Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the great example of Deborah, who was ready and willing to be used by You in the most difficult of circumstances. Thank You that You are a faithful God Who is long-suffering towards Your people and ready to forgive the sins of those that call out to You, in humble repentance, in times of trouble. Use us, we pray in Your service, no matter what the cost may be, and keep us low at the cross and broken before You - this we ask in Jesus name. AMEN.

Summary: We are living in a rapidly changing world. The world we have known in the past is not going to be the world of the future.

When Michel Gorbechev was President of the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s, a good friend of his became an astronaut and was sent into space for a short, routine mission. The trip was supposed to last for only a few days, but while he was away from planet earth, the government of his country began to fall apart. Gorbechev was relieved of his national duties. Because of all the incidents, it was decided that the astronaut should stay in orbit for several months. By the time he returned home his world was very different. He had a new country, a new president, and a new system of law. His world completely changed in a very short time.

We too are living in a rapidly changing world. The world we have known in the past is not going to be the world of the future. Overnight, time and distance have collapsed, and we are living in a high technology, sophisticated society. If we are to be invincible, we have to see the invisible. If we are going to be practical and powerful, we have to understand the principles behind the dark side.

Over forty years ago, executive producer George Lucas, using his imaginative mind, created the Star Wars films. And yet, throughout the decades since its first edition, people have been impacted and influenced.

When Theodore Roosevelt was the president of the United States, he had a confidant with whom he shared the pressures, problems and perplexities of the day. After such discussions, they would often take a walk at night. Each night as they walked, they cast their eyes on the stars above in a race to find the galaxy Andromeda. The one who found it first would utter the words, “That speck of light is the galaxy Andromeda. It is bigger than our Milky Way. It contains more than 100 billion suns, each bigger than our own sun. It is only one galaxy of more than a hundred million such galaxies.” After that statement was uttered, they would look at each other and say in unison, “Now, since we have gained a better and broader perspective of life, let us retire to bed for the evening.”

One can get a bigger perspective by simply looking at the stars at night. Did you know that some of the greatest promises are never seen until after sunset? God put the stars in the heavens to paint pictures and give us promises for our lives? Every one of us today, without exception, are either in league with the stars or will stumble over the stars. Every one of us is in the battle of our lives, the battle of Star Wars.

I am not talking about a fictional battle played out on a silver screen between the Seth lords and the Jedi knights or between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader and his master. Not a battle conjured up in the imagination of an executive producer named George Lucas, but the battle of our lives--the battle of Star Wars--the original version.

In our text, Israel was in a deplorable condition. Their political system was corrupt. Immorality and idolatry were rampant. The people had rebelled against God, and God had allowed them to be taken into captivity. Underneath the authority of an unkind commander named Sisera, they were oppressed for twenty years in slavery. Their cities had become their prisons.

We are going to stumble over the stars if we stay on the same course. We’re either in league with the stars or we are going to stumble over them. For a little while, I want to speak on the subject of “Star Wars, the Original Version.” There are several episodes from the Word of God that I want to share with you.

Episode number one is THE SOURCE OF FAITH

The Bible says Deborah had gotten a word from God--a fresh word for her nation and culture. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:10) I am not talking today about faith in faith--that is positive thinking. Faith in God, however, is salvation—and there is a world of difference. I am not talking about mind power, about motivational power, about muscle power--but the mighty power of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. There are a lot of people who want to put their faith in faith. I challenge you to put your faith in God. Deborah knew how to get in contact with God.

God then inspired her to give that word to a young man named Barak. Deborah knew how to pass her faith on to someone else. A lot of us like to hear the Word of God, but we don’t like to act on what we hear. Faith is belief with legs on it. Deborah had faith. Barak had feet; he had an army. Now Deborah couldn’t lead the army, but Barak could. So, what did they do? They took their faith and their feet, and they put them together to win the battle of Star Wars. If we as God’s people will put our faith and our feet together, there is no telling what we will accomplish for the glory of God. Faith is belief with legs on it. Often, we come to the house of God, hear His Word, and then go back home without applying it to our lives. We’ve got to take the faith God has put into our heart, stand upon His Word, and then do the work of God.

Many people think it takes great faith to win big battles, but the opposite is true. It is not great faith in God, but faith in a great God that makes the difference. If the object of your faith is yourself, your family, or vocation, then the size of your faith will be no bigger than the object of your faith. If we would simply put our faith in God, God will move the stars so we can win the battle for our good and for God’s glory.

The smallest amount of faith is still bigger than the biggest amount of difficulty. Jesus once taught His disciples about having faith the size of a mustard seed so they could remove mountains. A mustard seed is like a fleck of pepper! He was saying a small amount of faith is still bigger than the biggest amount of difficulty. I do not know what you are facing today, but I do know if you will put your faith in a big God, that God will move the stars so you will win the battle of Star Wars.

The source of true faith is the Word of God. If we are going to know the God of the Word, we’ll have to know the Word of God. It’s got to get into our heart. It’s got to take root so it will grow. Our faith starts out small, and God wants it to grow.

I have often thought it would be interesting to see all of God’s people in church dressed according to their spiritual maturity. I don’t want anybody to take offense to this, we all know that we all walk in different levels of spiritual maturity. I don’t know who walks in which level, but it would be interesting to see where God the level that God puts you in according to your spiritual maturity. If God one morning said to all of us, I want you to dress how I see you in your spiritual maturity and go to church in those clothes. What we would look like. Some would be wearing diapers and carrying rattles because they are still babies and new in their faith. Some of us would be dresses distinguished and mature because we have constantly grown in our faith. It’s one thing for our faith to start out small, with diapers and rattles, but God wants our faith to grow. You see, faith is taught, and faith is caught. He wants us to be dressed distinguished and mature. Barak spent time with people of faith, with people who would cause him to want to grow. Choose your friends carefully. Look at the people you run with and you’ll see the person you are, or the person you are becoming. Barak chose to spend time with those who would teach him how to grow in his faith in God.

I don’t know a whole lot, I really don’t, but I do know this—that small thinkers make big stinkers. I do know that in life it is the small thinkers that complain the loudest. How do we spend our spare time—not our work time—but our spare time? Some will choose to miss church by watching their favorite sport, athlete, or television program. The River of God’s Spirit does not flow between the banks of the sofa and the television set, much to the surprise of some.

None of these things are going to build you up in your faith. Let me tell you something. When the program or game is over, the athlete or acting personality will not call to say thanks for watching. At Christmas time, you will not receive a Christmas card from them. When the bottom falls out of your life, they’re not going to show up and say, “How can I help you?” The problem is, we have wrapped our lives around the world rather than the cross.

Barak spent time with people who challenged his faith to grow. Can I challenge you to help your faith grow this week? Let’s make up our mind that we are going to be in God’s House with God’s people. Religion is hanging around the cross; Christianity is getting on the cross. It is time for God’s people to pick up the cross and become followers of Jesus Christ. The Word of God is the source of all faith. When we are together our faith can grow.

Episode 2 is THE COURSE OF FAITH

The course of Barak’s faith brought him into battle with Sisera, the commander of Jaben’s army. Now Sisera had 900 iron chariots. That’s like having 900 stealth bombers today. It would be like having 900 battleships filled with cruise missiles. On the outside he looked invincible with his mighty army. I can almost hear Sisera’s thoughts questioning this unknown Barak, and what he thinks he can accomplish in battle. Someone should have passed a note to Sisera, with Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots, and some trust in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” That’s a good verse for America today. Some trust in their financial resources, or their Internet connections, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

God is both our greatest hope and our greatest threat. If He doesn’t save us, we’re finished. It is time to get on God’s side and say, “God, help us to win the battle of Star Wars for the glory of God Almighty.” Once God puts faith in our heart, we’ve got to get up and do something about it. God told Barak that he was about to get into the battle of his life. I’m not so concerned about the enemies around us as I am with the God above us. We can have the greatest of all weapons arsenals, but if God is against us the battle is already over.

Many Christians never show up for the battle. They spend their lives fighting with one another, or in the wrong battle. One cannot destroy an idea with a nuclear weapon or shoot down an idea with a cruise missile. We are in the battle of ideas. The only way to conquer these ideas is to replace them with a better idea. The best idea is found wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ. So many of God’s people are fighting on their own battlefront, fighting among themselves, or fighting a physical battle when it is a spiritual battle. We are in a spiritual battle, and spiritual battles can only be won with spiritual weapons.

Barak’s went into battle against Sisera with only ten thousand troops. When they engaged in battle, the Bible says that the heavens dropped, and the rains fell. (Judges 5:4-5) It wasn’t a thundershower—it was a downpour. By accident? Oh, no. When Barak stepped onto the battlefield by faith, God began to move in a supernatural way and the rains began to fall. Josephus, the historian of 2,000 years ago, wrote about this exact battle. He said it rained on the backside of the Israelites and it rained in the faces of the Canaanites. The Canaanites could not see the Israelites coming. And the Israelites jumped on the Canaanites like a spider after its next meal and eliminated every one of them.

All 900 iron chariots got stuck in the mud. The horses began to flounder and fall. The nation of Israel won a supernatural battle that day. When Sisera saw which way the battle was going, being the courageous man he was, he got off his horse and ran for his life. While running, he came upon the tent of a woman named Jael. Little did he realize that the name Jael rhymed with nail. She invited him inside to rest. Soon he was fast asleep on the floor. While Sisera slept, Jael drove a large spike through his temple, and he died.

Barak’s faith brought down the rains. Barak’s faith also brought down Sisera. But it gets even better than that because Barak’s faith moved the stars in their courses. You see, not only is there the source of faith and the course of faith.

There is the 3rd episode: THE FORCE OF FAITH

The Bible says that the stars fought against Sisera and his army. The battle was over before it ever began. Barak had won and Sisera had already lost. When Barak put his foot of faith onto the battlefield, God ordered the stars to fight against Sisera and his men. I would rather be a worm on God’s side, than to be a captain of a great army trying to fight against God. Here is the whole point of this story. May we never forget it. The person who fights against God has the entire universe fighting against him. Did you get that? The person, the family, the organization or religious group that fights against God has the whole universe fighting against them. Sin never wins; faith never fails. It is futile to fight against God.

The highest form of wisdom is simply to find which direction God is going and follow Him. Foolishness is opposing God. Those who think they can fight against God will find they will stumble over the stars. Every grain of sand and every stellar body will fight against the person who fights against God. I will prove it.

1. Noah -- God asked Noah to build an ark because He planned to flood the earth as judgment for the sins of the people. Though men mocked and ridiculed him day after day, Noah faithfully preached and worked on the ark for 120 years. The world lined itself against God and Noah, but God lined the whole universe against the world. Noah and his family marched into the ark as the minority, but after the flood they were the majority. Sin never wins; faith never fails. It is futile to fight against God.
2. Moses – God asked Moses to lead his people out of Egyptian bondage. Instead of cooperating and escorting the people of Israel out of Egypt and into Canaan, Pharaoh chose to fight again Moses and God. God lined the whole universe against the nation of Egypt and left the bleached bones and rusted chariot wheels of their armies to clutter the Red Sea. Sin never wins; faith never fails. It is futile to fight against God.
3. Joshua – God was with Joshua at Jericho as he fought against three armies at the same time. When Joshua said, “Sun, stand still,” God shut down the whole universe. He stopped every stellar body, every galaxy, and every planet in its rotational track because one man on planet earth needed more time to win a battle for the glory of God. Sin never wins; faith never fails. It is futile to fight against God.
4. Elijah and the Hebrews – God was with Elijah who stood against Ahab and Jezebel. He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they stood up for God and against Nebuchadnezzar. And, He was with Daniel throughout his service for God in the wicked Babylonian empire. Sin never wins; faith never fails. It is futile to fight against God.
5. The New Testament Church – God put all the stars behind the New Testament Church as the Apostles and faithful believers stood firm in their faith against the onslaught of pagan Rome. Today we read about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire while we sing about the Church triumphantly. Sin never wins; faith never fails. It is futile to fight against God.
6. Napoleon – Someone told Napoleon that he had better find out what God’s will was before marching his men into Russia. He replied, “God’s will is on the side of the heaviest battalions. Pack up your gear— we’re going to Russia.” He was half right. God’s will is not on the heaviest battalions on earth because the heaviest battalions are in the heavens above. First there were only a few flakes of snow, however, that soon turned into a snowstorm that left his troop and animals lying on the frozen plains of Russia in defeat. Sin never wins; faith never fails. It is futile to fight against God.
7. You and I -- How significant are we to God? Submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and God will line up the entire universe behind you. That’s how significant we are to God. How serious is God about sin? You allow sin to reign in your life and God will line up the entire universe against you. That’s how serious He is about sin.

Walk with me to a nearby beach in your mind’s eye. Pick up a handful of sand and gently blow until there is just one grain of sand left. That one grain of sand represents earth, a speck of dust, while all the other grains of sand to our left and right represent the vastness of this universe.

Astrophysicists tell us the universe is still expanding at a rate of 35,000 miles per second, more than two and one-half billion miles every day. I can’t speak for you, but that’s a pretty good-sized piece of real estate. Astrophysicists now tell us that there are at least one hundred billion galaxies the size of our Milky Way, and each of those galaxies contain more than a hundred billion stars each. How many stars are in their courses? Five hundred billion times a hundred billion!

How serious is God about sin? Let me tell you how serious He is. A man who harbors sin in his heart has a hundred billion times a hundred billion stars lined up against him. How serious is God about salvation? When a person gives their heart and life to Jesus Christ, God lines all of those stars behind them. Sin never wins; faith never fails. It is futile to fight against God.

What is God saying to you and me today? It is the battle of Star Wars. It’s time for us to apply the highest form of wisdom and simply find which direction God is going and follow Him. If we do not, we’ll be like Sisera thinking we can pick a fight with God and win. Today God is looking for some Barak’s who will put their faith and feet together and will believe that God will order the stars in their courses for our good and for His glory. And we will win the battle of Star Wars!

Amen

‒ Pastor Pam