1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,080 Judges chapter 6. This is a great story. I would encourage you to go back and read this 2 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:22,120 story in Judges chapter 6 and 7. We won't cover all of it in great detail tonight, just 3 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:29,440 for time purposes. But it is a great story. We're going to hit a few verses. And it's 4 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:34,960 good homework. So go back and read it and see the stuff that we missed. Also, why you 5 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:41,160 all are turning to that before I forget, tomorrow night we will be having a cottage prayer meeting 6 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:45,440 at the Freemans. Some of you are saying, we just had it there last night. Well, good news. 7 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,840 We're having it there again. And so nobody has signed up. They graciously volunteered 8 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,000 to host it again. And so what we need maybe is a little bit of help. If some of y'all 9 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,720 who are coming would be willing to bring a little bit of food, maybe some snacks or some 10 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:02,560 finger food, maybe bring a pizza or a bag of chip or a batch of cookies or whatever. 11 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,320 If we could all bring a thing or two, somebody bring some drinks, we'll have enough. And 12 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:10,800 that way they don't have to do all that. They cooked enough last night. So if y'all are 13 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,820 willing to bring something and help with that tomorrow, they're going to provide the place 14 00:01:14,820 --> 00:01:19,280 and we'll provide the food and the prayer and the fellowship. So y'all tell Dana before 15 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,560 you leave tonight what you'd be willing to bring to help her with that. So thank y'all 16 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:28,720 for hosting that again for us. And then Friday night, it'll be at Fish and Diane's. And so 17 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:33,040 if y'all haven't been coming to these, I would invite you to come and encourage you to come 18 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:38,600 at six o'clock. It's been a really good week. We have had some good time in song and some 19 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:43,720 good time in prayer. It's been good fellowship. Just a lot of people just kind of pouring 20 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:48,480 out their heart and lifting up their requests and their praises to God. And it's been a 21 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:53,520 really beautiful week. And so I would encourage you, if you can come tomorrow night and Friday 22 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,960 night at six o'clock to come and be part of that. Bring a friend with you. We don't have 23 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:02,000 a limit. You can bring and invite as many people as you want to. We'll be glad to have 24 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:07,360 them. So tomorrow night, back at the Freeman, six o'clock, Friday night at Fish and Diane's. 25 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:15,560 All right. Judges chapter six. Judges chapter six. We'll start in verse one, but I'm going 26 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:21,360 to kind of just jump through it and hit a few verses throughout this story. I was reading 27 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:25,600 some scripture last night and I read one of these scriptures that we're going to talk 28 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:32,720 about tonight. And I thought, man, what a powerful moment in the life of Gideon. And 29 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:38,000 really maybe we can have such a powerful moment in our life, in this revival, or maybe at 30 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:43,560 some point in the future, should God see fit to bless us and use us in a similar way. So 31 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:48,160 let's pray and we'll get started. God, we come to you. I thank you for the freedom that 32 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:52,320 we have to come into your house. I thank you for your people. I thank you for loving us. 33 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,160 I thank you for Jesus. I pray God that you would hide me behind the cross. I thank you 34 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:01,640 for your good word. And I pray, dear Lord, that your Holy Spirit would speak to us in 35 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:06,560 your word, that there would be something maybe that we need to hear in this tonight, something 36 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:12,600 that would help just begin to restore us, to draw us closer to you, to cause us to call 37 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:18,000 on you and to trust in you, dear Lord. I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among us. I 38 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,640 pray that as we prepare for this revival, that your Holy Spirit would be among those 39 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:28,160 who are going to lead us, that your Holy Spirit would be among us as we come, dear Lord, that 40 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,360 we would feel your presence, that it would have an impact in our life, that it would 41 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,960 change our heart and change our life and change our attitude, dear Lord, that it would transform 42 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:41,320 us and transform our church and transform our community, God. And that only can come 43 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:45,760 through your power of the Holy Spirit. So I pray, God, that tonight we would be ready 44 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,080 for that, that we would seek that, and even now, dear Lord, that you would be among us. 45 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:56,400 All these things, dear Lord, for your glory tonight, I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. 46 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:03,040 Judges chapter 6, verse 1, the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, 47 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:10,680 so the Lord handed them over to Midian seven years. Now, the book of Judges is kind of 48 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:19,000 a repeat over and over. The story goes like this. God blesses his people, his people sin, 49 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:24,520 God turns his people over, he punishes his people, God sends a judge to deliver his people, 50 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:31,280 his people come back to him, his people sin, and the cycle repeats itself. And so in this 51 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:37,280 part of the cycle, we're going to talk about a man named Gideon. Now, the way that God 52 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:41,160 was going to deal with his people here was through the Midianites and some of the other 53 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,880 folks around, as you read through those chapters, you'll see. But mainly the focus is on the 54 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:51,640 Midianites. And so God's people had done what was evil. They weren't following him. They 55 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,140 weren't seeking him. They weren't listening to him. They were living in disobedience. 56 00:04:56,140 --> 00:05:02,000 And so what God did was he handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. Now, we 57 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:07,840 see this. Oftentimes, the way that God brings judgment on his people, in the Old Testament 58 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:12,920 especially, is he just kind of removes his hand of protection from them. Now, as long 59 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:17,640 as they're obedient to God, God is fighting for them. It is God who is fighting their 60 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:22,280 battles. It's God who's taking care of them. But then they abandon God and God just kind 61 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:27,600 of removes his protection. And without God, they're hopeless because what are they going 62 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:32,200 to do without him? What are we going to do without him? What are we going to do if we abandon 63 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,880 God? There is nothing or no one else we can trust in. And so these people were living 64 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:42,760 in evil. So God says, okay, I'm taking a step back. I'm going to let these Midianites really 65 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:47,520 kind of have their way with you for seven years, for a long period of time. This wasn't 66 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:53,440 for a day or two. This was a long period of time that God was dealing with his people. 67 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:59,200 Nevertheless, even though God was bringing some judgment on his people here, God was 68 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:05,400 going to be faithful to deliver his people. And this time, the judge that he was going 69 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:15,000 to use was a man by the name of Gideon. Now, in Judges chapter 6 verse 15, we see this. 70 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:22,400 The Lord's calling on Gideon here and listen to what Gideon says in Judges 6, 15. He said 71 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:30,320 to him, Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, 72 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:35,320 and I am the youngest in my father's house. So what does Gideon say? He says, I'm not 73 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:40,480 good enough for the job. I'm too weak. I'm not strong enough. I'm the weakest one in 74 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:46,960 the weakest family in the tribe of Manasseh. I'm the weakest one. And here he's making 75 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:51,760 an excuse. Now, this is kind of similar to what Moses did when God called Moses. Well, 76 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,880 I'm not a good speaker. But here's something that you may notice when you look through 77 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:04,040 the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament, that the people that God chooses are not necessarily 78 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:10,760 extraordinary people by worldly standards. They're just kind of average people, or maybe 79 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:17,380 even as Gideon would describe himself here, below average, just a weakling, nothing fancy. 80 00:07:17,380 --> 00:07:22,240 Even the disciples that Jesus chose, that probably would not have been the group that 81 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:27,040 the other religious leaders of the day would have chosen. But yet Jesus kind of picks this, 82 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:32,280 if we can call them a rag-tag group of different people from different walks of life. None 83 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:37,640 of them, I don't think we could classify as super fancy or super awesome in a variety 84 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:45,040 of ways. They were just kind of normal, hardworking men that had flaws, that sometimes spoke out 85 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,960 when they shouldn't, maybe did some things that they shouldn't have done. And Jesus picked 86 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:56,240 these guys, and here God picks Gideon, and he says, look, Gideon, I want to use you. 87 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:03,600 I want to use you. Now, in Isaiah, we see that famous verse where he says, here I am, 88 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:09,120 send me. Now, that's a good response. If we feel God calling us to do something and leading 89 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:15,020 us into something, a good response would be, here I am, Lord, send me. And maybe sometimes 90 00:08:15,020 --> 00:08:21,400 that's our response, but maybe not. Maybe sometimes we're more like Gideon, and we have 91 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:26,160 some opportunity to serve, some opportunity for God to use us, some opportunity for us, 92 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:31,340 for God to work in our life and to use us to work in somebody else's life. And whatever 93 00:08:31,340 --> 00:08:36,680 it is before us seems really scary. God, I'm not good at talking to people. God, I don't 94 00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:40,200 know enough of your scripture to serve you in that way. God, I don't want to go to that 95 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,860 place. I'd feel uncomfortable. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. I'm 96 00:08:43,860 --> 00:08:49,880 not in good enough shape. I'm not smart enough. I mean, we come up with a variety of excuses. 97 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,560 And some of those things might be true. We might not be very smart. We might not know 98 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:59,520 much of God's scripture. We might not be in very good shape. We might be scared to go 99 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:05,920 to the places that God calls us. Those things may very well be true, but nonetheless, God 100 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:12,000 calls us all the same because God does not call us to serve him because we have somehow 101 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:16,880 met the qualifications that God says, okay, here's my qualifications. What he does is 102 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:22,560 he picks the men and the women who are right for the job and he says, I will help you do 103 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:28,360 the job. And we need to remember that. When God calls us to do something as individuals 104 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,800 or as a church, it may seem like a big task. It may seem overwhelming. How are we going 105 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:39,960 to do it? We're going to do it through God who calls us to do it. And that's an important 106 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:45,000 thing for us to remember in our individual life and our life as a church. So here Gideon 107 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:51,600 was called by the Lord to do this work. He's called to stand up for God's people. He's 108 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:57,560 called to stand up against this enemy. He's called to stand up against this idolatry that 109 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:04,480 God's people are caught up in. And he's kind of reluctant as maybe you and I are, but what 110 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:09,400 we're going to see is that God uses him in a very powerful way. Skip on down to Judges 111 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:15,440 chapter six, verses 25 and 26. We're kind of skipping a little bit here. We're going 112 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,960 to, we're really going to kind of take part right in the middle of that. The last part 113 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:23,900 of 25 and 26. We'll start at the beginning of 25 and I'll tell you the part we're going 114 00:10:23,900 --> 00:10:29,200 to kind of focus on when we get there. So chapter six, verse 25, on that very night, 115 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:36,200 the Lord said to him, take your father's young bull and a second bull, seven years old. Okay, 116 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:41,920 listen to this part right here, starting right here. Then tear down the altar of Baal that 117 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:50,280 belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Build a well constructed altar 118 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:56,600 to the Lord your God on the top of this rock. So what was the problem that God's people 119 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:01,560 were dealing with? Well, they had abandoned God and what did God tell him? He said, look, 120 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:06,120 you don't need to have any other gods before me. Do not worship any idols. And what did 121 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:13,560 God's people often do? In the Old Testament today, even among us in this church, we don't, 122 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:16,960 we don't carve out something out of wood or stone, but we have these things in our life 123 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:22,120 that becomes our idols. Sometimes maybe they're not even things that necessarily are bad, 124 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,260 but we put so much emphasis on them that they become an idol, that they become the most 125 00:11:26,260 --> 00:11:32,480 important thing to us. And so God's people, Israel here, they were worshiping these idols, 126 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:37,560 this idol of Baal and this Asherah pole, the pole that they would have gone to worship 127 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:42,400 these false gods and to have committed their idolatry and the things that they were doing. 128 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,760 And so what God does is he picks Gideon, he says, you're the man for the job. Gideon says, 129 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,760 hold up. And then God says, yep, you're the man. Here's what you're going to do. You're 130 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:55,880 going to go to your father's Asherah pole and where the Baal is that the people are 131 00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:00,480 going to worship and you're going to destroy those things. You're going to destroy them. 132 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:06,520 Now this is good scripture for us. He says, you're going to destroy those things that 133 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:11,840 are there, those idols that are there, that sin that is there. You need to remove it. 134 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:18,920 You need to get it out of there. Now this is good instruction for us. There may be some 135 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:23,400 sin in our life. There may be some idols in our life. There may be some things in our 136 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:29,120 life that have taken the place of God, some things that we are focusing way too much of 137 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:34,760 our time and our attention to. And maybe it is time for us, maybe this is a good week 138 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:39,360 as we're right on the, on the, on the edge of this revival, getting ready to get kicked 139 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:44,040 off. Now may be a good time for us to say, God, there are some things in my life that 140 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:48,320 should not be there. There are some things in my life that I'm putting too much focus 141 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:54,760 on and maybe today is the good day for us to begin to destroy those things. Those altars 142 00:12:54,760 --> 00:13:00,040 in our life that we go to, those altars of greed and hatred and anger and, and envy 143 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:05,560 and strife and, and all of these things that are not good. Perhaps it's time to begin to 144 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:11,960 tear some of those altars down. And that's what God tells Gideon to do. Go and tear this 145 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:20,320 altar down and listen to what he says in the next verse. Build a well constructed altar 146 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:27,280 to the Lord your God on the top of this rock. So it's not just a tearing down and destroying 147 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:34,560 the old. It's not just a destroying the old altar, but replacing it with a new altar, 148 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:40,120 with a well constructed altar, with an altar that's built on stone, with an altar that's 149 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,960 built on a good foundation. You see these altars they had built, they were altars to 150 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:50,760 a, to a false God, to an idol that was not going to save them. It wasn't Baal who brought 151 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,280 God's people out of Egypt. It was God who brought his people out of Egypt. Baal was 152 00:13:55,280 --> 00:14:01,800 a, was a, was a no significance, of no strength. He was nothing. And so his altar was nothing. 153 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:06,520 And so what did God realize his people needed to do? He realizes that they needed to come 154 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:12,120 back and begin to worship him. They needed to come back to a better altar. They needed 155 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:18,800 to take the old altar out, the old ways out, the old sins out and come to a better altar 156 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:24,400 that was going to come with better blessings. And so what does he tell him? He says, build 157 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:31,280 a well constructed altar to the Lord your God on the top of the rock. So that's what 158 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:36,360 we need to do. We need to see what, what altar are we going to in our life today? Are we 159 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,520 kneeling before the altar of the world and the things of the world? Because I'm going 160 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:43,600 to tell you what, the altar of the world is pretty bad and the things of the world are 161 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:48,600 pretty bad and the idols of the world are pretty bad. And we're not, we're not above 162 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:54,480 those things because those temptations come to us and, and we fall into those temptations 163 00:14:54,480 --> 00:15:00,880 sometimes. We begin to idolize people or we begin to idolize things. Maybe we need to 164 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:05,760 begin to tear those altars down and we need to come back before the altar of God. That 165 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:10,880 we need to come back to a well constructed altar, an altar that's built on Jesus Christ 166 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,920 as the cornerstone. That we say, Jesus, I need to put you back in first place in my 167 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:21,160 life because maybe you fall into second and third and fourth and fifth place. But, but 168 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:25,920 now is the time, it's a good time. It's a time of revival. I hope for us that we would 169 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,680 come before the Lord, that we would say, it's time for me to refocus. It's time for me to 170 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:35,160 get straight. Life's hard, life's stressful. I've got some sins to spend in my life. I've 171 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,800 just kind of been slacking and I hadn't been seeking you and I hadn't been serving you 172 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:44,760 and I've been doing what's evil in your sight, just like your people did in the old Testament. 173 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:50,600 But now may be the time that it's time for us to tear down those altars of old and come 174 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:56,600 before the altar of the Lord that's been established by Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what God 175 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:01,120 calls Gideon to do. Now Gideon, he was still kind of afraid about this. He, he wasn't really 176 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:05,400 willing to go out and do it at night. During the day, he went out and did it at night. 177 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:11,400 But nonetheless, he did what God called him to do. And what God was calling him to do 178 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:18,640 was to call God's people away from sin and to reestablish God's people on the word of 179 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:25,400 God and on the truth of God and on the works of God and on the greatness of God. And that's 180 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:30,760 what we need in our world today and our country today. We got so many idols and so much sin 181 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:35,320 and so many people are celebrating so much stuff that's just pure evil. And it's time 182 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:40,440 that those altars are torn down. And maybe God's going to use us in some way in the lives 183 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:45,720 of the people that we encounter and the community that we encounter and the world that we encounter 184 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,620 that maybe God's going to call us in some way to begin to help tear down some of those 185 00:16:49,620 --> 00:16:54,440 altars and some of those lies of the devil. You know, so many times we see in our world 186 00:16:54,440 --> 00:17:00,000 today that what's evil people call good and what's good people call evil. But we want 187 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,240 to be those who point people to the word of God and to the truth of the gospel of Jesus 188 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:09,280 Christ that we can show them what is good. And maybe today God wants to use us to begin 189 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:14,880 to tear down some of those false idols and altars in our life that God can begin to work 190 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:22,600 in us to use us to tear some of those things down in our world. Judges chapter 6 verse 191 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:29,720 34. This is the verse that I read last night that really caught me when I read it. Judges 192 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:39,360 chapter 6 verse 34. The spirit of the Lord took control of Gideon. The spirit of the 193 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:45,720 Lord took control of Gideon. What a beautiful and powerful thing for us to think about. 194 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:51,720 Now, we see this sometimes in the Old Testament that the spirit of God comes down on somebody. 195 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,560 We see it in the New Testament. We see it in the book of Acts. We see that even when 196 00:17:55,560 --> 00:18:00,280 we become Christians that the Holy Spirit indwells in us. But we also see these occasions 197 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:06,240 that the Holy Spirit comes upon people in a powerful way. And maybe you've experienced 198 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:12,040 that in your life. There are times that probably in your life maybe you were by yourself and 199 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:16,240 you felt the spirit of God. That you really begin to seek God and you really begin to 200 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:20,800 call out to God and you really begin to read his word and you pray to him and you trust 201 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:25,520 him and you listen to him. And there are times in our life when we feel the spirit of God 202 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:30,360 and you've probably been to a church service, maybe here, maybe somewhere else. There are 203 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:35,040 some times that you really feel the spirit of God moving. That's not to say that the 204 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,640 spirit of God didn't at work every time we come together. But there are sometimes there 205 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,880 is something different where God's spirit just seems to move in a different way, in 206 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:48,560 a powerful way, in a mighty way that just kind of shakes us to our core. And that is 207 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:53,960 a beautiful and a powerful thing. And that is my prayer this week for us as individuals 208 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:59,760 and for us as a church. That God's spirit would move on us in a powerful way. That God's 209 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:06,200 spirit would shake us and reignite a fire in us and excitement in us, a joy in us. That 210 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:11,440 we would praise God and serve God and repent of our sins and be willing and open to whatever 211 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:19,640 God may call us to as individuals and as a church. And I pray and I hope that God's spirit 212 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:24,960 will be poured out upon us. And it was for Gideon. And that's how Gideon was able to 213 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:30,560 do the things that God was calling him to do because God had enabled him. And it was 214 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,960 the very spirit of God that says what in my translation it says took control of it. Here's 215 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:43,160 a better translation. This will be from the NASB. In the same verse, NASB says, so the 216 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:51,080 spirit of the Lord covered Gideon like clothing. Now that's a better translation of the original 217 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:56,800 Hebrew language there. The word is used there. That's what it means to be clothed. It's as 218 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:02,160 though the Holy Spirit was on Gideon like he was clothed, like he was wearing a cloak, 219 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:06,320 like he was wearing a coat, like he was wearing a robe. That the Holy Spirit just kind of 220 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:13,280 engulfed Gideon, that he was clothed in the power of the Holy Spirit. And that should 221 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:18,000 be what our desire is and what we seek in our life. That the Holy Spirit would be among 222 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:24,480 us and upon us in that same type of way. And we see the same type of language. We see here 223 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:31,260 in the Old Testament that Gideon was clothed with the Holy Spirit. We see that same type 224 00:20:31,260 --> 00:20:36,800 of language talking about Christians in the New Testament. If you want to flirt with me, 225 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:55,440 you can. The Romans chapter 13 verse 14. Romans chapter 13 verse 14. In the verses before, 226 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:00,280 Paul had been telling them not to do any evil. That's kind of summarizing. But then he says 227 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:09,100 in Romans chapter 13 verse 14, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no plans to 228 00:21:09,100 --> 00:21:16,240 satisfy the fleshly desires. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Same type of language. That 229 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:22,120 Gideon was clothed in the Spirit. And Paul says that we as Christians are to be clothed, 230 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:27,640 are to put on Jesus in the same way that we would put on a coat. And then we see a similar 231 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:34,520 thing in Galatians chapter 3 verse 27. For all of you who are baptized in Christ have 232 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:42,240 clothed yourself with Christ. Now that's the same type of language we just saw of Gideon. 233 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:49,160 That we would be clothed in Jesus Christ. What we wear represents who we are. Here's 234 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:54,680 a good example of that. You've been watching the Olympics. You'll notice that every country 235 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:59,440 they got their uniform on. Everybody from every country is wearing the same uniform. 236 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:05,920 They all match. And their clothes, what they're dressed in, represent who they are and who 237 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:11,680 they represent. And that's how we are to be as Christians. We are to be clothed in Jesus 238 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:18,360 Christ. That people see Christ in us. Now we don't wear a shirt that says Jesus, but 239 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:24,280 we do have our actions. And what do our actions say? And what do our words say? When people 240 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:29,440 look at us, are we those that they see who are clothed in Jesus Christ? That is, is the 241 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:35,920 way that we act and the way that we present ourselves, does it show that we represent 242 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:42,920 who Jesus is? Does it show that, hey, we are here for Jesus Christ. We are on team Jesus. 243 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:48,720 And that ought to be evident in how we live our lives. And so Gideon was clothed with 244 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:53,840 the Spirit of God. And the Holy Spirit of God works in us as brothers and sisters in 245 00:22:53,840 --> 00:23:00,840 Christ. And as brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul says, look, you need to put on Jesus. 246 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:07,520 You need to be clothed in Jesus. And so we need to strive to do that. We need to strive 247 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:13,520 to make that a point in our lives. That we are those who are clothed in Jesus. That we 248 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:18,200 put on Jesus every day before we get ready to walk out. That we say, okay, today, Lord 249 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:24,520 Jesus, I'm going to represent you. Today, Lord Jesus, when people see me, let them see 250 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:29,360 you. And when we sin and when our mouth gets away from us and our attitude gets away from 251 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:35,360 us, and it does sometimes, they're not seeing Jesus. They're seeing us. So we have to say, 252 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:40,000 all right, I need you to help me, Lord. I need you to help change my heart. I need you 253 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,560 to help my weaknesses. God, if you want to use me for your kingdom, I want to be willing 254 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:49,280 and I want to be able, but I need you to help me, dear Lord. And I need your Holy Spirit 255 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:53,680 to be upon me. And I want to put on Jesus and everything that Jesus is so that I can 256 00:23:53,680 --> 00:24:00,560 be like him and follow his example. And when the Holy Spirit comes upon us and we put on 257 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:06,640 Jesus and begin to live like Jesus, God can use us in a powerful way. But only when we 258 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:11,800 tear down those altars of sin, only when we come before the altar of Jesus Christ with 259 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:17,920 his crucifixion and resurrection, only when we put on Christ can God begin to use us and 260 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:25,160 the Holy Spirit can come upon us. And when he does, powerful things happen. If you continue 261 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:30,760 reading the story of Gideon, Gideon eventually gets a group of men. He gets ready to go take 262 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,960 on these Midianites and God tells him, he says, there's too many men. Now you would 263 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:39,720 think if you're going to war, you're going to fight a bunch of people. And it says of 264 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:45,160 the Midianites that they were countless, essentially, that there was a lot of them, it says in the 265 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:50,320 scripture, a ton of them. And so Gideon had gathered up, when you turn to chapter seven, 266 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:57,440 32,000 men. And God said, that's too many. And so 22,000 of them lived. And God says, 267 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:02,600 that's still too many. And listen to what God says. God says in Judges chapter seven, 268 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:08,640 verse two, the Lord said to Gideon, you have too many people for me to hand the Midianites 269 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:16,760 over to you or else Israel might brag, I did it myself. So Israel was going to say, oh, 270 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:21,960 I did it myself. So what God is saying is, I don't want you to trust in anything you 271 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:26,600 can do. I don't want you to trust in your army. I don't want you to trust in your weapons. 272 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:31,680 I don't want you to trust in your skills. I want it to be known that the only possible 273 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:38,200 way that this miracle, that this act that's about to occur is going to be by me. So that 274 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:43,840 my people will know my power. So he's got Gideon ready to serve, ready to go. He's got 275 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:51,920 us 32,000 people, 22,000 lead. Then he's got 10,000. Then he says, you still got too many. 276 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:55,240 He says, you need to get him to drink from the water. Every how they drink is going to 277 00:25:55,240 --> 00:26:00,760 determine which ones I'm going to use. And God said, okay, the ones that drink this way, 278 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:07,120 those are the ones you're going to use. 300 men, three from 32,000 to 300 men. And God 279 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:11,320 says, okay, now you're ready. So now you've got this, this million knights that are, that 280 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:17,520 are, that are just numerous, numerous. And God says, I want you Gideon to go with these 281 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:24,480 300 men and I want you to take care of business. And here's what he sent with them. A trumpet 282 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:32,520 in one hand and a pitcher or a jar with a torch in the other hand. Now you got 300 men 283 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:37,840 going up a ton up against a ton of million knights and they ain't, they ain't got nothing 284 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:43,520 but a trumpet and a torch inside of a jar. And God said, go. And you know what they did? 285 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:49,400 They went and they went and they surrounded the people and Gideon said, when I give you 286 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:54,960 the signal, you do what I tell you. Gideon gave them the signal and they broke those 287 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:59,000 jars. They broke those pitchers. They got their torches. They blew their trumpets and 288 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:03,080 they began to holler and all the million knights and the others that was there, they got up 289 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,840 in a state of confusion. They didn't know what was going on and the enemies began to 290 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:13,480 kill themselves. God did that with Gideon and 300 people against this countless number 291 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:18,320 of million knights and their friends. They began to kill one another and then they hightailed 292 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:24,480 it out of there. And that is the power of God. But that could have never happened if 293 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:30,640 Gideon would have not been willing to do what God called him to do. But he was willing and 294 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,920 because he was willing, the spirit of God came upon him and God was able to work in 295 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:39,720 a miraculous way. And we don't come here tonight glorifying Gideon. Yeah, we recognize that 296 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:45,360 he was obedient to God, but we come here and glorify God because God said, look, my people 297 00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:50,640 are going to know that it was me who did this miraculous work. Maybe some of us are Gideons 298 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:56,520 tonight. Maybe some of us, there's something that God has called us to do. Now, I suspect 299 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:00,880 that God probably hadn't called any of you to go fight some army with tens of thousands 300 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:06,760 of people. And so if God can overcome a huge army with no telling how many people with 301 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:11,760 300 men, then surely whatever he's calling you to do, he's got the power to do it through 302 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:18,000 you. He's got the power to let his spirit work in you if you'd let it. Maybe this needs 303 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:23,680 to be a season for us to tear down those altars of sin in our life, to build a better altar, 304 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:28,600 to come to, not build, but to come to a better altar that's been built by Jesus Christ that 305 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:32,880 we would trust in him and that in trusting in him that we would seek him tonight, that 306 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:37,800 we would seek him in this week to come, that God's spirit will be poured out upon us in 307 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:42,440 a mighty way. Let's pray. Father God, we come to you. We thank you for your good word. I 308 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:47,920 pray dear Lord that your Holy Spirit would come upon us dear Lord. Maybe we are like 309 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:54,380 your Israelites in this story. Maybe there is a lot of evil in our life. I pray that 310 00:28:54,380 --> 00:29:00,040 you would help us to repent of that dear Lord. Maybe we are like Gideon in this story. Maybe 311 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:05,400 you're calling us to serve you in some way. And dear Lord, we might be making excuses 312 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:10,640 and they might all be good excuses, God. We might be just as weak and just as nothing 313 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:16,360 as Gideon felt like he was. But nonetheless, you used him dear Lord. And so I pray that 314 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:21,120 if you call us that we would be so faithful that you would use us in the same way. Dear 315 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,720 Lord, I pray that if there is sin in our life that we would tear that sin down and that 316 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:31,240 we would replace it with Jesus Christ, God. I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among 317 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:37,040 us. Your Holy Spirit will work in our lives, in our hearts tonight and tomorrow and next 318 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:42,880 week that you would begin to do mighty things dear Lord. Not for our glory, but for your 319 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:48,240 glory. Dear Lord, we don't ever want any good thing that's done to come back to us because 320 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:52,580 God, we're just serving you. You're the one who does the work. You're the one who did 321 00:29:52,580 --> 00:29:57,680 the work through Gideon. You're the one who brought the deliverance through Gideon. And 322 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,360 God, you will be the one who does the work through us. So whatever you call us to, I 323 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,520 pray that you would help us to be obedient. I pray that you would pour your Spirit out 324 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:10,880 on us to give us the power and the strength to do things that are beyond our wildest imaginations, 325 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:14,400 that are greater than anything that we could possibly do on our own dear Lord, because 326 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:19,480 we don't come here tonight trusting in our strength because we're pretty weak. But we 327 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,680 come here tonight trusting in your strength that's been established through Jesus Christ, 328 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,360 crucified and resurrected. So I pray God that if there's one that has not trusted in Jesus, 329 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:32,720 that maybe tonight would be the night. And for those who have trusted in Jesus dear Lord, 330 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:39,040 I pray that we would keep Jesus first in our life. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 331 00:30:39,040 --> 00:31:03,520 Amen.