We're in Judges chapter 7, and in the book of
Judges, in chapter 6, let me just give you some
history here so that it makes sense when we read
it. In Judges chapter 6, Gideon was called, everybody
say Gideon, just making sure you're all awake.
Gideon was called, and he was... called in a
very interesting place. He was threshing wheat
in a wine press. And he was threshing the wheat
in the wine press because the Midianites ruled
the land. And the Midianites were watching the
threshing floor where the wheat was normally
threshed. And Gideon knew if I take the wheat
to the threshing floor, the Midianites are going
to steal it. And so he was threshing the wheat
in a wine press, and the angel of the Lord came
to him and said, greetings, mighty warrior. And
he did not feel like a mighty warrior in that
moment. And he said, what do you mean? Who am
I? And his calling, he was called to be the next
ruler, the judge of Israel, the next one up,
and to deliver. the Israelites from the hand
of Midian. And so then later on, after he said
yes, he went to choose the army. And God said,
I want you to do what I tell you to do. And God
whittled the army down from thousands of people
across Israel to 300 men. And so God said, I'm
going to deliver you from Midian with 300 people.
And that would take an act of faith. The Midianites,
if you read the story, it says they were like
locusts on the seashore. They were uncountable.
There were so many of them. But God was going
to do it with 300. Can I just tell you this is
not part of my message, but God does not need
resources to get anything done. He just needs
availability. He needs somebody to say, here
I am, Lord, use me. And God can and will do it.
Amen? We don't see a way, but God will make a
way. Hallelujah. And so we pick up the story
in Judges chapter 7 and verse 9. And it happened
on the same night that the Lord said to Gideon,
Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered
it into your hand. That's a powerful word from
God, isn't it? If you are afraid to go down,
go down to the camp with Purah your servant,
and you shall hear what they say. And afterward,
your hands shall be strengthened to go down against
the camp. And he went down with Purah his servant
to the outpost of the armed men who were in the
camp. Now the Midianites and the Amalekites,
all the people of the east, were lying in the
valley as numerous as locusts, and their camels
were without number as the sand by the seashore
in the multitude. And when Gideon had come, there
was a Midianite telling a dream to his companion.
And he said, I've had a dream. To my surprise,
a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp
of Midian. It came to a tent and struck it so
that it fell and overturned and the tent collapsed.
And then his companion answered and said, this
is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the
son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand,
God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.
This is quite a story, isn't it? So the enemies,
the ones that don't even know God, had a dream.
And his buddy interpreted the dream and said,
this is the hand of Gideon. And what they didn't
know is that less than a stone's throw away,
Gideon and his servant Purah were sitting there
listening to the interpretation of the dream.
God had already spoken to Gideon. But now God
is confirming his word through his very enemies.
This is an amazing story. And so it was, verse
15, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream
and its interpretation that he worshipped. Father,
I'm just asking you that in this moment that
you would speak to us your very word in Jesus'
mighty name. In Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah.
This is an amazing story. Gideon needed to hear
a word from God. We are no different. We need
to hear a word from God. We need to hear the
voice of the Lord. Amen? Let me share some scriptures
with you. You can just write them down. I'm going
to read them too quickly for you to turn to them.
I want to read some scripture. Hebrews 4 .12.
For the word of God is living and powerful and
sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to
the division of soul and spirit and of joints
and of marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. Ephesians 6, 17. And
take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of God. Isaiah 55 10 for as the rain comes down
and the snow from heaven and they do not return
there but water the earth and make it bring forth
and bud that it might give seed to the sower
and bread to the eater so shall my word be that
goes forth from my mouth it shall not return
to me void but it shall accomplish what I please
and it shall prosper in the thing For which I
sent it. We're talking about the word of God.
2 Timothy 3 .16, all scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
and for correction in instruction and righteousness
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work. That's a great
scripture, isn't it? You can tell from just what
I'm reading that the word of God changes everything.
The word of God is powerful and effective. Now
listen to this. In the beginning, this is John
1 .1. In the beginning was the word. And the
word was with God. And the word was God. And
then John 1 .14. And the word became flesh and
dwelt among us. beheld his glory. Jesus is the
living word. Amen? We're talking about the word
of God. We're talking about that thing that sustains
us and changes us and shapes us. The psalmist
said, your word have I hidden in my heart that
I might not sin against you. This is the word
of God. I love 1 John 2, 14. It says this, I
have written to you, young men, because you are
strong and the word of God lives in you. I want
to read that one again. All the young men, listen
to me. I have written to you, young men, because
you are strong and the word of God abides in
you. That's powerful. And then the last one that
I'm going to read for now, John 15, 7. This is
a promise from Jesus. If you abide in me and
my word. abides in you, you will ask whatever
you desire and it shall be done for you. We need
to latch on to that promise. Amen? I'm going
to read it again. If you abide in me and my word
abides in you, you will ask what you desire and
it shall be done for you. And so just in these
verses that I've read, the Word of God shapes
us and changes us. The Word of God leads us and
guides us. The Word of God empowers us. The Word
of God changes our prayer life. We didn't continue
in Acts chapter 4, but in Acts chapter 4, one
thing they did is they quoted back to God Psalm
chapter 2. And they prayed the word of God back
to the Lord. The word of God changes everything.
The word of God is powerful and effective. There
is power in the word of God. There has been an
onslaught down through the centuries against
the word of God. It's the most burned book, banned
book, book that has been discarded and tried
to be silenced throughout history. There were,
in fact, times in dark times in church history
where leaders tried to keep the people of God
from knowing the word of God. They wanted only
the priests. To know the Word of God. Why? So
that they could exercise control over the people.
It was a dark chapter in the history of the church.
Keep everybody in the dark. That way we can use
the Word of God to manipulate the people. And
then came along people like John Wycliffe. John
Wycliffe was a Catholic priest. Some people don't
know that. But he was also called the morning
star of the Reformation. This English scholar,
he directed the first complete translation of
the Bible into English in the 1300s. And he argued
that the Bible was the ultimate authority for
Christians, not the Pope. He sent out traveling
preachers to share the Scriptures with ordinary
people. This was the beginning of something.
Another man named John Huss was a Czech. In Bohemia,
he was inspired by John Wycliffe and he promoted
preaching and worship in the local Czech language
instead of Latin so that the common people could
understand the word of God. He was burned at
the stake for heresy. which sparked a national
movement to defend the freedom of Scripture.
Isn't that awesome? Another important step in
the advancement of the Word of God came in 1440
when the printing press was invented in Germany
by, I forgot to write his name down, Gutenberg,
thank you. And right after the printing press
was invented, a man by the name of William Tyndale,
who was an English scholar, he translated the
first New Testament into English using the...
the Greek language that the scriptures were written
in. It was the first one. And he printed the
first copies in 1526. He stated this, that his
goal was to make a common plow boy know more
of the scripture than the clergy. That was his
goal. I want to make the common plow boy know
more of the scripture than the clergy. Wow. That's
pretty awesome, isn't it? He was martyred by
strangulation for translating and distributing
the Bible without church approval. Can you even
imagine it? This is the history of the church.
This is where we came from. And from that history
up until now, from the time of William Tyndale,
really, up until now, the Scriptures have gotten
more and more and more and more accessible. And
I thank God for that. Somebody give God praise
for that. Praise God. And so we, in fact, within
this last calendar year, we were honored to partner
with our missionary, Mark Haney, and we helped
financially support a project that interpreted
the Scriptures into a verbal language. The language
of the people that he is trying to reach is not
written. It is only verbal. And so they translated
and recorded the entire... scriptures into the
language of the people so that they could hear
the Bible for the very first time in 2025 and
2026, for the very first time they can hear the
scriptures in their own language. Hallelujah.
It's happening. It's amazing. And in my lifetime,
in my lifetime should Jesus tarry. Every language
on the planet will have access to the Scriptures
in their own language. Somebody give God praise.
It is happening right now. Praise God. Praise
God. And yet, so many of us in our walk with
the Lord are neglecting. The Scriptures. It takes
effort to get the Word inside of you. It takes
effort. Nobody can do it For you. If you are.
Finding yourself. Sluggish. In your Christianity.
It could be that you are neglecting the word
of God. If you are finding yourself. Bored. with
your Christianity. You would rather do a thousand
other things. It could be that you are neglecting
the Word of God. And the remedy is very simple.
You open the book and read. Open the book and
read. Gideon didn't have a Bible to read. And
I believe God speaks direct just like he did
to Gideon still today. But I believe that the
main source of our inspiration and hearing from
God comes from this book. Amen? Gideon had to
hear from God. It takes effort to get the word
of God in your heart. But some of your spirits
are starving. Your spirit feeds on the Word of
God just like your body needs food. And some
of our spirits are starving because we have neglected
the Word of God. I'm not asking you to read the
scriptures through in a year. That's some of
your practice. I think it's good. I'm not asking
you to read seven chapters a day to keep the
devil away. What I'm asking is that whether it's
a verse, One. Or a chapter. Or you have a plan
that you follow. That you feed your spirit with
the word of God. Somebody say amen to that. Hallelujah.
Feed your spirit with the word of God. Hallelujah.
We had a woman in one of the churches that we
pastored before we came here who would stand
up every Sunday nearly and give a prophecy. And
she said to a group of people, she said, God
speaks to me direct. I do not need to read the
scriptures. That was the end of her giving words
in the church. We got to get the word of God
inside of us. Husbands, you think you can lead
your marriage without the word of God inside
of you? Parents, you think you can lead your
families without the word of God inside of you?
We need the word of God. The word of God has
been exalted above his name. The word of God
is powerful. Hallelujah. Glory to God. The church,
friends, is founded on the word of God. Praise
the Lord. And everybody's glad they weren't sitting
in that chair right there because I just let
out some spittle. It must be true. The word of
God, the word of God changes everything. I'm
preaching a basic message here. We've got to
come back to the Word of God. Do you think Gideon
could have done what he did without a word from
God? Without the Word of the Lord? No, he needed
the Word of the Lord. In fact, later in the story,
I'm not going to take the time to read it this
morning because I want to get to the part where
we make a fresh commitment, church, to the Word
of God. I'm trying to stir you up, brother. I'm
trying to stir you up, sister. I'm trying to
stir you up to get back to the basics of the
Word of God. Amen? Feeding your spirit daily
by reading the Word of the Lord. It's more important
than anything else. It's more important than
your job. It's more important than the physical
food that you eat. It is more important than
anything that you feed your spirit with the word
of the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So Gideon,
what did he go through? If you read later on.
towards into chapter 8. It says in verse 4 that
he came to the river Jordan, although he was
exhausted, and he crossed it. He had had trouble
with the Ephraimites in verse 1. He had to cross
the Jordan River in verse 4. When they got to
the other side, the men of Succoth, they had
refused to give them any food, and they had to
pursue their enemies with nothing to eat. And
they did it anyway. Was it food that sustained
them? No. Was it their own strength that sustained
them? No. It was the word of the Lord that sustained
Gideon and his 300 men to go and capture the
kings of Midian and destroy the Midianites entirely.
Hallelujah. It was the word of God. What is it
that's going to sustain you? What is it that's
going to keep you on the right path? What is
it that's going to keep you moving forward? It's
the Word of God that is going to sustain you.
It sustained Gideon. It's going to sustain us.
Hallelujah. Now, Gideon... When he heard the
first time that God spoke to him, he did not
mix it with faith. Remember, God told him, he
said, hey, I'm going to use you to overtake the
Midianites. But if you're still afraid, let me
speak to you another way. Take your servant.
and go to the camp of the Midianites and listen.
And God spoke to him another way. And when Gideon
heard the interpretation of the dream, something
happened inside of him. And that thing that happened
inside of him was faith. We have got to mix the
word of God With faith. And believe. Hallelujah.
Faith. We've got to mix it. With faith. And the
word of God mixed with a believing heart. Will
sustain you through anything that you face. Matthew
chapter 24 verse 35 says. Heaven and earth may
pass away. But my words will never. pass away.
Matthew 7 24 says, therefore, whoever hears these
words of mine and does them, they mix them with
faith believing. I will then liken to him to
a wise man who built his house on the rock. The
rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew
and beat on that house and it did not fall for
it was founded. on the rock. Hallelujah. Was
founded on the rock. Praise God. Founded on the
rock. Are you founded on the rock? Now, in my
life, in many different departments, I have had
goals, but many of my goals have remained merely
aspirational. Does anybody know what that word
means, aspirational? It means that you have incredible
intentions, but they never actually come to fruition.
You believe that it's a good thing, but it never
manifests in your life. How many of you have
aspirational goals when it comes to eating? Ha
ha ha ha ha ha. Yeah. There's a lot more hands
up on the inside than on the outside. I know
that to be true. You have aspirational goals
with exercise. You know that it's good for you.
You know that you should do it, but you don't
do it. You have the belief. But friends, aspirational
faith is not faith. Aspirational faith, it just
keeps you in the same place that you are day
after day after day after day, year after year
after year after year, and nothing else changes.
God wants us to move from the aspirational to
the real. And where the rubber meets the road
is, Am I going to get up 15 minutes early so
that I can pray and read? Am I going to meditate
on the Word before I go to sleep at night? Am
I going to feed on the Word? I had a friend that
just made it her goal that every time she ate
food, she was also going to feed on the Scriptures.
That's a pretty good goal, isn't it? have the
word with breakfast. She had the word with lunch.
She had the word with dinner. I don't know if
she's still doing that, but a season of her life,
that's the way that she did it. She decided,
I'm going to feed my body. I'm also going to
feed my spirit. I'm going to open up the word
of God. I'm going to open up the word of God.
Well, I don't understand it, pastor. Well, I
don't understand it all either. I'm growing.
But I know this, it has power in my life. And
God will increase and he'll teach me by the Holy
Spirit and he'll teach you and he'll lead you
and he'll show you. And you might not at first,
at first you might say, well, what good did that
do me to read that? What good did it do me to
read all those names in Chronicles? What good
did it do me to read this or read that? But I'm
telling you, if you will stick with it and you
will make it your portion, you will make it your
habit that you will grow in the Lord simply by
reading the Word of God. Continue anyway. And
then finally this morning, I want to say this.
The written word can never replace the living
word. I want to say that again. The written word
can never replace the living word. What did Gideon
do when faith came into his heart and he realized,
hey, this really was the God that spoke to me?
He got down on his face and he worshiped. He
worshiped. Let me read a scripture from John
chapter 5. This is very interesting for the religious
among us. He says this, you diligently search
the scriptures for in them you think you have
eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify
of me. But you are not willing to come to me
that you might have life. That's very interesting,
isn't it? Because the religious scholars were
looking at this book like a textbook. They were
looking at this book not as God intended them
to look at it. They were trying. to master all
of the commandments so that they could be better
people. When the living Word, Jesus, came on
the scene, they were blinded to it. They couldn't
see. Oh, but when you and I come to this book,
and we don't forget that this book Leads us to
the living word of God. Whose name is Jesus.
Oh, then life comes into us. Imagine what it
was like for Paul. His name was Saul in Acts
chapter 9, and he was a master of the Old Testament.
In fact, he had most of the Old Testament memorized
as a star student in the Word, hand -chosen disciple
of Gamaliel. He was a student of the Old Testament,
but he despised Christians and Christianity,
and he was even putting them to death. Can you
imagine what happened to him when he met Jesus
on the road and was knocked off of his horse
and blinded, and he heard the voice of heaven,
and he saw the light, and he said, Saul, Saul,
why are you persecuting me? And Saul, his heart
began to stir. Something began to happen. And
he responded and said this, who are you, Lord?
Who are you, Lord? He was saying, I don't know
who you are, but you are bigger than me. Who
are you, Lord? He already knew this person talking
to me right now has some cloud. And Jesus responded
and said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
It's hard for you to live the way you're living.
And in the next three days, Saul surrendered
his life to Christ. And can you imagine? He had
all that. word in him that he had diligently
studied and it was inside of him but can you
imagine how all of that word began to go and
come to life as he met the living word and he
came he came to the understand the old testament
scriptures now not through the lenses of gamaliel
not through the lenses of all his all his teaching
ever since he was a child but through the lenses
of the living word Jesus. Hallelujah. It's no
wonder that as soon as Ananias came and laid
hands on him and he received his sight, it's
no wonder that he began to preach and teach that
Jesus was the Messiah. And he began to prove
it from the Old Testament scriptures that he
had memorized in his heart. Everything came to
life. Hallelujah. Because you cannot separate
the written word. From the living word. We've
got to come. To the Lord. When you open your
scriptures. You're saying to God. God I want
to know you more. God I'm hungry for you. God
feed me today. God open up my eyes. To what you
want to say to me today. Give me ears to hear.
What you want to say to me today. God is speaking
to some of you. And he's saying come back son.
Come back daughter. To my word. It will sustain
you. I'm going to ask if the worship team would
come. And begin to minister. We build our life
on Jesus. What are we building our life on? The
Word. The eternal Word of God that will never
change. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Father.
Thank you, Father. Just begin. Just begin to
respond this morning to the Word. I don't know
what everybody else is going to do, but I'm I'm
going to give myself to God's word. I'm going
to feed my soul and my spirit every day on the
word of God. I'm going to lean my ear into here.
What God would say to me through his word. We
believe in this church and the gifts of the spirit.
We believe in the verbal gifts. We believe in
teaching and preaching. We believe in the prophetic.
We believe in prophecy and interpretation of
tongues. We believe that God speaks to us in
many different ways. But this morning, the call
is to reaffirm our commitment to the Word of
God. The Word of God. Thank you, Lord. Just have
a conversation with the Lord right now. Just
you and him. God, renew our love for your word.
We're addicted to so many things in this life.
God, forgive us. We come back to the word. God,
we feed our bodies, but we so often neglect our
spirit. God, we give ourselves to the word of
God. We come back. We come back. Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh,
my God. Thank you, Father. I'm going to ask everybody
to stand across this place. And the altar call
this morning is simple. We're giving ourselves
to the word of God. We're going to sing this
song just once through. Building our lives on
the foundation of Christ, the living word. And
as we sing it, if you... If you want to make
a fresh commitment to the word of God, I'm going
to ask you to get up out of your seat. I'm going
to ask you to come down. I'm going to ask you
to come down to the altar here and just make
that commitment to the Lord. Brianna, go ahead
and lead us. Thank you, Lord. You're worthy,
God. You're worthy. Just find a place around
the altar. All of it. Worthy of every breath
we could ever breathe. We live for you. We live
for you, oh God. Holy, oh. Jesus, the name above
every other name. The living word. Jesus, the
only one. We could ever breathe for you. We live
for you. There is no one like you. There is none
beside you. To those around me. There is none
beside you. There is none beside you. Open up
my eyes in wonder. to those around me. Let's
sing, I will build my life. Oh God, this is what
we're praying this morning. Calling out to the
living word. I will build my life. Lord, we repent
right now from the things that have kept us from
your word. It is the enemy that has worked overtime
to keep us too busy, too entertained, too comfortable,
too enthralled with this life, too caught up
with other responsibilities. And we have neglected
your word. And we ask your forgiveness right
now. In the name of Jesus. And we ask a washing
to come. A washing to come. God, never has your
word been more accessible than it is right now.
But we repent, God, and we turn. We turn to your
word. We turn to your word. We will build our
lives on your word. We will follow your word.
Come what may, we will give ourselves to the
living word of God. Hear our cry, O God. couples
are up here together I thank you for marriages
built on the living word of God I thank you Lord
Jesus for families and homes built on the word
of God that say like Joshua as for me and my
house we will serve the Lord hallelujah I thank
you God for the commitment to allow the word
to have its place in our lives and in our hearts