1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:05,120 The title for a sermon this morning is God can use us. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:12,480 Even when I'm glad, I'm thankful that God does not wait to use us 3 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,160 before we're perfect. Imagine you getting a promise 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,480 from God saying, OK, as soon as you're perfect, soon as you have 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:24,280 a perfect score, I will use you. Imagine that nobody would ever 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:26,520 be used by God if that were the case. 7 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:27,760 I listened to his speaker one time. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,960 To put it this way, he said if God's grace would wait till we 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:37,400 were perfect to work through us, he would never use any of us at 10 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:39,720 all. I think that is so true. 11 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,560 God does not wait till we're perfect to use us. 12 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,200 We know since the Garden of Eden there have been, there have been 13 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,480 problems in this world. It's not perfect, but that does 14 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:53,800 not mean that God can't and doesn't use us. 15 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,320 He uses us in spite of all the things that are wrong and and 16 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,560 bad in this world. We're continuing our series in 17 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,560 the Book of Judges and today we're coming to a part of the 18 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,440 book where the writer, so to speak, zooms in and slows down 19 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,320 and explains a lot of detail that goes on as the writer 20 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:15,720 continues the story of the Israelites. 21 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,040 From this point on in the book of Judges where we are today, 22 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,200 it's a bit as if the writers coming in down low and slow. 23 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,880 So us to get everything that's happening. 24 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:31,040 But before we get into the chapter, chapter 6 and Judges, 25 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,840 there's a bit of a backdrop that we want to want to talk about 26 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,600 just kind of what happened. We first want to look at the 27 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,000 first part of the chapter. I won't read it, but I just want 28 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,120 to look at it a little bit to give us a backdrop, an idea of 29 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,560 what the what the season of life was like in their lives at that 30 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,560 time. And we will see as we go on 31 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:51,760 through the book as well, this steady decline. 32 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:53,640 And it just gets worse and worse toward the end of the book. 33 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,560 Some very catastrophic events that shook the nation happened 34 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,400 later on. But back in chapter 4 and five, 35 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,000 where we were last Sunday, the nation of Israel had won the 36 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,760 victory against the Moabites under the leadership of Barack 37 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,759 and Deborah, and the nation had rest 40 years. 38 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:13,840 But then we get to chapter 6, verse one, and we find the cycle 39 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,280 of disobedience and and rebellion repeats itself. 40 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:20,600 And we said at the beginning of the year that this year our 41 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,200 theme is connections. And we find repeatedly how 42 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:25,320 Israel lost connection. You know how it is you plug 43 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:26,760 something in the wall and there's no connection. 44 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,280 It's frustrating. The children of Israel lost 45 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:31,680 connection with God repeatedly and connected themselves to all 46 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,280 kinds of other things. They've been in the land now a 47 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,840 long time. Commentators say that by the 48 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,920 time we get to Judges Chapter 6, they had been in the land of 49 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:42,480 Israel and the land of Canaan. Israel had been in the land of 50 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,960 Canaan for about 200 years. How long is that? 51 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,400 That's a very long time. Do you know that the country of 52 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,640 Canada is not even 200 years old? 53 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,120 That's true. This country became a country, 54 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,320 Canada, on July 1st, 1867, under. 55 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,560 Before that it was really British territory in some, I 56 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,360 don't know all the details, but it became a country in 1867 on 57 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,320 July 1st. I won't read verse the 1st 10 58 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,480 verses in chapter 6. As I mentioned, I'll just 59 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,200 briefly relate the story. You see, the children of Israel 60 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,240 had again given themselves over to the cultures around them. 61 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,120 They adopted their lifestyles. We're into idol worship again 62 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:26,120 and this time God gave them over to be under the hand of the 63 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,240 Midianites and it lasted for seven years. 64 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,680 Now the Midianites, they were to the east of the Jordan. 65 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,120 If you imagine the picture of the Palestine, they were to the 66 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,560 east and they were, they were Raiders. 67 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,480 There were robbers, marauders. They would come in and raid the 68 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,520 people. They would take the grain and 69 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,800 take the fruit and take the, the, the, the, the grapes from 70 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:48,600 the vineyards and they would take their animals. 71 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,320 And so the Israelites, they were very on edge. 72 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:53,800 They always, here's the Midianites coming. 73 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:55,320 They wouldn't necessarily kill them. 74 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,360 They would just steal from them and, and oppress them. 75 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,920 And so they would dig caves, holes and, and strongholds, 76 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,280 protect themselves in the mountains, always on the 77 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:06,640 lookout, on guard. The Midianites are coming. 78 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,720 The Midianites are coming and they would take whatever they 79 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,600 could. It was brutal and suffering 80 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,440 lasted for seven long years. And it says in chapter 6, the 81 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,480 first part, they were like a locust. 82 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:20,800 You know, when locusts come, we don't have locust problems here 83 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,600 in our fields, but in some countries locusts will come in 84 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,640 or grasshoppers will come in and just eat everything and 85 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,320 nothing's left the trees, the leaves are gone and everything. 86 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,360 That was a bit how the Midianites are described. 87 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,960 And in all that distress and poverty, they cry out to the 88 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,640 Lord, which is good, and God responds first. 89 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,320 God sends a prophet. He reminds the people of reasons 90 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,280 why this is happening. They're where they're at. 91 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:47,560 They had abandoned God, lost connection with God. 92 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,840 They're forgotten God again. God sent a prophet and told them 93 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:52,960 what they done. Then the prophet goes back into 94 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,080 history, reminding them, OK, you came from Egypt, look what I did 95 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,240 in Egypt for you. And God reminds them through the 96 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,040 prophet and told them you were supposed to get rid of all the 97 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,680 idols in Canaan. Instead you have now, you're now 98 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,120 worshipping them again. They've gone the other way. 99 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:13,280 But then in chapter 6, verse 10 and 11, there's a very sharp cut 100 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:15,720 off. It's a very abrupt change, and 101 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,200 I'm not sure what to make of that break in the chapter, but I 102 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,880 find it interesting. What is obvious, however, is 103 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,160 that God steps in and helps His people. 104 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,680 But the path that God took to helping His people come to 105 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:32,360 freedom, that's a very eventful, very action-packed path. 106 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,800 There's a lot of activity going on. 107 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,480 God rebuked His people through the prophet, not to discourage 108 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:42,840 them, but to bring them back to repentance and win them back 109 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:45,120 again. He would rescue them, but it 110 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,000 would be through a miracle, not through their own strength. 111 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,240 And we will not cover the story of Gideon today in its entirety. 112 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,240 We'll have a few sermons on this, this guy alone. 113 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:57,760 But in our sermon today, we'll take kind of a tour in Gideon's 114 00:05:57,760 --> 00:05:59,960 life and kind of see what kind of man he was. 115 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:03,600 And we'll see how we often do the exact same thing Gideon did. 116 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:06,880 It didn't mean that he didn't believe in God and doesn't mean 117 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,360 that we don't believe in God. But it does highlight in our 118 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,000 lives where we fall short and where we need to grow. 119 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,320 Too often we get sucked in with the worries and the cares and 120 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,400 the struggles to to a point where we just can't see God's 121 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,600 hand in anything anymore. And then we have excuses, and we 122 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,040 fear, and we worry and we doubt. And whose benefit to no one. 123 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,320 Gideon was a man who lacked courage and it showed in how he 124 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:33,640 responded to God's Angel when he came. 125 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,240 And the introduction verse to our service this morning was 126 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:38,520 taken out of Judges chapter 6. Very fitting verses. 127 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,720 We will see that Gideon had some serious flaws and for all his 128 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,400 flaws, God still used him even though he did not start out so 129 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:51,440 well. And Gideon also complained he's 130 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,080 comparing. And if we compare ourselves to 131 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,000 Gideon, always see a lot of parallels here. 132 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,800 Let's read Judges chapter 6, verse 11 through the end of 133 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,000 verse 12, and we'll just make our way through the passage. 134 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:06,720 Judges 611 to 12. Now the Angel of the Lord came 135 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,360 and sat under the under the terebinth tree, which was an 136 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:15,400 ofra which belonged to Joashte ABI as a right, while his son 137 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,000 Gideon threshed wheat in the wine press in order to hide it 138 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,640 from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord 139 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,360 appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty 140 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:28,520 men of valor. From what we will see as we go 141 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:32,240 through this, it's surprising how God used that title for 142 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,560 Gideon when in fact there was no indication outwardly that he was 143 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,440 in any way a man of valor, never mind a mighty man at that. 144 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:44,120 We know how fearful he was, but that did not stop God from 145 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,360 coming to him, drawing him, and tell him, God's with you. 146 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,760 What was Gideon's problem? There were many, but the one 147 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:55,400 that we see right off the bat, he was fearful and God used him 148 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,080 even when he was fearful. So God can use us even when 149 00:07:58,080 --> 00:07:59,440 we're fearful. Think about that. 150 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,160 I don't know of many Christians that are completely and totally 151 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,360 fear free. I think all of us are 152 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,600 contaminated at some level with fear. 153 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,240 Imagine God saying, OK, once the fear levels down to 0, I'll use 154 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:13,800 you. It's not how he works. 155 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,760 God's Angel came, sat under the terebin tree that belonged to a 156 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,000 man named Joash. Now, Joash was the man who owned 157 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:24,760 some property and the the tree was there. 158 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,280 And he also was in charge of Baal worship, or at least he 159 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:33,240 owned that that idol. And yeah, and his son Gideon is 160 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,159 is is the guy who the Angel comes to. 161 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,840 Imagine your father being one of the leaders of the idol worship 162 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,600 community in town. God's Angel comes to Gideon, the 163 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,360 son of Joash says mighty man. What's he doing? 164 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,560 Well, what's he doing? He's threshing wheat. 165 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,160 Oh, that's harvest season. Obviously he's bringing in the 166 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:51,600 harvest. What little there was, what the 167 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:53,120 Midianites had not gotten away with. 168 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:56,160 Note where he's doing it. He's doing it in a wine press. 169 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,400 Well, what's a wine press? A wine press is a kind of a 170 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:02,680 stone place. It's kind of a hollowed out and 171 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:04,560 there's a lower VAT. It's kind of a VAT. 172 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,320 There's a lower VAT right beside it and they stamp. 173 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,520 They just trample on the grapes are barefoot and they just tried 174 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:12,880 out the grapes and the juice flows down. 175 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,080 He's threshing wheat in there, which is not the place to do it, 176 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,840 but he's doing it. He's threshing wheat in a 177 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,920 winepress because he's afraid the Midianites will see it and 178 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,800 come and steal his grain. Is that obviously he's doing 179 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:28,680 that out of fear for the Midianites, and it's logical. 180 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:31,680 Why would he risk getting getting stolen? 181 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,840 Now, a threshing floor in those times would have been a wide, 182 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,080 flat surface outdoors where the wind gets at it and they would 183 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:40,640 have their stalks of grain spread out. 184 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,480 They would walk around it with oxen or drag a wooden sled over 185 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:45,960 it and it would rub out the grain. 186 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,280 They would throw at the straw and then just throw it in the 187 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:50,200 air and the wind would take away the chaff and so on. 188 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:53,720 That's the place to do it. Gideon's doing it in the wine 189 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:55,640 press, just not the right place to do it. 190 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,600 But he's doing it. And here the Angel comes and 191 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:01,360 says, the Lord's with you, mighty man of valor. 192 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:06,720 It didn't look very mighty. There was nothing mighty about 193 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,520 him really on the outward. The question I want to ask is, 194 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,040 we know he was afraid. The question I want to ask us 195 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,560 is, are we afraid? There are times in life when 196 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:19,480 fear seems to be all around. In Gideon's case, the Midianites 197 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:22,320 wanted Israel to be afraid. There's always bullies in the 198 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,480 world, always people in the world who want others to fear. 199 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:28,440 Fear is a powerful tool in the hands of oppressors. 200 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:32,080 There are people who are in power who love when they can 201 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,480 frighten people. We see that in countries. 202 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:38,360 Even governments do this, corporations do this and in 203 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,360 homes spouses do this for to each other and families. 204 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:46,040 Fear is a control mechanism and others comply. 205 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,840 Oh yeah, I'll be very scared. Many people live fear based 206 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,760 lives based on the circumstances around them. 207 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,760 Living a fear based life is a hard way to live. 208 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:58,600 Yeah, but times are hard, things are bad. 209 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:00,280 I can't help it. Fair enough. 210 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,640 I'm not trying to make light of danger or risk of danger. 211 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:06,760 But we have to remember fear is not helpful. 212 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:09,840 What do we gain by walking through life with fear? 213 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,880 There's a such a thing as a healthy fear, not taking risks 214 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:14,840 and doing foolish things. I get it. 215 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,440 But fear is not the mechanism from which we which we use 216 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,920 according to the Bible, we're told many times, do not fear. 217 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:30,400 Scripture always reminds us, encourage us not to fear the 218 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:32,040 challenge of life. The Old Testament, the New 219 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,600 Testament's full of it. I remember many years ago 220 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,120 watching a movie called Bridge of Spies. 221 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,280 Some of you may have seen it. I'll just briefly give a 222 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,280 summary. So there's a Russian spy in the 223 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:48,800 US spying for Russia. He gets caught, goes to jail and 224 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,400 at the same time the United States is also spying on Russia. 225 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,680 They have a spy plane up in the air and that guy gets shot down 226 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:58,640 and he survives the crash or he jumps in a parachute, I don't 227 00:11:58,640 --> 00:11:59,600 know. But anyway they capture him. 228 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,440 So they have AUS spy in Russia and a Russian spy in the US. 229 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,360 Well this spy in the US, he goes to jail and he's going to be 230 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:09,760 tried before they pass sentence on him. 231 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,240 It so happens at the end of the story, they swap spies. 232 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:17,280 But before this goes down, the in the movie, the Soviet spy is 233 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,720 in prison and he's assigned a lawyer supposed to then advocate 234 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:25,080 for him in the US court. Interesting enough, he shows No 235 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,000 Fear. He has zero fear, doesn't show 236 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:28,320 it. And the lawyer mentions that he 237 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,120 says the Americans, they want to see you go on the electric chair 238 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:36,040 and it doesn't faze him. And the lawyer says you look 239 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,720 like you're not afraid. And the spy says, and I love the 240 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:41,200 way he does. He says, would it help? 241 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,240 And he does that a few times throughout the movie. 242 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:47,160 That has always remained with me. 243 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:49,920 The actor does a brilliant job. Would it help? 244 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,880 And that line has stuck with me. And when I face challenges and 245 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,040 difficulties in life, what goodwill fear do here? 246 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,760 In most cases, it's not only useless, it's detrimental. 247 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,440 That's the issue. In many of our lives, so much 248 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:09,600 good is not done because of fear, or so much compromise 249 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,120 happens because of fear. Does our lifestyle how we live, 250 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,240 does it show trust and confidence and courage and 251 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:19,840 strength, or does it show fear? Again, dictatorship. 252 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,360 Governments love it when they get people to tremble in fear. 253 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:26,880 Jesus never feared once, as far as we know, nor did the apostle 254 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,200 Paul really. Well, he did in some sense. 255 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:33,000 Maybe he's a human, but he was a man of courage when he was an 256 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,560 apostle. Here's here in chapter 6, verse 257 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:38,760 13, let's go on. It says verse 13, Gideon said to 258 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,040 all my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this 259 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:44,840 happened to us? Where are all his miracles which 260 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,400 our fathers told us about saying, did not the Lord bring 261 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,160 us up from Egypt? But now the Lord's forsaken us 262 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,400 and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 263 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:57,680 What's he doing? He's complaining, He's 264 00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:01,280 complaining, but you know what? God can use us even when we 265 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:03,640 can't see the whole picture, even when we complain. 266 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,600 Getting the last focus, He reminds the Angel of all the 267 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,680 things God had not done. He has not come through for us. 268 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:13,960 And yes, He had not prevented the Midianites from attacking 269 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,880 them, but why was that? He had warned them in the books 270 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,080 of the law, if you'd abandoned God, God will give you over to 271 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,280 your enemies. God had said that would happen, 272 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,920 and it had happened. They went after idols and they 273 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:27,640 reaped the consequences. They had abandoned God. 274 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:31,680 They had lost connection. It wasn't God who had moved, it 275 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,600 was they who had moved. But as often happens, people who 276 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:39,600 turn away from God and wonder why all this distress and so on, 277 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,480 God, why is God not working? Never stop to think maybe I need 278 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:48,680 to do something. Sometimes people come to me and 279 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:53,720 visit and and revisit and often times I find out that it's not 280 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,080 the wrong they're focused on that they're guilty of. 281 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:57,920 But why? Why is my life not working out 282 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,000 here's and everything, but it's the only place here they don't 283 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,200 want to look. Gideon was actually faint of 284 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,120 heart and he complaints and he can't see the picture and he 285 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,000 voices a very common thought that so many have. 286 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:10,600 And Gideon has experienced it right there. 287 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,160 He says the Lord's forsaken us delivered us to the hand of the 288 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:17,200 Midianites. OK, true, he got that right, but 289 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,200 he should have also gone further and expanded and said, OK, why 290 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:23,280 did this happen? He's complaining to God about 291 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,040 what God has not done for them. What comes next is that the 292 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,920 Angel just seems to dismiss his complaint as if it has no 293 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:32,840 bearing on what God is planning to do. 294 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,560 Sometimes the things in our mind are not in God's mind. 295 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:37,960 The nation of Israel had cried out to God. 296 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,520 God was going to deliver His people from the Midianites. 297 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:42,360 They had cried out for that. He's going to do it. 298 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,800 But what follows is how the story unfolded. 299 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:49,680 Let's read verse 14. Then the Lord turned to him as 300 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:50,920 if he hadn't even heard what he said. 301 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,160 Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the 302 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,400 hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? 303 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:03,240 Why did the Angel not continue the conversation about Gideon's 304 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,640 issue? That was not his focus. 305 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:08,960 That was not God's focus. Was Gideon's focus not God's 306 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,400 focus? I think Gideon had somewhat of a 307 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:13,240 victim mindset. Poor me. 308 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,720 You know how bad we have it. Now here's a job for you, 309 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:18,200 Gideon, and you're going to do it. 310 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,680 At that point, Gideon should just go on and do the job. 311 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,480 After all, God had spoken. But Gideon's not that easy to 312 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:31,480 convince. He's stubborn and he wants, he 313 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,160 wants explanations. He just does not want to do it 314 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:37,680 because he's afraid. No, he's actually, look here. 315 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,520 One book, I put it this way. Let me say this first excuse of 316 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:42,360 the nails used to build a House of failure. 317 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:44,800 One writer put it this way. Let's read verse 15 now. 318 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,160 So Gideon's talking again. He said to him, Oh my Lord, how 319 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:52,200 can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest 320 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,680 in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house. 321 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,920 Can you just hear it? This statement is just dripping 322 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:02,080 with fear, self deprecation. He's insecure, poor me mindset. 323 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:06,599 Just listen to this, who am I? Oh my Lord, how can I save 324 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:08,160 Israel? Indeed, my clan's the weakest in 325 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,640 Manasseh and I'm the least in my father's house. 326 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,119 Just listen to him. He speaks so negatively at who 327 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,760 he is, where he's from, and all that stuff, and I couldn't do 328 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:21,560 it. Nope, I'm not the right guy. 329 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:27,520 It's not working. He's trying to get out of this 330 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,440 calling to save Israel. He's thinking logically, but 331 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:32,920 he's not thinking godly. He's trying to inform the Angel 332 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:34,920 all the reasons why it should not be him. 333 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,760 As if God needs reminding. God needs some information. 334 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:40,560 Let's go. We're 16 now and the Lord said 335 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:44,680 to him, surely I will be with you and you shall defeat the 336 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:49,120 Medianites as one man. It's going to work getting your 337 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:52,880 it and God will use it even when you have all these issues. 338 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,960 God made a promise to him. He would be with him. 339 00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:59,960 All you have to go and is do the job, the going and doing the 340 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:01,600 job. That was God Gideon's job. 341 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,120 The victory was God's job. Too often we have excuses and we 342 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:08,440 use those excuses to do just nothing, or we come up with 343 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:09,720 something instead of what God wants. 344 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,200 We try to modify it. You see, God can use us even 345 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,400 when we have excuses. It's interesting. 346 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,600 Gideon would not be the first excuse maker whom God used, and 347 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,080 he wouldn't be the last either. If you go back to the book of 348 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,840 Exodus, the story of Moses and the burning Bush, he was in the 349 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,560 desert now for 40 years already age 80, tending his father 350 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:33,120 Jethro's sheep meet meets God, the burning Bush and God says 351 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:37,000 I'm going to send you to Egypt to rescue my people Israel and 352 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:38,320 you'll come and worship me on this mountain. 353 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:44,200 Moses is a perfect excuse maker. He did very well, but God had 354 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,400 chosen him and the last thing Moses wanted was to he'll go 355 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,000 back to Egypt. Nope, I'm not going back there. 356 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,480 I've been there. I know what that is like. 357 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,000 He had other plans. He was getting on in years as a 358 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,600 shepherd, working for his father-in-law at age 80, soon to 359 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,280 retire. But God had other plans. 360 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,840 Moses had excuses, and Moses had so many excuses. 361 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,360 That tells us in Exodus that God became angry with him. 362 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,400 But in the end, Moses surrenders and he goes. 363 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,160 And it was under his leadership that the children of Israel was 364 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,920 set free and formed into a nation. 365 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,280 In our story this morning, Gideon was not sure. 366 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,480 He was not convinced. He was afraid. 367 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,520 He had excuses. He was like someone who had to 368 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:26,200 be dragged into service. But we don't have to ever be 369 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,680 dragged, do we? We always willingly follow. 370 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:30,720 And you know, we pray and then we say yes, thank you for 371 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:32,240 asking. I'm going to serve, right? 372 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,520 Is that how we do it? No, we have to be arm twisted 373 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:38,720 and I'll pray about it as good as saying no, I won't. 374 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:44,680 And how well do we serve? You complain and whine and 375 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:46,000 excuse. What do we do? 376 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,520 Well, let's let's read Isaiah 6 verse 8 tonight. 377 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,440 I don't have it in my my PowerPoint here, Isaiah 8 verse 378 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,320 6 tonight and says also, I heard the voice of the Lord Isaiah 379 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:56,840 saying, whom shall I send? Who will go for us? 380 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,440 And then Isaiah said, here am I send me. 381 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,200 He's not arguing with qualifications and abilities and 382 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,160 skill sets and talents. Just send me Lord your calling, 383 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,080 I'll go. But now, Gideon here, he's ready 384 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,360 to go. But he has some conditions. 385 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,680 Verse 17, Judges 617 Then he said to him, Gideon says to the 386 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:19,480 Angel, If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a 387 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,040 sign that it is you who talk with me. 388 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,360 Prove it. You prove it. 389 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,520 He's into signs, this man. And we find later he's into 390 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,880 signs. And God grants some signs not 391 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,200 because God needs to, but to favor Gideon, he needs to grow 392 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,880 in his trust toward God. In verse 18 it says, do not 393 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:43,360 depart from me Gideon speaking, I pray until I come to you and 394 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,680 bring out my offering and set it before you Angel complies. 395 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,560 I'll say I'll wait until you come back in verse 19. 396 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,960 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread 397 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,880 for an eat from an EAF of flour. The meat he put in a basket. 398 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,360 He put the broth in the pot. Then he brought them out to him 399 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:01,760 under the Terebin St. and presented them bring you some 400 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,000 food. Then the Angel of the Lord said 401 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,560 to him, take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on 402 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:07,720 this rock and pour out the broth. 403 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,520 And he did so. Verse 21 Then the Angel of the 404 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:13,360 Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and 405 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:15,640 touched the meat and the unleavened bread and fire rose 406 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,520 out of the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread and 407 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,080 the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. 408 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,160 You didn't want to be sure. The phrase show me a sign that's 409 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,080 not sin and of itself, but it's more an indicator of where my 410 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,720 heart is when I say that than what God's abilities and God's 411 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,720 strengths are. Well, Gideon now believed to an 412 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,160 extent, but he was still not sure. 413 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,200 So he says show me a sign. And he got 1. 414 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,480 He was not being rebellious, but he was shallow in his trust, in 415 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,040 his faith. And after seven years about 416 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,160 oppression from the Midianites, nothing had changed. 417 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,560 But now here, all of a sudden, deliverance is promised. 418 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,000 But not just is deliverance promised, You're it, man, you're 419 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:53,360 it. It's going to happen through 420 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:57,200 you. Isn't it always nice if God send 421 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,240 somebody else, get somebody else to do the work for us, You know, 422 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,320 we'll get so and so to do it. Then I don't have to do it. 423 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:08,800 No, we, I you, me, us, we here we are called Gideon is hard to 424 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:10,600 convince. He operates in a foundation of 425 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:12,120 fear. He needed assurance. 426 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,160 The Angel complied. The Angel gave the sign and he 427 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,520 prepares the meal and puts it on the rock as he's told and then 428 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:23,800 he's scared. It says in the in the next verse 429 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:28,520 22, it says now Gideon perceived that was the Angel of the Lord. 430 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,320 That's him. He said, alas, O Lord God, I've 431 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:33,040 seen the Angel of the Lord face to face. 432 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,200 Now he's scared. Angel's gone. 433 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,880 Gideon's back in fear mode. Verse 23 Then the Lord said to 434 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,960 him, peace be with you, do not fear, you shall not die. 435 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,400 So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it the 436 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,000 Lord is peace. To this day it's still an offer 437 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,360 of the Abbai as rights. There it is. 438 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:54,760 Maybe. Perhaps we start feeling sorry 439 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:56,960 for Gideon. But you know what? 440 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,640 We're not different than he is. If we went through what Gideon 441 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,720 went through, we too might be trying to find strange means 442 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,840 just to survive and trying to put out tests and signs. 443 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:08,600 Well, God, can you answer this way or that way? 444 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,000 Did Gideon now rest easy? Well, let's see if he does. 445 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,200 See, God never saves anyone, prepares anyone, or assigns 446 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,520 anyone to something for simply no reason. 447 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:23,360 And now with Gideon, Gideon's convinced, OK, God is real, he's 448 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:25,200 going to save Israel. He said it's done through me. 449 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,800 He's convinced this is for real. Let's continue reading. 450 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:35,040 Now it came to pass that next year, No, that same night, this 451 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,320 is not very long. That same night the Lord said to 452 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,800 him, Gideon, take your father's young bull. 453 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,800 Now father, his dad is the is in charge of bail worship in the 454 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,080 town. Take your father's young bull, 455 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,080 the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of 456 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,800 bail that your father has and cut down the wooden image that's 457 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:54,000 beside it and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this 458 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,280 rock in the proper arrangement. And take the second bull off her 459 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,040 burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut 460 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,280 down South. Gideon took men from among his 461 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,640 servants did this as the Lord had said to him, but because he 462 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,680 feared there it is again his father's household and the men 463 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,080 of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. 464 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:17,720 He still modified it. Now it's not like God's a key 465 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,040 are ready. So next year we're going to put 466 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:20,560 you to work that very same night. 467 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,160 So God's going to give the journey now that start this path 468 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,120 to deliverance. What's he doing first get 469 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,600 cleaned up, clean out the idol worship start at home in your 470 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:34,120 own life. It's noteworthy, a high risk 471 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:35,480 job. I'm not sure I would have wanted 472 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:39,280 that job. What if he gets caught? 473 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,760 Notice all the things that these instructions, they're difficult. 474 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,320 Gideon's going to do clean up work now in his father's house, 475 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:53,440 Tear down Bale's altar, killed the bull, offered on a new altar 476 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,240 he's supposed to make on that rock his own father's house. 477 00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:00,960 Talk about hard instructions. They're extreme all out. 478 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,040 He's going to do a wipeout of the religion of Baal, and it 479 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:13,360 begins in his dad's house and his dad's animal. 480 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:15,920 Can we see all the problems with this? 481 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,720 Gideon was the son of Joash. He was the man who owned this 482 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:21,320 place. Tearing it down that would be, 483 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:22,840 would be bad. I mean dangerous. 484 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,920 I must say when I read this, I admire Gideon for having the 485 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,600 courage to go against his own family, even though he had to do 486 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,280 it at night. Most of us wouldn't done at all. 487 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:36,360 We just wouldn't do it. He was afraid and rightly so. 488 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:39,160 Maybe he was worried what might happen if the men of the city 489 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,120 would catch him. Well, let's read what happened, 490 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,480 verse 28. And when the men of the city 491 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,880 arose early in the morning, there was the altar of bail torn 492 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,840 down, and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down. 493 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,480 And the second bull was being offered on the altar which had 494 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,680 been built. So they said to one another, who 495 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,440 has done this thing? And when they inquired, they 496 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:02,440 asked and asked. They said, Gideon, the son of 497 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,680 Joash, has done this thing. Then the men of the city said to 498 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,280 Joash, bring out your son that he may die because he's torn 499 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:12,080 down the altar of Baal, and because he's cut down the wooden 500 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,160 image that was beside it. That's it. 501 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,320 You see, when a person makes a commitment to God, it's always 502 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,760 best to make a total commitment because a half commitment is not 503 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,120 really a good commitment. Even though Gideon was fearful, 504 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:29,680 his commitment was total and it was very vital that it was. 505 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,560 He did all that God had told him to. 506 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:33,800 Even though he was afraid, he did it at night so not to get 507 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,160 caught or our suspicion. We see that. 508 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,240 See what God did. You see, God uses us even when 509 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:45,040 our faith falls short. Would it have been better if 510 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,680 Gideon had done this openly in public during daylight? 511 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:51,120 I can't say, because we weren't there and the story's not 512 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:53,840 written that way, but we can totally understand why it 513 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,120 probably took all the courage just to do it at night. 514 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,280 He finished the job, got ten of his servants to do the job, and 515 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,600 cut down the tore down the altar, cut down the the asherah 516 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,480 pole, the the image there, and offered the young bull on the 517 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,200 altar. And by morning it was done. 518 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,760 Can we just imagine what must have gone through Gideon's heart 519 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,760 and mind as he's doing this? What if I get caught? 520 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,720 And sure enough, sun comes up, the men of the city come about. 521 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:21,560 And what's going on here? Investigations made. 522 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:23,840 Gideon has done it. It's a done deal. 523 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,080 Now it's and they're furious. They demand his life. 524 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,160 They want him dead. Kill him for destroying the idol 525 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,200 when it was they who should be killed according to the law for 526 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,840 engaging an idol. We're to begin with, you know 527 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,560 how that's like a country sometimes when good is called 528 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,120 bad and bad is called good. Our nation is into that as well, 529 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,520 calling sin, calling bad things that are good and calling good 530 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:50,840 thing good things bad. Well, what's interesting in is 531 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,000 how God comes through. Joash's father who owned this, 532 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,840 who was in charge could have sided against his son, but look 533 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:58,680 what he does and I think it's the hand of God here. 534 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,120 Verse 31. But Joash said to all who stood 535 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:04,240 against him, Would you plead for Baal? 536 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,160 Gideon's dad says this. Would you save him? 537 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,800 Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning. 538 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,160 He challenged them right out is that if Bale is a God, let him 539 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,720 plead for himself because he is. His altar has been torn down 540 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,360 there from that day. He called him Jero Bale, saying 541 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:19,720 that Bale plead against him because he has torn down his 542 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,600 altar. Joash came out on the side of 543 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:27,000 the son Gideon, and as amazing as it is, Joash's dad chose more 544 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,240 boldness and bravery of heart than the son Gideon did. 545 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:30,920 That's amazing. But we'll say that the hand of 546 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:32,840 God was in this, so he stood up for him. 547 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,640 Joash basically tells him Bale can plead for himself. 548 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,440 You have nothing. He can defend his own stuff. 549 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:44,080 Nobody has to defend him. As we continue through the story 550 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:47,880 of of Gideon, we'll find that not everything went well with 551 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:49,640 Gideon. He was a good judge in some 552 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:51,920 ways, but also toward the end, things were not good. 553 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,880 But for now, things are looking up for now, the more closer to 554 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:56,920 home, the issues of idol worship and all that stuff is being 555 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:58,880 dealt with and the stage was now being prepared for him to 556 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:01,680 actually deliver his people. I want us to notice something 557 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,280 here this morning. God heard the cries of the 558 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,400 Israelites in their need. God confronted them about their 559 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,880 sin and wanted to help them. But first deal with your sin. 560 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:13,360 Deal with your in house problems. 561 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,480 Not only when that that was cleaned up within a position and 562 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,080 ready to start the process of getting the enemy out. 563 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,840 It was not that everything was perfect, but they had to get 564 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:25,640 aligned with God heading in the right direction. 565 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,000 Then things changed and God used getting in a very powerful way 566 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:33,320 even though he fell short. You see, God can use us even 567 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,240 when we're fearful. God can use us when we can't see 568 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,240 the whole picture. God can use us. 569 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,680 When we have excuses, God can use us. 570 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,800 When our faith falls short, God can use us. 571 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,640 The question I have for us this morning, do we want to? 572 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:50,920 Are we willing? Are we surrendered? 573 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:56,160 Are we committed? How ready, how available, how 574 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,080 committed, how surrendered are you and I today in our 575 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,880 relationship with God and our connection with God that God can 576 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,000 actually use us? Or do we constantly wait and 577 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,840 dawdle and and interfere? Or can we just obey? 578 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:12,960 We're free to say no. We have a free will. 579 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,400 We're not forced by God to say yes. 580 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,080 God knew Gideon's heart and character. 581 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,640 He was a man who wanted to obey but fell so far short in so many 582 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,240 ways. And we do too. 583 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,560 But that's no excuse to stop following after God and 584 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,080 thinking, oh, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next 585 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,920 year. God has his hand in each one of 586 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:33,800 our lives to live out his calling on our lives. 587 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,680 And we don't have to wait till perfection. 588 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,920 He can use us now, today, here, and all of our imperfections. 589 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:42,680 So do you want to be used by God? 590 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:45,640 Most of us say, Oh yeah, for sure. 591 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,880 But then also, but we have these conditions, these terms. 592 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:53,840 We want to decide where and when and how. 593 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,200 Pretty much all the Saints in Scripture that were used by God 594 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:03,600 were not perfect. So what's holding me back? 595 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,360 What's holding you back from giving yourself completely to 596 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,960 God? What has God blessed us with? 597 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:17,720 What skill sets, what talents, what training, what abilities, 598 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,840 what opportunities? Let's take those surrendered and 599 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,720 give them to Him and then live out His calling in our lives and 600 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,640 see what's going to happen. And we will have the peace and 601 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:31,880 the joy and then it's assurance knowing we're in his will, in 602 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,000 his Kingdom, serving Him, and we'll be as the apostle Paul 603 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,440 wrote to the Philippians. When he wrote to the 604 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:40,160 Philippians, he wrote about how all the stuff that he had had 605 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:42,320 before he became a father of Jesus, he said, oh, that's 606 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,760 garbage compared to what I've gained in Christ. 607 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,680 We'll gain Christ, a relationship with him, a 608 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,800 connection with him, and our community and the world will see 609 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:52,720 the difference. But even most importantly, in 610 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:54,600 our own lives, we'll see it as well. 611 00:31:54,840 --> 00:32:00,000 Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your word 612 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,280 that is new every day. Thank you, Lord, for this 613 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,600 opportunity to be here in your House of worship to look into 614 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,280 your word again. I pray, Lord, that you'll help 615 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:13,440 us to realize that You want us to use You, want to use us for 616 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,160 your glory in many ways. Help us, Lord, to surrender our 617 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,720 hearts, our souls, our minds to you, for you to do with us as 618 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,680 you see fit what glorifies your name, and help us to trust You. 619 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:25,520 Thank you Jesus, we pray in your name, Amen.