for him all kinds of traps, pitfalls and destruction but instead of studying the topography of the country, securing a guide, he turns his gaze upward and fixes his eyes on the Lord. He is not looking at his own feet walking the dangerous ground, but contemplating the God of Heaven. He acts as if he had no feet to guard or as if there was no danger before him. His thoughts are this; because my whole attention is given to God, my love, thought, labor, life, all fixed upon Him; “therefore!” will He devote His observation, love and power upon me. As our eyes are turned toward His face, His eyes are directed toward our feet. We have committed our all to Him, and He will save us from every evil word and work, from every false friend and open foe, and, in a word, from every pit that may be dug for our steps before our unobservant vision. Our eyes are on Him and His eyes are on us. What need do we of sword and cannon, of horses and chariots. What necessity for cuts and slaps, for crimination and recrimination, for explanation and retaliation? If we have elevated God as supreme in our hearts and lives, He will elevate us. “And now,” says David, “shall mine head be lifted up above all mine enemies.”

 

It was God’s way of reminding him that he must not trust in the bow or spear nor go down to Egypt for help, nor hire armies from Syria. The reassuring word is, “The Lord is my defense. The Lord is my shield and buckler. The Lord is my fortress and deliverer; my buckler and the Lord of my salvation and my high tower.” John Wesley was advised once to defend himself from certain attacks. His reply was that he was perfectly confident that the God, who had taken care of him thus far, could also preserve his reputation. History has thoroughly vindicated the truth of his statement.

 

When Brother Branham was told some things that someone had said about him, he didn't jump into the fight, he simply said, oh just forget it. Maybe the Lord knew I had need of that thing to be said, because all things work together for  the good of those who Love the Lord and are thee called according to his Purpose. II Cor 10:4-5