UnashamedSermons.com

Read at beginning of service

John 14:1-14 (NIV)

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

INTRODUCTION

This morning we?re continuing the series on “When the Heroes of Faith Speak”

In listing the various people in Hebrews 11, the author illustrating by their lives the definition of faith,

Hebrews 11:1-3 (NIV)1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

This morning, we?re going to look at the life of a man called Gideon.

He was a man who, through the power of the Holy Spirit, saw his potential for greatness realized.

I believe Gideon would share many things with us but I?m going to focus on four.

But, before he shares them, let me give you some background about the man called Gideon.

Judges 6:1-6 (NIV)

1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.

The kingdom of Midian was located 250 miles south of Israel, in present day Saudi Arabia.

The Midianites swept into Israel and completely conquered it.

Scripture says that their army were like locusts, devouring everything in their path. (135,000 [Judges 8:10]

This had gone on for 7 years, and Israel?s resources were just about exhausted.

Things were so bad that that verse 11 tells us that,

Judges 6:11 (NIV)

? Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

Winepresses were sunk into the ground, and Gideon was so afraid of the Midianites that he was hiding in a hole in ground while he threshed his wheat.

Israel was conquered and cowardly, and in desperation called out to the Lord.

Into this scene, the angel of the Lord comes and visits Gideon. Recalling this scene I believe Gideon would say to us this morning?

God sees our incredible Potential

here we have the picture of Gideon hiding out in a winepress while he threshes his wheat to avoid discovery by the Midianites.

The angel of the Lord first refers to Gideon as “Mighty Warrior”!

The Bible is full of examples of God seeing past the surface of individuals into the potential of who they can become:

Abram: a desert nomad becomes Abraham, the father of God?s people

Jacob: a liar and a cheat becomes the progenitor of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Moses: a murderer and an exile becomes God?s man to lead close to 1 million Israelite people from captivity in Egypt to the promised land of Canaan

David: the youngest in his family and a shepherd boy becomes the greatest king in Israel?s history and described as a man after God?s own heart.

Elisha ? a herder of oxen, a farmer becomes one of the greatest prophets of God.

That?s just a brief snapshot of some of the people in the OT but things don?t change in the NT?

Just look at some of the men who were Jesus? disciples? fishermen, a tax-collector, a doctor, laborers, Jesus saw past who they were on the surface to the potential of who they could be in Him.

And that is how God is. He looked at Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior!”

That is how God is with us. He looks at you and sees your potential?

But in order for that potential to be realized there is a part we have to play?

God wants our trusting Obedience

God has indicated the incredible potential he sees in Gideon by saying, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior” but notice that right away Gideon narrows in on a statement that baffles him,

Judges 6:13 (NIV)13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

I find it interesting that Gideon doesn?t have a problem being called mighty warrior ? instead, at first, he has a problem with the statement, “the Lord is with you”. For Gideon, the Lord truly would be with him if he and the rest of the Israelites were free from the oppression of the Midianites and threshing wheat in the fields instead of the winepresses. To Gideon the presence of the Midianites indicated that God had simply abandoned them.
Instead of answering Gideon?s complaint the angel of the Lord simply restates again the potential God sees in Gideon and introduces the task He has for Him which will require that potential to be realized?

Judges 6:14 (NIV)14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

I?d like to draw your attention to two things the Lord says, Go in the strength you have and, Am I not sending you? I?m going to refer to them in a moment.
Gideon?s reply indicates his misunderstanding of what God is really saying. Now, instead of focusing on who is sending him he?s focusing on what he is being asked to do. When Gideon heard the Lord say, “Go in the strength you have..” he immediately thought about his own resources?

Judges 6:15 (NIV)15 “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

But God corrects him and declares,

Judges 6:16 (NIV)16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

What God is saying, is that the strength you have is knowing and believing that I will be with you!! Friends, the potential God saw in Gideon (to be a mighty warrior and save Israel from the Midianites) was never dependent on Gideon?s resources but on Gideon?s faith ? his trust that God would be with Him and his obedience in going/doing where/what God sent Him/asked Him to do!!!

So it is with us. God sees incredible potential in each one of you but that potential will only be realized as we trust and obey Him. This kind of faith is key to becoming what God wants us to be ? in HIM. And this is the exciting part ? In Christ there are no limits to what can be accomplished in and through your life.

God said to Gideon in effect ? you are a mighty warrior, this is what I want you to do ? I want you to save Israel out of Midian?s hand. Oh, and remember, I am with you!!”

God is always working to increase our faith in Him.

I want to quickly highlight a few things as we continue Gideon?s story?

Gideon?s first test for God (vs 19-24) ? the offering “I?m not sure I trust you”

Gideon wanted to make sure that he was hearing from the Lord. The door of faith has opened up in Gideon?s heart but before he commits he wants to know. Isn?t that how we are when it comes to the things of God? I find it funny however that?

?you go to a doctor whose name you cannot pronounce and whose degrees you have never verified. He gives you a prescription you cannot read. You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen before. He gives you a chemical compound you do not understand. Then you go home and take the pill according to the instructions on the bottle. All in trusting, sincere faith!! (quoted at Autoillustrator.com, “FAITH”)

However, it is good to want to be sure. Gideon prepared an offering to determine whether His guest was divine or ordinary. Whether the message was true or false. Notice that it was in the position of worship (via his offering) that Gideon was seeking this confirmation. It is in the place of worship, in the place of prayer that we too will find confirmation for the potential God sees in our lives as well.

With this initial test Gideon is given reason to trust God but there is still room for his faith to grow.

God?s first test for Gideon (vs 25-32) ? tear down the idols “Will you obey me?”

Now I believe there are two reasons why God asked Gideon to do this. The first reason is obvious ? God wanted to make it clear to Gideon and the Israelite people that He alone was to be worshipped. God didn?t only want Gideon to be a deliverer for the Israelites from the Midianites but He also wanted Gideon to be His instrument of restoration in Israel?s relationship with their God.

The second reasons is I believe so that Gideon?s faith would be stretched. God wanted Gideon to not only learn to obey Him but also to trust Him?

Gideon did as he was told in faith but notice the manner in which he accomplished it. He was obedient but still not very trusting! In fear of his family and the men of the town Gideon tore down the idols at night rather than in the daytime.

Yet even in the face of Gideon?s lack of trust God proved to him that He is trustworthy by keeping him from being killed (via Gideon?s father.

There is still room for his faith to grow.

Gideon?s second test for God (32-40) ? setting out the fleece “I?m not sure I want to”

There are some that would try to turn this story of Gideon setting out the fleece into a parable of faith. However, I don?t believe it is! I believe that it is a parable of faithlessness!! Gideon had already received confirmation that he had heard from God. He already knew God?s instructions for him! I believe that Gideon?s setting out the fleece was an indication of Gideon?s doubt in God?s direction. But more than that, I believe Gideon knew what God wanted Him to do but he was looking for a way out!! Why? Because he didn?t just set out the fleece once but twice!!

I?ve heard people say, “Before I ?????, I want to put out a fleece to see if this is what God really wants.” Do you know what I think? I think you already know what God wants. I think people put out a fleece to try to manipulate God?s will for their lives because they?re not sure its what they want!!

For example: let?s say God calls you to: teach, to be a deacon, to go on a mission trip, etc. So you put out a fleece. If you want to obey, you?d say something like this, “Now God, If the sun comes up tomorrow morning, then I?ll know you want me to teach Sunday School”
If you don?t want to obey, you?ll say something like this, “Now God, if two midgets come to my house at exactly 3:43 pm tomorrow afternoon, and one of them sneezes 9 times and blows his nose with a polka-dot handkerchief that he took out of his left rear pants pocket, then I?ll know that you want me to teach Sunday School.”!

Friends, when God seems to be calling you to something the first step is to pray, spend time worshipping Him until that confirmation is in your heart (as Gideon did with his offering). But when you know— don?t try to delay it by setting out fleeces! What you think you don?t want to do will actually turn out to be something you?ll never regret if you obey Him!!

I always tell people when they come to me saying, “Pastor, I think God is asking me to do ________, but I want to be sure that is His will” I always say if you?ve prayed about it and you still feel that way then it?s time to start walking through the open doors and let God close the ones he doesn?t want you to walk through ? If you are always seeking to do His will I firmly believe you?ll be doing it!! On this point, notice that before Gideon set out the fleece he had already put out the call to his countrymen to gather into an army and they answered the call!!! That in itself is confirmation that God wanted Gideon to lead His army to conquer the Midianites!!
the beautiful thing about the story of Gideon is that even though Gideon set out the fleece ? God patiently answered Him and Gideon?s faith grew a little more ? but there was still room for more growth!

God?s second test for Gideon (7:1-25) ? winnowing the army and attacking the Midianite camp ? “Will you trust me?”

So Gideon has raised an army of 32,000 part-time citizen soldiers to face Midian?s 135,000 battle hardened troops. Doesn?t look too good for the hometown team, does it? The Midian?s had a 4:1 advantage over the Israelites, and they were trained better as well.

Judges 7:2-3 (NIV)

2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

Wow! 22,000 cowards head for the hills, leaving 10,000 to fight Midian. Things are starting to look worse for the hometown team! Now the Midianites have a 13:1 advantage. But God?s still not finished.

Judges 7:4-5 (NIV)4 But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.”

God cut the herd again, and this time only 300 men were left to fight the nation of Midian. Yikes! Things are beginning to look pretty desperate for Israel. Midian now has a 450:1 advantage over Israel. It is with this army of 300 men that God sends Gideon to face the 135,000 strong army of Midian! God wanted to make sure that He would receive glory for the victory and not anyone else. It is for this moment that I believe God has been stretching Gideon?s faith. And then at the crucial moment on the eve before the battle God gives Gideon the reassurance of His presence.

Judges 7:9-15 (NIV)9 During that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. 13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.” 14 His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.” 15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”

Gideon and his 300 men attack the Midianite army the potential God had seen in Gideon became realized as this “Mighty Warrior” soundly defeated the invaders of Israel.

In this sequence of events I hope you noticed that all the time God was working to increase Gideon?s faith. Friend?s God sees an incredible potential for your life. It takes a faith involving trust and obedience to fulfill that potential and God is ever working in your life to increase that faith. God will often begin with inviting us to trust Him in the little things. Then, He lays bigger challenges before us to stretch our faith and make us grow.

It?s a lot like watching a baby learn to walk. We don?t pick a baby up out of a crib and tell him to walk around the block. We work with him until he can sit up by himself. We encourage him as he begins to crawl. We cheer him on as he learns to stand, holding onto the coffee cable or mommy and daddy?s finger. We challenge him to let go and take those first baby steps. We work with him as he learns to walk picking him up when he falls and teaching him to not give up. And then we rejoice as he learns to run.

That ?s what God does with us! The problem with some people is that there are still too many spiritual toddlers in the kingdom of God! Too many people who won?t let go of the spiritual coffee table and take the next step in learning to walk by faith! God wants you to trust him, he wants you to obey him and he is ever giving you opportunities to do both if you will step out in faith! If your faith in Christ is at the same level as it was a year ago, a month ago, or even a week ago, you need to let go of the spiritual coffee table and take those steps of faith!

God wants to take our faith to new levels!! He?s not content to leave us where we are. He wants to put us in positions where we trust Him more and more so that the potential He sees for our lives can be realized. Are you willing to allow God to take you to new levels of faith? Then why don?t you just let go of the coffee table and walk!

So, Gideon would tell us that God sees our incredible Potential, God wants our trusting obedience, and God is always working to increase our faith in Him. But there is one final thing I believe Gideon would say to us this morning and it is a warning?

God Alone deserves our devoted Worship!

For all his faith, Gideon lost sight of God at the end

Judges 8:24-27 (NIV)

24 And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) 25 They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. 27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

How heartbreaking! This great man of God lost sight of His Lord, and began to worship the memorial rather than the maker. I believe Gideon?s original intentions were right when he wanted to make a golden Ephod (a ceremonial vest worn by the priest during worship) as a memorial to God?s victory over the Midianites. The problem with Gideon?s memorial is that he began to worship it. His focus changed from the Creator to the Creation.

God had done an amazing thing in Gideon?s life and Gideon learned a lot about obeying God and putting your trust in Him. There is always a danger in victory though. The danger is that as time goes on we may begin to treasure the victory rather than the victor, the moment rather than the moment-maker, the memory rather than the one who gave us that memory. The danger is that when we start getting to excited about what God has done we forget that God has done it!! I?d like to make a blunt statement. There are too many Christians in too many churches who are worshipping idols when they ought to be worshipping God. Whether it be a memorial plaque or a “sacred tradition” or a “hallowed memory” the only one who should be receiving our praise and worship is Jesus Christ! Let me tell you something friends, if you are here for any reason other than to worship Jesus Christ, you are here for the wrong reason and you need to repent. God alone deserves our worship.. Not a pastor, not a teacher, not a family member, not a building, not a piece of stained glass. Not a hymnal. Not a tradition. God and God alone deserves our worship!!

Always remember that with everything God does in your life ? He deserves the worship!!

CONCLUSION

Invitation to non-believers to put their faith in God

Invitation for those who think God is calling them to something (their potential).

Invitation for those who have disobeyed what they now know God has asked them to do ? to repent.

Series Navigation

«An Abel OfferingBarak: Relying on God»

Tags: amalekites, gideon, When the Heroes of Faith speak...

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 5th, 2003 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Sermons, Sunday Morning Service. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.