The One-eyed Soldier

"How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house. Thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of Thy pleasures, for with Thee is the fountain of life. In Thy light shall we see light."

It is a blessing to be here at Shippensburg. It's been very encouraging to be here already.

Something that has impressed me in being here this morning is looking through that window and just seeing the blue sky and the white clouds. And I don't know which direction that is facing, but, you know, could it be that the Lord will come through those clouds? It just looks so nice.

Another thing that I've really enjoyed is the love that I felt. And sometimes I get a little maybe a little jealous of Old Testament saints that could see things like fire coming down from heaven or the pillar of cloud that they could follow. You know, wouldn't it be nice to have visible things like that that we can see? And I would like to say that the love that we feel among God's people is more compelling evidence for God than those physical things.

And in the short time that I was here this morning,

I was shown that love by three different generations.

To me, that's powerful. That's God.

The purpose of this meeting is to build the church. The church is destined for greatness. Sometimes it seems to us like the nations of the world are great and powerful and that the church is small and insignificant. That is not biblical.

Daniel, too, says that the great nations of the world will become like the chaff of the threshing floor, but the kingdom of God becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. Just a few verses I would like to read from Ephesians, too.

Ephesians 2:4 through 7: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ; by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

These verses speak of why God created man. Think about God up in heaven before the world was created, having great mercy and love and goodness, but lacking a way to exercise it. Just imagine a skillful worker. And I'm just going to use Wendell for an illustration because I've seen him work. You know, he I'm just amazed at how quick he can take an appliance apart and fix things. And it's just it's amazing. But just imagine if he had that skill and never had opportunity to show it. Wouldn't that be kind of restrictive? Is that how God was before He had man to show His love and mercy?

It seems that may have been God's situation before He made man. "So He made the earth and man who fell into sin so that He would have the opportunity to showcase the riches of His love, mercy, and goodness. So then all earth, heaven, principalities, and powers would be convinced of the wonderful love, mercy, and kindness of God for all eternity."

Ephesians 2:7 talks about that in the ages to come. "He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." And chapter 3, verse 10: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God." And then the last verse: "Unto Him be glory and the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end." Amen.

God has big things in store for the church, not only in this life, but in the life to come throughout eternity.

For a message this morning, I would like for us to turn to 1 Samuel 11.

Excuse me. 1 Samuel 11. This is during the early reign of Saul. And I think I'll just read the entire chapter. And I want to come back and maybe have a few a short lesson for the children before I go into the main part of the message. 1 Samuel 11: "Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh-Gilead.

And all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, 'Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.' And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, 'On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes and lay it for reproach upon all Israel.' And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, 'Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel. And then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.' Then came the messengers of Gibeah to Saul of Saul and told the tidings in the ears of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices and wept.

And behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field. And Saul said, 'What aileth the people that they weep?' And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. And he took a yoke of oxen and hewed them in pieces and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, 'Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen.'

And a fear of the Lord fell in the people, and they came out with one consent. And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand and the men of Judah thirty thousand. And they said unto the messengers that came, 'Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-Gilead: Tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help.' And the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh, and they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, 'Tomorrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.' And it was so in the morrow that Saul put the people in three companies, and they came out into the midst of the host in the morning watch and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day.

And it came to pass that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. And the people said unto Samuel, 'Who is he that said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring the men, that we may put them to death.' And Saul said, 'There shall not a man be put to death this day, for today the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel.'

Then said Samuel to the people, 'Come, and let us go into Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.' And all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. And there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly."

So, children, if you've been following, this Nahash man was a really mean mean person. And I would like to say he was a type of Satan.

Nahash was not content to just have the men of Jabesh as his slaves, but he wanted to gouge out their eye. Now, how would you like that--to see all the men in the church here with their right eye gouged out? Wouldn't that be awful to look at? I think so.

Why only one eye? Nahash knew if he took out both eyes, the men would not be good as slaves. But a one-eyed man would still be good to work. But in war, a man with his right eye gone would have a serious handicap in battle. And so just think about it--if this was a shield and we were going into battle, you know, if my right eye is taken out, I'd have to expose my whole face. And plus, you wouldn't be able to aim things with with just a you wouldn't be able to judge distance if your one eye was taken out. So it was a very serious handicap. A man without his right eye would be much more exposed to the enemy and would be much less effective in battle.

Thus, Nahash's plan would keep Jabesh in subjection. Every couple of years, he could send in some of his men and gouge out the eyes of the teenage boys and keep the people under his control for generations. Doesn't Nahash sound a lot like Satan?

Satan tries to get us to do things for him. At first, it might be little things like talking back a little bit or delaying obedience. After we are willing to do little things, he will try to get us to do bigger things like stubbornness and rebellion.

Satan's goal is to get us so weak so that we can't resist him good. James 4:7 says, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Show him your sword. Tell him what the word of God says. And don't agree with any of his ideas."

Nahash the Ammonite was causing trouble for the Israelites east of the Jordan River. Josephus, in his writing, says that all Israel east of the Jordan were being oppressed by Nahash. And Nahash would have been of the Ammonites and of the descendants of Lot. 1 Samuel 12:12: "Samuel says the reason Israel demanded a king was because of Nahash and his aggression."

So Nahash is a thorn in Israel's side. And in verse 1, we see mistake number one: the men of Jabesh asked for terms. They were willing to be slaves. Why?

There is a very real parallel in this story and the spiritual war we face today. Satan would have us forget our position in Christ and begin to fear his power. He then tries to get us to make covenant with him, which we do as we accept his ideas.

As we lay down God's way and yield to Satan's will, we allow him to weaken us, even even giving up our eye. When he has us in this position, very few are able to escape.

When Satan is able to control the men, the women and the children many times will come for free. Men are responsible for protection and security. I just want to say to the women that you have a lot of influence on your men. Women have a lot of influence in helping their men to stand strong. The women of Jabesh could have said, "We don't want to be slaves," and they could have encouraged their men, "Y'all have that potential."

What does a one-eyed warrior look like? A modern one-eyed warrior is the professing Christian that lacks the commitment and power to follow Jesus' teaching.

Dean Taylor told of an exercise he did with his students at Bible school. They were studying the Sermon on the Mount, and he asked them to write on a paper the opposite of Jesus' teaching.

Example: instead of being poor in spirit, they were to write proud and self-confident. Instead of writing "No divorce," they were to write "Divorce and remarriage allowed." Instead of writing "Love your enemies," they were to write "Go to war. Kill your enemies."

Instead of writing "Swear not at all," they were to write "Swearing of oaths is okay."

And they found that professing Christians are doing exactly what they wrote, exactly the opposite of what Jesus taught. Many professing Christians are doing exactly the opposite of Jesus' teaching. John 14:21 says, "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

How many of us have friends that profess faith in Jesus and believe it's okay to go to war? Probably we all have.

Is Jesus' teaching not plain enough? It was right there in Romans 12 this morning. That is, of course, Paul writing, but it's God's word. Is Jesus' teaching not plain enough, or have they accepted Satan's ideas and received some blindness? What about the biblical teaching of headship and the Christian woman's head covering? What about nonconformity and separation from the world?

Verse 2 of our text: "Nahash was not only against Jabesh, but he wanted to reproach all of Israel. He wanted to lay it for reproach on all Israel." Reproach is to suffer scorn, rebuke, and shame. It would have brought reproach to all Israel to have Jabesh living in oppression and defeat.

Likewise, it is a reproach to the church when her people are powerless to have victory over sin. And just some examples of this reproach: think about divorce and remarriage. God hates it. Do we see the reproach it has brought to the church? Can you imagine the tremendous testimony if divorce and remarriage were never named among Christians?

Another example is Christians going to war. It is a great reproach that Christian people take up the sword and do violence to their enemy. Imagine the power of the Christian testimony if all professing Christians love their enemies. We could soon win the world, I believe.

Worldliness, conformity to the world, lack of separation brings reproach to the church. Many people can see no difference between the professing Christian and the world. Nahash preferred that only one eye was taken out, for it was much more profitable than to thrust out both and create a liability.

With one good eye, the men of Jabesh could still function and create revenue as tribute.

Question: Does Satan prefer that only one eye is thrust out?

Could a one-eyed individual or church be more profitable than a completely blinded people?

A one-eyed servant, I think, could do much more damage to the kingdom of God. Could it be that the man that's laying in the gutter, drunk, and who everyone despises, is an example of Satan's plan gone bad? You know, maybe he doesn't want people to go that far. I'm sure he he rejoices in it, but I think it it doesn't help his his work like it does if someone is just lukewarm.

Turn with me to Revelation 3.

Revelation 3:14 through 18: These are the words of to the church in Laodicea. Revelation 3:14: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because thou sayest: I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked? I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne.

He that hathen hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." God makes it clear he prefers hot or cold to lukewarm. John 14:23: "If a man love me, he will keep my words."

We need others to help us to avoid lukewarmness. We need the church. Part 2 of this message, I would like to look at the role of the church. The men of Jabesh were able to escape their dire situation by seeking the aid of their brethren.

So there is deliverance by taking ourselves to the body of Christ with our needs. The church, when unified with Christ, is given such strength to overcome the strongest of enemies. When God's people are united with God's Spirit, they are given such strength to overcome the worst that Satan can do.

Verse 16 of our text: "The enemy was scattered so that two of them were not left together."

Let's see the response of God's people in our text. Verse 4: "God's people hear the tidings. Number one: They are moved to compassion. The people lifted up their voice and wept. Our tears are missing ingredient in our attitude toward those that are struggling. Do I care enough for my erring brother to weep for his need?

Can we say we love if we don't feel pain for their need?

Number two: They are moved to action. Verse 7: They come out with one consent. Are we prepared to do spiritual battle for our brother's need, to pray, fast, and fight until the battle is won? Number three: They organize resistance. The Spirit came upon Saul. He drafted the troops, numbered them, divided them into three groups, and, using the element of surprise, thoroughly routed and defeated Nahash and his army.

Verse 13b: "Saul declares: Today the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel." I think this may have been Saul's greatest hour. He found the recipe for real success: humble obedience to God. Perhaps Saul should have continued to follow the cattle.

But I only wish that humbleness could be achieved by staying down on the farm. I don't find it that way. We need to repeat Saul's words with each success: "Today the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel." All Israel was strengthened through this victory.

To assist and witness the defeat of the enemy greatly adds to the faith and experience of the body, an element that is often missed when help is found in parachurch organizations.

Before we conclude, do we, as Anabaptist people, have areas of blindness in our lives? We've talked about others. What would you say? And I'm just going to open it up. Is there areas of blindness that we have as Anabaptists?

Pride. Pride? Yes, I think it's a very common one for all of us.

And it can look so spiritual sometimes.

Materialism? Materialism. Wealth and possessions.

Individualism. Individualism. Could we call that a lack of love or selfishness? I have just two that I was thinking about. Number one: Love for the brotherhood. Our church splits a reproach. Our neighbors can see our lives. John 13:35 says: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

And that's that can involve a lot of things. The Bible teaches the practice of the holy kiss as an expression of our love for each other. Our home congregation is challenged in keeping this ordinance of the church. It's not easy for us to maintain it.

And I think maybe some of the reason is we don't get much encouragement from the evangelicals, and we don't get that much encouragement from our old order brethren either. In fact, among the old orders, it's mostly just practiced with the leadership, and that's kind of where we tend to fall, too.

And so I just being here the short time, I feel like you're doing better than we are. So just an encouragement in that way.

Will we follow what the Bible teaches or not?

Does God mean what He says? In the Old Testament, God told Israel only one time to let the land rest on the seventh year. Because of disobedience, they spent seventy years in captivity. So we need to take it serious when God says something in the Word. Number two, I want to talk just a little bit about wealth and material things. Do we take Jesus' teaching serious regarding these things? And I think it's a difficult thing for us because we live in North America.

We don't really know anything else but to have plenty. And I don't have the answers, but I think we need to keep talking about and keep thinking about how that Christ would have us live in relating to our things.

In conclusion, Satan's goal is to weaken us in our commitment to Christ. He begins by having us question God's commands, like He said to Eve in the garden: "Yea, hath God said that you can't eat of the fruit?"

And He just keeps questioning.

"Yea, hath God said not to get impatient with my children? Yea, hath God said that I must obey my parents?" Because the men of Jabesh had yielded on the small issues, they were powerless to stand against the enemy's bigger demands. Faithfulness in small things is essential to experiencing victory in the larger battles.

Example: The man that carefully guards thoughts and eyes will never fall into adultery. He engages the enemy long before he is close enough to bring such major destruction. Luke 16:10: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."

God has given the church the ministry of reconciliation. The church may have its problems, hypocrites. It experienced leadership like Saul. It may lack effectiveness in how it has many needy people. But Jesus said: "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." There is no other option. The church, like Noah's ark, is the only vehicle to the next world.

It is in the local church that we find grace to walk with Christ. Our love for Christ is expressed in the local church. The depth of our commitment to Christ is revealed by the depth of our commitment to the local church.

The local church deserves our highest affection and joy.

Revelation 3:21: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne." Can you think of any honor greater than that?

We have so much to look forward to. Let's walk with Christ and be faithful.