Stand, Fight, And Win! | Joseph Davis

In this motivating message, a compelling sermon on spiritual warfare unfolds through the story of Shammah, one of David's mighty men, who stood alone in a lentil field and fought off an entire army. Drawing from 2 Samuel, Ephesians, and 1 Corinthians, four key strategies are laid out for standing your ground against the enemy: position yourself in the middle of your field, defend what is yours without negotiation, kill the threat completely, and walk away with your great victory. Through vivid personal stories and bold, energetic delivery, the message makes clear that the devil is a thief with one job, and it is your job to make sure he does not get what belongs to you. If you are in the middle of a battle and feel like retreating, this message will fire you up, remind you of the weapons you already have, and challenge you to stand firm on the word until the victory is won.

Transcript

You Have An Enemy

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I have a message tonight to encourage you. How many of you know we have an enemy? Right? We have an enemy. Well, in 1 Peter, the scripture says, be sober and be vigilant for the enemy. One translation says, that enemy of yours, the devil, walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Looking for the opportunity to steal. John 10, 10 says, For the thief comes but not to steal, comes not but to steal, kill, and to destroy. But Jesus said, But don't get me mixed up with him. I've come that you might have life more abundantly. And so we know that Jesus has a plan, the Father has a plan, but the enemy also has a plan. And so tonight I have a message that I want to share with you to encourage you to help you along the way because you know the devil's always looking for the opportunity to steal. And so we we cannot afford to get halfway through the year and kind of okay, stop and celebrate what he's done, but we need to keep pressing on to what he's going to do, right? Amen.

David’s Mighty Men Introduced

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And so if you would turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 23. We're going to look at the story of David's mighty men. And so to make this more appropriate for everyone in the room, we're going to say David's mighty folks. This is a one-size-fits-all message tonight. Not just for the men folk, but for the lady folk too. Everybody said amen. Amen. And so this story, this, this uh this uh story talks about uh three men that were that were so that were uh considered to be mighty men that served alongside David and did mighty things, did great things. And so I want to look at those three men, but then I want to go back and focus on just one. And in in looking at that one, we're gonna see some things that I believe will be beneficial and helpful to us tonight. So in 2 Samuel chapter 23, started at verse 8, it said, these are the names of the mighty men whom David had. Joshabed, okay, and these names I'm telling you, boy, I'll tell you what, if I mess a few of them up, y'all forgive me, okay? But there was Joshabed, Bath Hebet, the Tachnomite, chief among the captains. He was also called Adeno, the Inzonite, because he had killed 800 men at one time. Now think about that. This dude alone, right here, just this one, killed 800 men. My Bible says it one time. Wow. That is some serious slaying. Right? That is some serious warfare. And with him was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when he defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. So we see these three men with David held off an army. That's verse 9. He rose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary. So this dude, Eliezer, whooped up on an army until his hand got tired, beat him up so bad that his hand stuck to his sword. But it says right after that, the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to plunder. So he whooped upon a whole army, and the rest of the army that didn't stay and fight came back and reaped the benefit. Wow. And then after him, verse 11, was Shama, the son of Egi, the Hariite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentil. So the people fled from the Philistines. Verse 12, but he stationed himself in the middle of the film, defended it, killed the Philistines, so the Lord brought about a great victory. And so as I began to read about that, I was obviously intrigued about these three mighty men, and I wanted to know a little bit more about who they were. And so Jehoshaphat, who was also called Adino, the Inzanite, was the chief of the three mighty warriors. So he was kind of the head guy. He was an officer appointed under King David in charge of the first division of 24,000 men on duty for the first month of the year. And so he had a pretty high-up position, had a lot of responsibility. And we can tell that given his ability to slay 800 people, 800 men, he earned that. Right? And then that was Eleazar. Now I looked up Eleazar, and his name in Hebrew translates to God has helped or God is my helper. And so now this was the one that fought until he killed everybody, whoop, until it's until it's basically until his arms got tired, his hands got tired. And he had fought so much that the sword was stuck in his hand. Can you imagine trying to? It's okay. It's all right, Lie and sorry. They're done. You can let go of the sword and it's stuck in his hand. That's some serious warfare. But his name in Hebrew means God has helped, a garland's my helper. Now, this is the second of the three mighty men that the Bible talks about. And then, of course, there was Shamma. Now, as I was looking up, trying to do a little research on Shaman to find some things about him. First of all, it's a biblical name. You know, you see the biblical aspect of that, or you heard referred to Jehovah Jehovah's Shammah, Yahweh Shamma, which translates the Lord is there. But just for a given name for him, it's a literacy, literal or historical context out of the divine name Shamaki means waste, desolation, or astonishment. Now, Shammah astonished some people by his actions and by what he does, what he did to defend. And so tonight,

Shammah And The Lentil Field

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I want to take a little, I want to take a little time to look at Shama. First of all, as we look at Shammah and understand a little bit more about it about him, we understand not just Shama, but all of these three men, these three mighty men of God. They were able to gain great victories. They were able to accomplish great feats. They had only physical power. They had only physical strength. But I want to remind you that you have more than just the physical strength. You have the helper of the Holy Ghost. You have a holy helper. They didn't have the Holy Ghost back then. But we have the Holy Ghost. Now, if they were able to accomplish that with just their own strength, imagine what you can accomplish in his strength. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12, you all know it says, for we rest on eye against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. In other words, what we're fighting today is not what they fought then. And so what they used to fight, the sword, we have a different sword now. Amen. We have a different artillery. We have different weapons for the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God. And they're designed to do certain things for the pulling down of strongholds. The very strongholds that he talks about in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12. Those kind. Those kinds require special a special weaponry. And so we see that those three men, they fought in the seen realm. We fight today in the unseen realm.

Stand, Fight, And Win

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And so tonight, if you're taking notes, I want to give you a message title. And the message title simply is this Stand, Fight, and Win. Let me say that again. Stand, fight, and win. And so you're maybe asking, well, Pastor Joseph, why are you saying that and why are you bringing that kind of message? Because we still have six more months in this year. And we have an enemy. And I'm not glorifying him, but I do want to make sure that you are aware that he's a thief. He's a terrorist. And he has one job, and that is to keep you from accomplishing all that God has for you. As a matter of fact, when that word went out at the beginning of the year, 2026, the year of new things, you know all of hell was saying, we'll see about that. We'll see about that. But through the life and the experiences of Shammah, we can learn a few things on how to put the devil on notice. There comes a time in our lives, folks, when we have to tell hell no. Anybody know what I'm talking about? When you got to stand up and tell the devil, no. That is not how that's gonna go. No, that's not how that's gonna end. No, that's not the end of the story. I read the back of the book, and the back of the book in my book says that they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. So we have to tell hell no. And all the demonic forces, no. And so if we go back and look at Shamma in 2 Samuel, starting at verse 11, we're gonna see a few things that I want to point out. First of all, it says in verse 11, after him was Shaman, the son of Aege the Hariarite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils, so the people fled the Philistines. So, first of all, we see the situation. We see that the Philistines' army, who hadn't quite learned their lesson yet, even though they had been defeated several times before, they all come together and say, hey, this land, we want this piece of land. And the rest of the army got scared and ran off. So the first thing we learned is that's not what not to do. The ground full of lentils. First of all, that ground, the Philistines recognized the value of the field and wanted to take it. The devil recognizes the value of what you have, the value of what's been promised to you and wants to take it. God's promises to you are valuable. The word that we received at the beginning of this year was valuable. It's a valuable word. So valuable that the devil wants to steal it from you. I said this a minute ago, John 10, 10, for the thief comes but to steal. Why does a thief steal? What is the sole purpose of stealing? To take something that he doesn't have. That's a thief's job. To take something that he doesn't have, that you have. The devil's already mad at you because you get to do what he'll never get to do again. Did y'all know he's an unemployed worship leader? Totally ineligible for benefits. And he'll never get to do what we get to do every time we come into his presence. That's why times like this when we take time to worship are so significant. And if you really want to tick the devil off, just worship. Because you get to do what he'll never get to do again. As a matter of fact, sometimes I like to remind him. So let me tell, let me let me get this straight. You want to harass me, but you got kicked out of heaven. Is that right? You got kicked out. And now you want to harass me. Oh, you got jokes, but you got kicked out, right? Just remind him. He got kicked out. Can't go back. He's ineligible for the benefits. David said, Bless the Lord, all my soul, and all that's within me. Bless the Lord all my soul and forget not all of his benefits. Did you know worship has benefits? The Israeli army fled because they did not see the value of the land, only the size of the opposition. Now there were two perspectives there. The Israeli army didn't see the value of the land, but instead their focus was on the size of the opposition. Shammah, on the other hand, saw the value of the land, not the size of the opposition. So there's a lesson there. When you're dealing with something, make sure you focus on the right thing. Amen? Now, because Shammah focused on the value of the field, he did

Position Yourself On The Word

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four things. Verse 12, the first thing that we see that Shammah did was this. He stationed himself in the middle of the field. He defended it, killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory. So there are four things that you must do when the enemy attempts to steal what's yours. The first thing you got to do, we see that Shammah did, the scripture says in verse 12, he stationed himself. One translation says he positioned himself in the middle of the field. Now, when I first read that, I've read it, and then I was, whoosh, wait, oop, go back, read that again. He positioned himself in the middle of the field. Why was that so important that he positioned himself in the middle of the field? Instead of standing on the edge of the field, Shamma got right in the middle of the field, right here. Why is that important? Because when you stand in the middle versus standing on the perimeter, you are letting the enemy know that all of this belongs to me. Not just this part right here, not just this little part over here, but all of this is mine. The front, the back, both sides, all of it is mine. He stood in the middle of the field. Let the devil know that all of this belongs. Now, Shamma also, it said he positioned himself. In other words, he took a sure-footed stand. Now, when you're about to go on the defense, you gotta make sure that you you're solid, right? Any boxers in here? Come on now, you know, you know you may be big dodging weed, but you gotta make sure that you're on solid foot. Why? So you don't get knocked over, so you don't get knocked down. Positioning yourself requires that you are on firm footing. It requires that there is no wavering or retreating. When you take a firm stand, you are saying, I shall not be moved. I'm not leaving here. I'm not giving this up without a fight. This is mine. I like to remind the devil often that you're trespassing and you've invaded unauthorized territory. You have to leave. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 58 says this, therefore, my brethren, be steadfast, immovable. In other words, don't move. Don't let anything or anyone move you. Shaman was not willing to allow anyone or anything to move him. Position yourself in the middle of the field. That's the first thing you must do. Maintain your position and be battle ready. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 13. You all know this, but I read this in the New Living Translation and I really liked it. It said, Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm. Now notice this didn't say after the battle you're gonna have to get up and grab and pick your teeth up. Didn't say that, did it? It said, but after the battle, you will still be standing firm. Now listen what the Amplified version says. Therefore, put on the complete armor of God so that you will be able to successfully resist and stand your ground in the evil day of danger, and having done everything that the crisis demands, to stand firm in your place, fully prepared, fully prepared, immovable, and victorious. That's what firm footing does. It makes you victorious. Firm footing ensures that you're gonna still be standing when it's over. Now, how do we stand firm in when we take a stand firmly? What are we gonna stand firmly on? We're gonna stand firmly on the word. Christ is my firm foundation. The rock in which I stand, right? So it's important when you take a firm stand that you stand firmly on the right thing, not the wrong thing. You've got to stand firmly on the word. You've got to stand firmly on what you know. Now, in order to stand firmly on the word, you've got to know the word, right? Pastor Osteen used to say this all the time: get the word of God in you when you don't need it, so when you need it, it comes out. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Amen. Because look, when you're in the middle of something, you don't have time for 1-800 get aword.com. You don't have time for that. You should be so full of the word that the minute something hits, the word just comes out. Just comes out. Just comes out.

A Real Test At Work

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I remember years ago when I was working in corporate America, and unbeknownst to me, something really wild was happening, and some decisions had made. And on my way to work that morning, I'm driving, and it was like I had a 30, a 30-minute, 35-minute drive to work. And this particular morning, just the thought of being without, just the thought of lack was just funny to me. And the more I thought about it, the more funny, the the the more tickled I became. So much so that I am just laughing. Okay, I'm laughing so hard. I'm sitting at a traffic light, I'm laughing so hard, I can barely catch my breath, and finally I'm able to regain some composure. And I look over at this car next to me, and these guys look at me like I don't know what you got, but can I get some? Can I have some of that? And so I get to the office, and on the way, I'm laughing and I'm just thanking God, and the word of God is coming out, just speaking against lack, and I mean every word that just speaking against lack. So I get to the office, I get to the parking garage, I park, I go in to the second floor, and my assistant meets me. And she was like the little red hen, henny penny is what I called her. So I get off the elevator, and before I could even get both feet out of the elevator, she's right in my face. Ah, I haven't had my coffee yet. What's wrong? What's wrong? Oh, there's a merger that's just taking place. The news just came out, and we're gonna all lose our jobs. Ah I looked at her and I said, I still haven't had my coffee yet. And every word after that was a negative word. Every word, every word, every word that came out of her mouth. But thank God for the word of God because every word that came out was met with the word. Every word that came out of her mouth was met with the word. And it was bad. It was really bad. But you know what? That morning I had prepared myself and had insulated myself by speaking and declaring and praising the Lord that He was my provider and my protector. And after it was all said and done, the Lord protected me and kept me. And when I left, I left on my terms, and I left like the children of Israel coming out of Egypt. I cried all the way to the bank. God is faithful. But you've got to respond the word way. You've got to make sure that you are firmly footed, sure-footed, on the right, you've got the right stance. That's

Defend Your Ground Without Negotiation

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important. The next thing that you must do that we see Shamma did was this. It says that he defended. He stood in the middle of the field and then he defended it. Listen, folks, Jesus said, in this life you will have tests and trials. But he also said, now he didn't say, now you're gonna have trouble, so that's just kind of the way it is, and we'll see how you do on judgment day. Okay, deal with it. It's not what he said. He said, in this life you will have tests and trials, but be of good cheer, for I've overcome the world. Another scripture says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, many other troubles, many other tests, many other trials, many other struggles of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. Now, we have those promises, we have those insurances, but sometimes you've still got to defend because the devil likes to play dumb. He likes to play dumb. Can I tell you something about the word? And being a student of the word? When the test comes, it's an open book test. Let me say that again. When the trouble comes, the word is an open book test. When the test comes, it's open book. Open the book. It's open book. And so we see shaman defended. Listen, folks, defend what's yours. Give the devil no ground. I said a few weeks ago that the devil is a terrorist and we don't negotiate with terrorists. Isn't that right? We don't negotiate with terrorists. Fight for what's yours. Shaman stood in the middle of the in the middle of the field and said, Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Maybe you you came to the wrong address. But this right here, all of this in the middle of the field. All of this right here. This is way over here. This way over here. This up here, where you're standing on the other side of the mine. Mine. And I will cut you. Because this is mine. Folks, you got to make sure the devil knows that it's yours. You got to make sure that he knows that you know that he's a thief. And that you're not having any of that. And he's not getting any of that. Now he'll try, but you've got to defend what's yours. Sometimes you've got to declare war on the devil. How do you do that? The name? At the name of Jesus, every knee has to bow. The blood. Sometimes I have to tell it, I chastise you with the blood of Jesus. That is not how that's gonna go. You came to the wrong house. You even on the wrong street. You've got to defend what's yours. You've got to make sure the devil understands. Make him regret he came to your house. Make him regret that he even decided to pick on you. You thought you could whoop me, didn't you? You can't whoop me. When he leaves your house, make sure he knows he's been in a fight. That's right. Make sure he knows he's been in a fight. Don't let him run, look, don't let him run out of there without a few bruises. Whoop up on him. Whoop him like he stole something. That's right. Resist. Resist the devil. That's what the word says. Resist. I resist that. I'm not putting up with that. I'm not having that. Whatever you allow on earth will be allowed in heaven. Isn't that what the word says? Whatever you disallow. I like the way Pastor James says, whatever you let will be let. Defend what's yours. Fight for what's yours. Put the devil on notice. Let him know, listen, listen, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're not getting out of here like that. You came in here, okay. It's if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're gonna get. I got a song I like to play for the devil sometimes. And I said, sit down here a minute. I got something I want you to hear. I got a song for him. So every now and then I have to have the devil sit down and I like the bass. I like that boom, boom, boom, boom. And I imagine he's hitting this head. Boom, thump, boom, thump. This means war. You come into my house? If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're gonna get. This means war. And I'm not coming in there with with look with with no no butter knife. I'm gonna cut you. I'm from Fifth Ward, Texas. I graduated from Thug U. Okay. BC, y'all. BC, BC, before Christ. Before Christ. But I'm gonna cut you. Cut him. Make him believe. Amen. Cut him. Resist. Be on the defense. Announce the devil's defeat. I love one of my favorite stories. It's over in 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 45 to 47 when Goliath thought he was gonna whoop David. All of the other Israelis, all of the other armies were scared of Goliath. David's like, uh-uh. This uncircumcised Philistine, uh-uh. Are you kidding me? Uh-uh. I don't even think David cared about the prize. He's one to whoop up Goliath. Sometimes you gotta talk trash to the devil. You know, don't start with the devil, you're so stupid your mama got hit by a park car. Don't do that. Okay, we know that. He knows that, but you don't have to do that. But sometimes you gotta put him on notice to say, okay, so let me tell you how this is gonna go. Okay, this is what David said. You come at me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come at you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Right there. You defied the name of the Lord. You defied the Lord. And the punishment and the penalty for that is death. This day, not tomorrow. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you and take your head off. I'm gonna crack you. And this day I will give the carcass of the camp to the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. You gotta let him know. Let him know. This is how it's gonna be. Let him know. I'm not giving up without a fight. That's mine, and you can't have it. My new thing. My new things are mine, and you can't have them. Health, it's mine. Why? Because the word said healing is the children's bread, and you can't have it. Prosperity, it's mine, and you can't have it. And I will fight you tooth and nail for what belongs to me. And sometimes you just gotta make your mind up, okay, it's either gonna be him or me, and it's not gonna be me. It's not gonna be me. Just decide how it's gonna end before you go into

Kill The Threat Completely

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it. Now, the third thing that we see that Shamma did in verse 12 was this he killed the Philistines. That's the fourth thing you gotta do, the third thing you've gotta do is kill the Philistines. Now, whatever that represents in your life, whatever that that means, whatever that looks like, whatever that sounds like, whatever that smells like, kill it. Dead. D E D dead. Oh, there's another letter. D E A D dead. Okay. Kill it. That's that's uh the the hood coming up. Okay, but you gotta kill it. Whatever that represents, kill it, put it out of your misery. Can I say that again? Whatever that is, kill it, put it out of your misery. Okay, in other words, if it's been bringing misery, kill it. So then you won't have any misery. Kill it dead, make sure it dies. Listen, God was not playing with the Egyptians. Were they coming out of the Red Sea? Did they come out? They didn't come out, did they? No, no. Not one of them got away. Now, if you watch the movie, Pharaoh went back to the house and talked to his wife, but that's not how that's not how that happened. That's not how that happened. They all drowned. Horses, chariots, all of them. Bloop, bloop, bloop. He should have just stayed at home and put his help water sign up. Okay. Dead. Killed him. Dead. You are going to have to sometimes kill the Philistine. Neutralize the threat. You're going to have to have the mindset, somebody is going to lose and it's not going to be me. Marianne made that my mind up when she said, somebody's going to lose and it's not going to be me. It's going to be cancers that's going to lose. She killed it. She neutralized the threat. Shaman said, You are not taking my field. I'm going to fight for this field. And while I'm fighting for it, I'm going to kill you so you don't show up again. One and done. So if you kill it, you don't have to worry about it coming back. Right? If you eliminate it, you don't have to worry about it coming back. No, don't, no, no, look, we're not talking about catch and release here. Tell your enemy, look, I'm going to give you an opportunity to get to know Jesus because you're about to go see him. Do you know him? That's right. Kill the Philistine. Kill it dead. Make sure it does not raise its ugly head up again. Nahem 1-9 even says, and I, who is who was I speaking the Lord? And I will put an end to this affliction. And it shall not return a second time. Did the Egyptians come back a second time after chasing the children of Israel into the Red Sea? No. Not only did they not come back, but everybody else knew about it, heard about it, and were afraid of them. See, sometimes you got to make an example. You take one demon out, the rest of them will think twice about coming after you. Sometimes you got to do that. And then the last thing we see that Shammah did was this. The Bible says in verse 12, so the Lord brought about a great victory.

Walk Away With Great Victory

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If you are going to first of all position yourself in the middle of the field, and again, it's important that you position yourself in the middle of the field, not on the perimeter of the field, not on one side of the field, but right smack in the middle, because you are sending a clear message that all of this is mine. So you must position yourself in the middle of your field. Then you've got to defend it. You've got to fight for it. Your very life may depend on it. And then once you fight for it, you've got to kill. When you get him down, kill him. When David got Goliath down, he said, I'm gonna take your head off. You're not getting up from this. As a matter of fact, the rest of the animals and the wildlife out here are gonna have dinner tonight, compliment to you. Kill the Philistine. But then lastly, once you have killed the Philistine, the word said that God brought about a great victory. Walk away with your victory. Walk away with your harvest. The word says a great victory. It didn't say consolation prize, it didn't say something small, a great victory. One of them kind that you get to take a victory lap. You lost. A great victory. Walk away with it. Now, in order to walk away with it, you have to have made your mind up on a few other in a few other places. But walk away with your victory. Walk away with your great heart. Walk away expecting to be compensated. We see one of the other altercations here with one of the mighty men that after he whooped up on them, the rest of the army that left came back to clean up, to collect their pay that they didn't earn. Expect to be compensated, expect to be highly compensated. He's a thief. And when he's found out, he has to repay. How many? Sevenfold. Even if it costs him the full measure of his house. Make him pay. Don't leave without getting your pay with interest. Great harvest. Hallelujah. In it to win it. In it to win it.