BE NOT DISMAYED
BE NOT DISMAYED
Sunday, May 26, 2018, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
In Memory of all of our fallen soldiers, I want to honor their memory by reading, Angel Flight written by Rodney Foster for those who gave it all. Many families gave it all when their loved one didn’t come home from war. There is something about a warrior. If you notice, there are those who will always run toward the battle and run toward danger. It is built into them as part of their DNA. The Lord spoke to me last Tuesday Morning when I was getting dressed for Bible Study, CAROLYN BE NOT DISMAYED. As I researched it, that word is spoken into all the warriors of the Bible before they are sent into battle or on assignment: Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage; (Josh. 10:23)
Angel Flight by
Rodney Foster
All I ever wanted to do was fly
Leave this world and live in the sky
I left the C130 out of Fort Worth town
I go up some days I don't wanna’ come down
Well I fly that plane called the Angel Flight
Come on brother you're with me tonight
Between Heaven and earth you're never alone
On the Angel Flight
Come on brother I'm taking you home
I love my family and I love this land
But tonight this flight's for another man
We do what we do because we heard the call
Some gave a little, but he gave it all
I fly that plane called the Angel Flight
Come on brother you're with me tonight
(Come on brother you're with me tonight)
Between Heaven and earth you're never alone
On the Angel Flight
Come on brother I'm taking you home
Come on brother I'm taking you home
Well the cockpit's quiet and the stars are bright.
Feels kinda like church in here tonight
It don't matter where we touch down
On the Angel Flight its sacred ground
I fly that plane called the Angel Flight
Gotta hero riding with us tonight
Between Heaven and earth you're never alone
On the Angel Flight
Come on brother I'm taking you home
Come on brother I'm taking you home
Come on brother I'm taking you home
Come on brother I'm taking you home
Just to be clear, no one in our church fellowship has caused me reason for dismay. However, since the LORD spoke courage into me not to be dismayed, perhaps there are others who are facing an unexpected upset or facing a spiritual battle. Bill Yount posted last night, “I hear the LORD saying concerning whatever you are facing, ‘I got this! What has surprised you, hasn’t surprised me, I got it!’”
Dismay: consternation and distress, typically caused by something unexpected. Alarm · shock · surprise · consternation · concern · perturbation · disquiet ·
Disquietude · discomposure · distress · upset · anxiety · trepidation · fear
Jer. 23:4: I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking says the LORD.
Deut. 31:8 - Moses spoke to Joshua: the LORD, he is the one who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you, neither forsake you; fear not, neither be dismayed.
Moses was prophesying to Joshua and preparing him to lead Israel into war to conquer the Canaanite Kings 30 and 1.
Joshua 1:8: The LORD said to Joshua, fear not, neither be dismayed; take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.
Joshua said to all the men of Israel after they were told to put their feet upon the necks of five kings. (Josh 10:23-25)…Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage; for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom you fight
Through Isaiah the prophet, God spoke to Israel (Isa. 41:10) Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you; yes I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
The Jews were afraid of the Gentile nations that were moving in conquest across the world. Israel had been taken by Assyria and Judah by Babylon. Persia was emerging and King Cyrus was to be the chosen deliverer for the Jewish nation.
We have a pattern forming, each time the LORD sent out his man on assignment, they were commanded to not be dismayed. Their faces were not to show dismay, nor were they to speak words of dismay. This grace is part of the call and commission of a warrior, prophet, king, pastor, evangelist, preacher, teacher, or intercessor. We are to face the enemies of the kingdom and be not dismayed of their faces. (Jer. 1:17) We are not to be intimidated by people or circumstances of life.
The Prophet Jeremiah’s life and ministry was under the exclusive covenantal right of Jehovah.
Jeremiah had a prenatal prophetic call and He answered that call as a youth, aware that the responsibility was on the God who formed him and who commissioned him to deliver the word of the Lord. There would be opposition and fierce antagonism as he called Israel to repent in the face of the onslaught of an unidentified army and scorching wind.
Jeremiah 1:17: Jeremiah gird up your loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command you. Be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound you before them. Behold, I have made you this day a defensed city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. They shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.
There was to be a spiritual warfare, because the prophet was to root out---the root of the problem is in the realm of the powers and principalities in the second heaven. He was to speak for God and he was to speak as God unto Judah!
In chapter 2, Jeremiah preached his first sermon to Judah. There was sin in the nation. The people had committed two evils:
(1) They had forsaken the Lord and were drinking from the wrong well.
(2) Their idolatry was drinking the polluted waters at the bottom of cracked and contaminated man-made cistern.
Jer. 8:9: The wise men are ashamed. They are dismayed and taken lo; they have rejected the word of the LORD, and what wisdom is in them?
Then I must consider the call and commission of the prophet Ezekiel. He is warned at the outset that he is being called to a life of hardship and persecution. His message is delivered to him from God in the form of a book, which he is commanded to eat, as was John (Rev. 10:9).
God seemed to lay upon Ezekiel responsibility for the doom of his nation, which he could escape only by faithful declaration of God’s message. He is also warned that God would at times impose silence upon him, this being a caution to Ezekiel to not speak his own ideas, but only as God commanded.
Ez. 3:4-8: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak My words to them…Behold I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead; fear them not; neither be dismayed at their looks; though they be a rebellious house.
In Ezekiel, Chapter 2 and 3, he received a five-fold commission:
2: 1-10: Prophet
3: 1-9: Fearless Denunciator
3:10-15: God’s mouthpiece
3:22-27: A Faithful Herald.
The prophet had been commanded to eat the book, or to receive God’s Word into his heart. After eating the roll, the prophet was equipped and then warned about the difficulties before him. After this he was lifted up (raptured) by the Spirit and heard a great praise to God and a fresh awareness of the vision of His glory. In bitterness and heat of spirit Ezekiel came to the midst of the captives, where he sat astonished seven days. The Word of the Lord came again revealing his responsibilities as a watchman, and then he received a double charge, the first of which was silence, then speech.
When David charged his son, Solomon to build the temple he said:
1 Ch. 22:12-13: Only the LORD gives you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. Then shall you prosper, if you take heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
When Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah were in fear of the Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians, he went before the Lord, asking Him to move on Judah’s behalf. The LORD answered him through a Levite of the sons of Asaph. The Spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the congregation…Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s…You shall not need to fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed… (2 Chr. 20: 15-17).
I must also mention King Hezekiah. When he saw that Sennacherib came to fight against Jerusalem, he spoke to the people Judah by the authority of an anointed King, Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us the LORD OUR GOD to help us, and to fight our battles. The people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
It is my persuasion for the LORD OUR GOD to speak that into my life is no small matter. Actually I believe it is a serious matter. Any time the LORD speaks to us, it is a serious matter and we should eat the book until we have clarity on what He is speaking.
In our nation, we could have great concern with the threats of war with Iran and North Korea. There are storms and flooding. Our government is dysfunctional with nothing getting done because of the power struggles between the liberals and conservatives. There is a daily invasion of our borders with people who are sick, diseased, gangs, and drugs. Our media has lost all integrity and respect as a reliable source of information.
I personally face challenges that if I did not trust totally in the LORD, I could be dismayed as could most of you.
But I can say to you this day because I heard the voice of God, CAROLYN BE NOT DISMAYED!
Christian I don’t know what you are facing today, but I can say to you be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the Lord our God is with us to fight our battles and we can rest in that.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church