Standing on the Wrong Side of the Battle — Carter Conlon

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Standing on the Wrong Side of the Battle

I want to speak to you this morning about standing on the wrong side of the battle. Standing on the wrong side of the battle. If you go to 1 Samuel chapter 29, please, with me. And just leave your Bibles open there.

1 Samuel chapter 29. And as you're finding it, we're going to pray together. Now, Lord, God Almighty, I yield my body, my mind, my heart, my spirit to you. This is a very difficult hour. You are a God of great power and great grace.

You have a plan that will honor and glorify your own name. God, would you help me today to speak this? Lord, I come to you in weakness, and I trust for your strength to be made manifest that your name alone might be brought to the glory that you deserve.

I yield my all. I ask you to expand the borders of this natural tent. Give me thoughts, expressions, things, Lord, that I don't naturally possess. I yield to you, Holy Spirit, and I ask you to come and exalt Jesus Christ.

I ask this with a believing heart in Jesus' name. Standing on the wrong side of the battle. Now, before we go to the scripture in 1 Samuel 29, I want to read to you from the book of Ezekiel. Now, I want you just to listen to this.

God's Holy Name and the Promise of Restoration

This is a prophetic promise that God makes to the nation of Israel. Now, I know it physically applies to Israel, and we will live to see this happen. But it also applies to the church of Jesus Christ, because we are adopted into the family of God.

And in a sense, all the promises that were given to Israel are also, not exclusively, but also given to the church of Jesus Christ. So I want you to listen to this in that context. Ezekiel chapter 36.

Verse 21, he said, I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whether they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, whether you went.

And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them.

And you will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, and you shall receive no more reproach or famine among the heathen. Then you will remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God, in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, the land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited.

Then the heathen that are left around about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places. I plant that that was desolate. I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them.

I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock is the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Now God says, I have a name, and in that name I have a people. And all throughout history, God's people have tragically made mistakes. They've moved away from living in a manner that brings honor and glory to that name, and sometimes find themselves standing on the wrong side of the battle.

David's Calling and the Anointing of God

I want you to think of David for a moment, because we're going to be talking about him in 1 Samuel. Think of him called out from among others that were around him. Do you know that when you came to Christ, you were called out from your family, you were called out from whatever past you have been part of?

The cords of those things were broken. You were brought into the bond as it is of a brand new life. You were called to live in a manner that will truly bring glory to God. Think of when Samuel poured from that horn the oil upon the head of David, and it ran down upon his garments.

As the scripture says in Psalm 133, even to the bottom of the clothing he was wearing, that anointing is a covering anointing. That anointing takes ordinary men and women like you and me, and makes us extraordinary.

Takes us out of the natural and brings us into the supernatural. All that the name of Jesus Christ might be lifted up and glorified among men. That the desire in the heart of God, that all come to know him, come to understand that they were created by him and for him.

That this desire that's in the heart of God might be met, because there is a supernatural people in the earth. That those who are without God look to. And there is indisputable evidence in the lives of these people that there is indeed something about God and of God that they don't know.

Their deepest efforts cannot bring them to this level as it is of achievement and change that comes into the hearts of those who truly belong to God. Think of the incredible victories that David was given, even in the infancy of his relationship with God.

When he was able to kill a lion and a bear as they attempted to devour his little flock. Think of him standing in his early years on the right side of the battle. When Saul and all of his army, seemingly powerless before the threatenings of the enemy that were coming against this land that was set apart to be a place of provision and blessing.

And think of all these warriors trembling, they don't have a plan, they don't know what to do. So few have even the courage to consider confronting this voice of darkness that's coming against the nation.

And here comes this young worshipper, anointed by God, called out from among others. Can you see him going into the valley? He has nothing more than the things that he's come to trust and he's got a faith and a confidence in God who has given him supernatural ability and he knows it.

He knows that it's not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of God that victories are won for the name of Christ. And the incredible victories that God gave this young man when he walked in faith.

I want you to think now, when you first came to Christ, think of the victories that God gave you. Think of the thoughts of suicide that suddenly just evaporated. Think of the things you were going to do, the things you were thinking about that had such a stronghold in your life that you were powerless to turn from it.

But suddenly you won a supernatural victory, no less victorious than the victory of David. The voices that claimed they had a lawful right to dominate your life were now broken as you took one promise from God's Word and just flung that right into the forehead of the devil himself.

And said, no, you're not dominating my life. You're not dominating my future. You're not dominating my family. You don't have the last say in everything about my life. As a matter of fact, your saying is over.

Your speaking is over. That's what David was saying. He was speaking it in the Spirit to this giant. No, no, your threatenings and all the things you say you're going to do, it's over now. It's over because God has found somebody who's willing to trust Him.

Think of the sweet songs that God gave to this young man, David. He became a worshipper of God and the songs are not poems, folks, they're songs. These are things that David, with an instrument of music in his hands, sang to his own God and Savior.

He's brought into favor in the king's palace and many knew that the hand of God was upon him. And so this is where David began until one day a difficulty arose which he could not have foreseen. Violent opposition came against the pathway that God had laid out before him.

David's Fearful Choice and the Wrong Side of the Battle

You see, God has determined to do something through your life. Beloved, listen to me. Do you think the devil rolled over and died the day that God saved you? And declared that he had a pathway for your life?

May even let you to a point, as it is, seemingly advanced unopposed. And all of a sudden, as you're getting close to what it is that God has destined that your life should be to bring glory to His name, the enemy now comes against you with this violent opposition.

That's exactly what happened to David. A former friend, Saul, all of a sudden just turns. A man who turns to the flesh, as it is, and knows little or nothing about the spirit of God, turns against him and violently begins to oppose him.

Instead, he finds himself pursued, as it is, inside of the kingdom of God. And he doesn't know what to do. And in the midst of all of this, he forms a plan. And it's one of the first, it's not the last, but it's one of the first evidences of David beginning to take things into his own hands.

And the scripture tells us that David said, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. That's in 1 Samuel chapter 27, verse 1. He says, there's nothing better for me than I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines, and Saul will despair of me to seek me anymore in the coast of Israel, and I will escape out of his hand.

This is where David goes. Now look at where he ends up. In chapter 29, the Philistines are gathered together, all their armies, verse 1 to Aphek, and the Israelites pitched by a fountain, which is in Jezreel.

And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. Now Achish is a Philistine king in Gath. Now here is David, years after, as it is, facing the giant on the right side of the battle.

He now finds himself on the wrong side of the battle. Have you ever found yourself there? Have you ever found yourself on the wrong side of an argument, but you're so proud and stubborn, you know it's wrong, but still you march forward in your stubbornness?

You know you've been nailed, you've been cornered, people have rightly put their finger on something in you, but you're just so stubborn, you can't admit that you're walking in the flesh, and you're not really yielded to the will of God in this particular moment of your life.

Now what do you do when you find yourself standing on the wrong side of the battle? You're associating with the wrong people, and you're fighting for the wrong cause. More importantly, if you're a true child of God, what will God do to correct you and get you headed in the right direction again?

You remember in Ezekiel, he said, I'm going to do something. I do believe God's going to do it now in this generation. I believe many of God's people are on the wrong side of the battle. I think they're sitting under wrong ministry.

I know the reasoning is because they've stopped seeking God. They've stopped reading the Bible. Something's gotten into their heart, they're being led by human reasoning. And now, here they are, at the rear, as it is, of the Philistine army.

The one place, when you read in the beginning of Samuel, that you'd never ever think that David would be found. God forbid, if you saw the future, one day this sweet psalmist, this young man who defeats the giant and brings this incredible victory, is now marching with 600 or so men at the rear of the Philistine army, about to cross over into Israel to fight against the armies of God.

Now, I know Saul was a fleshly kingdom. But David found himself in a lose-lose situation, folks. And when you're on the wrong side of the battle, that's exactly where you are. You're in a lose-lose situation.

And many people are sitting there today. But the Lord says, no, I'm going to bring them out. And I'm going to show you in Scripture how God brings his people out. There is going to be a church that honors him in this generation.

There are going to be a people who know him again. There are going to be a people who walk with him again. There are going to be a people who dance in genuine truth, in spirit and in truth, before the presence of God again.

The Bible says in Hebrews 12, 11,. No chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. But afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised by it.

In the Scripture we find the pattern of God's dealing. Speaking of the children of Israel, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, 11,. All these things that happened to them were written for our examples, And they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world have come.

Now, this story tells us how the Lord brought David out of a place he found himself in, After he had begun to follow his own reasoning. And if we follow this story, I think at some point you might find yourself in it.

Fleshly Leadership and Misguided Christian Ambition

I said earlier, David faced a difficulty which he could have not foreseen. Violent opposition came against him. Maybe you're experiencing opposition in your mind. Maybe the opposition came because, of course, David finds himself in a camp, Under a leadership that is in the flesh.

And even moving towards witchcraft. I think of the number of people today who are wanting God. They're truly called of God. They're truly anointed of God. But they found themselves under spiritual leadership that is not seeking the kingdom of God.

Leadership of the flesh. And they don't know what to do. And this leadership hates the anointing of God. And they even maybe try to approach them with an idea that's born in the spirit, Only to find rejection and anger coming from those that are supposed to be leading the kingdom of God.

Or leading this charge as it is against the works of darkness. This is exactly where David found himself. The violent opposition came from within the kingdom of God. As it was supposed to be. And David, instead of trusting in God at this time, He started to chart a pathway of his own reasoning.

He said, I'm going to die one day at the hand of Saul. So I'm just going to go where things are more positive. And I see a lot of people have left really what is dead religion. And they've gone into what they think is positive.

Into what they think is going to bring them to their desired end. Not knowing it's going to lead them to the wrong side of the battle. They go into places where messages are preached. That the whole reason you're a Christian is to be more powerful.

Have a greater destiny. To achieve greatness in your life. And all of these things. The whole truth of the matter is the reason you're a Christian is to follow Christ. And take up your cross. That all of humanity may come to know there's a God who died for them.

The reality is there's sometimes suffering in this walk with Christ. And sometimes difficulty and depravity. The reality is that our lives are not our own anymore. We're bought with a price. We're not to come to God to ask Him to procure some great big destiny.

Goodness sakes man. Just think for a moment. How does this fit? The early apostles all died for what they believed. John went to prison. Paul had a pen in his hand at the end of his days. He said, don't anybody bother me now.

Don't throw your stuff at me about what you think God is. I bear in my body the marks of Jesus Christ, Paul said. On this pathway that David chose, he became deceptive and cruel. I'm very thankful that history records the truth.

The Bible records the truth. It doesn't gloss over. Now by God's grace, we remember him as a sweet psalmist and a great king of Israel. And that's a type of the covering that God gives to all of our lives.

But he became deceptive and cruel. Because he had to convince this Philistine king that he was now on his side. But you can never fully be on the side of the Philistines. Because he's anointed of God.

And called of God. He had to convince him that he's fighting against the enemies of this Philistine. And fighting against, as it is, Judah and her allies. But in fact, he's killing the enemies of Israel.

As he goes out every day and comes back. And the scripture says he had to kill everybody. He had to kill women and children. Because he became cruel. He became deceptive in this path. And then eventually it led him into a battle that was a lose-lose situation.

I really don't know what was in the mind of David. And I think only eternity is going to reveal it. He's marching with the Philistine king into a battle that they're going against Saul and the armies of Israel.

Now think this one through. Now even if he rebelled against the Philistine king and fought, Saul still would want to kill him. It's a lose-lose situation, folks. There's nothing he can do. He's in the wrong side of the battle now.

And it's been quite a journey that has taken him there. As I was preparing this message, I was thinking of all the divorce courts in our nation. Where even Christian people now are sitting on opposite sides of the table fighting against what they should be fighting for.

Having lost faith. Having charted a course. Violent opposition of the devil himself came into their home. And instead of fighting for what truly typifies the relationship of Christ and his church, they're on the opposite side of the battle.

Now fighting against what God says, No, I'll give you the victory if you'll trust me. I'll take you into something supernatural, but you've got to trust me for this. And here they are on the opposite side of the table now.

With a plan that they think is going to bring them relief. I think of those who fear for their financial future. And in spite of God's promises to them, they form plans, just like David did, to cheat people.

To cheat in business. To cheat the government on their income tax. And to even cheat God by refusing to tithe and refusing to give to his work. And simply the root is fear. And they will not deal with the fear, so they form a plan.

See, I'm going to perish. I'm not going to make it into the future. Even though God says, you bring into the storehouse, I'll open to you the windows of heaven. There will not be room enough to contain it.

God says now. It's the only time in scripture that God says, prove me in this. Prove me in this as to whether or not I'm speaking the truth or not. Prove me. But yet there's so many people who fear for their financial futures.

And that fear leads them into the Philistine camp, folks. It leads them to sit under theology that God's only purpose to make you a Christian is to make you rich. They are led into the Philistine camp.

They're on the wrong side of a battle that is for the souls of men and women and children. I think of those who fear that their ambitions will not be realized. They'll not get that promotion. They'll not get to the top of the corporate ladder.

Or whatever the ladder is that you happen to be on. So they start playing the game. They start laughing at the dirty jokes and the gossip. They become partakers of the gossip in the work environment. And they nervously even poke fun at other Christians who are standing for God in their workplace or in their school or in their colleges.

They're on the wrong side of the battle. And I know I'm speaking to somebody here today. Standing on the wrong side. You've been in your school in particular. Your workplace. And people are laughing at somebody who's standing up for Christ.

And here you are among them. Wrong side of the battle. You're in a lose-lose situation, my friend. You're on the wrong side of the battle. It's time to get the courage to get back on the right side of the hill again.

God says, if you belong to me, I'm going to get you out. Make no mistake about it. If you belong to God, God is going to get you out. He's going to get you out. Chapter 29 of 1 Samuel. In verse 3, I'm going to show you exactly.

God's Chastening and the Recovery of What Was Lost

You see, the patterns of Scripture show us how God deals with these situations. This is an anointed man of God. He's on the wrong side of the battle right now. Now, God's going to get him out. I'm going to show you exactly how God's going to get you out.

And some of you are going to see exactly where you are right now. Now, folks, I've been here. I've been here one time. Somebody handed me some tapes as a young Christian. Oh, and they sounded so good.

They were so positive. They were so easy to understand. And they were very alluring because it talked about greatness and such like. And I began to just devour these tapes. And they said, whatever you want, you claim it.

All sicknesses of the devil and all this stuff. And I began to really swallow this stuff. And until my son got burned in the fire. And then I found out how much of this stuff is really true. When I was beside his bed in the hospital every day and believe all I want to believe, he was still burned and was still very, very scarred.

And I was brought into correct thinking by the mercy of God. Folks, God will bring you back. No chastening for the present seems to be joyous but grievous. But afterwards, it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness.

My son, who was burned, now works with Ron Pierce in Empower for this season. Just came back from China and Myanmar and Vietnam, looking for avenues to bring Bibles and provision for Christians. And he's a man of great courage.

And I thank God for this. What seemed to be a disaster, God brought good out of it. That's why, remember Solomon's riddle, out of the eater came forth sweetness. Well, the thing that you think is going to devour you will quite often bring about a strength in you that nothing else will.

But here's what's going to happen if you're on the wrong side of the battle. David is marching with Akish, the king, or Akish, the king of Gath. I don't know what he's thinking. Oh, God, maybe it's the first time in his heart he's saying, God, what have I done?

Where am I going? I know this is not right. How did I get here? How did my thinking get so twisted that now I'm like, remember, David would not even touch Saul as the anointed of God. Now he's leading hundreds of men and he's in the rear of a battle.

I don't know what he was thinking. There's a lot of conjecture about it, but none of us know for certainty. I don't think David knew. I think he was just finally led to a place. Maybe in his heart it was the first time he'd prayed in a long time.

So, God, please, if ever you could get me out of something, I'd appreciate this. And all of a sudden, verse 3, it says, then the princes of the Philistines said, what do these Hebrews here? And Akish said to the princes of the Philistines, is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, which has been with me these days, these years, and I found no fault in him since he fell unto me this day?

Then the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him. And the princes of the Philistines said unto him, make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou has appointed him. Let him not go down with us into the battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us.

And here it is, folks, I want to give it to you very easily. Suddenly, your new friends are going to reject you. Suddenly, God will put it in their hearts. Hey, how did you get in here? All of a sudden, right in the middle of nowhere, there might even be one in the crowd that's saying, hey, well, you know, I know he goes to church, but he's been with us, you know, and he's been faithful to us.

And when we tell dirty jokes, he laughs. When we gossip, he gossips with us. And then somebody will say, no, no, I don't trust him. And all of a sudden, all your new friends, your new truths, your new plans, your new opinions, your new ideas that you formed in the flesh, simply leave you standing.

And that's exactly what happened with David. Because these things have no power to take you where Christ is taking you and where Christ wants you to go. God will cause them to leave you standing. They will suddenly reject you.

They brought you only so far to have you realize that you were never really one of them. And there's a moment, there's a realization that comes and says, God, I don't belong here. It's something that comes into the heart of the truly called and anointed man or woman of God.

I don't belong here. I don't belong sitting, listening to this idiocy that calls itself the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't belong here. This is a misrepresentation of God. This is not what the cross is about.

This is not what the ministry of Christ is about. I'm seeing something in the scriptures. I don't belong here. I don't want to be here. I'm out of here. I'm going somewhere where there are people who want to walk with God.

I'm going back on the right side of the battle again. Jesus said it himself, Luke 66, verse 22, he said, Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil.

Then he said, for the son of man's sake, for my name's sake, I will put you in a place where they will reject you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. I have a very good friend who's a pastor, is a pastor, and was a pastor years ago.

And he was in a church that preached hyper-faith, all diseases of the devil, everybody's to be prosperous, etc., etc., etc. And everything was fine. And he's traveling up on the ministry circuit. He's beginning to have influence in the congregation until he had a mentally challenged son.

And folks, that son, of course, that child was a great big embarrassment to the ministry. So all of a sudden, he's being pushed the other way. Pushed away off the platform. Because how do you deal with that?

When you say that everything is supposed to be just a blessing. There's not supposed to be hardship in the Christian life. And now a pastor has a mentally challenged son. And the true spirit behind this now comes out.

Instead of comforting this man, they reject him. They push his family out of the ministry. He came and sat in this congregation for several years. Broken. Absolutely broken by the betrayal. God got a hold of him.

He's now pastoring a church that is growing incredibly in our time that we're in right now. Thanks be to God for this. In chapter 30, it says at the end of chapter 29, verse 11, David and his men rose up to depart in the morning and return into the land of the Philistines.

And in chapter 30, he comes back to what was his home in the city. And in verses 3 to 4, it says,. You see, David sees the enemy has been given access to the most precious things in his life. And he weeps till he can't weep anymore.

When you're on a wrong pursuit, even a wrong perspective of what it means to be a Christian, the devil will come right in the back door. And while you're talking about destiny and greatness, the enemy is there devouring your very home right from underneath you.

And God leads David into a problem that is so big, not even the best of his strength and reason can solve it. And this is exactly what God will do in his mercy. This is how he gets the people out of captivity.

He will bring you into a problem that is too big for human reason. You cannot solve it in your own strength. David has lost his wives. He's lost his children. Oh, he's lost his stuff. All the men who are following him have lost their stuff.

And now they even want to kill him. They want to stone him on top of everything else as if it's not bad enough. He hasn't got a friend seemingly at this point, except for one who says, I stick closer than a brother and I will never leave you or forsake you.

And the scripture tells us that David encouraged himself in the Lord. You see, there will be a point when that's all you can do. You just get your encouragement from God. You can't trust anything on any side of you.

You simply go into that prayer closet or get back into this book and say, God, you've got to speak to me one more time. Now, if David had done that in the beginning, he would not have gotten in this mess in the first place.

Now, the scripture tells us in verse six, he encouraged himself in the Lord. And in verse seven, it says, David said to Abiathar, the priest, Ahimelech, son, I pray thee, bring me the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

And now the ephod is the garment that they wore when they're seeking God. You see, David is now coming back to the point of his departure. This is where men depart from God. This is how people, even God's anointed, end up on the wrong side of the battle.

They stop seeking him. They stop asking for his will. They stop looking in the book, seeing his promises, and claiming all of the promises as their own. They stop searching the scriptures for what the Christian life is supposed to be.

And David, now, through these calamities, has come back to the very place that he left when he started reasoning his pathway before him. And he says, bring me this garment as it is. Bring me this covering.

I'm going to seek God again. And he begins to pray. And here's the good news. And he said, shall I pursue after this troop? Now, he's lost almost everything now because of what he did. His family's a mess.

Everything seems to have gotten away from him because his pursuit of God has been in error. And shall I overtake them? And here's the word of the Lord to him. Pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them.

And without fail, you will recover all. Now, folks, this is my word, that field that God gave me to give you today. Go after what the enemy has taken from you. God says, no, I don't want you to sit on a log somewhere, nursing your wounds forever.

I don't want you to join some self-help group and sit in a circle holding hands, hoping for a better day. No, I want you to pray, and I'm going to speak to your heart. I want you to go into the prayer closet.

You see, that's where it's going to be won. And I want you to go after what the enemy has taken away. I want you to go after it. Go to the uttermost, no matter how far it's gotten away from you. It's not gotten away from me, the Lord says.

I know where it is. I know how to bring back what's been gone. When you've made mistakes, even Christian mistakes, the devil will be there when you finally realize what you've done, to say, well, it's too late.

You've made a mistake. Now just hang your head and beat yourself now for the rest of your life. You're not worthy to do anything. You're not even worthy to be called by the name of God. You see, the devil is a liar.