Exodus chapter 17 and verse 8. Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel and Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose this out men, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him. And he sat thereon, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi. For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. As we look at this, the idea of a banner. The banner over it should properly describe that which is in us. It was no dead or wounded thing left behind. It desires an intense loyalty of a banner. There's a famous picture of World War II in Iwo Jima as there's some Marines holding up an American flag. In the face of the fight, they didn't want that flag to touch the ground. It is a thing when you think about the flag of a nation, you don't want that flag to be dishonored and touch the ground. To burn it is a great disrespect to the nation. When you think about this idea, Christian, what evidence do we have of who we are? Could it be said that the Lord is my banner, Jehovah Nissi? Tonight, we're gonna be looking at Amalek and Eliphaz and Esau, a birthright and blessing, worldly living, a disrespect to parents and God, the killing of the old and weak, as abortion and euthanasia. Later in the Bible, King Saul and Samuel would finish off the wicked Amalekites. But as we look through some of these things tonight, we may or may not make it through, but God had provided everything for Israel. He had revealed or manifested himself in very many different miraculous ways. They're in the desert, and they're resting, and they come across, as they're in their desert wanderings, they come across Amalek, a bitter enemy of Israel. And God here would remind Israel that he was their banner. It seemed as though all of their troubles were over, they're in the wilderness, they're wandering through, things are going well, they're making their way to the promised land, things are, and then Amalek came and fought with Israel and reffed him. As you look at verse eight, well if you look at verse seven, he called the name of the place Masa Meribah because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, is the Lord among us or not? But we have here, they're traveling in the wilderness. There was no water. They begin to complain, we're thirsty, there's no water. And they just moan and complain. And then God provides them water. So things are good. They have food, they have the manna, they have water. They're doing well in the wilderness. They're making their way to the promised land. Everything seems okay. Then came Amalek. They had safely made it across the Red Sea. The bitter water was made sweet that God had, and here we have that there was bitter water and God makes it sweet for them. Rock gave streams in the desert. Food continually every day, the manna. Their shoes and their clothing didn't wear out. It seems like things are going okay. Finally, things have settled down. Then came Amalek. Now Amalek was a grandson of Esau. Remember Jacob and Esau? The man who sold his birthright to Jacob for a meal of pottage. Genesis 36 tells us this. The Amalekites would be the first of the nations to oppose Israel after God's people left Egypt. This is the first enemy that they faced. And they're not even wanting to get into war. They want to just pass through the land and just carry on. But the Amalekites don't want that. If I was to hold up a flag up here, a particular flag, maybe the Canadian flag, maybe a city flag, a provincial flag, a community flag, whatever it is, I held up a flag. And I was asking what that flag meant. What was the history behind that flag? What is the sacrifice of that flag? What are the principles? And then the million-dollar question is, do you live up to the principles of a very flag that you would hang up? And I want to say tonight, may we let our life hold the banner of the Lord high and not droop into compromise and selfishness. Let's pray and we'll continue our study tonight here in Exodus chapter 17. Our Father, we thank you for being our most wonderful and gracious Savior. We thank you for the goodness and mercy that you so graciously bestow upon us. Father, I thank you that we have a banner. We don't need to raise our own banner, but Lord, we can raise the banner of the one who is eternal, one who is in control. Lord Jesus, I love you and I need your help tonight as I preach your precious word. Give strength to my voice. Father, I pray that you would provide the meat and the refreshment and the nourishment from your precious word this evening to those who have come and those who are listening. Lord, I love you. May you be exalted and glorified. May your name be lifted up in Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen. As we think about the Lord, our banner, knowing God is Jehovah Nissi. In Psalm 60, verse 4, it says, Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. When you have a banner, whatever that banner is, there was a thing I know, as I was raised growing up, We would as a young kid. I did grow up in the States and every morning when I went to private school We would do our pledge of allegiance We do our pledge it pledge to the Christian flag every day Knowing that this is To whom I'm following obviously not the the nation, but I'm following Jesus Christ Many countries have a pledge or an oath of allegiance to the flag of their country and A pledge or oath made upon citizenship and intention. And when I joined, when my wife and I got our citizenship, we made an oath to Canada. And people have an open allegiance to many things in their lives. Some are private and others are personal. Some might be to football or hockey, wearing a team's jersey, Wearing a particular players jersey Which it'll look with me in Matthew chapter 10 verse 32 and showing of our allegiance Matthew chapter 10 verse 32 There should be a Bible in your pew if you'd like to borrow that you're welcome to use those Matthew chapter 10 verse 32 In Matthew chapter 10, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. See, a saved person is going to show their allegiance to the Lord. They're going to want to tell of their salvation testimony, of what Jesus did and how they came to know Christ. They'll have no problem coming forward, acknowledging their sins. They'll have no problem coming forward and giving a submission to Christ. Jesus gets all of me. In fact, I just received a video today from a gentleman, a pastor, in regards to this idea of giving. You know, we think about like the law, and then you think about someone who's a witness, and as Christians, we're witnesses for Christ. And man, I want to tell them how I came to know Jesus as my Savior. baffles me how some may not want to share their salvation testimony. We think about our allegiance to Jesus Christ. In Matthew chapter 28, would you look with me, verses 19 and 20. Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. The Bible reads. At the end of Matthew Chapter 28 verse 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Father and of the Son of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. The goal, Jesus here, talks about teaching, teaching, teaching, going. And it's important to get the gospel of Jesus out. It's important to teach about the truths of this precious book. Someone who is shows an allegiance to Christ there will be obedience and as Christians showing our allegiance and openly declaring I belong to Jesus and I my speech declares it my actions declare it and the very thing is a saved person will speak of their allegiance. I belong to Christ We just talked about Psalm 107. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so Whom yet redeemed from the hand of the enemy man, I'm excited Jesus freed me has he freed you tonight and There's kind of a shyness today. People just say, I don't talk about politics. I don't talk about religion. You know, many are forward about their political views. We are in a political season. It may be critical of those outside of your political genre or political segment, right? And yet so little said about Christ. In allegiance. As we think about this, allegiance, it really defines, if you show your allegiance to one, you're defining who your adversary is. Would you look with me in the book of Deuteronomy, the fifth book in the Bible. In Deuteronomy chapter 25, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 25 we'll come back to Exodus Deuteronomy chapter 25 When you show your allegiance and your affinity your Consecration if you would unto Christ your submission unto Christ. I'm saying who I'm not Connected with on the wedding day to my wife. I said I do to her and I don't to every other woman I Deuteronomy 25, verse 16, for all that do such things, all that do unrighteously, For all that do such things and all that do unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord thy God. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way when you were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, it's talking about the same situation here of Amalek, and smote the hindmost of thee. What did he do? And it goes on to say, even all that were feeble behind thee when thou was faint and weary and he feared not God. What did Amalek do? Amalek, Israel's marching through the desert, and Amalek says, ha! They've got their tired people in the back. They've got their unhealthy people in the back. Let's attack the rear ranks. It's a very cowardly position. But they defined, I mean, they came, Israel was tired, they're faint, they attacked. Verse 19, therefore it shall be when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about. The land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it. Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amlek from under heaven. Thou shalt not forget it. What does God say? With God as my banner, God's gonna deal with my enemies. This defines our adversary. God is my banner and God will fight my enemies. But we also note something here in verse 18. The last few words, last five words of verse 18. And he feared not God. You see, Satan and his followers, they fight in the same way. They don't fear God. Wickedness leads to pollution, disease, and a lack of provision. We just saw when Hamas attacked Israel. October 7, 2023 and thousands died, captured, hurt, and destroyed. Those same leaders today, most of them are dead. A lot of them are dead. Now Israel is in gross sin against God. The large portion of Israel rejects Jesus as their Messiah. but they still have the Abrahamic promise upon them. Genesis chapter 12, 15, 17. But nevertheless, in the Christian's life, we have something that those who do not follow Christ have. I have Christ as my banner. And God is saying, yes, Amalek attacked you, but Amalek will be no more. When you have an allegiance of God, the Lord is my banner, you'll know your enemy. Look at me at 1 John 4, verse 2. There near the end of the New Testament, near Revelation. 1 John 4, verse 2. You'll know your enemy by whom you show your allegiance to. Because if I'm totally for God, then those who are not with God are against him. It's kind of easy. You know, you go out on a hockey rink and you have a particular color of jersey on, uniform. The opposing team has a different color jersey on. or a different logo, a different team name. There's something to distinguish. When I am for a Christian, when I am, the Lord is my banner, it will be easy to see that I belong to Christ. And Amalek, he feared not God. Yes, there might be someone that gives assent, they give mental acknowledgment that there's a God, but they don't fear, they don't show reverence. Submission. In 1 John 4, verse 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. This is that spirit of antichrist wherever you have heard that it should come even now already. Is it in the world? You see we're to test and know our enemy Does our enemy What do they think of Jesus How do they treat? Jesus, how do they submit and surrender to Jesus? If someone is not given to wanting to serve Christ and surrender to Christ, they want Jesus to do for them and Jesus to do this for me. It's all about me and not about Jesus. They're showing a different allegiance. Now I want you to understand this, that your enemy knows you. In Ephesians 6, 12, where we wrestle not against flesh and blood. but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Can I tell you, as I've been dealing with on Sunday nights, help out of the hole and no hope, that Satan is fighting you and those incidents of trauma and tragedy and heartache from the past, unless the Lord heals that, will continue to plague my heart and my spirit. And I've got to get the strength from God to fight to be able to combat and to heal those scars. Because otherwise, my enemy, he knows where my weaknesses are. He knows my hurts. He knows my struggles. And he's going to try to use those unresolved things in your life to control you. Look with me at 1 Peter 5, verse 8. If you're still there in 1 John, just go a few books back towards Matthew, 1 Peter 5, verse 8. We are not just in a chemical world, a physical world. There is a literal spiritual world with which we combat. And I talk with And I think up here in the north, I think people have a greater appreciation, a greater recognition, I would say, of the spiritual realm than sometimes those in other areas of the country. And understanding that there's a lot of spirits, demons, and other such things in our area and all over. And Satan, in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8, be sober. Be vigilant, be sober, be aware, be vigilant, be on guard. Because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. There's a kind of a picture sometimes that goes around on social media, and it's of a kind of a pack of, you'd say, zebras. And there's a smaller zebra that gets off by itself. And you find this female lion chasing this one zebra that's off by itself. people might say, and the idea, and there's oftentimes little quotes or little memes around that, but the idea is that if he can get me by myself, if he can get me out of the church, if he can get me away, alone by myself, away from the fellowship of God's people, away from the fellowship of God, he can get me, considering all of my circumstances, get me away from God's people as we all bundle together, unite together through the word of God, He gets me away from that, alone by myself, He can devour me and destroy. See, if you're in battle and all the army is all together, and they know exactly what their job is to do, where they're to be, If you're on a hockey rink and your team members, man, you are a well-oiled machine. You're just doing all the fundamentals. You're knowing how to do some of these trick shots. You all work together as a team with a focus. It's all about the team. It's gonna be a lot harder for that opponent to come against you. Satan's desire is to get that banner to come down. to lessen that Lord is my banner, to get you off by yourself, feeling sorry for yourself, feeling sad. Now I know we're all going to feel sad at times, but he wants to remove you from the fellowship, the strength of God's people. In Amos 3, it talks about walking together and being agreed. There in Ecclesiastes, he's talking about threefold cord. It's not easily broken. Satan spies and stalks on us to find your weakness in mine. You know, we all have weaknesses. Every one of us have a weakness in our life. But here's something else. Your allegiance will determine who are your associates. Who do you hang around? In 1 John 2, would you go back with me there? 1 John 2, verse 22. I remember, and I've told this story a lot to the church, but I remember I had some friends of mine, and I graduated high school, I was in university, and then I went into the military. And I came back home for a short time to be home for Christmas or something like that with my friends. or to be with my family, but I also wanted to see some friends and say hello and see how, you know, how new life was going and the new journey and all of this kind of stuff. So anyways, I went to go hang out with them and they said, hey, let's go to the bar. And I said, I don't do drink anymore. What? You know what? They didn't ever call me again. I wasn't going to drink with them. They didn't want to be around it. God did something in my heart and life, and I said, I don't want to be a part of it. And they didn't want that. They wanted to continue to do as they wanted. 1 John 2, verse 22, who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Who is their Lord? Can I tell you something? The Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons and other cults, Jesus is not God to them. It's not going to be a close friendship. I know sometimes it might be in your family and you can't change that. But you can't claim the banner of Christianity and deny that Jesus Christ is God. You can't bear the flag of Christianity and claim Jesus as the only way and then add baptism or some other works to it. You just can't do that. Here's something else in this idea of allegiance. Look at me at 1 John 3, verse 10. You see, if your allegiance is to Jesus, it's going to affect and impact your lifestyle. You're not to be seen in your language. the things you like, the things you don't dislike. And I understand we're all at necessarily a different spiritual level, but there ought to be a desire that as Jesus is my banner, it's going to impact. Some of you that I've talked to, they say, movies that I used to like, I don't like them anymore. There's other things that kind of happen in our life. And for myself, the same thing, or music I used to listen to, I don't listen to anymore. In 1 John 3, verse 10, this, the children of God are manifest. That means revealed. And the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness. Now, the righteousness here is meaning that which is right and pleasing to God. Doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. But the idea here is God saying, number one, you're going to seek to please God and there ought to be a love for the brothers in the Lord, right? Brothers and sisters. What is their lifestyle? 1 John 3, 10. Do they manifest this if Jesus is their banner? Verses 14 and 15. We know that we have passed from death into life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Where is their love? They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out. that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. What happens? You'll have times in the church that people come in, they're apart, but they're not like you, they're not unified in the word of God, and they show their allegiance or lack thereof. They're not of us, he's saying. There's things of life, the people of God, and you know, would you be comfortable, those who don't fear and reverence God? What is your lifestyle? What is your love? What are your loyalties here? If you think about this whole thing of allegiance, man, we have a banner. And I remember back when I was in the military. And again, I was in the US military. I was not in the Canadian military. But we would have to make a declaration that I will defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That constantly was pounded into our minds. The principle the foundation of what we were to base our citizenship physically speaking was the Constitution That was the source of our liberties. That was the source now ultimately all of this we know comes from God But I would say in the Christian life that the Word of God this is our Standard and our banner because it tells us of my allegiance to Christ and just helps me to stay, man, more submitted, more surrendered. It directs my activities. Realize this, sometimes we stand and fight, sometimes we move, and sometimes we charge. If someone has a problem with the word of God, then they have a problem with God. I'm gonna ask you, do you do what you do in your Christian life out of devotion, right? Matthew 11, 28 through 30 talks about his yoke is easy. Or you do what you do for God because it's what I'm supposed to be and it's a burden. I remember when I was younger, I used to read the Bible because that's what good Christians do, they read the Bible. You know, when I would wake up in the morning, I'm like, You know, the good Christian's supposed to read through the Bible in a year. I need to read three chapters. You know, it got burdensome. You're just like, oh, this is terrible. Here's a pastor saying it's terrible. No, the problem was I was doing it to just fulfill some sort of personal satisfaction that I'm a good Christian. Check, I did that for the day. Can I tell you, God's not concerned with that. He's concerned with your heart, whether you read one chapter, whether you read five verses, whether you, it doesn't matter, but God wants to speak to you through his word every day because he wants your heart. And I've said this many, many times. I said, I could say I love you to my wife in a very angry fashion, but I told her I love her, didn't I? And she'd be like, I don't know about that. It ought to, this banner, the directing, this, man, Christ is my banner, it directs my activities to Saul. The banner of the Lord was burdensome. He ended up, as he would there with King Agag and the Amalekites, he spared them, and he would lose being king. Wow, but God, we save the best for a sacrifice. Isn't that good, God? Isn't that good, God? I went to church and I did this, but God says your heart was so far from me. Can I tell you, God, if you're just doing activities for Christianity because that's what good Christians do, God doesn't want it. God wants your heart. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Who is your banner? David had a love. He served and obeyed others, and he had a lineage of Christ. There was a clear direction. There was a purpose. There's a standard. They were in their place, and they followed God. I want to ask you, does your banner and your actions, do they line up? Do your actions come under Jehovah Nissi, our banner? As we think on those tonight, I'll save it further next week for experiencing Jehovah Nissi, and I'll talk about this, I'll finish up here for tonight, and we'll come to our prayer time, but I just want to ask you tonight, as you think about this here, one of the nations didn't fear God, and one nation did. Now whether one nation, You think about Israel and you think about the apostles. God was their banner and they went to death for it. Because Jesus was their banner. Jesus was their allegiance. Then there's other instances. Peter and Silas, they're in jail. There's Peter in jail and they're singing and they're rescued out of prison. Sometimes it's escape, other times it's death, but irrespective, I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for Jesus. Jehovah Nissi, the Lord, is my banner. And as you think about this, and Moses built an altar and called the name of Jehovah Nissi, and here he were, his hands were heavy, and they held up his hands, and they won. Because God did it. God did it. We'll talk about next week how to win in your spiritual battle. You see, Christians, so many times that banner is not clear on whom our allegiance is to. Settle that my allegiance is on Jesus. He gets the first of my time, the first of my thoughts. Jesus is the first. Now follow Him. many times there in the military and boot camp and those sorts of things trying to break down the military recruits in the early days and learn how to just follow the directions of their commander. I'm telling you God wants us to follow him not because yes we've come to an end and we realize that Jesus we come to Jesus for salvation realizing Jesus forgave me of all my sins. Praise the Lord. Jesus gave me life, eternal life, freedom from sin. Hallelujah. Amen. But if He can do that for me for eternity, why can I not follow Him daily? Why can't I not just give Him my allegiance? Get into the book. I'm telling you, Christian, man, it's exciting. Jesus is our banner. But what does that mean in your life? How do you live it out? We're gonna have a time of invitation here. I'll have a hymn, number 272, The Solid Rock, but I'll have this music playing while you have some time to just pray and talk with God during invitation period. But is Jesus your banner? Is the Lord your banner? Yes, he is. Now ask yourself, do my actions. align with an allegiance to Jesus Christ? Would people know that I belong to Jesus Christ by how I live, by how I talk, by how I conduct myself? As you think on these truths tonight, as we come to a time of invitation, if you're new here, this is just a time of quietness to pray and talk with God wherever you're seated in your pew. There's no one coming up to you, nothing else, just the music playing and you and God to talk. So with heads bowed and eyes closed, I want to just challenge you, just take some time to pray and talk with the Lord. When you're done praying, we'll sing number 272, The Solid Rock.