How to achieve victory over the flesh by examining the battle between Israel and Amalek in Exodus 17. Amalek is presented as a type of the flesh, the old fallen nature that believers continually struggle with. The sermon highlights that victory is not achieved by destroying the flesh but by breaking its power through faith in the risen Christ and the application of God's Word, the "sword of the Spirit." The dual scene of the battle in the valley and Moses' intercession on the mountaintop illustrates that while believers must actively fight the flesh, ultimate victory is secured by Christ's ongoing intercession in glory.
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I've been on two previous studies. We're going to read again from verse 8 this morning, Exodus chapter 17 and verse 8. Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with a rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did, as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and her went up to the top of the hill.
The kinder passed on 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 there on. And Aaron and hers 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. And Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Now Israel's first adversary after they were delivered from Egypt.
And we identified that adversary as Amalek. And we saw that he is a type of the flesh, that old fallen nature that each one of us has. And we saw several illustrations of Amalek's activities against Israel, not but in following generations. For, as we were reading, the Lord is going to have war with Amalek from generation to generation. The flesh is not something you get rid of. The flesh is something that causes you trouble has always caused God's people trouble and always will until the rapture when we get our new, perfect bodies.
Quite a number of you have expressed to me the feeling, your feeling, that the messages were the last two on Amlic were directly intended for you. Well, now that's the reason for that, of course, is we all have the flesh. It is just as much for me as it was for you. And it was for all of us because we all have the flesh, and the flesh is just the same in every one of us. It's self, our old self, our old fallen nature.
But now we're going to look this morning at the way of victory over the flesh. And we see that very beautifully illustrated here in the victory that was won over Amalek. As I've said, this was not a permanent victory, but we'll have more to say about that later. You know, the Bible is full of surprises. We have seen Moses. He was certainly the key figure in Egypt. He was certainly the key figure at the Passover, and in the deliverance seed.
He has been very prominent all through until we come to chapter 17. Now, one of the surprises of our Bible is that Moses, while he feels a very, very important position in this victory, he was out of sight. During the whole of the battle, he was not seen. Or you'll notice by our reading here, we have a two-fold scene. We have what took place on the mountain, on the hilltop. That would be of the site.
And then what took place in the valley. Now that's what would be seen. I want to illustrate it a little later, when we look more definitely at it, Now, I imagine all of us at some time or another have looked at a baseball game on TV. And you will remember, you sports enthusiasts, that when somebody gets on base, who is a well-known base stealer, well, the camera focuses on him, because he may take on off at any second, and that first jump is going to make all the difference whether he's safe or not.
But then we don't want to miss the action of the home plate. And so the other cameras focused on the home plate. And there we're watching to see what the batter's going to do, and what the catcher is going to do. And then you remember they give us a composite view, and you can see home plate with the activity there, and then over here you see first base with activity there. Now I thought that's a perfect modern illustration of what we have here. God is showing us what goes on on the mountain and what goes on in the valley, because the two are very closely connected, and what goes on in the mountain and what goes on in the valley together determine the outcome of this battle, so that something is going on up there on the hilltop in our incident here.
And that is very crucial to the outcome of what we have down in the valley. But down in the valley is where the actual struggle goes on. There's no struggle up there in the mountain. It's down in the valley there. That's where the war with Amalek is carried on. That's where the battle is joined, and that, as we shall see, illustrates the battle that the believer has with the flesh, the old fallen nature that causes us so much trouble.
Now, another thing we notice before we get right into it, It doesn't say very much in the story about Israel, the nation, but it speaks about four men. There's Moses, there's Aaron, there's her, and there's Joshua. Now Moses, I scarcely need to say anything about him after all he's studied, but he is here as the advocate. top as Israel's advocate with God.
Aaron, you remember, was the high priest, the brother of Moses, and her was from the royal tribe of Judah. And Joshua, whom we read of quite prominently here, this is the first time you read of them by name in your Bible. This young man, Joshua, comes on the scene here for the first time. Now you read a great deal more about him. He became Moses' successor. And when we get to studying our chart, particularly the going into Canaan, Joshua will be very, very prominent.
Now his name in the Hebrew is actually Jehoshaphat. Jehoshua, which means the Lord, our Savior. The Greek form of the word Jehoshua is Jesus. That's why in the epistle to the Hebrews you read in chapter 4, if Jesus had given them rest. Now that isn't our Jesus, that's Joshua. That's referring back to the Joshua who led the children of Israel into the land of Canaan.
But you see his Greek name in the New Testament is Jesus. So he's going to be very prominent here. And as I've said, we're going to see a lot of this young man, Joshua, as the one leading the people of God into the land of Canaan. now I've said Moses is out of sight during all this time that the battle goes on in the valley he's there on the mountaintop as the advocate of Israel now let's look at the struggle You get that in verses 8 and 9, and you'll notice that it's a battle that goes back and forth.
Notice that. For a while, Israel prevails. Then Amalek prevails. And then Israel prevails and then Alec prevails. Now, if all we had was the account of the valley, we would say, well, that was because Joshua and his men, they fought a little harder at one time. But we shall see when we get to the secret of this victory, we'll see that it's what took place up there in the mountain that had to do with who was prevailing down there in the valley.
Now, I'm going very slowly and deliberately because I want you to get hold of this. This is very, very important for your Christian life. As I said, war with a flesh is not a once-for-all victory that can be won, then you kind of congratulate yourself and say, well, that's one enemy less. Oh, no. I have repeated, just as I had trouble with Amalek in succeeding generations, so you and I will have trouble with this flesh that's in us until the end of the journey.
I'm getting near the end of my journey, and I'm just as conscious of the flesh in me as I was when I was saved almost 50 years ago. You see? Now, just as in the valley, the tide of battle ebbed and flowed, one side prevailing, another side prevailing. So it is with this Now, I'm just giving you the facts. I'm not saying that some of these things that I'm presiding to you are what God wants and what they have to be, but I'm giving you the facts.
And the first way to any victory or any success is to face facts. And if you and I are perfectly honest, we will admit that our struggle with the flesh has been an up and down thing. Sometimes we've got the victory, and sometimes we've been defeated. There's no doubt about it, we've all been defeated by the flesh sometimes. A man that tells me the flesh has never defeated him during his Christian life. Well, he must have got saved the last minute before he told me that. No, it's a seesaw, as it were.
That's just a fact. Now, I'll come victory part of it. But that's just a fact of life. We've got to face up. And you know that. Sometimes we prevail. Sometimes Amalek prevails. All right. But we were reading here in verse 13, and Joshua discomfited Amalek. Now you'll notice that it does not And what the Bible doesn't say is very often as instructive as what it does say. It doesn't say that Joshua destroyed Amalek.
Oh, no. And no one has ever had the flesh destroyed in them. Don't ever get the idea that your flesh has been destroyed. destroyed. You can get all kinds of so-called baptism with fire. I hope to God none of you are never baptized with fire because if you are, you'll be in the lake of fire forever. That's the baptism of fire. But some misguided souls, they go to meetings and they get all worked up in a frenzy and they pray for the baptism of fire. God help them in the ignorance.
Because that's just what God does. He has mercy on their ignorance. and he doesn't baptize them with fire. But they imagine you can get the old nature burnt out of you. It's said, and I've often remarked, you can't believe all these tales about great men like C.H. Spurgeon, but a lot of stories accumulate around their names. Some of them may be true, some not. But it's said that one of these men came to... the CH Spurgeon one morning, well they had to be shaving. And Mrs.
Spurgeon told the man, well, Mrs. Spurgeon's shaving, but he insisted on seeing him. So CH came there, all lathered up, you know, with his lather brush. Now, some of you younger ones don't know what a shaving brush is. But back in the olden days, you had a piece of soap, special soap. You put it in a shaving mug. With this hand, you took a short brush like that. It's about that big around. And you put it in and you go like this. And you put it around. Now it does the same as the squeeze stuff we use today.
But of course, it's a lot cheaper. And we had came to the door, all armed with his shaving cream on his face and on the brush. And the man could hardly wait. He said, you know, brother, Spurgeon, he said, all the old nature was burnt out of me last night, and I'll never sin again. Now, C.H. Spurgeon was not only great preacher, he was a very practical man, and he just took the shaving brush, and he like that well you know the old nature came back right then yeah it grew right immediately right there now that was a practical way of showing amulet wasn't destroyed the Bible's very careful what it says it says Joshua discomfited amulet And that's a very interesting word in the Hebrew.
I think the best thing I can do is just give you what the great Hebrew scholar J.N. Darby gives it, and he translates it, broke the power of Amalek. Now that's the thought. That's perfect New Testament teaching. Does not destroy the flesh, but he's broken the power of it by his death on the cross. And so, that is the struggle that went on there in the valley.
Now, how did Joshua do this? Possibly we had better wait until we look at what? What went on on the mountain? Now I'll reverse myself, because you and I are really interested in what goes on the valley, aren't we? We're down there, and we're having trouble with Amelik. You're not, of course, but few of us are. And we just want to help each other. We, unfortunate ones, who are still having trouble with Amelik. Well, now look in the valley. First of all, Moses had commanded... Joshua to choose out men.
This was a struggle in which men were required. Now, I'm not saying for one moment that this isn't a struggle that Christian women have. They do just as much because they've got the old flesh just as much as the man has. If you don't believe would marry one of them. Yes, we've all got the flesh. It manifests itself in one way or in another. But again, again, our Bible, when it talks about men, it's not just talking about males, you know.
And I'm saying that to prepare you for what we have in 1 Corinthians It says, quit you like man. Now that doesn't mean like males, but in a way that we associate with a manly person. And if we should wonder what kind of man we all are to be, that verse in the 13th verse of 1 Corinthians 16 gives us three characteristics that we need in our struggle with a flesh.
First of all, it says watchy. Now you've got to be watchful. We've already learned that Amlick slipped around from behind and attacked the weak. So you've got to be watchful. That's a characteristic of manliness here. Then it says, stand fast. That is, have courage. You've got to be steadfast in this battle with the flesh. And not only that, it says be strong. So it takes watchfulness and steadfastness and strength if we're going to be able to engage in this battle down there in the valley.
Now the second thing is this. Joshua. Now, we would have expected it would have been Moses, wouldn't we? Moses led them out of Egypt. Moses led them through the Red Sea. Moses led them all away here to Rephidim. But no, there is a new leader comes on the scene for this particular battle, and they are to follow Joshua. Now, Moses and Joshua both represent Christ, but Moses represents Christ as the one who delivers us from our sins, from the world, from Egypt, the one who died for us.
But you remember, as we'll be reminded in our further studies, Moses was not permitted to lead them into Canaan. Joshua is the leader. Now, Moses is a type of Christ who came down in humiliation and died to save us. Joshua is a type of a risen Christ. Now, if you and I are going to win the valley victory against the flesh, we've got to keep our eyes on a risen Christ.
We've got to follow a living, risen Christ. And you'll notice that it doesn't say in verse 13 that Israel discomfited Amalek. Now, actually, they were there, of course. These chosen men were fighting. But it says Joshua does. Because I remind you, all victory over the flesh is through Christ. Christ. You go through that seventh chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans, and there you have the struggle with the flesh, and what a dreary picture it is, how discouraging of us all you had.
Then you come down toward the end of the chapter, and you have the man almost in despair, crying out, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death? That's the flesh. Who shall deliver me from it? Then he cries out in the next breath, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, you can't overcome the flesh. You can't control self. You can't do it, brothers and sisters. It's been tried and tried innumerable times.
You can't do it. All victory is going to be through the risen Christ, and only as He leads you and manifests His power through you, victory over the flesh. But now, how did they win this victory down there? Well, it says, and Joshua discomfited Amlite and his people with the edge of the sword. Now remember, these men had all just drunk of the water from the rock.
They were filled with the water. water from the smitten rock. They were what the New Testament calls spirit-filled Christians. That is, they illustrate spirit-filled Christians. Now, what is the sword that you and I use in seeking to gain victory over the flesh? It's the sword of the Spirit, that which you read of in Hebrews 6, taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Now, you and I can only gain victory over the flesh by using the sharp edge of the Word of God. Romans chapter 8, if ye through the Spirit demortify, or put to death, the deeds of the flesh ye shall live. That is, when this flesh that's in me asserts itself, I must apply the Word of God to it.
What does the Word of God say about it? We use a very extreme example that we might get it. Suppose the flesh would have me steal something. I'm using an extreme illustration so we'll get the thought. Suppose this old self in me wants me to steal something and would prompt me to steal something. the Spirit of God brings to my mind what you read in the Scripture, let him that stole steal no more.
All right, that's what the Word of God says, so I cannot steal. Now, you see, that's why, Christians, we need to know our Bibles. Any of you who have been saved any length of time I know have had the experience experience of an appropriate Scripture coming into your mind just like a flash of light. There's a temptation. There's a urge. There's a prompting to do something. And just like that, some verse of Scripture will flash into your mind, or maybe just a piece of a verse, maybe just an expression. It flashes into your mind.
Now what's that? That's the Spirit of God word of God against the flesh, and only as we use the sharp edge of the flesh of the sword of the Spirit of God, the word against the flesh, only then can we possibly gain the victory. Those of you who are here, my last study, you remember that one of the illustrations of We had Agag. Remember the king, spared by Saul, and he comes along to old Samuel the prophet.
And you remember how he came along so delicately. And what did he say? The bitterness of death is past. The bitterest thing to the flesh is death. And it's only by the death of Christ Christ on the cross, that we get victory over the flesh. We read in Romans 6, Our old man is crucified with him. Let us always remember, Christ not only died for our sins, getting the punishment for them, but he was made sin for us, and not only what we had done, but what we were was charged to Christ, and he died on the cross, not only for what I had done, but for what I was, so that in the sight of God, the old man, the flesh, has been
crucified. Now, we are to mortify, that is, mortify, simply put to death. We are to believe what God has said, that the old flesh has been crucified with Christ. And therefore, we need not, should not, obey it in the lust thereof. us full of this teaching that we haven't time to go into. But now, that's what took place in the valley. That was the responsibility of Joshua and those chosen men.
And you and I, down here in the valley of Christian experience, we have the responsibility of following our risen Christ, of applying the sharp edge of the Word of God to the flesh, of saying no to it, of not permitting it to use the members of our body as instruments of unrighteousness, unto unrighteousness. But, think of that composite picture that I was describing to you on TV. Something's taking place.
over here at first base. A man known for his speed is getting all ready. He's watching every movement of the pitcher and at just the right second he's going to take off. But no matter how good a jump he gets, no matter how fast he runs, whether he gets to second base safely or not depends on what takes place at home plate because if the catcher is able to get that ball just a second or two quicker and throw it accurately to second base, he's out.
So while the man has to watch and try and get the jump and run as fast as he can. After all, it's what takes place at home plate that decides, say for us. In the valley, Joshua and these chosen men had their responsibility. They had to fight. But it's what took place up there on the mountaintop that decided the outcome. 11. And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed.
Now as we were reading, Moses had in his hand the rod of God, the rod with which he had smitten the rock, the rod that he had held out over the river, over the Red Sea, or over the river of Egypt. Egypt, the rod of judgment, as it were, is drawing God's attention to that. The judgment has been administered. Now Moses here is a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 John chapter 2 and verse 1 we read, If any man sinned, we have an advocate with a father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And Hebrews chapter 7, down around verse 25 and 26, we're told of our high priests who ever liveth to make intercession for us. Moses, his hands up, with a rod of God in the hand. What a beautiful picture of what is taking place in the globe. right at this moment. My advocate, my great high priest, is there in the presence of God for me. And because of that, we read in Hebrews 7, 25, wherefore he's able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us.
You see? Now we're saving going to hell because he died for us. But we're saved from being overcome by Amleth because he lives for us, you see? That's the salvation of Hebrews chapter 7. And so, as long as Moses' hands are held up down in the valley there, Israel's prevailing. But Moses is just a man, good man, but just a man. And his hands get heavy. Holding up your hands like that with a rod in one hand would certainly be tiring, wouldn't it? You know, you're reading the Scripture about lifting up holy hands in prayer.
I've often thought it might be a good thing if we just introduced or reintroduced the old-time habit of praying with your hands up. You They'd get tired and they'd have put their hands down and maybe sit down. But Moses' hands got heavy and they went down. And just as soon as they went down, Amalek prevailed. So they realized on the mountain how something else would be done. So they take the old man and remember now he's well over 80 years of age. Most of us wouldn't have been up there.
at 80, let alone holding up our hands. But you'll find that Moses, when we get to study of Mount Sinai, Moses went up and down Mount Sinai at least five or six times. I doubt that many of us could make it once in our 60s. But his hands are up, victory in the valley. His hands are down. Defeat. So they take the old man, they set him on a rock, and the high priest Aaron comes and holds up one hand, and the man from the kingly tribe, the royal tribe of Judah, comes and holds up the other hand.
Now it takes the three of them to give you a perfect picture of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory. advocate. He's also the high priest, and he's also the king. So there you have him in those three men, and you see, because he was getting help from these other two, his hands were heavy, were strong, were held up until the going down of the sun. And as a result, Joshua discomfort them down the valley. You and I are winning victories down here over the flesh because of the man who is in the glory interceding for us.
But I can't conclude this study. There's so very much more to be said. But I can't conclude this without mentioning, surely Moses here is a of the Christian, because you and I, if we are going to win victory over the place, we've got to learn to pray. And Moses there on the rock, that's what kept him solid. And thank God we're on the rock. And thank God we've got a holy and a royal priest to hold up our half.
We get weary in prayer, don't we? And before we know it, our prayer life is slackening off, and when it does, the flesh gets the better of us. But if you and I will learn this lovely picture there on the hilltop, to become men and women of prayer, and to keep our eyes on our advocate at God's right hand and to use the sword of the Spirit against the flesh, then we will gain the victory. I trust this will help because this is a very practical thing that every one of us is faced with each day of our Christian life.
God help us to learn then from this interesting incident of long ago how we may gain the victory. Isn't it good to know that while Moses, great man though he was, grew weary, we have one who never grows weary? Isn't it good to know our Lord's hands will never hang down? He'll never say, will I give up on McKay? I've been interceding for him for almost 50 years. I'm giving up on him. You know, I made a mistake, one of many I've made years ago.
There was a dear person that we tried to help, spent a lot of time with, and really it just became more aggravating and aggravating all the time. They just... weren't doing what they should do and again she phoned me this day telling all about this that and the next thing and said brother McKay I want you to pray for well it caught me at the wrong mind said I won't do it I just won't do it I said I've been praying for you for years now and you won't do anything about it yourself I'm not going to pray for you anymore.
You can take it from here on. No, I was wrong. I was wrong. But you know, she told me after. She said, you know, that woke me up. I said, she said, I said to myself, what a condition I must be in. A brother McKay won't even pray for me. What am I going to do now? I don't know anybody else to ask to pray for me. Well, that was human failure on my part. You could excuse it in many ways, but no, you're just looking for excuses. But isn't it good to know that our great high priest will never give up on us?
His hands will never hang down. We fail, we stumble, we blunder, and he still keeps interceding for us. How grand to have a Savior like that, to save us, to be saved. begin with and save us to end with. And soon we'll see him and we'll be past temptation altogether. Shall we pray?