Matt Hagee - Outnumbered
Today I want you to know that you are living in a world filled with good news if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Because if he is your Lord and Savior, you have your problems outnumbered. You and Jesus Christ make a majority, based on what the Word of God has to say. The world that we live in wants to overwhelm you with care and concern. There's emotional concern. There's social concern. There's political concern. There's economic concern. There's physical concern. And every day in our lives, it seems like it can be a struggle just to stay in front of whatever problem seems to be chasing us. Today I want you to know that if you have put your faith in God Almighty who sits upon the throne, you have your problems outnumbered, because the Word of God is true. "If God be for you, who can be against you"? Give the Lord a handclap of praise. Read with me Romans 8:31. If you're there, say, amen. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us"? Read the last half of that verse again. "If God is for us, who can be against us"?
Heavenly Father, thank you that you are indeed for us: that through the gift of your only begotten son Jesus Christ, you've demonstrated how deeply you love us. And by the promise of your word, we can stand in this place today and declare that we are indeed more than conquerors through Christ. It's in your name that we pray, and it's in your name that we believe. All of God's children said, praise the Lord.
You may be seated. Every time you turn on the news, you're reminded how quickly the world can change. You fall asleep in one world, and you wake up in another. You fall asleep in one environment where business is good. You wake up in another where business is getting ready to go down. Everything that you thought was going to happen suddenly changes, and you're concerned about all of your plans for the future. I've got good news for you today. No matter how rapidly or quickly or suddenly things seem to change here on earth, nothing changes in heaven. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And while this world may seem to be circulating in chaos, our God is not the author of confusion. But every promise that he has made is a word that will come to pass. You live in this world, but you are not of this world, which means that you can speak to your problem about the God that you serve.
Whenever you come into a difficult time, you get to declare, "If God is for me, who can be against me"? When you come into a time of sickness, you get to speak to the sickness about God who is your healer. When you come into a time of need, you get to speak to that need about God who is a supplier. When you come into a time of attack, you get to speak to your enemies about a God who is an ever-present help in a time of trouble. Child of God, I've got good news for you today. The God who created heaven and earth who sits upon the circle of the earth and uses it as a footstool, that God is on your side, and everything is going to be alright! We live in a world that wants us to feel overwhelmed. But God has promised us that we can do all things through Christ. We live in a world that makes everything appear as if it's going to overtake us, but God has promised us, if we look through the eyes of faith, we'll see his hand working on our behalf.
Peter told the New Testament church, "Cast all of your cares upon him, because he cares for you". He wants you to know today that there's not a problem in your life that he cannot solve. There's not a need that you have that he cannot meet. So when your world seems to be turned upside down, speak to the God that created heaven and earth, and he'll move mountains on your behalf. How many of us have ever felt like we didn't sign up for this? We didn't sign up for a world filled with this chaos and confusion. This is not how it's supposed to be. No one told us that there would be this much struggle, there would be this much turmoil, there would be this much strife. How many places in our life do we wish were different than what they are today? And if we could we'd just flip a switch and make it go away?
Well, Jesus said it this way: "In this world, you will have trouble". Believe me: if Jesus promised trouble, then don't be surprised when trouble shows up. But he finished the verse by saying, "Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world". He said, "In this world, you're going to face hard times, but when hard times come, trust in me. I've conquered every hard time you'll ever face. In this world you're going to go through seasons of sickness, and when seasons of sickness come, trust in me, because by my stripes, you have been healed. In this world, you're going to go through hours of sorrow. And when sorrow comes, put your hope in me, because joy cometh in the morning. Whatever problem you face on this earth, don't get upset when the problem comes, but lift up your head and rejoice, because I am the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and I have overcome the world".
In the book of 2 Kings 6, we read about the servant of God, Elisha. Elisha was a prophet that God was using at this point in Israel's history. And Elisha was the individual who had received the mantle of Elijah's ministry. When the Lord caught Elijah in a cloud of fire and took him to heaven, his mantle fell, and Elisha picked it up. And the power of God continued on earth with Elisha just as it was with Elijah. In 2 Kings 6, there's a number of things that are happening that create a significant problem for one individual in Elisha's ministry. Elisha had a servant that went with him everywhere. He took care of Elisha. He discipled under Elisha. He learned from Elisha. You could say that he was a partner with Elisha international ministries.
And in 2 Kings 6, he wakes up in a world that's totally different than the one he went to sleep in. When he went to bed the night before, everything was great. The ministry was great, the future was great. All of God's power and glory was just great and great, great, great, great, great. How many have ever had those times in your life when it's just great, great, great, great, great? Well, get ready. Because when he wakes up, he walks to the city wall of Dothan where he and Elisha are staying. And he looks over the city wall. And as far as he can see to the north, and as far as he can see to the south, and as far as he can see to the east, and as far as he can see to the west, he doesn't see the sand of the desert, but he sees the soldiers of Syria. He sees men in chariots with horses and spears and swords, and every one of them has come looking for one individual. And that individual is Elisha.
Now why are they so interested in the prophet? When you read 2 Kings 6, the king of Syria has been plotting and planning to attack the nation of Israel. And the Bible says that before his plans can come to pass, the Lord tells Elisha what the king is talking about in his bedchamber. That'll make you take a vow of silence. It gets so frustrating that the king of Syria calls all of his generals together. He asks the question, "Which one of you is with the king of Israel"? And one of the Syrian king's generals has the courage to tell him the truth. He says, "Nobody's loyal to the king of Israel. We're all loyal to you. But here's the problem, king. There is a prophet in Israel, and God speaks to him about the things that you whisper in your bedchamber". The king of Syria is so upset about the fact that Elisha knows what's going on, he sends his entire military. Every person with a sword and a shield, he sends all of them after one man. He says, "Go get Elisha".
So the morning when the servant wakes up, and he sees the army that surrounded the city, the Bible says that he runs to his master. He runs to Elisha. I can think about all of the things that are going through his head. He's preparing his resignation letter. He's running to Elisha, and he's thinking, "I'll take the spiritual approach. I'll tell him that the Lord has called me away to do ministry in another field". Maybe he thinks that he's going to take the understated approach. Have you ever been around somebody who loves to understate a problem? He's just going to run up and tell Elisha, "There's some people here who want to see you. Oh, and by the way, I quit". But before he can do any of these things, in just pure panic, he falls to his knees. And he says, "Alas my master, what are we going to do? What are we going to do"? And sometimes the problems that we face in life are so overwhelming that all we can do is throw up our hands and simply yell, "What are we going to do? How are we going to get out of the trouble we're in"?
Elisha immediately looks at his servant, and he says, "Do not fear". Say that with me. "Do not fear". "For more and greater are those who are with us than those who are with them". Can you see the servant of Elisha, "Us? You. I quit. They want you, dude. I'm going to go sell cars. I'm not in the ministry anymore. I was wrong. God didn't call me". Elisha says, "There's more with us than there are with them". And before the servant can ask any questions, "How, why, where," Elisha touches his servant, and he prays a prayer. He says, "Lord, open his eyes that he might see". And when the servant stands to his feet and he opens his eyes, he looks back out at the field where all of the soldiers of Syria stood. And the soldiers of Syria are still there.
But this time when he looks, he sees the army of the living God, the angels who are in heaven standing on the mountaintops around the city of Dothan. There's cherubim with swords over here and chariots of fire over there. And he begins to realize what Elisha was talking about, that there's armies in heavenly places that have been sent down here to earth to watch over the men of God. Because the promise of the Word of God is, "I'll give my angels charge over you to protect you wherever you go". "No weapon formed against you would prosper". When the enemy comes in like a flood, I'm going to raise up a standard against it. You're not going to suffer, but you're going to succeed, because you belong to the King of kings and the Lord of lords!
You see, in this situation, there's two perspectives of the same problem. One is a natural perspective, and the other is a supernatural perspective. Here, Elisha is looking through the eyes of faith, and he sees the same army that his servant saw, except his servant only looked with his natural eyes. Elisha looked with his spiritual eyes, and he could see the unseen hand of God that sent an army of angels to protect him. Child of God, let me tell you, the God that we serve is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the awesome God. He is the Almighty God. There is none likened unto him. And when the Bible says that that God is for you, it should cause you to shout and rejoice and celebrate.
You have a God who sits upon the throne, and he rules in grace and truth. His loving kindness is better than life. His goodness and mercy, it's chasing after you. His favor is upon you. His hand goes before you. His word is alive in you. No weapon that this earth can form would ever prosper. No plan that the enemy makes will ever come to pass. Everything that you need, he has already supplied. Every battle that you fight, he's fighting it with you. Every trial you're in, he'll make you more than a conqueror. Every time you go to the fiery furnace, he'll show up with you. Every time they throw you in the lion's dens, he'll close their mouths on your behalf. Every time you come to the Red Sea, he'll roll it back to the left and the right. Every time you're out of food, he'll rain manna from heaven. Every time you're in a storm, he'll calm the winds and the waves. Every time you need him, he'll be there! The supernatural is always greater than the natural.
How often we waste our energy pointing at the natural problems. "Did you hear what they said? Did you see what they wrote? Did you read the article"? Let me ask you this question: did you hear what he said? Did you read what the spirit wrote? Do you know what promises are made for you in this book? Stop worrying about what the world is doing and start rejoicing in the fact that the God that you serve said, "Lift up your heads and rejoice. Your redemption draweth nigh". The question that you have to ask yourself is, "How do I perceive the problem? Through my natural eyes or my supernatural eyes"? Because if all you do is look at it with your natural eyes, you're going to be overwhelmed. But if you look at it through the supernatural perspective of God's word, like Paul, you say, "What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us"?
Now let me explain some things about divine perspective. Divine perspective is not denial. There are four hindrances to divine perspective, and the first hindrance is denial. Sometimes God's children want to use God's word as an excuse to ignore a problem that needs to be solved, not realizing that God gave you the power to solve it. We've convinced ourselves in certain circles that all we have to do is make a positive confession, and the problem will go away. It will not go away. King David proclaimed the word of the Lord to the giant, but you know what he did right after the proclamation? He killed him. He didn't proclaim him away: he cut his head off. And if you're going to see victory in your life, it's not just one thing to say it, you have to act upon it, because "Faith without works" is what? "Dead". You can't deny a problem to solve it. Divine perspective is not denial. Divine perspective is seeing the same problem that the world sees, but you see it through God's eyes. You see it through the eyes of faith.
There's a second hindrance to divine perspective, and that hindrance is fear. The Bible says clearly, "God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind". What was the first thing that Elisha said to his servant? "Fear not". Say that with me. "Fear not". Why? Because fear keeps you from seeing what God is doing. Every time that God came and intervened in the affairs of men, whether he sent an angel with a message or he showed up himself, he told those who were there, "Do not be afraid". When Moses was at the Red Sea, he said, "Be still and see the hand of God. Do not be afraid". When Gabriel showed up and talked to Mary about the birth of Jesus Christ, he said, "Do not be afraid". The greatest pandemic that we face in this generation is the pandemic of fear. Fear is being advertised. Fear is being sold. Fear is being bought, and fear is being consumed on a daily basis. But the Bible says, "Do not fear". Say that with me. "Do not fear". Say it again. "Do not fear".
Fear will cost you everything. Fear prohibits you from moving. You ever heard somebody say, "I was scared stiff"? Well, it's true. Fear will keep you from making a move physically. It'll keep you from making a move emotionally. It'll keep you from making a move spiritually. And the longer you stand there, the more you're going to be overwhelmed and overcome. You see this all of the time in several situations. There are business men who are afraid to make a move because of some issue that happened in the past. There are husbands and wives that are afraid to solve the problems in their marriages because they're allowing an offense to dictate their future. What did Jesus Christ say to those that followed him? "Fear not". Today, I pray that the spirit of fear be broken in your life.
A third hindrance to divine perspective is ignorance of the Word of God. Ignorance of the Word of God. Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge". How many people do not know what God has promised them, simply because they don't take the time to read it? They're not aware that God's provision is in his promises. Jesus prayed, "Give us this day our daily bread". Do you know where your daily spiritual bread comes from? The Word of God. This is your spiritual taqueria right here. And it doesn't matter how much you consume, a little or a lot: it's all good. When you read the Word of God, you come to the knowledge of God. And the knowledge of God is that he is a hope to the hopeless. He is a strength to the weary. He is living water to those who are thirsting. He is the bread of life to those who are hungering. And he is El Shaddai, the all-sufficient one to those who are in need. Child of God, if you're living and breathing today, know this: God's provision is found in his promises. Read the word, love the word, live the word, because the word works in you!
The final hindrance to divine perspective is disobedience. Disobedience is different than ignorance. Ignorance is when you don't know what to do. Disobedience is when you know what to do, and you choose not to do it. Now one of the problems that we have in our world today is that most of the time that we're disobedient, we claim ignorance. Those claims of ignorance do not excuse you from what's right and what's wrong. And the Bible says, "To him who knows to do right and does it not, to him it is sin". When you willingly disobey the Word of God, you put on spiritual blinders that keep you from seeing what God's doing in your life. We love to claim ignorance. Jesus said, "When you pray," and yet, there are people who go to church that ask the question, "Are we supposed to pray"? "When you pray".
Go just a few verses down, and Jesus said, "When you give". And every week, there are people who say, "Well, should we give"? You're claiming ignorance, but the truth is, it's disobedience. And then there's even other people that go, "What about this fasting thing? I mean, I was thinking about giving up Brussels sprouts". Without taking off into that message, let me make it very clear. If it doesn't mean anything to you, it doesn't mean anything to God. But Jesus said, "When you fast". Therefore, it's not considered super spiritual to pray, to give, or to fast. That's just obedience. But if you want to see the hand of God in your life, you better be obedient. You better do what the Word of God says, because his word will not return void.
Today I want you to walk out of this sanctuary with a divine perspective. I don't want you to look at the overwhelming circumstances of the world and wonder where your answer's coming from. I want your eyes to be opened like the servant of Elisha, so that whenever you look at your season of need, you see the hand of a provider bringing you all that you require. Whenever you're looking at a season of sickness, you see the healer walking your way. Whenever you're looking at an hour of deliverance, you see the one who came to set captives free walking towards you. You may not know where the answer's coming from, but God does. You may not know how the mountain's going to move, but God does. You may not see the army that he has standing around about you, but he's given his angels charge over you to watch over you and to make a way for you. Child of God, I want you to leave here knowing that if God be for you, who can be against you? Give the Lord a handclap of praise.