Guarded From Behind

Text:  Isaiah 52:12 (KJV)

“For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.”

God being our “rereward” lets us know that He is our recompense (to reward with something for a service); our reparation or repairer; restorer; re-establisher; reviver.  All we need Him to be to us and for us He is!

Many people get caught up in the fear of what could happen rather than what has happened. Fear is anxiety caused by approaching danger; the emotion or condition of being afraid; or an unrecognizable event.

What causes fear?

1) Disobedience (Genesis 3:10) "And he (Adam) said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself”.    He had become naked (stripped of God’s power, righteousness, made ashamed because of the indecent thing).

2) Impending judgment (Hebrews 11:7) “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house”.  Many times our actions are propelled by something threatening or about to occur.

3) Unexplained mystery (Matthew 27:54) ”Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God”.

4) Persecution (John 20:19) "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said unto them, 'Peace be unto you' ”.  This was after His resurrection!!!!

5) Events of Nature (Matthew 14:29-30) Peter had begun to walk "on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him."

6) Suspicion (Acts 9:26) "And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed (attempted) to join himself to the disciples:  but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple”.

7) Uncertainty (2^nd  Corinthians 11:3) ”But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ”. 

Paul warns of false teachers here.

8) People’s opinion (John 9:22) “For the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue."

Those are just some of the causes the bible speaks about that cause fear. Now let’s touch on the effects of fear. The effects of fear are defeat and paralysis.

BUT THE BIBLE SAYS………….

2^nd Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind”.  Did not Christ become the victim that we might be victors? Then he said he has given us the victory through our LORD Jesus the Christ.

1^st Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”!!!!

The Word says in 1^st John 5:4 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”.

Every born again son of God has the threefold proof that he is a son. The threefold proof is: inward proof; outgoing proof; and outward proof.

1). INWARD PROOF - "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." (1 John 5:1) Meaning, MY faith in Christ - that He is God - is personal evidence that I am a son which makes it a relationship. A relationship with Christ makes it personal. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself……and this is the record (that God gave of His Son), that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life” (1 John 5:10-12).

2). OUTGOING PROOF – “Everyone that loveth is born of God” (1^st John 4:7). We are to love our fellow man with the love of God. This we are not capable of doing in the flesh; we must allow God to love our fellow man through us. This is the outgoing proof of the new birth. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:5). The Holy Ghost within us will allow the Love of God to love our brethren in spite of!!!! (WHEW!!!!)

3). OUTWARD PROOF – “Everyone that doeth righteousness is born of God” (1 John 2:29). We’re dressed in “The Robe of Righteousness”.  (Isaiah 61:10)”He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he that covered me with the robe of righteousness”.   (Revelation 19:8)”And to her [the church] was granted that she should be arrayed [dressed] in fine linen, clean and white:  for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints”.  When you are dressed in or covered with the righteousness of God, you will make it a practice of doing right at all times and at all cost!

That’s why we have the victory to overcome the system because of the threefold proof of the new birth. John saw a sea of glass mingled with fire and those who had gotten the victory over the beast (system).

Look people of God……What John was seeing in Revelation 15:2 standing on the "sea of glass" were the ones whose spiritual vision had become clear by sound doctrine.  The “sea” connotes “unrest” in relation to the systems of men, but now it’s under the feet of the “sons” of God! 

"Mingled with fire" means they had gotten a hold of the kingdom message, the Word of God. They had gotten the victory and begun to stand on that sea of glass (system). They were no more bound by the system; no more being bound by the doctrines, philosophy, or traditions of men; no more being bound by the rudiments of the world; no more bondages of religious order (Colossians 2:8). They were beginning to rule and reign by the authority and power and might through The Holy Ghost!!!!  The “fire” of God will burn from the top of our heads all the way down to our feet to consume everything in us that is not like Him, and bring us to the place where we are in His image and after His likeness!!!!  “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Now let’s go back to our text Isaiah 52:12 “For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.”

Rereward is the Hebrew word acaph (aw-saph’), meaning to gather for any purpose; to receive, take away or remove (destroy, leave behind, restore, etc.); together; assemble.

God has already told us, “Yes you can”!  Then He came back and told us, “Go”!  Will you go where He wants you to go? He told us, “I got you covered”!  He also said “Move forward”!  The last message was “You must have your proper ID”! Today people of God, He’s saying you are “Guarded From Behind.” 

He’s simply saying in vs 12: “For ye shall not go out with haste (trying to be too quick, too speedy, moving without thought or care); nor by flight (way to flee or escape); for the LORD (Yeh-ho-vah; self-Existent) will go before you”.  LORD: the name God chose as His personal name BY WHICH He related specifically to His chosen or covenant people. He existed because He had put on flesh in the Adam people (male and female).  God chose the name “LORD.”

God said “I will go”; not might go, but WILL - meaning AM going, IS going, ARE going; AM willing, IS willing, ARE willing to go before you! (I know it might not sound proper but I’m trying to make a point).  Then he said: “And the God of Israel”: meaning strength, mighty, Immanuel (God with Us) and El Shaddai (The God Almighty). God almighty because He reveals Himself as the powerful God who is able to perform whatever He asserts (declare firmly).

Then He said it again, “I will go”…..meaning, AM going to, IS going to, ARE going to; AM willing to, IS willing to; ARE willing to!! No matter how you put it HE WILL BE (remain, continue, stay, abide) as YOUR REREWARD!!! Meaning God is your rear-guard; He is in front of you; He is beside you; and more importantly, He is in you! In other words, He's got your back! When you guard something, you’re going to watch over it carefully. You’re going to keep it safe; you’re going to defend; and you’re going to protect or provide with a protective covering.  As your rereward, He will keep you as the “apple of His eye”.  You don’t even have to fight in the battle. He knows how to consume or destroy your enemy!  All you or I have to do is stand still and see the salvation of the Lord as He told Moses in Exodus 14:13.

You see!!! God and His angelic forces are working around you like warriors….. They’re protecting you like a secret agent in some great sting operation. They’re making sure that as you go and obey God, nothing is going to catch you unprepared. The reason that many of us are caught unprepared is because we fear and expect the unexpected which opens a door for the enemy. Therefore we must renew a daily confidence that God is warding off the devil and his emps, and we need not spend time worrying about things.  “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

We probably could not count how many times God protected us, kept us, or sustained us from something we didn’t even know was there. Often the power and blessings of God are found as much in what we didn’t see than what we actually experienced. Think about it. We may never know the things God has kept us from!

So take a hold of this word and know that no matter what situations or obstacles, you don’t have to worry. The word says cast all your cares upon Him anyway. So why are you worrying needlessly?

Fear not any enemies that lurk behind you this day. Just know that God will not allow you to get caught off guard at anytime. God has already caught your enemies from behind because He has covered your back with The Word of Truth, The Power of God, and The Armor of Righteousness!!

Father, I pray we stand confident today that you are our rear-guard, our all-around God! You’re watching our backs!! We reject any thoughts of fear or worry about the unexpected and circumstances! We rest that you are looking after it for us, and I thank you LORD for guarding us on ever side today and forever more!!  AMEN!!!!

Evangelist Jackie Burton