Dr. Wayne A. Lawson
Senior Pastor
Perfected Praise Worship Center – OKC, OK
Preached Sunday, July 25, 2010
www.perfectedpraisewc.org
bishop@perfectedpraisewc.org
TITLE: IT’S IN YOU
SCRIPTURE: JUDGES 6:11-12
I stopped by this morning with a simple message. This is a message that the Holy Spirit began working with me on a few weeks ago and it has fired up my spirit. I pray that you will be encouraged and your spirit man will be lifted. I want you to know this morning as God continues to bring members to this Church from various DENOMINATIONS – STATIONS IN LIFE - SPIRITUAL MATURITY LEVEL:
• That no matter what stage of life you are in
• What hindrances lay in front of you
• How much you lack in gifts, abilities, or knowledge
• God desires to use you in extraordinary ways to expand His kingdom
Do you ever think to yourself that God is unable to use you? Maybe you feel that you aren’t very gifted or talented. Not really sure how you will be able to fit into this ministry and its various needs. Maybe you feel just like an ordinary person. Or maybe you feel less than ordinary and you will never be able to be used in a significant way for the Lord. Well, I want to give you some encouragement this morning. I want you to know that this message is just for you.
Today we are going to begin by taking a look at this Old Testament figure by the name of Gideon. Many of you probably are familiar with the name Gideon. If you have ever stayed in a Hotel or Motel, the Gideon’s are the ones who place the Bibles in hotel rooms around the world. Prior to Bibles being placed in hotels around the world, there was a man named Gideon whom God used in an extraordinary way. We are going to see what we can learn from the narrative of Gideon that may prepare us to be used by God in an extraordinary way, we will understand that – It’s In You.
After Joshua led Israel to occupy the Promised Land, the people of Israel served the Lord throughout his lifetime. But after Joshua’s generation died, Israel turned away from the Lord God. During this time the nation of Israel was occasionally led by Judges who were raised up by God to call the people together for common good and to bring them back to proper worship of God. Typically there was a cry from the people for justice and salvation from an enemy and then God, in his Mercy would raise up a leader.
Just before our scriptures unfold, the land had peace for 40 years. Then the people again start doing evil in God’s sight. In our text we find for the past 7 years God has allowed the people of Israel to be attacked and abused. They brought it on themselves because of their Idolatry and disobedience. They are living in the Promised Land but fighting all the different neighbors that they failed to remove when they first entered the land. They have even taken on religious practices strictly forbidden by God.
• Throughout the era of the Judges we see a repeated cycle of God’s blessing
• Spiritual complacency
• Sin – Idolatry
• Suffering at the hands of enemies
• A cry for help
• God’s deliverance through someone He raised up – in this case, Judges
• Gideon is one of the people God raises up during this time to lead the Israelites
Now the time leading up to the specific events found in our text this morning concerning Gideon are that Israel has been sinning by turning to false gods and the Lord has given them into the hands of the Midianties. The Midianites would attack the Israelites and take their crops and destroy what they did not take. This had been going on for about 7 years when God came to Gideon with a simple message – It’s In You.
It is at this point that we are first introduced to Gideon. We find him doing the work of a farmer. He is Threashing Wheat, which is pretty normal stuff. Except of one detail, he was THREASHING WHEAT IN A WINEPRESS. The Bible talks about using Oxen in the process of threashing wheat. They would walk around a post and drag a log or a sled with weight or a person riding on it to crush the grain.
• That is what Gideon was trying to do
• Clean up enough wheat to feed somebody, maybe his family or to sell
• However, he was trying to do this working in a winepress
Normally a threshing floor was on top of a hill to take advantage of the wind from any direction. A floor might also be in a valley where the wind is fairly constant. The evening breeze caught the chaff and let the grain kernels fall to the ground. A wine press on the other hand was normally down in a valley. It was a stone pool often carved out of rock. The grapes were smashed and the juice collected in the reservoir that collected in jars and wineskins.
Gideon is in a winepress that is surrounded on all sides and apparently has a large tree near it – not only a large tree, but the Bible identifies it as an Oak tree.
• This is far from the ideal place to thresh wheat
• Gideon is there driven by fear
• He is afraid of having his food stolen
• He is afraid of the Midianites coming and perhaps take his life
• He is afraid of losing the little he has left
So he is in a winepress threshing wheat to keep what little he can.
• Maybe you are in a winepress right now
• Maybe you are just trying to keep your job
• Maybe you are afraid of not being able to provide for your family
• Maybe you feel like nothing in your life is going right
• Stop focusing on who you say you are and focus on who God says you are
This introduction to Gideon is not exactly a picture of STRENGTH – POWER - COURAGE. It is hard imaging that a man that is hiding out and avoiding his enemy would be called out by God. The angel appears. The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the Oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "THE LORD IS WITH YOU, MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR.”
I imagine that Gideon looks around wondering who in the world is the angel talking to. When he is sure they are alone, he is thinking, sorry man, hate that you came all this distance from wherever you came from but you have the wrong guy. I wonder what makes him react to the angel like he does? He seems to try to put this messenger on the defensive.
• Is it the fight or flight reaction?
• Is it his bitterness toward God that is suddenly set free by the surprise?
• Does he even know during the first few moments that the angel is an angel?
• Gideon tries to make a point, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?
• Every group of people that pass by attack and take what they want from us
• The Midianites are a constant thorn in our side
• They have practically taken over all the farm land down in the valley after we planted the fields
• No one is safe from attack
The angel says, that is why I am here. Using the strength that you already have, God is sending you to take care of the Midianite problem. As far as we know, Gideon has had no personal experience with God up until now. His knowledge of God has come from the stories that speak of amazing actions performed by God on behalf of the chosen people. His faith is heresay from stories that start more than 300 years ago, with just a few mentions of events in between.
• His faith is less about his personal knowledge and experience with God and more on family tradition
• About remembering the stories where God showed up.
• But where had God been lately?
• From his perspective He must not have been very close
Gideon is not exactly the poster child for encouragement and readiness. He is more likely the best example to represent a defeated people. Remember, he is hiding and wanting to avoid conflict. He is trying to place blame for all that is happening on God. He neglects to mention how the people are acting. What they are doing and that they might have some personal level of failure and blame themselves. He is in good company.
• Adam blamed God – The Woman You Gave Me
Two things contributed to his reluctance and hiding: DISAPPOINTMENT and TIMIDITY. Gideon was living a life of FRUSTRATION and FEAR. He felt HELPLESS and HOPELESS because it was obvious to him that God was not answering their prayers.
• Gideon felt that he had nothing to offer to help improve things
• He knew of no leader that was just waiting for the right moment to act
• He knew of no leader sitting on the sidelines waiting to be called in
• There was no Dr. MLK – Malcom X – President Barak Obama waiting on the sidelines
• It was the farthest thing from his mind that he would be called to do something about the problem
• The idea of being a leader was just too crazy for him to have even wondered about
• But, just like most of us he could point out with precision the things that were wrong
• Even with his limited view sitting in a winepress he had an opinion
The Angel Sees Gideon’s potential. It was at this time in his life when he was about at his lowest point that the angel of the Lord climbed down into the winepress with him and greeted him with, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” Gideon was called a “mighty warrior” or “mighty man of Valor” in anticipation of his remarkable bravery. GOD SEES OUR POTENTIAL LONG BEFORE WE DO.
I bet these words stopped Gideon right in his tracks. Think about a time in your life when you were hiding out in the winepress of despair. One thing after another had caved in on you and you felt there was no way out.
• You were experiencing job problems -- sickness
• You felt no one cared what happened to you
• Couldn’t pay your bills, your car was repossessed
• Your friends all let you down and you were depressed besides
• You name it, and it had hit you
• Your self esteem was about as low as it could get
• Then the angel has the nerve to say, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!”
• Somebody might have said something similar to you that showed that they could see your potential
• You say, “No Way, Not Me”
What is interesting here is that the Angel of the Lord did not pay any attention to the hopelessness of the past problems. The angel was there for a specific purpose to call Gideon out--to make something out of the potential he identified in this man. He knew that God could make something out of Gideon but Gideon didn’t realize it at the time. God was patient in the process.
• When God recognizes your potential, sometimes it takes awhile for us to catch up
• He tries to “bring us up to speed” and we are just like Gideon
• “Oh, I am not a mighty warrior
• Oh, I could never do that
• You’ve got to be kidding
• I don’t have any money
• I’m sick and depressed
• I don’t have...I could never...”
Oftentimes we don’t realize our own potential. Just like Gideon, everything we need is already in us. Whatever you have is what it takes. His call is His enabling. Where God guides he provides. Most of the time we are focusing on our own limited strength and abilities. Gideon failed to see how the Lord could work through him. If the Lord strengthens us by His Presence, then we are equipped. We’ve got the goods! We can see our potential actualized.
• Don’t say I don’t have my act together
• Don’t say I don’t have a good prayer life
• Don’t say I don’t have enough Bible knowledge
• Don’t say I need better daily devotions
• Don’t wait until you have your act together
• In all honesty, you already have everything God has given you to fulfill his plan for your life
• My Brothers and Sisters - It’s In You
This is the message that the Angel had presented to Gideon. When the angel sat under the Mighty Oak Tree – do you realize that was symbolic? When we take time to consider a HUGE, STRONG OAK TREE it is amazing to realize that an Oak Tree which the Angel sat under grows from a SMALL ACORN. The transformation of a tiny acorn into a huge oak tree comes after an intricate chain of events. Before an oak can grow to a grand old age, nature must first oversee the process of POLLENATION – FERTILIZATION and dispersal of the seed. The seed already exists within the acorn.
Although it takes many years for an oak to grow from an acorn to a mighty tree, once it does, it provides not only shade, but excellent erosion control, food and shelter for wildlife and eventually, timber. Oak trees can live 200 or more years. The largest oak tree of record is the Wye Oak in the community of Wye Mills in Talbot County on Maryland's eastern shore.
• It is believed to be more than 400 years old
• It measures 32 Feet in circumference
• It is 105 feet tall
• With a crown spread of 158 feet
I don’t think you hear me this morning. Everything that is needed is already in the ACORN. Everything that is needed to grow into a powerful Oak Tree is already in that little Acorn. It does not need anything else, nothing needs to be added. Well what are you saying Bishop?
• Everything you need to be SUCCESSFUL has already been placed inside of you
• God has already placed POTENTIAL inside of you
• Everything you need to MOVE TO THE NEXT LEVEL is already in you
When God calls us He sees us differently than we see ourselves. We see our inadequacies and failures. But God only sees our potential . He is not worried about the things that hold us back or down. He calls us to His vision and his work and all that can be.
The reason why so many fail today is simply because they are relying on their own abilities. It wasn’t Gideon’s talents that God knew he could use; in fact, it was his disabilities God knew he could use. Often times God chooses what is weak to confound the wise. Often God chooses unlikely Men and Women to accomplish great things.
• DAVID was just a little Shepherd Boy; The youngest among his brethern. Yet he was later known as one who killed Bears and Lions and even a Giant Slayer
• RAHAB apparently an Harlot. God used her to house the two Israelite Spies which saved all of her house
• MOSES who was hid as a child to escape death from Pharoah. Later he freed the Israelites from slavery from Egypt
• JEPTHA son of a harlot; knew not his father; own brothers sought to kill him. Yet in the end, those who cast him out sought him and he later led the children of Israel to victory
--Stopped by tell you - It’s In You
--God has equipped you to Succeed – - It’s In You
--Whatever God has placed in your Spirit Man – It’s In You
--Starting that new business – It’s In You
--Promotion on the job – It’s In You
--Finishing your education – It’s In You
--Teaching Life Seminar – It’s In You
--Teaching Youth Ministry – It’s In You
--God has placed POTENTIAL in you -- It’s In You
