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Sermon July 22, 2018 – Lessons from the life of Gideon part 4

Judges 7:1-23

Have you ever been in a situation where you faced insurmountable odds? Maybe a financial situation where there seemed to be no way out, or a health scare when the doctors told you that you, or someone you love, has less than ten percent chance of survival. Maybe you have a work deadline that seems impossible to meet.

How do you respond when the chances of success or even survival seem impossible? Maybe you are in that place right now, and you are here simply hoping to get through another day.

In Judges 7, we see that Gideon was in a desperate situation. In the previous chapter we see that Gideon is filled with the power of the living God, and he blows the trumpet calling the men of his clan to battle. As word goes out some 32,000 men from four tribes gather under Gideon’s leadership to fight against the invading Midianites. However, they were heavily outnumbered as the Midianites and the Amalekites numbered over 135,000. Even being this outnumbered, God said to Gideon that they were too many and he allowed those who were afraid to go home. At which point 22,000 soldiers leave, imagine how Gideon must have felt? 10,000 of the Israelite army remain, but God looks on the army and says to Gideon that he has still too many. God instructs Gideon to have the army go and drink some water, those who knelt down and scooped the water into their mouths were singled out from those who lay down and put their mouths directly to the water.

There are all kinds of theories of why God singled out those who kneeled, but the bottom line is that God singled out 300 men and told the rest to go home. Now everyone could see that this was an impossible task.

When you are facing an impossible situation, it just might be that God has orchestrated it to be that way, in order for His own glory. If there is even a possibility of us being able to save ourselves by our own ingenuity or skill, we will take the credit for ourselves. God loves to show His glory, but in order to do that, the situation has to be absolutely impossible.

God continues to speak to Gideon and tells him to go down to the camp of Midian and spy out what is going on. Gideon was clearly afraid, but he still had the courage to obey God.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt

Gideon goes down to the enemy camp not knowing that God has prepared a blessing for him. God gave one of the enemy soldiers a dream about a cake of barley bread that came down the hill and destroyed the camp of Midian. Another soldier listening immediately interpreted the dream and recognized that the God of the Israelites had appointed Gideon to be the one to destroy the mighty Midianite army. It just so happened that as this conversation began, Gideon was right there to hear it. God orchestrates circumstances all the time, we just need to recognize the hand of God in the situation. Gideon immediately worshipped God. This was all he needed, going back to his base camp he began to give orders for battle.

What follows is one of the greatest victories in the history of warfare. Gideon divides the men into three camps and has them take a trumpet in the one hand, and a clay jar with a torch in the other, obviously leaving behind their sword and their shield, they were totally unarmed and unprotected.

Gideon knew that this was going to either be a complete slaughter or a mighty miracle, he had faith for the miracle and did what was absolutely reckless. From the observer’s perspective, this was a suicide mission, the soldiers were totally unarmed and spread out around the enemy. They were not hiding in the tall grass, rather, they were standing tall, and at the call of Gideon they would blow their trumpets, calling attention to themselves and then if that wasn’t enough, they were to smash the jars and reveal the torches. Completely exposing themselves to the enemy. It was reckless and certain suicide.

We know what happened next, the men do as Gideon showed them to do and shout, “the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” The shout was to identify that God was wielding the sword, but also that Gideon was God’s anointed man on the ground, the man of faith.

The battle begins and in verse 21 we read that Gideon’s men did not move, they simply stood in place holding the torches. They didn’t carry a sword, they didn’t strike the enemy, but they did what God told them to do.

Sometimes, we want to go and fight the enemy, attack the person who offended or belittled us, take legal action against the person who wronged us, but as we ask God, He may tell you and I to do something that makes no sense at the time. As Christians, we have to stop thinking as the world thinks, fighting for our rights and making sure we get revenge. But God’s way is quite often different, if we truly believe in the all-powerful God, who is actively involved in our daily lives, why would we do anything other than what He tells us to do (See Romans 12:19-21).

The Midianites fled in confusion with over 120,000 of them perishing mostly by their own swords. God won the victory and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was an extraordinary miracle.

The challenge for us today is to grasp that this is not simply a cool motivational story, this actually happened, it is a true historical account in the nation of Israel. The same God who overwhelmingly defeated the Midianites is inviting you today to trust him to fight your battles.

We all have an enemy who wants to destroy our lives (see 1 Peter 5:8), but just like Gideon, the weapons of our warfare are unconventional (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).

In Ephesians 6, we have the armor of God and the only offensive weapon we have is the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. If you want to know why you aren’t seeing victory in your life, it is probably because you aren’t familiar with your sword. The reasons why so many of the churches in the world are struggling and lack power, it is because they have relied on human reasoning and tradition rather than the life-giving power and authority of the Word of God.

Just as God gave Gideon the victory, He can give you the victory, all because of what Jesus did on the cross for you.

What is the battle you are fighting today? Turn the battle over to God and let Him lead you into victory.

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Sermon Sunday July 1, 2018 – Lessons from Gideon Part 2

Have you ever questioned whether or not God was speaking to you? God sent his only Son in order to restore His relationship with you, why would He not speak to you if you have given your life over to the lordship of Jesus Christ?

Gideon was called by God to be the deliverer of the Israelites from the oppressive hand of the Midianites in Judges Chapter 6. It was an overwhelming task and Gideon is understandably cautious.  Gideon was almost certain that he was talking to God, but he needed a sign. He rushes off to prepare a meal from his meager supplies, killing a young goat he makes some unleavened cakes and some broth, bringing it to this Holy Messenger.

It is quite possible that Gideon was thinking that this meal would be a test to see who this messenger was. If he ate the meal, then he was a prophet, but if he didn’t eat the food, maybe disposed of it some way, it just might be a divine messenger.

The angel tells him to put the meat and broth on the rock, which was probably the winepress stone, and then proceeds to touch the meat and the unleavened cakes with the tip of his staff. Immediately fire came up out of the rock and consumed the meal.

That was enough for Gideon, he knew that he had not been talking to a prophet, but this was a supernatural being. But more than that, Gideon knew that he had been talking to God, because he immediately begins to fear for his life (Judges 6:22). Gideon used the Hebrew word YHWH, the unspoken name of God. He knew that he had seen God and should not live (Exodus 33:20).

There has only ever been one person pure enough to be able to stand in the presence of the holiness of God. That person is the pure spotless lamb of God, Jesus himself. All humanity is born in sin and as a result, we could never live if we were to be exposed to the holiness of God, it would consume us. That is why, what Jesus did on the cross, by providing a way for us to have communion with God, is so incredible.

The Angel of the Lord disappears, but God doesn’t stop speaking to Gideon, the physical manifestation of his presence has gone, but God continues to speak and calms him down. God says to him, “peace be to you, do not fear, you shall not die”. God’s presence and name brings peace. Maybe you are lacking peace right now, you are worried about finances, your future or maybe your child’s future. Have you spent time asking the Prince of Peace for his peace in your life?

The Bible is full of promises of peace from God, here are three verses you can meditate on, Hebrews 13:5-6, Psalms 27:1 and Isaiah 41:10. My friends, fear and anxiety must melt in the presence of the Lord, go to him, spend time with him.

As soon as Gideon calmed down, he built an altar, and he called it Jehovah-Shalom, the Lord is Peace. In a land where there were idols and altars to false gods, Gideon builds an altar to the one true God, a place that he can come back to and remember his encounter with the Lord. Gideon knew that he would need a reminder and a place he could come back to when times got tough.

We also need altar moments in our life, we need to commemorate those key moments in our life when God speaks to us. Those moments when the course of our life was altered because God met us. The day we became a follower of Jesus is an altar, it is our testimony. The day we were baptized is an altar, a remembrance of what God has done for us. The day we were set free from an addiction is an altar of remembrance to what God has done for us.

God spoke to Gideon and called him to be the next leader of the people of Israel. The Bible is full of accounts of people that God spoke to, and God still speaks today, calling people and activating them in ministry.

You may say that God doesn’t speak to you, you are not unique in this feeling, but the truth is that if you have given your life to the Lordship of Jesus, God will speak to you and direct you, you are just not listening!

Psalm 46:10 says” Be still and know that I am God.” Just be quiet and let him speak! There are so many things competing for our attention that it is hard for us to hear God’s voice, we need to get away from the noise of our busy lives and spend time quietly before God.

God speaks to us primarily through His Word the Bible.  When Joshua led the Children of Israel across the Jordan in Joshua 4, the Lord told them to take twelve stones out of the river and set them in place on the west side of the Jordan, so that they could remember what God had done for them.

We should have memorial stones, and the best memorial stones are Bible verses. Verses from the Bible that we can go back to and be reminded of His faithfulness and His promises. As we memorize and meditate on these memorial stone scripture texts, our lives will be enriched as we grow in our relationship with the Author of the Bible.

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Sermon Sunday June 24, 2018 – Lessons from Gideon Part 1

Judges 6:1-16

Have you ever been put into a position of leadership that you felt totally unprepared for? God constantly puts his children in positions where they feel stretched even uncomfortable. And that is okay, God seldom calls you and I to lead in an area in which we are fully equipped. Gideon felt the same way when God called him in Judges chapter 6.

The book of Judges covers a period of roughly three-hundred years in the life of the nation of Israel. Joshua has died and left the nation with two instructions; defeat the remaining Canaanites and obey the law of Moses. The children of Israel fail on both accounts. As a result, God uses the nations surrounding them to punish them and cause them to cry out to Him for help.

As the chapter begins with a familiar phrase, “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord…”

Israel had begun worshiping the idols and follow the pagan ways of the tribes that remained in the land. They had turned their backs on God after all that God had done for them.

God used the pagan nations of the Midianites and the Amalekites to punish the Israelites for a period of 7 years. The first six verses of the chapter describe the fear and the oppression of the Israelites. The Midianites forced them out of their homes and towns and caused them to hide in the hills, they were hiding in caves to get away from these invaders. The midianites came in vast numbers and raided their crops, taking their livestock and their tents.

In verse 11 we read that Gideon is also hiding, as he is beating out wheat in a winepress. Normally one would grind wheat in a large open area so that the wind could blow away the chaff. But a winepress was a smaller area, hidden in trees for shelter, probably a hollowed rock in the ground. Gideon was hiding and grinding out just a small portion of wheat, probably just enough for his family.

When the Israelites had nowhere left to turn, their own resources and means were over, they remembered the Lord and cried out to him (verse 7). The Lord responds by sending a prophet with a clear message (verses 8-10). The prophet tells them the obvious, he tells them all that God has done for them, and then he tells them how ungrateful and disobedient they are. The prophet declares the obvious, but the people needed to hear the obvious.

Sometimes we also need to hear the obvious as we miss the mark in our Christian walk. Maybe you have been blessed with a family, a home and many good things, but along the way you have lost your first love, you have stopped worshipping God, you have stopped spending time with God everyday in prayer and reading your Bible.

The prophet ends his message from God with a powerful accusation, “but you have not obeyed my voice.”

In the very next verse, we see the plan of deliverance that God began working out. God’s plan of salvation for his people always involves a person. God used Abraham, Noah, Sampson, David and many others in the Old Testament. But ultimately God sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to bring his perfect and eternal plan of salvation.

The Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and sits under the Oak tree (V12). But this is no ordinary angel. The writer begins by calling him by the Hebrew term, “Malak”, which means messenger, but as the account progresses, we see in verse 13 that Gideon addresses him as, “Adonai” or my Lord, and then in verse 22 he calls him “Yahweh” – The Lord God. This messenger is God himself, the second person of the trinity, the pre-incarnate Christ. God was implementing a rescue plan for his people and as a foreshadowing of what is to come a thousand years later, God the Father sends the Son.

The angel addresses Gideon with a dramatic introduction, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor”

Gideon must have looked around to see who the Lord was talking to. Here is was hiding in a cave and grinding a little wheat to make some food for his family. But God saw the real Gideon, the man that He had created.

When God calls you and I to serve him, to witness for him, to be his ambassador, He knows our weaknesses, but he also knows what he created in us. We must never respond to God’s call by explaining to Him our weaknesses, he knows them, but he also knows everything about us, because He created us and His ways are perfect.

The Lord responded to Gideon with a firm directive (verse 14). But Gideon continues to try do persuade God by pointing out his weaknesses in verse 15. Some of what Gideon said was out of humility, but mostly he was simply stating the facts, and asking “why me?”

And that is precisely what God wanted to hear. Gideon could not do anything in his own strength, and this is the position everyone who is to be used by God must come to. God loves to use people who are keenly aware of their weakness. Because when someone is fully conscious of their weakness, then God can begin to use them for His glory.

The person who relies on his own strength, intellect, skills and financial resources, is not likely to lean into God for courage and provision, and that person is also not likely to give God the glory for anything that is achieved.

Gideon tried to voice his lack of skill, and the Lord responded with an amazing promise in verse 16. God promised to be with Gideon, and that he would strike the Midianites as one man!

Remember, if you are doing what God has called you to do, you will always be in the majority – even you and God alone is the only majority that counts.

Jumping forward over one thousand years, when Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 he gave the church an impossible mission, but just like the Lord said to Gideon, Jesus said to the Disciples, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What is God calling you to do? Where is he calling you to go? What excuses are you using?

God can use you like He used Gideon, because he promises to be with you always.