WEBVTT

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Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. He saw

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me and bought me with his redeeming blood. Victory

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in Jesus, my Savior forever. Oh, victory in Jesus,

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my Savior forever. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

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you. What have you seen? What have you heard?

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Where were you at in the Word this week? Maybe

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you were praying and God said something to you,

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or as you were walking along, you just looked

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to the right, and God said, hey, pay attention

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to that. I want to show you something. What do

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you got? Start to cry. You know, crying to God,

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tears are real. Last night, I felt so alone and

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discouraged, but God just helped me through it.

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I appreciate that God will toil with me through

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it all. I don't listen or I do listen. He does.

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And yesterday was really good. And also, I was

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going to try to speak fast. But yesterday, my

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son and my daughters and both sons, you know,

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I'm just glad. Just a small influence in their

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lives. I miss them greatly. Not just miss them,

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but just want to be the man I can be. But I know

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God's got them, and I just need to be what God

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says me to be for them. I just want to say real

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quick just how it all worked out. We were going

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to go bowling, and we went to the dumbest things

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that we do sometimes. They want us to go up the

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escalators at the mall to get sporting goods.

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So we went up there, and they were like, hey,

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we should go up. They were looking at the golf

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clubs. You guys want to do miniature golf instead

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of bowling? So we did our cage drill, all these

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things. And we went to this golf course, and

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this one lady, she's an older grandma lady. And

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none of this would have happened because we didn't

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plan anything. We were just trusting God what

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he wanted us to do. She talked to us and she

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said, may you be washed in the blood of the Lamb

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of Jesus. I've never heard that in my entire

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life. Someone actually shared Jesus with me.

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So I just boldly proclaimed right back to her

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about, you know, we're in this together, sister.

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And it was so cool. By the very end of the day,

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my son said, we had a great day today. And I'm

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glad he took me away from the tablet. Not because

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of the tablet, because he was trusting in what

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dad was going to do. And just like every day

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puts an end to the church, what God wants to

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do. I have a poem I want to share real quick.

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And I got to tell you, like, none of this happens

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by coincidence. Everything is God moving or God

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removed. So I was told by some of the leaders

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to help out arts and crafts and make sure we're

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doing arts and crafts. So I'm not a very cool

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person. You might think I am. You only met me

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for five seconds. I like to run and I like to

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hide. I like to adapt and blend in so no one

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can tell where I'm at. Because I'm not used to

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having anybody in my life. I'm not saying it

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to break hearts. I'm just glad that God has a

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hold of me and I have a real righteous relationship.

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And I know that relationship because I've seeked

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and trusted in him. And I've been through false

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choices and false hope. I've got a truth as well.

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The reason I share that is I reached out and

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I said, I'm not going to say the names, but I

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was like, hey, we're doing arts and crafts. You

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know, that's what we're going to do today. And

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just by saying that, someone else decided to

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do arts and crafts. And we both wrote some poems.

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And I just wanted to share what God put on my

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heart. I give a title to it. I call it Christology

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and Theology. Christology is basically the trinity

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God himself has been before all, above all, ends

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all. He's always there. History is in the Bible.

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It's in every step of our lives. And theology,

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if anybody knows high school or junior high,

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college, it comes to the word, I believe, thesis.

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When you write a thesis paper, you have to have

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three, four major points, but you have to write

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your paper explaining your points. And then you

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have to have evidence to back it up so that they

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can look at the evidence and see your claims

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are true, or you just wrote a paper and just

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tried to throw your opinion in. It can't even

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be a statement, but there has to be proof to

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your statement. And that's what theology is.

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I looked it up. It's the nature of God, and it's

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a study of religious beliefs. And, of course,

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our theology is Christ alone. And so I just wanted

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to share this poem that I wrote. It says, For

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I am convinced, Romans chapter 8, the Scripture

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or the Word is that for me. So I open up these

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verses to ponder my curiosity. So at this moment

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I will shut down my heart and use my brain. So

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now I can examine where he tells his story, which

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I like to call history, in a picture frame. Paul

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knew the word, God's stories and all. So through

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heroes and zeros, all by his name, we're able

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to reveal, little by little, God's glorious fame.

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Jensen and Joe, we'll hear about angels and demons,

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and the book of Daniel about life and death.

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So many adventures and warnings. No way to explain

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it. We'll try to grasp. through his living word

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in just a little breath. So my explanation is

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clear and concise. Just look into Ryan without

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a fuss. Through history, we remember, or through

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history remembers us with his love and mercy,

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how he carried us. Now I'll shut down my brain

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and open my heart or soul. This is an explanation

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through life of Christ and Christ Jesus' life

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and his reconciliation to all who want to know

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and behold. Through all life and peril, And not

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throwing the king, Jesus, God himself, the best?

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What is the points of risk and growth and failures

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and strengths and enduring with Jesus till we

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find true rest? You need the convincing, then

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be convinced today. But without God's lead and

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redemption, you can never find his way. Because

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God is perfect and holy, no corruption in sight.

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He only came from his heavenly clouds to earth.

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resurrection and death because of his one and

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only. No one could make him. He came to us through

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God's one and only birth. And this is the end.

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So what verses did I seek? For what I'm convinced,

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that neither death nor life, neither angels nor

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demons, neither the present nor the future, nor

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any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything

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else in all creation will separate you from the

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love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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The price he paid only through himself, the Lord

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Jesus can you afford. The reason I say that is

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Paul was convinced not just by seeing miracles

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and supernatural, that he also knew the Word.

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He was convinced wholeheartedly, not just by

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what he seen, but what he was able to trust in

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and what God gave him. And so I ask you, you

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have said it before, what are you convinced about?

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Amen. And that came out of Arts and Crafts on

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Thursday. Had a great time there. Sometimes if

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you block out the time. You can discipline yourself

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and say, okay, I'm going to do something during

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this period of time. You might not go thinking,

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I'm going to paint a painting or make a drawing

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or something. Tony came to help. I feel like

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Al wants me to write a poem. Sean also wrote

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an awesome poem. He's not here to read it for

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us today. We'll catch him eventually. But he

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also wrote an awesome poem on Thursday. Poetry

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obviously is an art. And there were some really

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awesome paintings. You get a chance to see some

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of the art that's coming out of there. It's just

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amazing. And so we'll be doing that again in

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two weeks. But really the focus is on God and

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on being God's people. Who else has a quick word?

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Yes, sir. So in youth Bible study on Friday,

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I was talking about what is the church and how

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the church isn't just a building or a place.

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It's the gathering of a body of believers. And

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we can do that anywhere. We can go out anywhere

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and we can be the church. That is one of the

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greatest things that I've ever experienced as

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a Christian. That kind of blew my mind because

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I've always, before I became a Christian, I always

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thought that the church was just some place.

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And I think that's a pretty big misconception

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that the world has is a church is just some building

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that you go to. And it's not. It's more than

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just the building. It's the people. It's the

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gathering of believers. It's God's Holy Spirit

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showing up. And one of the verses that I like

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is Isaiah 43, 1. It says, But now, thus the Lord,

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your creator, O Israel, do not fear, for I have

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redeemed you. I have called you out by name.

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You are mine. And what's cool is God calls us

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out by name. He calls us personally to follow

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him. But it's up to us to answer that call. And

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that's what really, I think. struggles a lot

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with me personally is there's things that I know

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God wants me to do that I'm absolutely terrified

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to do because it is so outside my comfort zone.

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Like for instance, the first time I got the call

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to preach, I was terrified in my core. Because

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I'm not good at speaking in front of people.

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But then I look back and some of the things I've

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said, some of the things that God's used me for,

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and I'm like, you know, this is truly a gift

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from God. This is not me. I couldn't do this

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on my own. And then one of the great examples

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that I gave my youth group, because we're going

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to be doing some changes in the youth group,

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that I really honestly feel God is going to do

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amazing things with it. And one of the examples

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I gave them was God is going to equip you to

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do what he has you to do. and he wants you to

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be a mouthpiece for him and he wants you to speak

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for him. Look what he did with Moses. Moses was

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complaining to God that he didn't want to go

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out and he didn't want to do anything. He couldn't

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do it because he wasn't good at talking. And

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God gave him Aaron. God said, here, I will give

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you someone who can talk for you. And that's

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what I think God has done. He does with us all

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the time. He puts people in our lives so that

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we can be better equipped to do the things that

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he has us do. a lot of extensive intellectual

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debates with friends the last week or two weeks

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and one of the topics was independence in a relationship

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and It is very important for me in my marriage

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and even in my other relationships, my sibling

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relationships, parental, whatever the case may

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be, that we're meant to be united together. Marriage

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more specifically, because when you become married,

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you become one with God. And independence doesn't

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necessarily exist in that marriage. And in relationships,

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you're meant to be able to lean on the people

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around you and in your life. And her argument

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was, you know, she enjoys being independent and

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she likes being her own person. And it was a

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real eye opener that the way the world works

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is they think they have to do everything themselves

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and leaning on other people is bad. As a church,

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we are a family meant to rely on one another,

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and specifically our devotional about marriage

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yesterday was not only relying on one another

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and being there for one another and communicating

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every aspect, every decision you make should

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be one decision together as a whole, and also

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when you make a mistake or you turn against the

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person that you were supposed to be with, if

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you're with your sister and you get in an argument,

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if you're with your parents and you're disagreeing,

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whatever that case may be, you come to a resolution,

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but then you pray after. It was our specific

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devotional was. If you get into a disagreement

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with your husband and you're at a controversy,

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you come to an agreement and you say, I'm sorry,

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I apologize, whatever the case may be. But the

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strength in that is the prayer after, asking

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God to turn over this sin or whatever this disagreement

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was and pray that you can have this on mind for

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future conversations. And when you pray together

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about that, you're handing over this issue to

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God, you're resolving it right then and there,

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you're letting it go. It's no longer anything

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that can be brought up again. And it specifically

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for our marriage work wonders, but it's just,

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it works like that as a church, as a body. If

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one person falls off, we don't shame, we don't

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judge. We come together, we fix the issue, and

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then we pray about it together after. And then

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we hand it over to God and we move on. I don't

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want to take up too much time in the middle of

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working on this project. So for one of my classes,

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I had to write a choral hymn. And I chose Psalms

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18, verse 49. And it says, if I had the music,

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I would sing it. I'm not far, but I don't have

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it. So I'll read you the verse. It says, therefore,

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I will praise you, Yahweh, among the nations.

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I will sing about your name. And it only had

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to be one verse. And I'm in the middle of writing

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the chords right now for it. But Arda and I were

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talking about this. I had to kind of find a chord

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that was unstable. And I know this isn't going

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to make sense for a lot of people, so I'll try

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my best to explain it. But an unstable chord

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is a chord that's kind of crunchy and isn't pleasing

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exactly, but it's a strong chord. And it kind

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of makes you, like, hear more when you hear it

00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:35.759
because it has a lot of notes in its chord. And

00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:39.620
it's very dissonant. I felt like in this, I couldn't

00:16:39.620 --> 00:16:43.360
find a good place to put a crunchy chord that

00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:46.360
kind of made you cringe a little bit. So Arne

00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:48.320
and I were talking, and one of the most powerful

00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:51.919
words in this, I think, is Yahweh. And I decided

00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:53.860
that I was going to put this crunchy chord on

00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:56.720
the word Yahweh to kind of emphasize that it's

00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.440
powerful. So I'm going to put a powerful chord

00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.279
on the word Yahweh because I think that's probably

00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:06.240
the most important word of this. And words like...

00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:11.759
We're also trying to use context to write ascending

00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:14.759
and descending notes. So on words like praise

00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:19.180
and sing and your name, I'm writing notes that

00:17:19.180 --> 00:17:23.099
ascend because it kind of makes sense. That's

00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:25.400
amazing. Wow. Thank you for letting us in on

00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:27.119
that. That's kind of like behind -the -scenes

00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:30.779
stuff. It's just something a little shorter now.

00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:35.079
So we've had a rough week. So yesterday we wanted

00:17:35.079 --> 00:17:37.980
to work on ourselves. Going crazy. I got a flat

00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:41.480
tire. Just all kinds of weird. I don't know.

00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:43.900
What are we going to do next? I don't know. Situation.

00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:46.259
And then there was this little boy, a rollercoaster

00:17:46.259 --> 00:17:48.579
bike. He shared with Kelly that he was very much

00:17:48.579 --> 00:17:52.220
happy. He was a happy little boy. I don't know.

00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:57.819
How can you feel that way? And he shared with

00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:00.140
Kelly, hey, do you have a promise? And she was

00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:02.059
like, yeah, I got one. And he was like, just

00:18:02.059 --> 00:18:04.700
grab your promise and pray to God. and just the

00:18:04.700 --> 00:18:06.839
thought of that in that moment like when it doesn't

00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:23.599
make sense we've seen small children really be

00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:26.319
used by god it could have been an angel what

00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:31.450
a great what a great time Remember, Perry won't

00:18:31.450 --> 00:18:32.650
tell it today because we're out of time, but

00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:34.529
there's a story about a park bench. I think you

00:18:34.529 --> 00:18:37.329
have about a man who was drunk off his butt and

00:18:37.329 --> 00:18:39.410
said some powerful things. And so it doesn't

00:18:39.410 --> 00:18:41.890
matter. God can speak through humans. And that

00:18:41.890 --> 00:18:44.210
is just a phenomenal story. And you'll be holding

00:18:44.210 --> 00:18:46.789
on to that one for a while. That's awesome. All

00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:48.730
right, well, let's pray together. And then we'll

00:18:48.730 --> 00:18:50.549
worship the God who's doing all this. And I bet

00:18:50.549 --> 00:18:52.589
there's a lot more we could talk about. God is

00:18:52.589 --> 00:18:55.599
amazing. He is at work and we are grateful. Even

00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:57.299
in the midst of, I know there are people in this

00:18:57.299 --> 00:18:59.940
room who are facing some very real trials and

00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:01.940
really real difficulties. And even in the midst

00:19:01.940 --> 00:19:04.880
of that, God is so good. And we cling to him.

00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:09.119
Father in heaven, we do cling to you. We choose

00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:12.579
to praise your holy name. We choose to lift up

00:19:12.579 --> 00:19:15.079
our prayers to the God of heaven who can do something

00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:17.339
about the situation that we're in. Thank you,

00:19:17.339 --> 00:19:20.299
Lord. You have earned your place. You didn't

00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:23.589
have to. It was yours, you deserved it, you owned

00:19:23.589 --> 00:19:26.309
it, and yet you earned it. So we praise you for

00:19:26.309 --> 00:19:28.390
it. Ask your blessings upon the tithes and offerings.

00:19:28.609 --> 00:19:30.250
Ask your blessing upon our remaining worship,

00:19:30.390 --> 00:19:32.569
that somehow we would find it in ourselves to

00:19:32.569 --> 00:19:36.390
give you your proper place. Help us, Lord. In

00:19:36.390 --> 00:23:47.019
Jesus' name, amen. One single drop of rain. Your

00:23:47.019 --> 00:26:08.940
salty tear became the ocean. We've been working

00:26:08.940 --> 00:26:12.460
through the book of Judges, and we are amidst

00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:15.579
the story of Gideon. To this point, what we have

00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:17.440
seen, and Gideon is really a turning point in

00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:18.660
this book, so I just want to make sure that we're

00:26:18.660 --> 00:26:20.380
clear where we're at. To this point, what we

00:26:20.380 --> 00:26:23.400
have seen is a number of saviors arise for the

00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:25.859
Israelites. The book of Judges could well have

00:26:25.859 --> 00:26:27.759
been called the book of saviors, although I think

00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:31.440
that might have done a little distaste to Jesus,

00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:34.519
because he is the one and only true savior. The

00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:36.400
judges who come, not all of them even judged.

00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:39.579
But what they did do is they delivered the people

00:26:39.579 --> 00:26:42.160
of Israel. When God's people were wicked and

00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:44.400
in their sin and doing the wrong thing, they

00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:47.900
suffered terribly. They were downcast. They were

00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:50.539
oppressed. They were weak and small in their

00:26:50.539 --> 00:26:53.759
own eyes and then cried out for assistance from

00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.859
God. And God rendered that assistance. And this

00:26:56.859 --> 00:27:00.700
time he renders it in the form of Gideon. Gideon

00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:03.670
will. Despite his own weaknesses, his doubt,

00:27:03.769 --> 00:27:06.009
his lack of trust of God, his wanting to check

00:27:06.009 --> 00:27:09.569
God at every turn, he will lead God's people

00:27:09.569 --> 00:27:12.390
to a great victory over the Midianites. As we

00:27:12.390 --> 00:27:15.170
read from Judges chapter 7 today, I want you

00:27:15.170 --> 00:27:17.170
to look just for a second at the sermon title.

00:27:17.430 --> 00:27:22.250
It is You Don't Know Small. In 1709, that's a

00:27:22.250 --> 00:27:26.710
long time ago, over 300 years ago, there was

00:27:26.710 --> 00:27:29.309
an incident. A playwright named John Dennis invented

00:27:29.309 --> 00:27:32.049
a new thunder machine. for his play. It would

00:27:32.049 --> 00:27:33.970
make the sound of thunder in the theater, and

00:27:33.970 --> 00:27:35.930
it was very realistic compared to the thunder

00:27:35.930 --> 00:27:38.509
you hear in the sky. Previously, all the thunder

00:27:38.509 --> 00:27:42.230
was made by like buckling copper plates or that

00:27:42.230 --> 00:27:44.769
kind of thing, usually by hand, and it really

00:27:44.769 --> 00:27:46.890
didn't sound all that much like thunder, but

00:27:46.890 --> 00:27:48.369
the people who were watching the play knew that

00:27:48.369 --> 00:27:50.690
it was supposed to be thunder. He was fed up

00:27:50.690 --> 00:27:53.089
with that, and he invented a machine that made

00:27:53.089 --> 00:27:56.549
thunder that sounded like thunder. His play Appius

00:27:56.549 --> 00:27:59.309
in Virginia was staged at London's Drury Lane

00:27:59.309 --> 00:28:01.750
Theatre, which is a pretty famous place, but

00:28:01.750 --> 00:28:04.130
the play quickly failed and closed after only

00:28:04.130 --> 00:28:06.309
a few performances. Not very many people were

00:28:06.309 --> 00:28:08.869
showing up to see the play. After his play's

00:28:08.869 --> 00:28:11.390
failure, some nights later, Dennis attended a

00:28:11.390 --> 00:28:14.970
performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth at the same

00:28:14.970 --> 00:28:19.269
theatre. Macbeth has thunder in scenes one and

00:28:19.269 --> 00:28:23.269
four. He was outraged to hear the sound of his

00:28:23.269 --> 00:28:26.230
own thunder machine being used in the new production.

00:28:26.289 --> 00:28:28.930
In the middle of the play in silence at a moment,

00:28:29.049 --> 00:28:30.910
the opportune moment when everyone would hear

00:28:30.910 --> 00:28:33.490
him, he stood up in the audience and he yelled,

00:28:33.630 --> 00:28:36.829
they will not let my play run, but they will

00:28:36.829 --> 00:28:39.829
steal my thunder. And that's where we got the

00:28:39.829 --> 00:28:43.029
saying, stealing my thunder. As we look at the

00:28:43.029 --> 00:28:46.170
text today, I want you to understand that I almost

00:28:46.170 --> 00:28:48.390
wrote three or four sermons out of this text

00:28:48.390 --> 00:28:50.829
today. There's a lot in there. I've preached

00:28:50.829 --> 00:28:53.029
out of the text two times in my history. One

00:28:53.029 --> 00:28:55.829
of them I remember vividly. It was over on Main

00:28:55.829 --> 00:28:59.009
Street, and I cut out, out of white poster board,

00:28:59.190 --> 00:29:01.829
the number 300, pretty big, put it on the wall.

00:29:02.049 --> 00:29:03.990
And at the end of the message, during the invitation,

00:29:04.190 --> 00:29:06.650
I asked anyone who was present who wanted to,

00:29:06.710 --> 00:29:08.309
and the message was essentially that you can

00:29:08.309 --> 00:29:11.390
be part of God's 300. You can dedicate yourself

00:29:11.390 --> 00:29:13.349
to God's service, and you can overcome your own

00:29:13.349 --> 00:29:15.799
weaknesses, your own barriers. And let God choose

00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:18.759
you. And I ask people to come forward and sign

00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:21.400
their name on the 300 if they were making that

00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:23.799
commitment to do so. And almost everybody in

00:29:23.799 --> 00:29:25.200
the room, not everybody, but almost everybody

00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:26.819
in the room came forward and they signed their

00:29:26.819 --> 00:29:29.500
name on that 300. Since then, there have been

00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:32.180
those who signed their name on that 300. Some

00:29:32.180 --> 00:29:33.859
of them are still with us in this room today.

00:29:33.900 --> 00:29:36.380
You remember doing that. Some have come and gone.

00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:39.079
They were serving the Lord and they walked away

00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:40.440
from the Lord or walked away from our church

00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.180
and went somewhere else and then are nowhere

00:29:42.180 --> 00:29:45.109
now. Some have come and gone and are back again

00:29:45.109 --> 00:29:49.710
today. Pretty neat that God does that. That's

00:29:49.710 --> 00:29:51.869
a sermon I could have preached again. It's a

00:29:51.869 --> 00:29:53.630
completely biblical sermon that you could allow

00:29:53.630 --> 00:29:55.710
yourself to be chosen by God, to be part of the

00:29:55.710 --> 00:29:58.450
300, to do the amazing thing, the crazy thing,

00:29:58.549 --> 00:30:00.329
it's really what we're talking about, that God

00:30:00.329 --> 00:30:01.950
would want you to do. And I could have preached

00:30:01.950 --> 00:30:04.329
it again today. And we'll see a couple of others

00:30:04.329 --> 00:30:07.009
as we go through the text today. And I'll try

00:30:07.009 --> 00:30:09.279
to point them out to you. But there's one in

00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:12.720
particular that ties into something that we studied

00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.059
a few weeks back. And so I'll point that out

00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:18.039
to you as we go through. And I honestly think

00:30:18.039 --> 00:30:21.079
that God, in his subtlety, in his generosity,

00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:25.019
in his kindness toward us, lets us see that thing

00:30:25.019 --> 00:30:28.000
now. And I kind of think maybe Gideon didn't

00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:30.420
see it from the way he responded. So if you grab

00:30:30.420 --> 00:30:32.599
your Bibles and give me a little amen or hoot

00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:34.799
or holler or something as we go to Judges chapter

00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:39.009
7. Thank you. This is God's word. We will read

00:30:39.009 --> 00:31:05.539
the first seven verses of Judges chapter 7. Now

00:31:05.539 --> 00:31:08.400
therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the

00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:10.740
people, saying, whoever is afraid and trembling,

00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:13.500
let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.

00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:17.420
So 22 ,000 people returned, but 10 ,000 remained.

00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:19.200
So there's a couple things I want you to see

00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:20.799
before I go any further in the text. This is

00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:23.039
that one first stepping off point to a whole

00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:26.019
sermon of itself. And it is this. As much as

00:31:26.019 --> 00:31:28.619
Israel thought they were small, when the Holy

00:31:28.619 --> 00:31:30.940
Spirit settled on Gideon and he blew that trumpet

00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:34.980
and the word spread throughout the land, 32 ,000

00:31:34.980 --> 00:31:39.019
men gathered to fight by his side against the

00:31:39.019 --> 00:31:41.980
Midianites. That is not a small number. And it's

00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:44.839
very much not a small number in a day when word

00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:47.359
doesn't travel by telegraph or telegram or even

00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:50.019
letters in the mail, right? The draft wasn't

00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:53.720
in place. It was the trumpet blows and the messengers

00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:56.119
go out and people just kept flocking in and they

00:31:56.119 --> 00:31:57.920
brought whatever they could use as weaponry and

00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:00.519
32 ,000 men had come. I submit to you that Israel

00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:03.299
is not all that small if they can. in very short

00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:06.279
order, within a week, call up 32 ,000 men to

00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:08.480
fight the Midianites. It also says to me that

00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:11.420
probably this could have been done before. Before

00:32:11.420 --> 00:32:13.980
they lost so many people to the Midianites in

00:32:13.980 --> 00:32:16.279
past seasons, which happened over and over again,

00:32:16.460 --> 00:32:18.480
men, women, and children, especially the elderly

00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:19.960
and the weak who couldn't flee into the mountains,

00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:22.799
things like that. They all died to the rush of

00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:25.400
the Midianites in past seasons. Imagine what

00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:26.980
the size of this army might have been if they

00:32:26.980 --> 00:32:29.559
had called it up five years prior. Israel was

00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:32.819
not weak. Israel was not small, but that's how

00:32:32.819 --> 00:32:35.680
they were seeing themselves. But notice God says,

00:32:35.880 --> 00:32:39.359
you're too many. You're too many for me to use

00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:42.619
you to save the people from the people of Midian,

00:32:42.660 --> 00:32:45.799
because then they might say, look what we did.

00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:48.980
So God says, all of those who are in fear and

00:32:48.980 --> 00:32:51.660
trembling, and let's be super realistic, okay?

00:32:51.799 --> 00:32:54.420
If you're one of 32 ,000 men who are calling

00:32:54.420 --> 00:32:56.759
up against fighting the Midianites, and no one

00:32:56.759 --> 00:32:58.440
has successfully fought the Midianites in recent

00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:01.470
history, And their camels and their soldiers

00:33:01.470 --> 00:33:04.269
reach as far as the eye can see. They cover the

00:33:04.269 --> 00:33:05.970
shore and beyond, all the way to the mountains,

00:33:06.029 --> 00:33:07.710
into the valleys and the hills. Everywhere you

00:33:07.710 --> 00:33:11.609
look are Midianite and other eastern tribe warriors.

00:33:11.849 --> 00:33:15.210
I'd be shaking in my boots. Let's be realistic.

00:33:15.349 --> 00:33:18.390
Wouldn't we all be afraid? I mean, courage is

00:33:18.390 --> 00:33:21.529
not not having fear, right? Courage is overcoming

00:33:21.529 --> 00:33:25.440
your fear. And so here it is, he is saying, let's

00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:27.359
be very clear about this, he is saying, if you

00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:31.440
are here today because you are courageous, that

00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:33.180
is to say you are overcoming your fear, if you

00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:36.059
are here today because you are courageous, you

00:33:36.059 --> 00:33:39.140
can go. You hear me? If you are here today because

00:33:39.140 --> 00:33:42.019
you are courageous, you can go. Now don't we

00:33:42.019 --> 00:33:45.299
love courage? I think it was Aristotle who said,

00:33:45.420 --> 00:33:49.170
courage is the supreme of all. Human traits.

00:33:49.450 --> 00:33:52.009
Because without courage, everything else is useless

00:33:52.009 --> 00:33:54.309
and worthless. It all falls away. Courage is,

00:33:54.329 --> 00:34:02.809
as is now traveling around the internet, courage

00:34:02.809 --> 00:34:05.069
is doing the right thing when it doesn't make

00:34:05.069 --> 00:34:08.889
any sense. When in all human understanding, you

00:34:08.889 --> 00:34:11.309
go, well, this is the right thing, and I'm going

00:34:11.309 --> 00:34:12.809
to do it because it's the right thing, because

00:34:12.809 --> 00:34:15.269
it's what God wants me to do, even though...

00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:17.239
It doesn't seem to make any sense. And it may

00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:18.940
not get me the outcome that I'm looking for.

00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:21.159
I might die in the process, but it's the right

00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:24.000
thing. That's courage. And he said, if you're

00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:27.199
afraid today, and even if you're overcoming your

00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:28.820
fear, and you're here out of courage overcoming

00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:32.199
your fear, you can go. And when he said that,

00:34:32.360 --> 00:34:37.880
22 ,000 men left. I want you to hear today and

00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:40.760
understand that it just might be that God is

00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:43.579
going to wait to do the miraculous thing that

00:34:43.579 --> 00:34:47.139
he wants to do. Until the people that are only

00:34:47.139 --> 00:34:50.440
here because they're overcoming their fears leave.

00:34:51.619 --> 00:34:55.300
If you're just courageous, as good as that is,

00:34:55.460 --> 00:34:58.940
God may not do the amazing thing that he's going

00:34:58.940 --> 00:35:03.139
to do until you're gone. So 10 ,000 remained.

00:35:03.539 --> 00:35:06.860
That's a pretty good reduction. And, you know,

00:35:06.940 --> 00:35:09.800
10 ,000 is definitely not enough to win this

00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:12.900
battle. Mathematically, they were so outmatched,

00:35:12.900 --> 00:35:14.510
there's no way they could win. But if you'll

00:35:14.510 --> 00:35:19.190
remember, a similar thing happened with Deborah

00:35:19.190 --> 00:35:21.909
and Barak, where they took a force similar to

00:35:21.909 --> 00:35:23.750
what they've now wheeled this one down to, and

00:35:23.750 --> 00:35:25.489
they went out and they fought. And first they

00:35:25.489 --> 00:35:26.650
thought, well, we'll fight in the mountains where

00:35:26.650 --> 00:35:29.130
the chariots can't get to us, right? And then

00:35:29.130 --> 00:35:30.849
he said, no, go fight them in the plains. And

00:35:30.849 --> 00:35:32.130
they went and fought them in the plains. And

00:35:32.130 --> 00:35:34.969
then they won a great victory because God flooded

00:35:34.969 --> 00:35:37.369
the plain and the chariots got bound down. And

00:35:37.369 --> 00:35:38.889
there was no way they could have won that victory

00:35:38.889 --> 00:35:41.949
if God didn't intervene. And then Barak and Deborah

00:35:41.949 --> 00:35:45.139
sung a great song. And as part of that song,

00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:48.019
it was all about praising God. And as part of

00:35:48.019 --> 00:35:51.239
that song, they sung, Oh, the people that came

00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:54.760
out to fight. Oh, how the leaders came to war.

00:35:54.980 --> 00:35:58.199
And they gave credit to God for the people coming

00:35:58.199 --> 00:36:00.579
out to fight. But the bottom line is, after that

00:36:00.579 --> 00:36:03.019
happened, the Israelites went back into wickedness.

00:36:03.099 --> 00:36:05.400
So we need something more. We need something

00:36:05.400 --> 00:36:08.300
a little more extreme than just dismissing all

00:36:08.300 --> 00:36:10.340
the courageous people who are overcoming their

00:36:10.340 --> 00:36:11.920
fear to do what it is that God has called them

00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:14.019
to do. And then God's showing up and doing something.

00:36:14.059 --> 00:36:16.380
We need something a little more than that. And

00:36:16.380 --> 00:36:18.880
so they're down to 10 ,000 men, but God is not

00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:21.280
done. In verse four, then it says, then the Lord

00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:24.480
said to Gideon, the people are still too many.

00:36:24.599 --> 00:36:27.219
Remember, they are too many because if they win

00:36:27.219 --> 00:36:30.239
the victory, then they might take the credit

00:36:30.239 --> 00:36:32.159
for the victory or say, look at what we accomplished.

00:36:32.579 --> 00:36:34.780
Then the Lord said to Gideon, the people are

00:36:34.780 --> 00:36:37.300
still too many. Bring them down to the water

00:36:37.300 --> 00:36:39.699
and I will test them for you there. Now, this

00:36:39.699 --> 00:36:44.019
should be good, right? Give us some qualifying

00:36:44.019 --> 00:36:46.480
character of a man of God who can be part of

00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:49.260
the 300. These were men, by the way, but it applies

00:36:49.260 --> 00:36:52.000
to women as well, right? Who can be part of the

00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:55.579
300. And as he gives us this test, we apply the

00:36:55.579 --> 00:36:58.199
test to ourselves, right? We can say, this test

00:36:58.199 --> 00:37:00.420
that God is giving us, we'll be able to determine

00:37:00.420 --> 00:37:02.639
whether or not we can qualify ourselves to be

00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:04.360
part of the 300. So it sounds like it's going

00:37:04.360 --> 00:37:06.239
to be pretty good. It's not going to go like

00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:07.820
you think. If you know the story already, you

00:37:07.820 --> 00:37:09.840
know what I mean. God says, I will test them

00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:12.480
for you there. Therefore it shall be that he

00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:15.400
of whom I say to you, this one shall go with

00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:18.239
you, he shall go with you. But everyone of whom

00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:20.659
I say to you, this one shall not go with you,

00:37:20.739 --> 00:37:24.820
he shall not go with you. So he brought the people

00:37:24.820 --> 00:37:27.360
down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon,

00:37:27.500 --> 00:37:29.840
you shall separate everyone who laps the water

00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:32.860
with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone

00:37:32.860 --> 00:37:34.880
who kneels to drink. Now the number of those

00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:37.260
who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth,

00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:38.940
in other words, so they cupped the water, they

00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:43.210
took it up and they drank it, Like that, as opposed

00:37:43.210 --> 00:37:46.630
to down to the water like that. The ones who

00:37:46.630 --> 00:37:50.389
lapped from their cupped hands was 300 men. But

00:37:50.389 --> 00:37:52.710
all the rest of the people kneeled down to drink.

00:37:53.809 --> 00:37:56.610
And the Lord said to Gideon, I will deliver you

00:37:56.610 --> 00:38:00.250
with the 300 men who lapped and will give the

00:38:00.250 --> 00:38:03.289
Midianites into your hands. So let all the other

00:38:03.289 --> 00:38:06.349
people go, each man to his home. So the 300 men.

00:38:06.989 --> 00:38:09.010
took the people's provisions and their trumpets

00:38:09.010 --> 00:38:11.369
into their hands, and Gideon sent all the other

00:38:11.369 --> 00:38:13.869
men of Israel each to his tent, but retained

00:38:13.869 --> 00:38:17.210
the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below

00:38:17.210 --> 00:38:20.349
him in the valley. That was verse 8. So that

00:38:20.349 --> 00:38:22.650
sets the scene for next week. So first of all,

00:38:22.670 --> 00:38:25.590
what I want you to see is that there is a direct

00:38:25.590 --> 00:38:28.670
correlation between what God is doing here and

00:38:28.670 --> 00:38:30.969
what God has already said in the book of Judges.

00:38:31.110 --> 00:38:33.710
While Gideon is a transition point, and after

00:38:33.710 --> 00:38:37.900
this, The judges aren't great. I mean, they're

00:38:37.900 --> 00:38:40.119
great, and they do great, and they serve God,

00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:43.619
but we're going to get Samson, who repeatedly

00:38:43.619 --> 00:38:46.380
dismisses his vows to God and sins against God

00:38:46.380 --> 00:38:48.900
and eventually dies just getting his strength

00:38:48.900 --> 00:38:51.800
back just enough to destroy the Philistines after

00:38:51.800 --> 00:38:53.960
he is taken by them for giving up his strength

00:38:53.960 --> 00:38:57.880
to his prostitute wife, for lack of a better

00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:01.039
way of saying it. Jephthah, who would make promises

00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:03.800
to God that he never should have made to sacrifice

00:39:04.349 --> 00:39:07.050
his own daughter, which was a thing that they

00:39:07.050 --> 00:39:09.690
do, but not a thing that Israelites do, not a

00:39:09.690 --> 00:39:11.510
thing that God's people do, and so on. So we

00:39:11.510 --> 00:39:13.530
got judges who are coming after this who are

00:39:13.530 --> 00:39:16.230
not going to be the greatest of character, right?

00:39:16.690 --> 00:39:18.730
But to this point, the judges have been pretty

00:39:18.730 --> 00:39:20.989
good, and Gideon maybe is the best of all of

00:39:20.989 --> 00:39:22.829
them, although we see that he responded with

00:39:22.829 --> 00:39:25.090
a lot of doubt and a lot of questioning of God,

00:39:25.150 --> 00:39:26.989
but he should be past that now. This is after

00:39:26.989 --> 00:39:29.269
the fleece incident that we looked at last week.

00:39:29.630 --> 00:39:31.809
He should be done questioning God. We'll see

00:39:31.809 --> 00:39:33.730
that even in these next verses, he still reserves

00:39:33.730 --> 00:39:36.409
for himself some doubt or some question. But

00:39:36.409 --> 00:39:38.170
we're not going to read those today. The bottom

00:39:38.170 --> 00:39:41.510
line is this. God is showing us a greater narrative,

00:39:41.590 --> 00:39:45.130
a history about himself. In chapter 6, verse

00:39:45.130 --> 00:39:49.650
6, so back a little ways in the story of Gideon.

00:39:49.730 --> 00:39:51.329
If you want, you can flip back to the left. It

00:39:51.329 --> 00:39:55.110
says, So Israel was brought very low because

00:39:55.110 --> 00:39:58.429
of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to

00:39:58.429 --> 00:40:02.869
the Lord. And the word there, very low, is dal

00:40:02.869 --> 00:40:05.989
-lal. Dal -lal in the Hebrew. You don't have

00:40:05.989 --> 00:40:07.530
to remember that. It's kind of easy to remember

00:40:07.530 --> 00:40:10.090
because it's like a baby doll, dal -lal. And

00:40:10.090 --> 00:40:14.869
it means shrunken down, oppressed, having very

00:40:14.869 --> 00:40:20.630
little left, impoverished, right? In finances,

00:40:20.690 --> 00:40:24.909
in weaponry, in warriors, in any kind of prosperity.

00:40:25.530 --> 00:40:27.969
And the Israelites were like that now because

00:40:27.969 --> 00:40:30.750
of the continued coming of the Midianites. But

00:40:30.750 --> 00:40:33.010
we now know, sometime later, Gideon will blow

00:40:33.010 --> 00:40:34.889
a trumpet and 32 ,000 of them will come up to

00:40:34.889 --> 00:40:37.329
fight. So they're not so impoverished, right?

00:40:37.750 --> 00:40:39.969
It's not impossible for them to mount an army

00:40:39.969 --> 00:40:42.730
of pretty considerable size. So what was God

00:40:42.730 --> 00:40:46.030
actually saying there? Then in 6 .15, just a

00:40:46.030 --> 00:40:49.530
little further in the story, in 6 .15, the verse

00:40:49.530 --> 00:40:52.550
says, This is Gideon responding to God at his

00:40:52.550 --> 00:40:55.650
call. And he said to him, O Lord, How shall I

00:40:55.650 --> 00:40:59.489
deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least

00:40:59.489 --> 00:41:01.570
in Manasseh. So we'll stop there for one second.

00:41:01.610 --> 00:41:02.809
We'll read the rest of the verse in a second.

00:41:03.030 --> 00:41:06.309
And that word there, the least in Manasseh, his

00:41:06.309 --> 00:41:09.030
family was a small part of a small tribe, and

00:41:09.030 --> 00:41:11.349
we talked about that. And so the word there is

00:41:11.349 --> 00:41:16.170
dal. It is poor, weak, or thin. So Gideon was

00:41:16.170 --> 00:41:18.230
saying to God, how can I be called to do this,

00:41:18.250 --> 00:41:21.920
God? My family is about worthless. Compared to

00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:24.219
many other great families are having great things

00:41:24.219 --> 00:41:27.800
where I don't have much. I'm not much, right?

00:41:27.940 --> 00:41:30.980
And he goes on to say then, he says, my family

00:41:30.980 --> 00:41:32.639
is the least in Manasseh. And he goes on to say,

00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:36.599
and I am the youngest in my father's house. And

00:41:36.599 --> 00:41:39.440
that word there, where he says it's translated

00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:42.280
the youngest, is to Saul year. And it means small,

00:41:42.619 --> 00:41:48.840
insignificant, weak, least, or youngest. Now,

00:41:48.860 --> 00:41:53.159
in 7 .2, we see God say, And the Lord said to

00:41:53.159 --> 00:41:55.840
Gideon, The people who are with you are too many

00:41:55.840 --> 00:41:59.300
for me to give Midian into your hands, lest Israel

00:41:59.300 --> 00:42:03.059
become boastful, saying, Mine own power has delivered

00:42:03.059 --> 00:42:06.179
me. And the word there translated boastful is

00:42:06.179 --> 00:42:09.880
pa 'ar, which means to glorify oneself. Are you

00:42:09.880 --> 00:42:13.000
seeing this? So what had happened was Israel

00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:15.659
had become a people that they thought they were

00:42:15.659 --> 00:42:17.719
small. They thought they were insignificant.

00:42:18.480 --> 00:42:20.619
We saw it. It's been building up throughout the

00:42:20.619 --> 00:42:22.820
book of Judges. Now, let's stop for a second

00:42:22.820 --> 00:42:25.300
and take a long look at how they got to be a

00:42:25.300 --> 00:42:27.480
people that thought they were small. What were

00:42:27.480 --> 00:42:30.699
they doing? They were living in wickedness. They

00:42:30.699 --> 00:42:33.119
had surrendered their course to sinful behavior,

00:42:33.460 --> 00:42:35.559
to things that God would not have them to do.

00:42:35.679 --> 00:42:37.840
They had taken into their houses the foreign

00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:39.960
gods. They had taken the wives of people that

00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:41.599
they were not supposed to marry, or husbands

00:42:41.599 --> 00:42:43.280
from peoples that they were not supposed to marry.

00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:46.199
They were doing things that God would not have

00:42:46.199 --> 00:42:48.619
them to do. And while they were doing things

00:42:48.619 --> 00:42:50.539
that God would not have them to do, what did

00:42:50.539 --> 00:42:53.480
they think of themselves? They thought, we're

00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:57.480
small and weak. I submit to you that there are

00:42:57.480 --> 00:42:59.460
two possibilities there that come to mind right

00:42:59.460 --> 00:43:01.460
away. The first one is, they were small and weak,

00:43:01.480 --> 00:43:03.679
and so they thought they were grasping onto that

00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:05.579
which would make them better or more significant.

00:43:05.900 --> 00:43:08.719
They thought by taking the false gods, by doing

00:43:08.719 --> 00:43:10.960
the things that they could do, That they would

00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:13.699
somehow be better than the small and weak self

00:43:13.699 --> 00:43:15.840
that they thought that they actually were. They

00:43:15.840 --> 00:43:18.260
had low self -esteem, if you will. Low national

00:43:18.260 --> 00:43:21.820
esteem. Low family esteem. They thought they

00:43:21.820 --> 00:43:24.820
were low. They thought they were small. And so

00:43:24.820 --> 00:43:26.900
one possibility is that they were taking unto

00:43:26.900 --> 00:43:29.039
themselves these false gods, false methods of

00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:31.699
worship, and wicked behaviors, sinful behaviors,

00:43:31.900 --> 00:43:33.940
to make out of them something. They thought,

00:43:33.940 --> 00:43:36.199
well, this makes me something. That's one possibility.

00:43:36.539 --> 00:43:38.920
The other possibility, and I submit to you, they're

00:43:38.920 --> 00:43:40.920
not mutually exclusive, and I'll show you how

00:43:40.920 --> 00:43:43.860
in a second, is that in taking unto themselves

00:43:43.860 --> 00:43:46.300
those wicked and sinful behaviors, they were

00:43:46.300 --> 00:43:49.219
actually making themselves small and insignificant.

00:43:49.739 --> 00:43:51.659
And this is what happens. This is why I say it's

00:43:51.659 --> 00:43:54.019
not mutually exclusive. Because as you strike

00:43:54.019 --> 00:43:56.239
out and take the things that you think will make

00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:58.679
you okay in the moment, actually what you do

00:43:58.679 --> 00:44:01.900
is in your own mind, you shrink yourself even

00:44:01.900 --> 00:44:05.519
more. You fall farther and farther from the image

00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:07.320
that God has for you, from the creation that

00:44:07.320 --> 00:44:08.960
you were meant to be, from the born -again believer

00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:11.460
that you can be, from the spiritual gifts and

00:44:11.460 --> 00:44:13.480
spiritual disciplines and the word of God and

00:44:13.480 --> 00:44:15.400
the prophecy of God and the prophecies of God

00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:18.559
about you. You fall further and further from

00:44:18.559 --> 00:44:21.559
that by taking to yourself things that are not

00:44:21.559 --> 00:44:24.760
of God. And that's what was happening. When I

00:44:24.760 --> 00:44:26.619
look at the book of Judges, I see a spiral of

00:44:26.619 --> 00:44:29.300
sin. Basically, what happened is every time a

00:44:29.300 --> 00:44:31.320
judge would come, they would, after the judge

00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:33.000
comes, they sort of repent, they sort of come

00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:34.360
back to God, start doing the things that God

00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:35.739
would have them do. And during the judge's lifetime,

00:44:35.920 --> 00:44:38.099
they pretty much stay faithful. But then when

00:44:38.099 --> 00:44:40.780
the judge dies off or is gone, they spiral back

00:44:40.780 --> 00:44:43.000
down into sin. And as we work our way throughout

00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:46.400
this book, what we have seen, what pastors all

00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:48.539
over the world have preached, what I have preached,

00:44:48.719 --> 00:44:52.559
is how this sin spiral is a very real thing.

00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:55.760
You repent, you turn back to God, then you slowly

00:44:55.760 --> 00:44:57.719
degrade down into sin and you go deeper than

00:44:57.719 --> 00:44:59.909
you went before. Then you repent, you turn back

00:44:59.909 --> 00:45:02.150
to God, you slowly degrade down into sin, and

00:45:02.150 --> 00:45:04.610
you go still deeper than you went before. Looking

00:45:04.610 --> 00:45:07.650
for meaning in things that are meaningless. It's

00:45:07.650 --> 00:45:10.409
a very real thing that people do. They repent

00:45:10.409 --> 00:45:12.010
and turn back to God because it turned out to

00:45:12.010 --> 00:45:14.070
be meaningless still. I went that far, but still

00:45:14.070 --> 00:45:16.349
meaningless. No matter how far I went, still

00:45:16.349 --> 00:45:18.050
meaningless. Okay, I repent and turn back to

00:45:18.050 --> 00:45:21.130
God. And ultimately, they start to drift off

00:45:21.130 --> 00:45:23.210
and sin again against God, and they go to still

00:45:23.210 --> 00:45:26.210
further depths, and what do they find? Meaninglessness.

00:45:27.019 --> 00:45:29.099
Right? So that's a message out of the book of

00:45:29.099 --> 00:45:31.260
Judges. And it's a real message. It's not something

00:45:31.260 --> 00:45:33.980
that you can't preach or teach. It's true. It's

00:45:33.980 --> 00:45:36.619
the way it works. But I submit to you that the

00:45:36.619 --> 00:45:38.760
underlying message actually that God is teaching

00:45:38.760 --> 00:45:41.679
us here as we go a little deeper today is about

00:45:41.679 --> 00:45:45.880
self -worth in the sense that they thought they

00:45:45.880 --> 00:45:48.940
were meaningless and worthless. And so they got

00:45:48.940 --> 00:45:51.039
into doing things that were meaningless and worthless.

00:45:51.769 --> 00:45:55.190
And now, as God shows up again with a deliverer

00:45:55.190 --> 00:45:58.130
who will be Gideon, as Gideon shows up, and they're

00:45:58.130 --> 00:45:59.869
going to be delivered from their suffering and

00:45:59.869 --> 00:46:02.210
go into another period of time of judges, right?

00:46:02.289 --> 00:46:04.530
Another period of time of Gideon kind of reigning,

00:46:04.590 --> 00:46:06.769
if you will, and they will be right for a while.

00:46:06.929 --> 00:46:09.369
That's what's about to happen. And God is basically

00:46:09.369 --> 00:46:13.530
saying this. He says, you don't know small. You

00:46:13.530 --> 00:46:15.829
think you were small and groping around for whatever

00:46:15.829 --> 00:46:17.769
will make you feel a little bit better. You don't

00:46:17.769 --> 00:46:20.369
know small. You think you were hurting, like

00:46:20.369 --> 00:46:22.630
this is really bad. Like, oh, this is terrible

00:46:22.630 --> 00:46:25.150
what I was going through. You don't know small.

00:46:25.630 --> 00:46:27.909
You don't. You've never been there. You're still

00:46:27.909 --> 00:46:31.170
breathing. You're still walking, talking, doing

00:46:31.170 --> 00:46:35.469
things. You don't know small. Small is dead in

00:46:35.469 --> 00:46:37.969
trespasses and sins. Where literally nothing

00:46:37.969 --> 00:46:41.590
you can do will ever be right. Even if it's right.

00:46:41.690 --> 00:46:43.429
You tell the truth. You're honest. You give.

00:46:43.530 --> 00:46:46.989
You serve. Whatever. It'll all be as filthy rags.

00:46:47.250 --> 00:46:50.510
Small is trapped. Trapped. away from the grace

00:46:50.510 --> 00:46:52.929
of God, trapped away from God's goodness, trapped

00:46:52.929 --> 00:46:54.909
away from God's prophecies and promises and his

00:46:54.909 --> 00:46:58.769
word. Small is about the descent. It is about

00:46:58.769 --> 00:47:01.050
direction. It is about getting off the highway

00:47:01.050 --> 00:47:03.610
of holiness and not heading toward God, but heading

00:47:03.610 --> 00:47:08.869
toward manness or womanness or fleshness or lusts

00:47:08.869 --> 00:47:11.489
and desires. Getting into those things that seem

00:47:11.489 --> 00:47:15.889
small sometimes at first, but drifting away from

00:47:15.889 --> 00:47:20.800
God's idea of your life. That is small. That's

00:47:20.800 --> 00:47:22.760
what God says is small. So God says, I'm not

00:47:22.760 --> 00:47:25.639
going to do this because if I do this today through

00:47:25.639 --> 00:47:28.679
32 ,000 warriors, if I do this, then here's what

00:47:28.679 --> 00:47:30.519
you're going to do. You're going to say of yourself,

00:47:30.860 --> 00:47:35.019
I'm not small, which was true all along. You've

00:47:35.019 --> 00:47:37.480
never been small. You were created in the image

00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:39.699
of God. You are God's people. I brought your

00:47:39.699 --> 00:47:43.159
families out of Egypt myself. I sent rocks falling

00:47:43.159 --> 00:47:46.219
from heaven to destroy armies. I buried chariots

00:47:46.219 --> 00:47:48.739
in mud. I buried the army of Pharaoh under the

00:47:48.739 --> 00:47:51.760
sea. The list goes on. You were never small.

00:47:51.840 --> 00:47:54.059
You don't know small. You don't even know what

00:47:54.059 --> 00:47:56.239
it is. Clearly, because you thought you were

00:47:56.239 --> 00:47:58.440
small. Now Gideon comes and in 32 ,000 words

00:47:58.440 --> 00:47:59.659
he says, well, you're going to say, well, I'm

00:47:59.659 --> 00:48:01.820
not small. You get up tomorrow morning and you

00:48:01.820 --> 00:48:03.820
do a good thing, you're going to say, I'm not

00:48:03.820 --> 00:48:05.619
small. You get up tomorrow morning, you tell

00:48:05.619 --> 00:48:08.400
the truth when you could have lied. You share,

00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:10.619
give, and be kind when you could have been stingy

00:48:10.619 --> 00:48:13.639
or selfish. You bad mouth somebody when you could

00:48:13.639 --> 00:48:15.969
have built them up. you're going to say to yourself,

00:48:16.250 --> 00:48:20.210
I'm not small. It doesn't matter if your choice

00:48:20.210 --> 00:48:22.929
is terrible or your choice is good. When your

00:48:22.929 --> 00:48:24.489
choice is terrible and you get the results you

00:48:24.489 --> 00:48:26.050
think you want, you say, I'm not small. When

00:48:26.050 --> 00:48:28.530
your choice is good and you don't get the results

00:48:28.530 --> 00:48:31.329
you want, you say, I'm small. See, we're confused.

00:48:31.449 --> 00:48:35.150
We don't know small. And God is trying to teach

00:48:35.150 --> 00:48:38.329
us there is a small. There is a small that you

00:48:38.329 --> 00:48:42.320
can know. A small that God knows. A small that

00:48:42.320 --> 00:48:45.900
God wants to reveal to us that will get the results

00:48:45.900 --> 00:48:49.340
that we ultimately want. God says, this group

00:48:49.340 --> 00:48:52.280
is not small enough. They think they're small.

00:48:52.460 --> 00:48:54.219
They think their families are small. The people

00:48:54.219 --> 00:48:55.619
are small. They think their army is small. They

00:48:55.619 --> 00:48:58.340
think they're individually small. They're afraid,

00:48:58.739 --> 00:49:01.460
shaking in their boots. But notice then that

00:49:01.460 --> 00:49:04.300
the real failing is not in the size of the army

00:49:04.300 --> 00:49:07.800
at all, but in the hearts of men who after victory

00:49:07.800 --> 00:49:12.190
would want themselves. God's stated desire as

00:49:12.190 --> 00:49:15.110
we go through this whole episode of Gideon's

00:49:15.110 --> 00:49:17.449
life and really the life of Israel, and I submit

00:49:17.449 --> 00:49:19.650
to you it's our life too. God's stated desire

00:49:19.650 --> 00:49:21.909
was to save the Israelites. They had cried out,

00:49:21.969 --> 00:49:24.889
begging God, save us, save us. So he said he'd

00:49:24.889 --> 00:49:27.130
save them. And he told Gideon he'd save them.

00:49:27.170 --> 00:49:29.230
And he repeatedly proved to Gideon that he was

00:49:29.230 --> 00:49:31.610
going to use Gideon to do it. But God wanted

00:49:31.610 --> 00:49:34.570
to save them in just such a way that they cannot

00:49:34.570 --> 00:49:37.829
say that they did it themselves. Hear me now,

00:49:37.969 --> 00:49:40.869
as simple as this is. If you are a Christian

00:49:40.869 --> 00:49:44.190
because you say you are a Christian, if you are

00:49:44.190 --> 00:49:47.690
a Christian because you say you chose God, chose

00:49:47.690 --> 00:49:50.010
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you

00:49:50.010 --> 00:49:52.570
are a Christian because you say, I prayed a prayer,

00:49:52.849 --> 00:49:55.769
I believed, and I am a Christian because I prayed

00:49:55.769 --> 00:49:58.650
a prayer and I believed, that's not true. That

00:49:58.650 --> 00:50:01.809
is not how salvation takes place. You believe,

00:50:01.829 --> 00:50:06.409
you pray, that's called faith. And then by grace,

00:50:06.880 --> 00:50:09.559
Through that faith, the God of the universe saves

00:50:09.559 --> 00:50:12.059
your soul because his son paid for your soul.

00:50:12.380 --> 00:50:15.119
God's stated desire was that he would save them

00:50:15.119 --> 00:50:17.860
in such a way that they cannot say that they

00:50:17.860 --> 00:50:20.199
did it themselves because if you say you did

00:50:20.199 --> 00:50:22.079
it yourself, I don't care what words you use

00:50:22.079 --> 00:50:24.380
to say that, but if you say you did it yourself,

00:50:24.719 --> 00:50:28.639
it has never been done. Salvation is in no other

00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:32.820
name. God is a saving God. But God is also a

00:50:32.820 --> 00:50:35.079
sorting God. This is the blessing of it. God

00:50:35.079 --> 00:50:37.800
will take care of all the sorting. You have no

00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:40.400
sorting to do. In your lifetime, when it comes

00:50:40.400 --> 00:50:42.280
to saved or not saved, believe, not believe,

00:50:42.440 --> 00:50:45.420
righteous, not righteous, right, not right, you

00:50:45.420 --> 00:50:49.780
have no sorting to do. You do what's right. You

00:50:49.780 --> 00:50:52.360
be right by God. And when you see somebody else

00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:53.860
and you think maybe they're not, then you go

00:50:53.860 --> 00:50:56.039
and you ask them. And you say, hey, it looks

00:50:56.039 --> 00:50:57.760
to me like this is going on or whatever. And

00:50:57.760 --> 00:51:00.539
you ask them, are they right by God? Is this

00:51:00.539 --> 00:51:03.380
sin or not? And if they say it's not, but the

00:51:03.380 --> 00:51:06.199
Word says it is, then you take the next step.

00:51:06.340 --> 00:51:07.920
You go to Matthew 18, accountability. You take

00:51:07.920 --> 00:51:09.579
the next step. You bring a brother or two, or

00:51:09.579 --> 00:51:11.679
a sister or two, or whatever. Let them sort it

00:51:11.679 --> 00:51:13.420
out with you. Ultimately, go in front of the

00:51:13.420 --> 00:51:14.880
church. Those last things, you can only do if

00:51:14.880 --> 00:51:16.119
they're part of your church, if they're part

00:51:16.119 --> 00:51:18.000
of your kingdom group. If you're a part of the

00:51:18.000 --> 00:51:19.880
called -out assembly of God, that's what accountability

00:51:19.880 --> 00:51:23.820
is for. That being said, you don't sort. Let's

00:51:23.820 --> 00:51:26.079
say it comes down to, you realize it. let's say

00:51:26.079 --> 00:51:27.780
it comes down to Matthew 18, we go the whole

00:51:27.780 --> 00:51:29.659
way. We bring this person in front of the church.

00:51:29.739 --> 00:51:31.019
This has happened in our church, by the way.

00:51:31.099 --> 00:51:32.639
The whole way, come in front of the church and

00:51:32.639 --> 00:51:34.820
say, well, you know, I talked to them with so

00:51:34.820 --> 00:51:36.860
-and -so. We all talked together and they think

00:51:36.860 --> 00:51:38.559
what they're doing is not sin or they said they're

00:51:38.559 --> 00:51:40.019
going to just keep on doing it even though they

00:51:40.019 --> 00:51:42.239
admit that it is sin. So we think that they shouldn't

00:51:42.239 --> 00:51:44.460
be a member of the church anymore. And the church

00:51:44.460 --> 00:51:46.139
votes to remove them from membership. The Bible

00:51:46.139 --> 00:51:48.159
says you treat them as a tax collector or a sinner.

00:51:48.360 --> 00:51:50.940
Did the Bible just say to you not to treat them

00:51:50.940 --> 00:51:53.300
as if they're saved or that you now know that

00:51:53.300 --> 00:51:55.570
they're not saved? No, but you know that they're

00:51:55.570 --> 00:51:57.610
living as if they were a tax collector or a sinner.

00:51:57.650 --> 00:51:59.030
So in other words, that is sin. They're living

00:51:59.030 --> 00:52:00.690
in sin. But that doesn't mean they're not saved.

00:52:00.690 --> 00:52:02.949
It's not our job. When the Bible says, judge

00:52:02.949 --> 00:52:04.190
not lest you be just, it's not talking about

00:52:04.190 --> 00:52:06.329
sin. Judge not lest you be judged. It's talking

00:52:06.329 --> 00:52:08.570
about salvation. You don't judge other people's

00:52:08.570 --> 00:52:10.590
salvation. That's not your job. You're not the

00:52:10.590 --> 00:52:12.710
sorter. God's the sorter. If anything, you're

00:52:12.710 --> 00:52:15.889
the shuffler. Bring them all in. Let's take every

00:52:15.889 --> 00:52:17.789
single one who proclaims to be a Christian and

00:52:17.789 --> 00:52:19.550
we'll look at the word together. We'll figure

00:52:19.550 --> 00:52:20.969
out whether we really are saved. We'll let some

00:52:20.969 --> 00:52:22.550
people who already thought they were saved for

00:52:22.550 --> 00:52:25.750
decades actually gets saved by the name of the

00:52:25.750 --> 00:52:28.949
risen Savior. This is no joke. Maybe they think

00:52:28.949 --> 00:52:31.369
they're small. And the best they can do is to

00:52:31.369 --> 00:52:34.190
save themselves by professing the name of Jesus

00:52:34.190 --> 00:52:36.730
or by praying something or by telling people

00:52:36.730 --> 00:52:38.369
that they believe. They think they're saving

00:52:38.369 --> 00:52:39.949
themselves and making themselves a little bigger

00:52:39.949 --> 00:52:42.469
by doing that. But when they figure out that

00:52:42.469 --> 00:52:44.690
it's Jesus who saves and Jesus who makes small

00:52:44.690 --> 00:52:49.110
and Jesus who makes big, that can change. God

00:52:49.110 --> 00:52:52.110
is a saving God and a sorting God. He saves all

00:52:52.110 --> 00:52:55.269
who will truly come to Him. If they really come

00:52:55.269 --> 00:52:58.130
to Him looking for salvation, He saves. Even

00:52:58.130 --> 00:53:00.710
people who have, get this, even people who have

00:53:00.710 --> 00:53:04.110
never heard the name of Jesus. I understand there

00:53:04.110 --> 00:53:06.150
is only one name given among heaven by which

00:53:06.150 --> 00:53:08.650
we must be saved. But that Muslim woman who was

00:53:08.650 --> 00:53:11.070
running from the tsunami and she prayed to the

00:53:11.070 --> 00:53:13.710
Christian God because she knew the Muslim God

00:53:13.710 --> 00:53:15.590
wasn't going to do anything for her and she thought

00:53:15.590 --> 00:53:17.329
maybe the Christian God would and she said, God,

00:53:17.349 --> 00:53:18.730
if you'll save me, I'll serve you for the rest

00:53:18.730 --> 00:53:20.860
of my life. And God spoke back into her heart

00:53:20.860 --> 00:53:23.219
and said, run to the Christian church, even though

00:53:23.219 --> 00:53:25.679
it was on lower ground. She ran to that church,

00:53:25.699 --> 00:53:27.420
even though it was on lower ground. And that

00:53:27.420 --> 00:53:29.199
church didn't flood, but the mosque flooded and

00:53:29.199 --> 00:53:31.559
everybody died. And she was spared because she

00:53:31.559 --> 00:53:33.539
ran to that Christian church building. And then

00:53:33.539 --> 00:53:35.420
she's serving, I think she may have gone to be

00:53:35.420 --> 00:53:37.840
with the Lord now, but she served her whole life

00:53:37.840 --> 00:53:41.380
because God saved her through the name of Jesus,

00:53:41.679 --> 00:53:44.619
which she had heard, but that's not how she came

00:53:44.619 --> 00:53:46.900
to him. She didn't, somebody ABCs the salvation.

00:53:47.630 --> 00:53:50.010
She cried out for salvation to the living God

00:53:50.010 --> 00:53:52.550
and the living God spared her. And she said,

00:53:52.590 --> 00:53:54.989
okay, I'll serve you all my life. Has that happened

00:53:54.989 --> 00:53:57.949
to you? Has the God of heaven spared you? If

00:53:57.949 --> 00:54:01.030
so, you are not small and it is not a small decision

00:54:01.030 --> 00:54:03.869
to take unto yourself wicked or evil things.

00:54:04.480 --> 00:54:06.880
God is writing a history that will serve them

00:54:06.880 --> 00:54:10.159
as a people and serve us as a people. Remember

00:54:10.159 --> 00:54:12.239
last week we learned that when faced with an

00:54:12.239 --> 00:54:14.199
impactful moment, a moment at which God is about

00:54:14.199 --> 00:54:15.900
to call you to do something amazing or really

00:54:15.900 --> 00:54:17.360
going to ask you to stretch yourself or whatever,

00:54:17.579 --> 00:54:19.860
that in the offing of that moment, God wants

00:54:19.860 --> 00:54:22.639
you to know his mind and to do this through the

00:54:22.639 --> 00:54:25.079
presence of the living Christ and the spiritual

00:54:25.079 --> 00:54:28.199
disciplines that he ordered. God has to get the

00:54:28.199 --> 00:54:30.869
credit. He has to get the credit here, not because

00:54:30.869 --> 00:54:34.150
he's a glory hound, but because men need salvation.

00:54:34.590 --> 00:54:36.889
And anyone who comes to Israel to be part of

00:54:36.889 --> 00:54:39.349
Israel, but doesn't come to God, will still burn

00:54:39.349 --> 00:54:42.170
in hell for eternity. God is the author of salvation

00:54:42.170 --> 00:54:45.989
here. And only God. He is a jealous God. Not

00:54:45.989 --> 00:54:49.230
in jealousy like men have jealousy, but in desiring

00:54:49.230 --> 00:54:52.889
that people may gain access to salvation that

00:54:52.889 --> 00:54:56.639
Christ paid for. God's investments must be used

00:54:56.639 --> 00:54:59.260
for that purpose, not for the temporal betterment

00:54:59.260 --> 00:55:02.699
of man. God doesn't give you money so you can

00:55:02.699 --> 00:55:05.639
save it up or buy yourself nicer things. He gives

00:55:05.639 --> 00:55:07.320
you money so that you can walk in the kingdom

00:55:07.320 --> 00:55:09.519
of God by whatever means He chooses for you to

00:55:09.519 --> 00:55:11.039
use it. And if He tells you to put it in the

00:55:11.039 --> 00:55:12.280
bank, then put it in the bank. And if He tells

00:55:12.280 --> 00:55:13.940
you to invest it in kingdom work, then invest

00:55:13.940 --> 00:55:16.949
it in kingdom work. Jesus didn't die to pay your

00:55:16.949 --> 00:55:19.309
electric bill or heal your body or your broken

00:55:19.309 --> 00:55:22.090
heart. He died to save souls and take up residence

00:55:22.090 --> 00:55:24.630
in people who were formerly dead in their trespasses

00:55:24.630 --> 00:55:27.650
and sins. He died as the ultimate testimony of

00:55:27.650 --> 00:55:31.010
victory available only through God. And it was

00:55:31.010 --> 00:55:33.110
not done in a corner or out of sight or behind

00:55:33.110 --> 00:55:35.690
a veil. It was publicly done. It has been known

00:55:35.690 --> 00:55:39.869
the world over. Jesus died to steal the weapon

00:55:39.869 --> 00:55:42.469
that is death out of the hand of the devil, according

00:55:42.469 --> 00:55:47.059
to Hebrews 2. Revelation 1. Jesus now has the

00:55:47.059 --> 00:55:49.219
keys to life and death and he wants to share

00:55:49.219 --> 00:55:52.159
them with you, church. And if you want them,

00:55:52.239 --> 00:55:55.679
you can have them. And if you have them, you

00:55:55.679 --> 00:55:59.019
don't dare put them away or set them aside. You've

00:55:59.019 --> 00:56:01.980
got to use them for what they were meant. Notice

00:56:01.980 --> 00:56:04.340
that as they go into this battle, as Gideon leads

00:56:04.340 --> 00:56:08.280
them out, these 300, the nation has not repented

00:56:08.280 --> 00:56:14.340
of their sins. A village over, Up in the mountains,

00:56:14.539 --> 00:56:17.880
still a high place, still a firstborn child being

00:56:17.880 --> 00:56:19.679
burnt in the fire in the hopes that Molech will

00:56:19.679 --> 00:56:22.679
save them from the Midianites. Still temple prostitutes

00:56:22.679 --> 00:56:25.460
all night long with different men in the hopes

00:56:25.460 --> 00:56:26.840
that their crops will be sufficient, they can

00:56:26.840 --> 00:56:30.039
survive into another season. Israel had not repented

00:56:30.039 --> 00:56:33.280
of their sins. Wickedness was still in their

00:56:33.280 --> 00:56:37.119
midst. Notice also that in the 32 ,000 men, people

00:56:37.119 --> 00:56:39.880
were not sent home by standards that could have

00:56:39.880 --> 00:56:43.219
applied fairly to anyone. 22 ,000 men went home

00:56:43.219 --> 00:56:45.300
because they were afraid. You know what kind

00:56:45.300 --> 00:56:47.780
of man you've got to be to not be afraid to fight

00:56:47.780 --> 00:56:49.980
an army that's 20 times your size, even when

00:56:49.980 --> 00:56:53.820
there's 32 ,000 of you? Nuts. Crazy. They weren't

00:56:53.820 --> 00:56:55.659
saying, oh, well, God's going to do this. It's

00:56:55.659 --> 00:56:56.960
going to be awesome. We're all going to stand

00:56:56.960 --> 00:56:58.480
here, and they're just going to bounce off of

00:56:58.480 --> 00:57:00.739
us. They were going, we're all going to die.

00:57:01.360 --> 00:57:03.159
Three -quarters of us are going to die. God's

00:57:03.159 --> 00:57:04.199
going to win the victory. He's going to free

00:57:04.199 --> 00:57:05.659
our nation. But three -quarters of us are going

00:57:05.659 --> 00:57:08.150
to die. That's not scary. Yes, that's scary.

00:57:08.389 --> 00:57:10.730
You've got to be nuts not to be scared under

00:57:10.730 --> 00:57:12.849
those circumstances. So 10 ,000 guys remained

00:57:12.849 --> 00:57:16.750
who were basically nuts. And of the 10 ,000 guys

00:57:16.750 --> 00:57:19.489
who were basically crazy, they probably were

00:57:19.489 --> 00:57:21.309
like, these are guys who were in debt so high

00:57:21.309 --> 00:57:23.570
over the top of their head that they were like,

00:57:23.710 --> 00:57:25.730
I may as well just die. You ever see that movie

00:57:25.730 --> 00:57:28.469
Armageddon? The one guy gets a loan from a loan

00:57:28.469 --> 00:57:31.590
shark and he goes up to defeat the meteorite

00:57:31.590 --> 00:57:33.010
that's going to hit the earth or pass by the

00:57:33.010 --> 00:57:35.400
earth. And he wants to die. The whole time he's

00:57:35.400 --> 00:57:36.880
trying to get killed because he knows if he comes

00:57:36.880 --> 00:57:38.260
back to Earth, he's going to have to face the

00:57:38.260 --> 00:57:40.500
debts. It's like that. Some of these guys had

00:57:40.500 --> 00:57:42.159
so much debt that they're like, I just need to

00:57:42.159 --> 00:57:43.760
die in this battle. At least I can do something

00:57:43.760 --> 00:57:46.460
good on my way out. Some of them were probably

00:57:46.460 --> 00:57:49.039
like multiple personality disorder and thought

00:57:49.039 --> 00:57:51.699
they were Gideon. We're talking about crazy people

00:57:51.699 --> 00:57:54.000
that were not afraid of an army 20 times their

00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:56.219
size that had already decimated their nation

00:57:56.219 --> 00:57:59.840
for time and time and time again. They thought

00:57:59.840 --> 00:58:02.059
they were small. They did not think they could

00:58:02.059 --> 00:58:04.519
win. But they were hopeful that they might if

00:58:04.519 --> 00:58:07.199
sufficient price was paid. They were not afraid

00:58:07.199 --> 00:58:12.320
of death. And then the decision from Gideon's

00:58:12.320 --> 00:58:15.260
point of view appeared to be made by who drank

00:58:15.260 --> 00:58:18.760
water in a certain way. Now, a lot of pastors

00:58:18.760 --> 00:58:21.719
preach a whole sermon right here. Because, you

00:58:21.719 --> 00:58:24.440
know... If you're a guy who cups his hands in

00:58:24.440 --> 00:58:26.000
the water and lifts something like that, you

00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:27.719
can see around what's going on. Whereas if you're

00:58:27.719 --> 00:58:29.780
a guy who puts their hand on the ground and lifts

00:58:29.780 --> 00:58:32.420
it from the stream, during that time, you've

00:58:32.420 --> 00:58:34.300
given up your ability to see around you, right?

00:58:34.400 --> 00:58:35.980
And say, oh, you're a whole sermon. You can go

00:58:35.980 --> 00:58:38.000
online right now and get one. Not by me, but

00:58:38.000 --> 00:58:39.679
somebody. And it wouldn't necessarily be unbiblical

00:58:39.679 --> 00:58:41.320
to do that, to start there, as long as you back

00:58:41.320 --> 00:58:42.900
it up scripturally. And they're saying, these

00:58:42.900 --> 00:58:45.599
guys, the reason they were chosen is because

00:58:45.599 --> 00:58:47.809
they're more alert. I mean, listen, okay. We've

00:58:47.809 --> 00:58:50.030
pretty well already figured out that the 300

00:58:50.030 --> 00:58:53.570
guys versus the 300 ,000 Midianites and their

00:58:53.570 --> 00:58:56.050
friends, it doesn't matter if they can see around

00:58:56.050 --> 00:58:58.289
them or not. It doesn't matter if they're the

00:58:58.289 --> 00:59:00.369
most alert. It doesn't matter if they're the

00:59:00.369 --> 00:59:04.570
best warriors. So to say that if you're the person

00:59:04.570 --> 00:59:08.710
who's smart, cunning, wise, recognizes authority,

00:59:09.170 --> 00:59:13.829
whatever this means, whatever that is, that ain't

00:59:13.829 --> 00:59:15.820
the reason they were chosen. They were chosen

00:59:15.820 --> 00:59:18.679
because they were 300. They were chosen because

00:59:18.679 --> 00:59:20.739
God said, take them and don't take the others.

00:59:21.000 --> 00:59:23.159
But again, from Gideon's point of view, all he

00:59:23.159 --> 00:59:25.079
saw was these are the 300 that drank a certain

00:59:25.079 --> 00:59:28.519
way. There's a sermon there, but be careful because

00:59:28.519 --> 00:59:31.260
you can slide into going, well, they were chosen

00:59:31.260 --> 00:59:33.440
on their merit. They were chosen because of their

00:59:33.440 --> 00:59:35.360
alertness. They were chosen because of their

00:59:35.360 --> 00:59:37.559
dependability or because they were woodsmen or

00:59:37.559 --> 00:59:39.860
because they were warriors profound or something

00:59:39.860 --> 00:59:42.190
like that. It doesn't matter. They could be the

00:59:42.190 --> 00:59:44.570
best warriors who ever lived. And if God doesn't

00:59:44.570 --> 00:59:47.670
intervene, they can't win against 101 odds. They

00:59:47.670 --> 00:59:50.730
can't do it. That brings us to our conclusion.

00:59:51.050 --> 00:59:54.869
And it's a doozy. Apparent faithfulness in life

00:59:54.869 --> 00:59:59.269
can come with certain trappings. Men who are

00:59:59.269 --> 01:00:02.730
in their church, they're serving. I went down

01:00:02.730 --> 01:00:07.150
to Atlanta. I went to a big church while I was

01:00:07.150 --> 01:00:08.900
in Atlanta. Some of us went to a conference.

01:00:09.000 --> 01:00:11.320
Some of us, Tim might have been there. So it

01:00:11.320 --> 01:00:13.500
was a few of us that went. Big conference. We

01:00:13.500 --> 01:00:16.260
sat down in about like the 32nd row out of 200

01:00:16.260 --> 01:00:18.860
rows. So we were pretty close to the front. And

01:00:18.860 --> 01:00:21.079
at the beginning of the service, they announced

01:00:21.079 --> 01:00:24.760
to the congregation, it was election time, all

01:00:24.760 --> 01:00:27.619
of the politicians who were in attendance that

01:00:27.619 --> 01:00:31.000
day. See, sometimes faithfulness can come with

01:00:31.000 --> 01:00:34.019
certain trappings. People recognize you. People

01:00:34.019 --> 01:00:36.380
give to you things. They're more likely to take

01:00:36.380 --> 01:00:38.219
care of you. They're going to bend over backwards

01:00:38.219 --> 01:00:41.260
for you. When we work hard and succeed at something

01:00:41.260 --> 01:00:45.260
no one else has done or maybe could do, and that's

01:00:45.260 --> 01:00:46.780
what was on the line here. Gideon was about to

01:00:46.780 --> 01:00:48.460
do something that nobody else could do. When

01:00:48.460 --> 01:00:50.539
we work hard at something like that and then

01:00:50.539 --> 01:00:53.380
succeed and we get the credit, the promotion,

01:00:53.500 --> 01:00:55.539
the paycheck, the degree, the raise, the praise,

01:00:55.820 --> 01:00:58.360
the audience that will listen to us, platform,

01:00:58.760 --> 01:01:01.039
and we can sell our next book, whatever it is,

01:01:01.469 --> 01:01:05.630
We deny access by those people who are giving

01:01:05.630 --> 01:01:08.829
us credit to first -hand knowledge of the living

01:01:08.829 --> 01:01:12.849
God unless we give credit where credit is due.

01:01:13.090 --> 01:01:17.329
When you get it right, you've got to say, you've

01:01:17.329 --> 01:01:19.530
got to admit, you've got to appeal to anyone

01:01:19.530 --> 01:01:22.250
who will listen. Yeah, I got it right, but I

01:01:22.250 --> 01:01:25.050
could not have done this if it were not for the

01:01:25.050 --> 01:01:27.750
living God. Say, but other people get degrees.

01:01:27.909 --> 01:01:30.130
Other people get raises. Other people get praises.

01:01:30.190 --> 01:01:32.510
Other people get audiences. Other people get

01:01:32.510 --> 01:01:36.090
blessings. Other people look good. Sure. And

01:01:36.090 --> 01:01:38.710
if they don't give credit to the living God but

01:01:38.710 --> 01:01:40.929
claim to be a Christian, then understand that

01:01:40.929 --> 01:01:44.349
they are standing in the way of God getting the

01:01:44.349 --> 01:01:46.250
glory, which means God getting the presented

01:01:46.250 --> 01:01:49.610
salvation. God can save them. But God won't have

01:01:49.610 --> 01:01:51.250
a chance to save them just because you got a

01:01:51.250 --> 01:01:53.269
degree, just because you got a reward, just because

01:01:53.269 --> 01:01:54.969
you did well somehow. God is not going to have

01:01:54.969 --> 01:01:56.989
a chance to save them just because of that. But

01:01:56.989 --> 01:01:59.010
if they will look to you and you will point to

01:01:59.010 --> 01:02:01.829
Him, then there's a chance. And that's what God

01:02:01.829 --> 01:02:06.309
was saying. We cannot deny access by those people

01:02:06.309 --> 01:02:08.809
who are giving credit to us to a first -hand

01:02:08.809 --> 01:02:11.269
knowledge of the living God. We cannot do it.

01:02:11.730 --> 01:02:15.110
In John 4, Jesus is talking and He says, that

01:02:15.110 --> 01:02:17.610
God is looking for worshipers in spirit and truth.

01:02:17.989 --> 01:02:19.869
It would be good enough to worship God in spirit,

01:02:19.969 --> 01:02:21.550
I think, if the Holy Spirit comes in you, worship

01:02:21.550 --> 01:02:23.150
Him, that would be great. You need to worship

01:02:23.150 --> 01:02:25.510
Him in truth. It's really got to be about God.

01:02:25.789 --> 01:02:28.050
It'd be great to worship God in truth, that it's

01:02:28.050 --> 01:02:30.650
really about Him. But if the Holy Spirit isn't

01:02:30.650 --> 01:02:32.369
in it, it's really not going to be anything anyway.

01:02:32.610 --> 01:02:35.030
You need God to show up and inhabit you so you

01:02:35.030 --> 01:02:37.090
can be the kind of person that not only has a

01:02:37.090 --> 01:02:39.610
relationship, alive, walking in Christ, but also

01:02:39.610 --> 01:02:42.349
makes it available to your loved ones. In John

01:02:42.349 --> 01:02:45.500
15, 5, Jesus is speaking, he says, I am the vine,

01:02:45.599 --> 01:02:47.920
ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and

01:02:47.920 --> 01:02:51.019
I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.

01:02:51.139 --> 01:02:53.280
That means you produce a lot. You bring Christians

01:02:53.280 --> 01:02:55.000
in, you produce a lot through the Holy Spirit,

01:02:55.139 --> 01:02:58.079
you do kingdom work, right? And then he says,

01:02:58.260 --> 01:03:02.980
for, because, without me, ye can do nothing.

01:03:03.360 --> 01:03:06.480
Let me be really super clear. Without God, you

01:03:06.480 --> 01:03:09.280
wouldn't be allowed to take another breath. You

01:03:09.280 --> 01:03:12.320
can't prepare another meal. You can't. Give of

01:03:12.320 --> 01:03:14.599
your money or keep your money. You can't work

01:03:14.599 --> 01:03:17.340
at your job, clock in or don't. God is the one

01:03:17.340 --> 01:03:19.360
who has authored creation and keeps it going

01:03:19.360 --> 01:03:22.280
to this point in time. He must get the credit.

01:03:22.840 --> 01:03:25.000
Philippians 4 .13, a verse that we all like to

01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:28.059
quote, right? I can do all things. That's my

01:03:28.059 --> 01:03:29.980
daughter's favorite verse. She's 11. This is

01:03:29.980 --> 01:03:31.699
my favorite verse. She's got a couple of others

01:03:31.699 --> 01:03:33.500
that she really likes now, but she really likes

01:03:33.500 --> 01:03:35.340
this one. In fact, it's the key verse for our

01:03:35.340 --> 01:03:38.420
kids group. Their motto is, we are mighty, right?

01:03:38.920 --> 01:03:41.400
And it says, I can do all things through Christ

01:03:41.400 --> 01:03:43.380
who strengthens me. Do you know what the all

01:03:43.380 --> 01:03:45.820
things that he's talking about in Philippians

01:03:45.820 --> 01:03:50.039
4 is? It's not all good things. It's not all

01:03:50.039 --> 01:03:55.139
good things. Some are bad things. Suffer, struggle,

01:03:55.460 --> 01:04:00.539
fight, work, sweat, bleed. I can do all things.

01:04:00.980 --> 01:04:03.920
It is to be content no matter what you are going

01:04:03.920 --> 01:04:06.730
through. Because he gives you strength. But let's

01:04:06.730 --> 01:04:08.250
flip that around for one second. Let's realize

01:04:08.250 --> 01:04:11.349
that if that's true, I can do all things through

01:04:11.349 --> 01:04:13.750
Christ who gives me strength. Then what things

01:04:13.750 --> 01:04:17.590
can you do outside Christ who gives you strength?

01:04:17.730 --> 01:04:22.349
And the answer is nothing. And so when you take

01:04:22.349 --> 01:04:24.409
that strength that Christ has given you, we take

01:04:24.409 --> 01:04:26.590
that strength that he has given you and you go

01:04:26.590 --> 01:04:29.050
after the wicked. You go after evil things. You

01:04:29.050 --> 01:04:31.449
do what you should not do. You'll feel small.

01:04:31.949 --> 01:04:34.309
And then you'll seek it even more. Trying to

01:04:34.309 --> 01:04:35.929
get control. You'll go to church, going through

01:04:35.929 --> 01:04:37.409
the motions. You'll go to worship, going through

01:04:37.409 --> 01:04:39.030
the motions. You'll sing a little hour maybe

01:04:39.030 --> 01:04:41.969
for a while. The problem being dealt with here

01:04:41.969 --> 01:04:44.710
is that God's chosen people, when in wickedness,

01:04:44.769 --> 01:04:47.250
will make their own way, when possible, just

01:04:47.250 --> 01:04:49.849
the same as anyone else. Everyone wants to make

01:04:49.849 --> 01:04:51.289
their own way. Everyone's just trying to do the

01:04:51.289 --> 01:04:54.070
best they can. And so when we, as God's people,

01:04:54.269 --> 01:04:57.170
choose the wrong way, we will still try to do

01:04:57.170 --> 01:04:59.550
as good as we can. And then people will look

01:04:59.550 --> 01:05:02.210
at us and they will count our apparent successes

01:05:02.210 --> 01:05:06.119
for glory. But a rich man who fails to know the

01:05:06.119 --> 01:05:08.800
mind of Christ will die the second death and

01:05:08.800 --> 01:05:11.739
be separated from God for eternity. You'd better

01:05:11.739 --> 01:05:15.119
be poor if making you rich would make you go

01:05:15.119 --> 01:05:18.340
to hell. You'd better be lonely if giving you

01:05:18.340 --> 01:05:23.920
many relationships would take you to hell. Don't

01:05:23.920 --> 01:05:28.780
steal God's thunder. Go and do amazing and great

01:05:28.780 --> 01:05:31.039
things and change the world for the better. Cast

01:05:31.039 --> 01:05:33.260
out demons and evil spirits. Bring about healings.

01:05:33.280 --> 01:05:35.760
Exercise your spiritual gift. Exercise the spiritual

01:05:35.760 --> 01:05:38.400
disciplines. Preach the word. Evangelize. Witness.

01:05:38.619 --> 01:05:40.639
Tell what you have seen and heard. Do all these

01:05:40.639 --> 01:05:43.079
things in season and out because we know the

01:05:43.079 --> 01:05:45.539
terror of the Lord. But don't steal God's thunder.

01:05:46.739 --> 01:05:49.500
Remember I told you at the beginning that when

01:05:49.500 --> 01:05:54.360
the gentleman, Dennis, John Dennis, invented

01:05:54.360 --> 01:05:57.000
the thunder, for his play, which didn't last

01:05:57.000 --> 01:05:59.960
long. And then they stole his thunder and used

01:05:59.960 --> 01:06:02.619
it for Macbeth. Those two scenes in Macbeth,

01:06:02.679 --> 01:06:06.199
they are the scenes where the witches are on

01:06:06.199 --> 01:06:09.659
the stage. The witches are on the stage, and

01:06:09.659 --> 01:06:13.900
the thunder in Macbeth is meant to say that the

01:06:13.900 --> 01:06:17.340
witches, for one, had some control over creation.

01:06:17.420 --> 01:06:20.019
They could control the weather. God controls

01:06:20.019 --> 01:06:23.659
the weather. The thunder was meant to announce

01:06:23.659 --> 01:06:26.449
that the The evil, the wickedness that takes

01:06:26.449 --> 01:06:29.230
place in that play was being fostered by evil

01:06:29.230 --> 01:06:32.090
spirits and demons as brought about by the witches

01:06:32.090 --> 01:06:35.269
in Act 1 and Act 4. And that's not entirely untrue.

01:06:36.190 --> 01:06:40.809
But God creates the thunder. God gives the victory.

01:06:41.070 --> 01:06:46.050
Get used to saying this. God gave me the victory.

01:06:47.010 --> 01:06:48.750
When you're suffering, when you're hurting, when

01:06:48.750 --> 01:06:50.110
you're down and out, when you've got next to

01:06:50.110 --> 01:06:53.039
nothing, say, God... is giving me the victory.

01:06:53.199 --> 01:06:56.739
I will have victory in this situation. Blessed

01:06:56.739 --> 01:06:59.659
God should have to make you small so that you

01:06:59.659 --> 01:07:02.599
can find salvation yourself. So that others can

01:07:02.599 --> 01:07:06.440
find salvation through you. The paralyzed man

01:07:06.440 --> 01:07:08.599
had to be paralyzed to cry out to Jesus. The

01:07:08.599 --> 01:07:11.280
blind man was blind to cry out to Jesus. The

01:07:11.280 --> 01:07:13.699
dead man couldn't even cry out to Jesus, but

01:07:13.699 --> 01:07:16.300
his loved ones did it for him. The widow who

01:07:16.300 --> 01:07:18.559
was broke put in the two mites and put in more

01:07:18.559 --> 01:07:20.829
than all those other guys. Because she did it

01:07:20.829 --> 01:07:23.510
in her desperation. Do you need to go to being

01:07:23.510 --> 01:07:26.869
truly desperate to eventually have a real relationship

01:07:26.869 --> 01:07:29.610
with Jesus? If that's what it takes, then that's

01:07:29.610 --> 01:07:31.730
where he'll take you. He wants to save your soul.

01:07:32.010 --> 01:07:35.050
He wants to unleash you to do amazing things.

01:07:35.329 --> 01:07:38.590
He will not do it through any strength or capability,

01:07:38.789 --> 01:07:41.690
which you will then use to vaunt yourself and

01:07:41.690 --> 01:07:44.190
put yourself up and say, see, I am big. But if

01:07:44.190 --> 01:07:48.369
you will say instead, God is big. God is big.

01:07:49.289 --> 01:07:51.329
And if you say you're small, then say you are

01:07:51.329 --> 01:07:54.250
small in comparison to God, not in comparison

01:07:54.250 --> 01:07:56.710
to other men. If you have accepted Jesus Christ

01:07:56.710 --> 01:08:01.429
as Lord and Savior, you are big. At this point

01:08:01.429 --> 01:08:03.090
in time, I'll ask the praise team to come forward

01:08:03.090 --> 01:08:05.409
and lead us in our closing hymn. If you are here

01:08:05.409 --> 01:08:08.329
today and you have thought of yourself as small

01:08:08.329 --> 01:08:10.590
or unable to give yourself excuses why you can't

01:08:10.590 --> 01:08:13.369
do what it is that God has called you to, I'm

01:08:13.369 --> 01:08:16.130
asking you today to repent of that sinful thought.

01:08:16.699 --> 01:08:19.180
And instead say, okay, God, do in me what you

01:08:19.180 --> 01:08:20.939
want to do, whatever that is. Maybe you're here

01:08:20.939 --> 01:08:23.420
today saying, I realize now, listen, I have truly

01:08:23.420 --> 01:08:25.439
accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

01:08:25.479 --> 01:08:27.100
My Lord means he held me up to do what I do.

01:08:27.199 --> 01:08:28.960
My Savior means he paid the price for my sins.

01:08:29.579 --> 01:08:31.560
If you would do that today, then you do it now.

01:08:32.319 --> 01:08:34.060
It's not a special phrase you've got to say.

01:08:34.220 --> 01:08:36.609
You don't have to be super intelligent. In fact,

01:08:36.630 --> 01:08:38.229
Jesus said that tax collectors and poor martyrs

01:08:38.229 --> 01:08:39.789
will come and sit down in front in the kingdom

01:08:39.789 --> 01:08:41.869
of God before you. He was talking to very wise,

01:08:41.970 --> 01:08:44.170
very knowledgeable Bible scholars. He said that

01:08:44.170 --> 01:08:45.850
tax collectors and poor martyrs will come and

01:08:45.850 --> 01:08:47.630
sit down in the kingdom of God before you. If

01:08:47.630 --> 01:08:49.430
you're in this room and you understand just enough

01:08:49.430 --> 01:08:51.949
to say, I have not accepted Jesus Christ as my

01:08:51.949 --> 01:08:53.989
Lord and Savior in earnest, and you're willing,

01:08:54.130 --> 01:08:56.369
then do that right now where you're seated. And

01:08:56.369 --> 01:08:59.590
you say, I need to follow Jesus in all my life,

01:08:59.590 --> 01:09:02.130
in all my heart. I need to put away this wickedness,

01:09:02.130 --> 01:09:06.840
this evil. Then you do that right now. I realize

01:09:06.840 --> 01:09:09.079
when I do these things that I'm not supposed

01:09:09.079 --> 01:09:11.279
to do, they make me feel small. And the further

01:09:11.279 --> 01:09:13.420
down that road that I go, the more meaningless

01:09:13.420 --> 01:09:15.899
things I encounter. I know I need to come back

01:09:15.899 --> 01:09:18.920
to God. Stop thinking of myself as small or unable.

01:09:19.439 --> 01:09:22.560
Think of myself as God's age capable. You don't

01:09:22.560 --> 01:09:24.500
have to be crazy. This isn't even a crazy thing.

01:09:25.500 --> 01:09:27.779
You should be a little afraid because God's going

01:09:27.779 --> 01:09:30.840
to need you to do something amazing. If you say,

01:09:30.899 --> 01:09:32.899
okay, God, use me to do that, whatever that is,

01:09:33.020 --> 01:09:34.920
then he comes. Would you stand with me and sing

01:09:34.920 --> 01:09:39.250
this hymn? and then respond however you feel

01:09:39.250 --> 01:09:40.930
led to the Lord.