My Praise Is My Weapon
Pastor Erickson preaches from Judges 7 and 2 Timothy 1:7, telling how Gideon's 300 men routed the Midianites with trumpets, broken pitchers, lamps and a shout instead of swords. He says God has not given his people the spirit of fear, and he calls the church to make praise and the name of Jesus their weapon against fear, sickness and every attack of the enemy.
The message in 6 points
Fear is not from God
He reads Judges 7 and 2 Timothy 1:7 and says God has not given his people the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. He reminds the church that people come to God's house to have their lives changed.
59:13What fear really feels like
He says he does not scare easily, then tells of freezing in front of a tiger behind thin fences at a small zoo and of a frightening night at home. Everyone has something that brings fear, and God calls it a spirit.
1:02:17Gideon and the shrinking army
Gideon is hiding in a winepress when the angel calls him a mighty man of valor. He tears down the altars of Baal, and God cuts his army from thousands to 300 so Israel cannot say their own hand saved them.
1:11:21God works in the miracle realm
He says God steps in when people stop making excuses and admit they cannot do it alone. Gideon's men carry trumpets, pitchers and lamps instead of swords, and he points to Revelation 19:21, where the enemy falls by the sword out of the mouth.
1:20:06Praise is our spiritual weapon
Gideon had a spiritual weapon to conquer the physical, and he says the church has one too, called praise. Praise shifts the atmosphere, Satan cannot stand God's people lifting their voices, and believers can turn the devil's lies around and fight fear, sickness and trouble at home with praise.
1:25:33Come in the name
Gideon hears the enemy already fears him, and the men shout the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. He says the church has the name of Jesus, and he leads the people in music, clapping and a shout of praise, praying in the Holy Ghost and giving their fears to God.
1:36:57
In his words
“He had a spiritual weapon that God gave him to conquer the physical. Let me tell you something, we also have this weapon.”
“Praise, when you lift up your voice, when you open up your mouth, something begins to happen in the atmosphere. The very atmosphere begins to shift and begins to change.”
“We're different now because we've been given a name. We've been given the name [that] saves, we've been given a name that heals, we've been given a name that delivers.”
Taken word for word from the video, with punctuation added. Words in [brackets] were fixed so the line reads clearly.
Scripture
He reads
Judges 7:7
7And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
King James Version.
Judges 7:19-22
19So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 21And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 22And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
King James Version.
2 Timothy 1:7
7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
King James Version.
Judges 7:1
1Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
King James Version.
Judges 7:2-3
2And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
King James Version.
Revelation 19:21
21And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
King James Version.
Psalms 47:1-3
1O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. 2For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. 3He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.
King James Version.
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