You know, the Book of Judges, of course, is just a continuation of the stories of Joshua.
You know, of course, it was Joshua who would lead the children of Israel into the promised
land. And, you know, after they had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years,
finally the next generation, it was their time to go into the promised land.
And, you know, when you see these stories of Israel and their journey,
you know, coming out of Egypt, you know, when they applied the blood of the Passover
on the doorpost, that represented, you know, spiritually salvation.
Well, they came out of Egypt and they were delivered by the hand of the Lord that very day
when they applied the blood, and that's a picture of salvation.
And then the Lord would lead them, and then the Lord would, you know,
demonstrate to them that the commandments, and Moses received the Ten Commandments,
they would put themselves under the law and under the old covenant system.
And, you know, that's just a representation of after we're saved, now we start to understand
God's Word and hear and know our Lord God more so.
Like, what are the things that He requires from us?
And, of course, the Lord wants us to go into that promised land.
The promised land is a representation of a successful Christian life.
You know, a blessed Christian life where it's flowing with milk and honey and,
you know, we're just resting in the promises and the trust of our Lord and Savior.
But, of course, the children of Israel were afraid to go in the promised land.
Remember the story, and the Lord was angered with them,
and they were then to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.
And, you know, many times your Christian life right now might be in the wilderness.
I'm not sure, but, you know, essentially we have a decision to make.
You know, do we want to wander in the wilderness?
And wandering in the wilderness will require you to have a lack of trust in the Lord.
You know, not seeking His direction, not following His commandments.
Or you can choose to live a fulfilled Christian life in the land of promise, in the land of Canaan.
And so, of course, Joshua would be the one that would lead the children
of Israel into the promised land.
But it wasn't easy.
It wasn't like they just crossed the promised land and that's it.
It's all done.
No, no.
Well, there were challenges.
There were enemies that were the Canaanites.
And the Lord had asked the children of Israel to do what with the Canaanites?
To destroy them.
To wipe them out completely, or for them to just flee out of the land,
just to get out of the land completely.
And, of course, if all their enemies had left the land and they had taken,
you know, done exactly what God required, they would be living a much more peaceful life.
As that chapter was being read, you could see that some were put under tribute.
So sometimes the Israelites decided, well, you know, you can stay on the land.
You're not a threat to us.
As long as you pay taxes toward us, we'll keep you on the land.
That's not what God asked of them.
Okay.
And you'll start to notice, you know, and if this is a representation of a Christian life, you know,
you need to understand that the Canaanites,
if we want to take a spiritual application for our lives,
the Canaanites represent our sins.
You know, we have sins.
We have uncleanness in us.
And, you know, the Lord's desire is for us to wipe it all out.
The Lord's desire is that we walk in his Spirit.
That we walk in the new man.
That we would walk in close fellowship with the Lord.
But sometimes we just, we allow those sins to just stay there.
And it's, is it easy?
It's not easy.
It's like going to war, right?
Your spirit is warring against the flesh.
We know that about the dual nature of man.
And there are some, you know, some enemies that they're able to overthrow.
And some, they decide, well, you just stay there.
You just pay taxes.
And then there are some enemies that they just can't defeat.
Okay.
And if you look at Judges chapter one, verse number one, it says,
Now after the death of Joshua, so it's just a continuation of the book of Joshua.
If the end of Joshua, Joshua passes away.
So it's just a continuation.
After the death of Joshua, it came to pass,
that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying,
Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
And the Lord said, Judah shall go up.
Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.
And so we have a different tribe.
So who's to go up?
And I'm not going to, you know, break that down very much to you.
But basically, as they're going out and conquering the land of Canaan,
the tribes are deciding, you know, what parts of the land are we all going to take?
What parts are going to belong to the tribe of Judah?
What parts are going to belong to the tribe of Benjamin?
What have you, right?
That's all being divided.
And so there, the tribes are going up,
and they're trying to conquer these people and take the land for themselves.
And then it says in verse number three,
And Judah said unto Simeon his brother,
Come up with me into my lot, that we might fight against the Canaanites.
And I likewise will go with thee into thy lot.
So Simeon went with him.
And this is great that two tribes are coming together to defeat the Canaanites here,
in this event here.
And sometimes, you know, it's wonderful.
And of course, it is wonderful to be in church.
And you know, when we're together with a brother or sister in the Lord,
sometimes we're able to do even greater things than what we can do individually.
And so, of course, our individual life
and our individual testament before the Lord is important.
But when we come together as a church,
we're able to accomplish much greater things than we can
as a single person or a single family.
And so it says in verse number four,
And Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites
and the Perizzites into their hand.
And they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.
And look, we're not going to go through the whole chapter.
You know, I'm not going to break it all down.
But I just want you to understand what's happening.
All right, they're conquering the land,
they're defeating the Canaanites,
they're taking, you know, pieces for themselves
and the cities for themselves.
And then let's drop down to verse number eight.
It says,
Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem
and had taken it and smitten it with the edge of the sword
and set the city on fire.
And so they conquered Jerusalem.
Right, you know, I don't know if you realize that,
Jerusalem was a city of the Canaanites.
You know, it was the enemy city, as it were.
It was a place that had to take over.
We often think about Jerusalem as, you know,
the capital city of Judah.
Of course, it was eventually.
But at this time, it was the enemy.
It was the enemy stronghold.
And then verse number nine, it says,
And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight
against the Canaanites that dwelt in the mountain
and in the south and in the valley.
So, you know, they're conquering,
you know, it's a long process.
And again, if, you know,
the Promised Land represents our Christian life,
getting sin out of our life is a long process.
I mean, you think day number one, you get saved.
Now I'm sinless.
I've made it past time.
Some people act that way.
And they think there's something wrong with you
if you haven't defeated all your sins
or something like that.
You're not living right enough.
By what standard?
Because the only standard I know
that requires that, you know, lives up to salvation
is the standard of Christ.
And I don't know about you, brother,
but I have not reached that standard.
And I know I never will until Christ comes
and gives me that new resurrected body.
But even though that's the truth,
God wants us to be fighting these battles in our life.
We have battles.
We have sins, brethren.
We have iniquities.
We have weakness.
We have things in our hearts,
probably even right now,
that the Lord has displeased that.
That saddens the Lord
and the Lord wants you to overcome that.
Okay.
So the battles are taking place here.
And let's drop down to verse number 18.
It says,
I want you to really pay attention to verse number 19
because this is where we get the title for the sermon from.
And the Lord was with Judah.
Reverend, the Lord is with you.
You know, in your Christian life,
the Lord is with you.
He didn't just save you and leave you alone.
All right.
Now do your best you can.
No, he's with you every step of the way.
You know, in order to get rid of the sins of our life,
we're not going to do it on our own.
It has to be the Lord.
The Lord is the one with us.
It says the Lord was with Judah.
And he, that he is Judah.
And he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain,
but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley
because they had chariots of iron.
Okay.
They had chariots of iron.
Title for the sermon this morning is chariots of iron.
Chariots of iron.
Reverend, there are some sins that you struggle with
that are chariots of iron.
I'm sure after you got saved,
you were successful in overcoming certain sins in your life.
I'm sure you're still successful today overcoming.
As you grow in the Lord,
as you mature,
as you become more Christ-like,
you're finding greater victories.
You know, in the promised land that God wants you to have.
There are some inhabitants of the land,
some sins that you can drive away with the Lord's help.
And you're like, man, I'm doing well in life.
Yeah, you know, I'm growing.
I'm living a more holy life, a more separated life.
I'm getting the sins out of my life.
Praise God.
And then you're like, now I'm going to tackle the next sin.
And you find that that sin is a chariot of iron.
This is not an easy thing to overcome.
In fact, as it said there,
it says, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley
because they had chariots of iron.
There are some sins in your life ever since you got saved.
Maybe you've been saved for decades
and you still can't overcome that sin.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
You're, it's all individual.
I don't know what they are to you.
I have some.
And brethren, the chariot of iron.
And you're like, I can't, I just can't defeat this thing.
What is going on?
You know, I mean, I've had success in other areas of my life.
But I just can't.
I just seem to fail every time that temptation comes.
I fail.
I stumble.
I can't defeat him.
It's a chariot of iron.
I mean, a chariot of wood, I guess I could light it on fire.
But the chariot of iron's not going to burn down with fire.
I mean, this is the beast.
This is the tank.
These are the tanks of Israel's days that they're trying to defeat.
What do I do?
Chariots of iron.
And so I wanted to preach about that today, brethren, because I guarantee in your life
you have chariot of iron sins that you just can't, you just lose every time.
You just can't defeat it.
It's there day after day, after week after week.
It's just a constant.
Just a constant.
And you're probably exhausted.
You're probably at a point where you say, pastor, I can't do it.
Just like Judah couldn't.
It's just impossible.
And what happens when you have that mentality?
If this is impossible, you give up.
I'm just going to take care of that.
That sin can just remain in my life.
I'm just going to fail all the time, every time, because it's just too hard for me.
And Lord, you haven't delivered me from this just yet.
What's going on?
Well, if you can come with me to Joshua chapter 17, so the previous chapter,
come with me to Joshua chapter 17.
The purpose of this sermon is to help you overcome chariot of iron.
The purpose of this sermon is so it can help me overcome chariot of iron
that I have in my life.
I was thinking about why.
There are certain sins, Lord, that I just can't win.
Why?
You know?
And some people might say, well, maybe it means you aren't saved,
or I'm not saved.
There's nothing to do with it.
Salvation is the blood of Christ.
This is now sanctification.
This is now Christian living.
How well, you know, do you want to live a life of Christian wilderness,
or do you want to live a life of land flowing with milk and honey?
I want the milk and honey.
That's what I want in my life.
I know you want that too.
Look at Joshua 17 verse number 14.
We have another situation about this time the tribe of,
I believe it's the tribe of Manasseh,
and they're having difficulties with the Canaanites.
They're having difficulties because, again, there are chariots of iron involved.
And look at Joshua 17 verse number 14.
Joshua 17 verse 14.
And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua saying,
Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit,
seeing I am a great people,
forasmuch as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto?
We know, of course, when it comes to Joseph,
there were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim,
and they were a great tribe.
They were large.
They were a significant portion of the Israelites.
And they're saying to Joshua,
why do we have such a small piece of land?
We need more for our people.
We're a great people.
Verse number 15.
And Joshua answered them,
If thou be a great people,
then get thee up to the wood country,
and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites,
and of the giants,
if Mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
He goes, look, you want more?
You want more success in the land?
You need to go to the woods.
You need to go to the forest and start clearing some land.
You need to cut down the trees, right,
and open a greater portion of land for you.
You need to get busy, guys, you know.
You need to do something more, you know.
Yeah, don't be satisfied with the narrow piece of land that you have.
And my encouragement to you, Brevin, is don't be satisfied.
Say, well, I've got this chariot of iron.
We're just going to put up with...
No, don't.
You can overcome that.
You know, you can have a greater fulfilled Christian life,
but it requires you to work.
It requires you to go to those woods and cut down those trees.
I mean, look, if you just stay idle in the Christian life,
you're never going to grow.
In fact, I don't think you can even stay idle.
You're either growing or you're going backwards, as far as I'm concerned.
It's hard to just remain idle because it's a race, right.
Well, we're either going forwards or we're going backwards
or we're off the race or whatever it is.
And then it says in verse number 16,
And the children of Joseph said,
The hill is not enough for us.
And all the Canaanites, look at this,
that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron.
So they're up on a hill.
They've won the hill.
Great.
But we need the valley too.
And we just can't defeat them.
They've got chariots of iron.
Joshua, come on.
Like, what's going on?
We need to find a solution here.
Then it says,
Both they who are of Bathsheon and her towns
and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.
So there's a few places that have these chariots of iron.
They're having a hard time conquering the land.
And now we're going to start seeing some solutions
to the chariots of iron.
How do we overcome these sins, brethren?
How do we live a better, more fulfilled Christian life?
How do we finally have victory of those sins
that have bothered you day in, day out,
and just never have victory?
I love how Joshua responds.
Verse number 17,
And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph,
even to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying,
Thou art a great people, and hast great power.
Thou shalt not have one lot only.
Brethren, what I love about this is
Joshua reminds them exactly who they are.
He says, number one, you are a great people.
Point number one, brethren,
for you to overcome your chariots of iron.
You need to remember who you are.
Who are you?
You say, well, I'm a sinner.
Yes, you are, but you're saved by grace.
Amen.
You're a sinner saved by grace.
You say, I'm weak.
Yes, yes, but you have access to God's strength.
You say, pastor, I'm not very talented.
I don't have a lot going for me, pastor.
Yeah, but you have the Holy Spirit of God living in you.
You have the Lord God.
Who are you?
Just remember who you are.
Look, I know the importance of being humble,
and I'm not trying to remove that whatsoever,
but remember who you are.
You are a great people.
You are.
You are someone great.
You are a child of God.
You are a child of the King of Kings.
If you can keep your finger there in Joshua 17
and come with me to Romans chapter nine.
Come with me to Romans chapter nine, please.
Romans chapter nine.
Please remember who you are.
You have eternal life, brethren.
This is not the end of you.
This life, you continue to live forever and ever.
You have eternal life.
You have access to the kingdom of heaven.
You are in the kingdom of heaven.
I mean, think about who you are.
You're a child of God.
You've been born again.
Just think about who you are.
I mean, is there anyone greater on the earth compared to us?
There is no one.
It doesn't matter how rich someone is.
It doesn't matter what their heritage is.
It doesn't matter what their title is.
You know, whether you consider the American president
as the most powerful man on the planet.
That guy's been, that guy's a, I don't want to get sidetracked,
but that guy's definitely not the most powerful man on the planet.
I'll tell you that.
Or whether you think it's the King of England
or some royal title, wow, you know,
the whole life being broadcast in the media.
But I'm telling you, there is no one greater than you,
because you're a child of God.
And we need to remind ourselves just who we are.
Are we going to let these chariots of iron defeat us?
When God has promised you his land,
he's promised you a successful Christian life.
Are we just going to, I just can't do it, Lord.
I just can't beat these chariots of iron.
Remember who you are.
You're in Romans chapter nine, verse number 24.
Romans chapter nine and verse number 24.
It says, even us, whom he have called, not of the Jews only,
but also of the Gentiles.
I always need to pause there, right?
Just a reminder, you know, all of that,
we've all been called, right?
Of all people, salvation's available to all.
And look at verse number 25,
because not just the Jews only,
but also of the Gentiles.
Because again, there's that misunderstanding
that a lot of Christians have, verse number 25.
It says, as he saith in OC,
OC is Hosea,
as he said in Hosea,
as the book of Hosea said about the Jews and the Gentiles, okay?
I will call them my people, which were not my people,
and her beloved, which was not beloved.
Brethren, God calls you his people.
You are God's people.
Who are you?
Your importance.
I mean, we know how majestic our Lord God is.
We know how great he is.
We know he's the greatest being, you know,
he's not even compared to his creation.
And that same God that we talk about,
you are his people.
You belong to him.
And it says you're his beloved.
Is that what it says?
Beloved, which was not beloved.
Lord loves you.
Beloved, I think of that as a very close,
I think of that sort of as my wife.
I would say my wife is my beloved,
one of the closest person I have in my life.
I mean, you are the closest people that God has.
He loves you deeply, sincerely.
He cares about your life.
God has a plan for you.
God wants you to defeat those chariots of iron.
He loves you.
Remind yourself just who you are,
regardless of what background you have,
Jews or Gentiles,
you're his people, you're his beloved.
Look at verse number 26.
And it shall come to pass,
that in the place where it was said unto them,
ye are not my people,
they shall be called the children of the living God.
That's who you are.
Children of the living God.
When you introduce yourself to someone,
Hi, my name is Dan.
I'm a child of the living God.
Of course, we wouldn't say that,
but that's who you are.
I mean, you're saying that's a bit faster, you know.
That's a bit holier than that.
It's not wrong.
That's the reality of who we are though.
Really, you are a child of the living God.
And, you know, when you understand that,
and you understand how much God loves you,
and how much he wants you to enjoy your life,
and live a fulfilled Christian life,
then you remind yourself,
hold on, these chariots of iron,
how can they stop me?
How can they stop me?
Surely, I've got the ability.
Surely, I have the resources to defeat these chariots of iron.
And I think once you have that belief,
again, not in self,
but in who we are in light of God,
then you'll be able to finally make a decision
to overcome those chariots.
You know, many times in life,
we don't accomplish things because we think we can't.
But once you realize, you know what, I can.
That's finally when you're actually going to achieve something.
And again, we're doing it through our Lord.
We're recognizing who we are in the eyes of the Lord.
I mean, the world doesn't see us that way.
You know, the world doesn't look at us as God's people,
as his beloved,
but we know that's the reality.
That's what God's word reveals to us.
Come with me to First Peter chapter two,
First Peter chapter two, verse number nine.
You all know this passage.
First Peter chapter two, verse number nine.
But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood.
Royal priesthood.
Think about that.
Royalty.
We're part of the royal family.
Again, we've been made kings,
but we're also part of that priesthood.
And holy nation are peculiar people
that ye should show forth the praises of him
who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Reverend, we are in the marvelous light of Jesus Christ.
You think those chariots of iron
are stronger than the marvelous light of Christ?
Can't be.
It says there, verse number two,
which in time past were not a people,
but are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy.
I love that part as well.
Okay, we've obtained mercy.
And of course, salvation.
God's been merciful to us.
Okay, but you know the chariots of iron that you have?
When you lose?
When you've lost?
I thank God that it's not wiping me out or something,
because he's a merciful God.
I've got his mercy.
Lord, I need to try again.
I need to fight this battle again.
The chariots of iron, I can't give up.
Lord, be merciful to me, please.
This is a challenge.
Lord, even your people in the Old Testament
were challenged with the chariots of iron.
Lord, this is a chariot of iron.
I need your mercy.
We need that.
I love our God of mercy.
Anyway, the next thing that Joshua said,
remember he said,
he goes, I'll just read it to you.
Thou art a great people.
And then he said, and hast great power.
Do you believe that?
Do you believe you have great power?
I'm not some charismatic Pentecostal here today.
You know, just a show of fake power.
I mean, people speaking in gibberish.
Look at the power of the Holy.
How's that powerful?
What is that doing?
What is that accomplishing?
Nothing.
People falling down and what's the word?
What's that?
Writing?
I don't know that word.
You know, whatever, you know,
shaking and trembling on the floor
and I've been slain in the spirit.
What is that?
How's that great power?
I mean, how's that changing anyone's life?
How's that changing the world?
And we have great power.
I don't think we tap into the power
that we have as much as we think,
or as much as we should.
Because you do.
You do need great power
to overcome the chariots of iron.
Come with me now to 1 John 4.
And I know we looked at 1 John not long ago as a church.
But just a reminder,
1 John 4, please.
1 John 4.
What is this great power that we have?
And again, we're not looking at power in our flesh, are we?
Because we know in our flesh we're but weak.
We know in our flesh,
that's why we lose to the chariots of iron.
This great power is not in the flesh.
But it says 1 John, 1 John 4, please.
1 John 4, 4.
The Bible reads,
ye are of God, little children,
and have overcome them,
because greater is he that is in you,
than he that is in the world.
We're talking about the Holy Spirit power right there.
You know, the moment you got saved,
the Holy Spirit made a home in you.
And he is a spirit of great power.
A powerful, we have a,
our powerful God living.
Have you thought, like think about that.
Like living within us.
The great and powerful God living in us.
Greater is he that is in you,
than he that is in the world.
So when you understand that,
if God's words are true here,
then can we overcome the chariots of iron?
Like, really again,
you know, next to the power of God,
that chariot of iron is easily defeatable.
Right, because that's where your struggle is.
It's some karma, some earthly,
some fleshly sin that you're struggling with.
But the Holy Spirit is greater than that which is in the world.
Come with me to Acts chapter 1, please.
Acts chapter 1, verse number 8.
Now Brethren, in order for you to really experience that power,
there is one which I think is the greatest way for you to utilize it.
We need to, yes, we recognize we have the power,
but how do we utilize the power?
Right, I mean, I can have maybe a nuclear weapon in my house,
but if I don't know how to operate the buttons of the machine,
it's not going to do anything.
Right, we need to be able to utilize what God has given us.
And let me encourage you to remember this passage of scripture.
This is shortly before Christ ascended to heaven.
In Acts chapter 1, verse number 8.
Acts chapter 1, verse number 8, it says,
but ye shall receive power.
After that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
You notice that once again,
that power being associated with the Holy Ghost.
Christ is telling his disciples,
they're going to receive that power.
And ye shall be, look at this,
and ye shall be witnesses unto me,
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea,
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Brethren, we need to utilize the power that God has given us,
and that power can be utilized by being witnesses of Christ.
Jerusalem, Samaria, uttermost part of the earth.
Wherever we are, God wants us to access that power
that he's given us in his Holy Ghost,
to do something great for him, to witness,
to point people to Christ.
Look, this is a soul winning church.
We go out on the streets and we tell people about Jesus.
We tell people about the gospel.
Okay, and it's not about boasting.
Look at us, and we're just, it's the instruction.
God, that's what Christ has left us to do.
And brethren, we need to open our mouths.
We need to tell people about Christ.
This is utilizing the power that God has given us.
I mean, what is more powerful than telling someone
who's on their way to hell, how to be saved,
to clarify the way of salvation in Christ Jesus alone,
for them to put their trust on Christ,
and now be on the way to heaven?
I mean, what's more powerful than that?
You've changed someone's eternal destination.
Again, we're not boasting of self, are we?
We're boasting of the power of the Holy Spirit
that God has given us to be his faithful witnesses.
I mean, it is possible to boast in the flesh,
but at the end of the day,
if you want to utilize that power,
brethren, start witnessing.
And you can do amazing things.
Like again, does the world care about that?
Oh, you just converted someone to your faith.
The world doesn't care.
Well, you converted someone to your cult or something.
But we know the power of the Lord.
We know that person, no matter what happens now,
they've trusted Christ.
They're going to go to heaven.
They might be in the wilderness.
Hopefully, they find themselves in the promised land.
But even if you find yourself in the promised land,
you know there are challenges.
There are enemies.
There are sins that you need to defeat
as we continue trying to live that life
that Christ wants us to live.
So utilize the power that God has given you.
If you don't witness for Christ,
you are denying that power as you were.
You have it and just not using it.
You say, pastor, but I can't do it.
I can't preach the gospel.
Yeah, you can't.
That's why the Holy Spirit has given you the power to do it.
I can't defeat the chariots of iron.
You're right, you can't.
That's why we need the power that God has given us
by His Holy Spirit to overcome those chariots of iron.
Come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, please.
2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse number 5.
2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse number 5.
2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse number 5.
Before we read this,
you guys know that sometimes when I preach,
I tell stories about my life.
Sometimes the stories show me to be the hero.
Sometimes my stories show me to be the villain or the loser.
It doesn't matter.
As long as something in my life can help you illustrate something,
some truth in the Bible doesn't matter.
But my goal, every time I tell a story about my own personal life
and how God has helped me,
I'm always saying things like,
you know, I'm trying not to boast of myself.
Because really I'm not.
I'm not here behind the pulpit trying to preach my life to you.
Because my life is not a very high standard.
We're trying to preach Christ's life,
which is the standard we're all trying to achieve.
And Paul kind of refers to this here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse number 5.
He says,
For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord,
and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
All right.
So it's not about me.
It's not about Paul.
It's about Jesus.
All right.
And look, sometimes I'm going to preach things that even I struggle with.
I have chariots of iron that I struggle with.
All right.
But you know what?
Even if I'm struggling with something,
or I'm preaching something that my life doesn't match up exactly,
I still have to preach it.
Because we're preaching Christ's standard.
We're preaching to him.
And you know, I also need to learn from the sermons that I preach.
You know, as long as it's coming from God's word,
I need to learn.
I need to apply those things too.
You know, we have a God of mercy.
We saw that earlier.
You know, and we know we're not up to some perfect standard.
We know we all struggle with different sins
and chariots of iron or what have you.
You need to have mercy on me and I'll have mercy on you.
Okay.
God is merciful to us all.
But we're preaching Christ.
Look at verse number six.
For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
have shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Because you want to know more about God's glory?
We need to learn more about Jesus.
More about Jesus all the time, brethren.
Church is about Jesus.
Soul winning is about Jesus.
Fellowship is about Jesus.
Whoever cleans the toilet, it's about Jesus.
Whoever picks up rubbish on the floor, puts it in the bin.
It's about Jesus.
Sometimes I have a brother in the Lord bring me a cup of water.
It's about Jesus, isn't it?
We're serving Jesus Christ.
It's not about you and me.
And then he says in verse number seven.
But we have this treasure.
This treasure is the glory of God in Christ Jesus
in earthen vessels.
We're in our vessels, our earthen.
Like we're talking about the glory of God, the power of God.
But then we were, oh, you know, earthen vessel.
The ones that struggle with the chariots of iron.
He goes, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels.
Look at this.
That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
You see that?
Pastor, you preach a good sermon.
And that was of God, I tell you now.
When someone says that to me, pastor, you preach a good sermon.
It wasn't of me.
You don't want to hear what I have to say if it's not of Jesus.
I've got nothing to say to you if it's not of Christ.
The power belongs to God.
And so remember that you've been given this power to, yes,
overcome the chariots of iron.
But the reason Paul is saying this is because it's so easy.
When you do well in life and God's helped you,
it's so easy to turn around and go, yep, pat myself on the back.
I'm doing well.
Yeah, it's all about me.
I hate pride.
Pride.
You know, but the problem with pride is it's easy to see it in others.
And it's hard to see it in yourself.
Like, pride is a secret, very subtle sin that we have.
And we need to remind ourselves, whatever we achieve, whatever we do, great for the Lord.
You need to remind yourself, Lord, it's because of your strength.
It's because of your light.
It's because of your glory.
It's because of your help, Lord.
Thank you for helping this weak earthen vessel to do something for you.
I've often said to you, you know, when as soon as you say,
Pastor, I don't struggle with pride.
I'm a very humble man.
Yep, there's the pride.
You just don't see it.
Everyone else sees it.
You just don't see it.
But you see it in everybody else.
That's what's strange about it.
You see it in everybody else, but you don't see it in yourself.
And as soon as you don't see it in yourself is when you become prideful.
It's such a strange sin, the sin of pride.
And don't forget, pride goes before destruction.
And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Pride goeth before destruction.
And a haughty, haughty lifted up spirit.
Look at me.
Look how well I'm living my life.
It's because of Jesus.
Give your thanks to Jesus.
Remember, you're a great people, but you have a great power.
But as soon as that power starts to become about you, pride, you're going to fall.
You try to take on the chain of iron with pride, you will fall.
You will fail, you will lose.
I will fail, I will lose, if I think it's about man.
No, it's about Christ.
So Brevin, the first two points that I have for you is remember who you are.
You're a great people.
Secondly, remember what you have.
You have a great power within you, the Holy Ghost.
Okay?
And remind yourself constantly, whatever you do, whatever you succeed in,
you thank God for what you've been able to do.
Okay?
Don't pack this earthen vessel because that's pride.
Now come back with me to, did you keep a finger Joshua?
I'm sorry if I told you not to, but Joshua 17.
Joshua 17.
Joshua 17, please.
So we're looking again at the house of Joseph.
They wanted to expand the land.
They said, but we can't, because again, chariots of iron.
They're in our way, these people down in the valley there.
And then verse number 18.
Joshua 17, verse number 18.
Joshua continues to speak to them.
He says, but the mountain shall be thine, for it is a wood.
Or again, a forest.
Okay?
And thou shalt cut it down.
So again, why are you talking about this?
The forest and why?
Look, Joshua, we're interested in overcoming the chariots of iron.
But Joshua's telling him, look, you got forest, you got woods, cut them down.
Okay?
And then he says this, and the outgoings of it shall be thine.
For thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
Reverend Josh says, you will overcome the iron chariots.
Even if they're strong, you will do it.
But notice what he says, focus on the woods, focus on the forest, focus on the trees.
Do you think defeating the iron chariot, chariots of iron, or cutting down a tree is easy?
Which one's easier between those two?
Obviously chopping down the tree is easier, right?
The tree's not going to fight back, all right?
The chariot of iron, you're not going to cause a lot of damage.
He goes, look, focus on the forest, focus on the trees.
Reverend, you know what this tells me?
Is that when you've got a chariot of iron and you fail time and time and time again,
you will have the feeling, I'm just going to give up.
What's the point?
You know, I'm just going to stay idle.
Josh says, look, get busy somewhere else.
You know, there are some things you just, it's going to take time to overcome.
But you will overcome them.
But look, until that happens, focus on the woods.
Until that happens, focus on the trees.
Do what you can do.
And Reverend, if you have a chariot of iron,
or you have several chariots of iron in your life that you're trying to overcome,
don't give up.
Don't be like, oh, what's the point?
This Christian life is too hard.
Look, focus on the things that you can do.
There are other sins, weaker sins that you can overcome.
You can go and knock a door and give someone the gospel.
You can go out as a silent, say, I can't do that.
That's a chariot of iron for me.
To knock on someone's door and open my mouth.
Okay, cut down the tree.
Be the silent partner.
You don't have to say anything.
Just go and be an encouragement to the brother who's willing to open his mouth.
You can do that.
You can carry the tracts.
You can carry the bibles.
You can do that.
Focus on that.
I'm passing, my whole family's falling apart.
You know, focus on your marriage.
Focus on your spouse.
I tell you now, if you have a good marriage,
your children are naturally going to be blessed by those results.
But we can't do everything all at once.
You can't defeat every chariot immediately.
But there are other areas in your life that you can serve our Lord God.
Don't be idle.
Don't give up.
Yes, God knows about your chariot of iron.
But there are other things that you can do in life, can't you?
I'm sure there are many other things,
many other ways that you can serve our Lord Jesus Christ.
Get busy doing that.
And as the Lord sees you getting busy doing that,
you know what he's going to do?
He's going to give you the growth and the ability.
I guess once you're chopping down tree after tree after tree,
you're going to grow in muscles.
You're going to grow in strength.
All right, cutting tree after tree after tree.
At some point, you'll be strong enough to finally defeat those chariots of iron.
But get focused.
Don't be idle.
Don't stop.
Don't give up.
Point number three is don't give up.
Stay busy serving the Lord.
Philippians chapter 1 verse 6 says,
being confident of this very thing,
that he which have begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
What is that saying?
This good work that God has begun in us,
the moment you got saved, will be completed when Christ comes back.
What is that saying?
That God is the one doing the work in you and it's a process.
It takes time.
That's why I don't, you know, I know we all struggle.
We all have temptations and weaknesses and sometimes in the past,
I get to hear it more so than the average person.
But I don't think bad of you.
Like you don't tell me things.
I'm such a bad Christian pastor.
I got issues too.
God is working in us.
It's a process.
And you know what?
It's a process until Christ comes back.
And for the people that inherited the land,
look, the Cainites were a problem forever.
Pretty much.
Okay.
I mean, it's a constant issue.
But we know what God's required.
God wants us to get rid of our sins.
He wants us to have victory.
So don't be idle.
Don't give up.
Do what you can.
Remind yourself God is the one doing a work in me
and he is continually working in me.
So why should I give up?
As long as you remind yourself the power comes from God
and not from your own strength.
Because yeah, if you're relying on your own strength,
you will give up.
You will fail.
All the time.
Okay.
Those chariots are buying.
Now, if you can come with me to Judges,
come back with me to Judges.
So from Joshua to Judges,
Judges chapter four,
Judges chapter four.
So let me tell you those three points once again.
Remember who you are.
Okay.
You're great people.
You are important.
You're special.
And remember what you have.
You have that great power,
the Holy Spirit of God.
And point number three is don't give up.
Stay busy serving the Lord.
All right.
And in time you will overcome that chariot of iron
like Joshua promised.
Okay.
But let's say you defeat the chariots of iron.
I did it pastor.
I've gone six months sober.
I don't know.
Whatever it is.
All right.
Sometimes it's very easy to...
Let me put it this way.
Once you defeat the chariots of iron,
you have to maintain it.
If you think,
woohoo!
It's all done.
It's all over.
And then you start to rest easy.
Those chariots are going to come back.
Okay.
So look at Judges chapter four.
Judges chapter four and verse number one.
And you know the story of the judges.
I mean Israel serves the Lord.
The Lord blesses them on the land.
Then they turn against the Lord
and they get overcome by the enemies again.
Still the Canaanites again.
I mean just over and over again, right?
They climb close to the Lord.
The Lord delivers them.
He sends a judge to help the nation.
And then they turn against the Lord
again and again and again.
You see this process playing out
constantly in the book of Judges
if you know that, right?
And so this is one occasion where this happens.
Judges chapter four verse number one.
It says,
And the children of Israel again did evil
in the sight of the Lord when Ehard was dead.
And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin
king of Canaan that reigned in Hazor,
the captain of whose host was Sisera,
which dwelt in Harasheth of the Gentiles.
And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord,
for he had nine hundred chariots of iron,
and twenty years he mightily oppressed
the children of Israel.
Look, they finally had victory over the Canaanites.
But what do they do?
They did evil in the sight of the Lord.
And the Lord says,
All right, if that's what you want,
if you don't want to walk with me,
if you don't want to walk in my paths,
I'll let you go.
Let you be.
I'll hand you over.
Okay?
And then we have Sisera.
He's the captain of the host.
He's got nine hundred chariots of iron.
And look, and twenty years
he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
You might have gone twenty years
defeated by those chariots of iron.
It can happen.
But I want you to notice
that they came back,
the chariots of iron came back
when they did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Remember, the next point that I have for you is
stay in close fellowship with the Lord.
You have to maintain it.
All right?
Don't turn your back on the Lord.
It's so easy.
In my life, I know.
All right?
Things are going well in life.
Woohoo!
No issues.
My problems are sordid.
Or they're minor problems.
Don't have to, you know,
not a big deal.
And when that happens,
I don't know what it is about our human hearts.
I don't know what it is.
But we just go,
Lord, I've got it from here.
Thank you.
I'll handle it from now.
Isn't that how it is?
And you know,
once you say that to the Lord,
whether subconsciously or consciously,
when you say that to the Lord,
now your flesh starts to,
there's an opening here.
And before you know it,
chariots of iron back in your life,
before you know it,
the victories you once had,
you're failing again,
you're losing again.
You thought, I had victory.
I thought I won this battle.
There it is again.
You see, Brevin,
we need to maintain a walk with the Lord.
We need to maintain a close fellowship
with our Lord God.
So He's sung in the,
you know, in the garden.
And He walks with me,
and He talks with me,
and He tells me I am His own.
Brevin, we need to keep that going.
How's your marriage going to work out
if you don't spend time together
as husband and wife?
If you don't talk together,
if you don't plan together,
you know,
if you don't love together,
how do you think your marriage is going to go?
It's going to crumble.
If you don't spend time,
quality time with the Lord
in the garden alone with Him,
how do you think your relationship
with Him is going to go?
It's going to fall apart.
It's going to fall apart, Brevin.
And then the chariots,
they turn up.
And there you are again,
battling sins that you thought
you had victory over
five years ago,
ten years ago.
They're back.
And then again,
you might be like,
ah, it's too hard.
900 of them now.
It's multiplied.
It's gone even more difficult.
And so look,
if you have victory over sin,
especially chariots of iron type sins,
you need to keep the maintenance going.
You need to keep walking the Lord.
Remember, it's the Lord that gave you victory.
So how do you think you're going to
maintain victory without the Lord?
Come with me to,
drop down to verse number four.
So this is the story of Deborah and Barak.
All right, this is the next event.
And it says in verse number four,
and Deborah, a prophetess,
the wife of Lapidoth,
she judged Israel at that time.
And she dwelt under the palm tree
of Deborah between Rhema and Bethel
in Mount Ephraim.
And the children of Israel
came up to her for judgments.
And she sent and called Barak,
the son of Abinoham,
out of Kedesh Naphtali,
and said unto him,
Hath not the Lord God of Israel
commanded saying,
Go and draw toward Mount Tabor
and take with thee
ten thousand men
of the children of Naphtali
and of the children of Zebulun.
And I will draw unto thee
to the river Kaishon,
Sisera,
the captain of Jabin's army,
and his chariots,
and his multitude,
and I will deliver him
into thine hand.
Deborah's a great woman here.
The men are weak.
The men are so weak
that a woman has to stand up
and give direction to this nation now.
By the way,
when women are given direction in church
and their pastor in church,
it's because the men are weak.
But the Lord utilizes her.
She speaks truth.
She says to Barak,
What's taking you so long?
Don't you know the Lord wants you
to go and fight this battle?
You go,
But nine hundred chariots of iron,
they've come back in my life,
pastor.
I guess that's it.
No.
God,
you have to go and fight again.
It's time to fight again.
It's time to go back to the Lord again.
It's back to remind yourself
of who you are,
remind yourself of the power
that you have,
saying, Lord, I can't do it without you.
And I love it.
And I will deliver him into thine hand.
That's Sisera,
the captain of the nine hundred chariots.
God will deliver you,
brethren.
You have nine hundred sins
that you can't overcome.
You can do it.
You can defeat them.
Okay?
But the Lord is the one
that's going to deliver them
into your hand.
Drop down to verse number 13.
And Sisera gathered together
his chariots,
even nine hundred chariots of iron.
I mean,
like,
when he sees Barak come into fight,
he goes, you know what?
We need them all.
Let's get them all.
Let's get all nine hundred chariots.
He thinks we're going to easily
defeat Barak here.
No way,
right?
And all the people that were with him,
from Harashoth of the Gentiles
onto the river Kishon,
and Deborah said unto Barak,
Up,
for this is the day
which the Lord have delivered
Sisera into thine hand.
Is not the Lord gone out before thee?
So Barak went down from Mount Tabor
and ten thousand men after him.
So,
again,
she's reminding him,
look, the Lord's gone before you.
Again,
you need the Lord to help you
overcome the chariots of iron
when they come back.
All right?
Verse number 15.
And the Lord discomfited to Sisera
and all his chariots
and all his hosts
with the edge of the sword
before Barak.
And look, they've got the tanks
and all they've got are the swords.
But with the Lord's help,
he's able to overcome those odds.
So that Sisera lighted down off his chariot
and fled away on his feet.
But Barak pursued after the chariots
and after the hosts
unto Harashoth of the Gentiles
and all the hosts of Sisera
fell upon the edge of the sword
and there was not a man left.
Look, Barak,
and with the help of Deborah,
they had victory finally.
After 20 years of defeat,
they finally defeated
all the chariots of iron once again.
And the Bible said,
by the edge of the sword.
So how?
How can these chariots of iron
be defeated by the sword?
I mean, the sword's an inferior weapon,
isn't it?
Compared to the chariot of iron,
you'd think.
But again, it was the Lord
that gave him victory.
All right?
So Brevity, it might seem
you need something more,
but all you need is the sword.
And that's my final point.
Point number five
is utilize your sword
and your sword is the Bible.
Utilize God's word.
Can you come with me to Psalm 119?
It's the last passage.
Come with me to Psalm 119.
119.
And you guys all know this passage
that I'll read to you.
Ephesians 6 17
and take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit
which is the word of God.
Brethren, God wants us fighting.
There's a spiritual battle.
And brethren, those chariots of iron
is a spiritual battle in your life.
But you need to go to war.
You need to pick up the sword.
You got the sword passed.
It's not strong enough
against the chariot of iron.
It's not strong enough.
Yes, it is.
With the Lord's help, it is.
It's the Lord's sword.
It's his word.
You know, the Bible gives us comfort.
Yes.
The Bible shows us the way of salvation.
Yes.
The Bible teaches us how to live,
you know, a wonderful life.
Yes, it does.
But the Bible is also a sword, a weapon.
We need to go on the attack.
At some point, you need to say,
you know what?
I'm going to take down these chariots of iron
with the Lord's help.
And I know I can do it by the sword.
You're in Psalm 119 verse 11.
Psalm 119 verse 11.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart.
That I might not sin against thee.
I mean, you need to hide God's word in your heart.
You need to memorize scripture.
You need to read the Bible
and meditate on those verses.
You got a chariot of iron?
I don't know what your chariot of iron is.
Let's say it's the love of money.
All right, then you got to memorize that passage.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
Hide that in your heart.
Okay, and then when the temptation comes,
you know what?
You got to quote the scripture.
When the devil came tempting Jesus in the wilderness,
what did Jesus do?
He quoted scripture, did he not?
Jesus Christ gave us the example.
He worked for Jesus.
It's going to work for you.
It's the sword.
It's going to help you overcome the chariot of iron.
And that iron, when that chariot comes,
what's that scripture again?
Memorize it, remember it, quote it.
Lord, bring it to my remembrance.
There's something amazing about being able to quote scripture
in a time of temptation.
It'll help you.
You'll have victory.
You will have victory.
But you got to read the Bible.
You got to read it.
Whatever your chariot of iron is, brethren,
my strong recommendation is find the verses
about the sin you're struggling with.
Memorize, memorize it, memorize it, memorize it, memorize it.
It's like soul winning.
What makes you a confident soul winner
when you've memorized all the verses
that you're going to use in your presentation?
Just, you know, bang, bang, bang.
You don't even have to open God's word.
You can just quote it.
What's going to give you victory of the chariot of iron
is when you just can quote those verses
and you bring it to mind and you take out the sword.
You go, I can overcome.
I will win.
I know who I am.
I know what power I have.
I'm not going to give up.
I'm going to keep serving the Lord.
I'm going to stay in fellowship.
I'm going to utilize that sword.
Brevin, chariots of iron is a total for the sermon this morning
and you have them and I have them.
100%.
Okay, so just again, in summary, in conclusion,
number one, remember who you are.
You are a great people.
Number two, remember what you have.
You have a great power of the Holy Spirit.
Number three, don't give up.
Stay busy serving the Lord.
Okay, you having problems with chariots?
Cut down the trees instead.
All right, number four, stay in close fellowship.
Don't turn your back on him.
And number five, utilize the sword of the Bible.
Okay, let's pray.