Ted Arthur Ministries

February 12, 2012                   THE BATTLE

Gen 22:7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Gen 22:8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

Gen 22:9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

Gen 22:10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Gen 22:11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.

Gen 22:12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Gen 22:13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns

. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Gen 22:14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

2Co 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

2Co 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2Co 9:9 As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."

2Co 9:10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

2Co 9:11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Notice the similarity of Genesis 22, and II Corinthians 9. In the Old Testament, and the New Testament, God supplied the offering, but man was the one who was doing the sowing, or giving. In both cases the offering was something that was of great value to the giver. In neither case was the giver begrudging the offering. In II Corinthians 9:11 we see that the harvest was enormous. In Hebrews 11:12 we see that the offering went beyond enormous. In II Corinthians 9:7, and Hebrews 11:17, we see that in both instances they were offerings. God let it be known that He wanted the offering, but it was up to giver to do the giving, if the giver decided to keep his offering, he would be allowed to do so. However there is no harvest from a seed not sown.

Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,

Heb 11:18 even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."

Heb 11:19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Heb 11:12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

The following verses tells how the Kingdom of God works. Notice the man sows, God gives the increase without the man understanding how, then the man does the harvesting. If any of these three steps are left out there will be no reaping done.

Mar 4:26 He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.

Mar 4:27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.

Mar 4:28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.

Mar 4:29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

Would the devil be interested in preventing any of these three steps from happening? Which steps would the devil be most likely to try to stop? The answer is either the sowing, or the reaping. Then this is where the battle will be fought. The devil will try to prevent the seed from being sown, because if he can do that, the battle is over, but if he cannot prevent the sowing, the battle will rage over the reaping. The reaping will be the devil’s last opportunity to prevent God from getting glory, and you from getting your harvest. Therefore you can expect this to be a fierce battle. The devil will try to stop you from sowing, but this will not be the hardest battle, because the devil know that he still has a good chance to prevent the reaping. If you have done step one you don’t have to concern yourself with step two, because that is God’s part, but get ready for a fierce battle over step three.

Ecc 11:4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

You can expect to hear now is not a good time to sow, and you can also expect hear today is not a good day to begin reaping. When it comes to relationship the devil knows what you need to do to make things better. Therefore he is going to do everything he can to prevent you from ever do the thing that would restore your relationship. You must also understand that he also know what you need the other person to do to restore the relationship, and he will also do what he can to prevent that from happening. Therefore you must be willing to sow the acts that the Spirit will led you to do, and then you can reap the harvest that you desire.

2Co 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

2Co 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

2Co 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Verse five is the determiner between victory, or defeat, life, or death. Are you willing to offer your thoughts as a sacrifice, or are you not willing to sow this seed? Verse 5 tells us that this is an offering that God desires. Are you willing to give it?

Eph 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Eph 4:3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Eph 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

Eph 4:23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

Eph 4:24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Eph 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Eph 4:26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Eph 4:27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

Eph 4:28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Eph 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Eph 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Eph 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Are you suppose to do the above, or is God going to do it for you? The answer is God has empowered you to do it.