Pastor Allan Kircher
Shell Point Baptist Church
6 January 2012
Judges 2:11,4:1, 6:1, 8:33, 13:1; 1 Cor. 1:27-29
God looks to the faithful
Read the headlines:
Family feud leaves 69 brothers dead!
Powerful Government leader caught in “love Nest.”
Gang rape leads to victim’s death and dismemberment.
Girls at party kidnapped and forced to marry strangers.
Sensational headlines like these/usually found/front page or our newspapers,
• Actually describe some/events/narrated/Judges.
• A dramatic change from book Joshua.
Near end of Joshua, they were resting from war, enjoying the riches of God
They were given the promise land.
• But Book/Judges pictures Israel suffering….
• Invasion, slavery, poverty, civil war
• What happened?
Deuteronomy 6 outlined/nation’s responsibilities. 4 things.
• Love/obey/Jehovah as the only true God.
• Teach your children God’s laws
• Be thankful for God’s blessings
• Separate yourselves/worship/pagan god’s/in Canaan.
(our translation) Do not conform/pattern’s/world.
Unfortunately, the new generation failed in each.
• One of two things was true: either
• Older/generation/failed/instruct /children/grand’s
• Or, if they had, they refused to submit to God’s law.
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My prayers for the New Year will be to fall in love with God’s Word again and again and again and to experience Him in a new way.
My prayers are to include the church body to experience this in their lives.
• The explosion of Pentecost/lives of believers
• The power to sling giants/stones
• To feel/hear/speak revival in our lives.
This coming year let us walk into the promise land.
Not only walk into it, but heed the Word of God in it.
That promise land may be….
• Your own life experience
• Your family healing
• Your relationships with friends/coworkers
this will only come with the power of the almighty.
• Transforming and conforming you into His Image.
• If you’re a child of the king, you’re already there.
• You just have to enable that Spirit to move.
• Enable it by reading/God’s Word/praying/meditating
• Now let’s look and get some guidance/direction from God.
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First, let’s take a walk/Israelites/they escaped Egypt
• Wandering through the desert 40 years.
• Why were they there so long?
• There/blessings/curses throughout this time.
They received blessings and prospered for a while then…
• They forgot their God/got idle/stagnant.
• They just went through the routines
• Took God for granted.
• We don’t do that do we?
We don’t…..
• Just call upon God when we need Him.
• One verse a day doesn’t keep the devil away
• Show up for worship to show up.
We have learned from the past from/Israelites haven’t we?
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This year our time has come/just as it was/Israelites/Joshua
• But we have to be faithful/obedient/reverent/humble.
The Bible says “the nation of Israel faithfully followed God throughout the life of Joshua and the elders” (Judges 2:7).
• In their faithfulness they were blessed mightily.
• They have seen the mountain top.
• They wouldn’t want to travel back down again.
• They have a new vision, a new and refresh passion.
• They set up Ebenezer, memory stones, milestones to help them remember what The Lord had done.
They’re not going to make the mistake again?
• But as we read, that is not the case.
• Joshua dies/next generation/not know the work of the Lord and what He had done.
• Don’t we forget so easily?
• You see the nation failed/instill/love/devotion for God.
• They failed to live and pass it on/next generation.
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Now this morning we look in The Book of Judges.
• This/cycle for/history of Israel.
• Disobedience/punishment
• Repentance/deliverance/service.
Has this happened in your life? Your family? In this church?
You would think in this cycle/Israel would catch on.
• Cycle continues/over 300 years.
• How many times have you fell/repented/said this won’t happen again?
• Can we learn this year how to break this cycle?
Here’s how it happens in the first place:
• They became consumed/surrounding culture
• Stopped worshiping God/or became very sporadic
• Began worshiping idols of Baal.
• They called the idols Baal/ we have them too.
And they went back and forth: 6 times/Judges you’ll read:
“Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Read with me in Judges 6:1-6
God gave Israel everything they needed to be a great nation.
• God/given/SPBC/everything/they need to be great church.
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He established guidelines for them to live by
• They clearly said, “Do not worship other gods.”
Guidelines we must adhere to also to prosper in 2013
• We need to rid ourselves of those other gods.
• (god’s) that take the place of the Lord.
• Take away from our time/devotion/prayer w/Lord.
For this blatant sin God severely punishes their behavior.
• They have not worshiped with a genuine heart.
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When society contains people of opposing beliefs and lifestyles, it’s easy to get confused and start thinking that tolerance is the same as approval.
God has called the church today not to wield the sword (Rom. 13) therefore we have no authority to eliminate people who disagree with the Christian faith.
We do have obligation before God to maintain a separate walk so we won’t become defiled by those who disagree with us.
We must:
• Seek them by prayer, witness, loving persuasion to win them to Christ.
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The Jews eventually became so accustomed/sinful ways of their pagan neighbors that those ways didn’t seem sinful anymore.
So they became interested in how their neighbors worshipped.
• How they lived their lives.
• Until eventually they started to live like their enemies.
• They began to imitate their ways.
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For believers today, the first step away from the Lord:
• “Friendship with the world” (James 4:4).
• Then leads to “spotted by the world” (James 1:27).
• Next step is to “love the world” (1 John 2:15).
• And then gradually “conformed to the world” (Rom. 12:2).
• This can lead to being “condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32).
• The kind of judgment that came to Lot.(Gen. 19)
• Samson (Judg. 16), and Saul (1 Sam. 15:31).
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When it continues, as it did/Israelites/you fear for your life.
• They scattered/mountains/hiding.
• They reached a point of total desperation.
• This is more than a bad day!
• This lasted for seven years.
But can you see/benefit of/cycle in the lives of the Israelites?
• Where does the cycle end?
• They call out to God and He rescues them!
• Now here’s the thing.
• Sometimes bad things happen to you and me.
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If nothing else that circumstance forces us to rely upon God.
• Can’t rely on the Life alert button.
Talk about Christian’s only going to God when their falling and can’t get up. Only call on God when He is needed.
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Maybe that bad thing is what is needed/turn/eyes back to the Lord!
• But then you got to break the cycle!
• Get rid of the life alert button
• There already an eternal one in your soul!
Maybe the bad things are the good things…
• Are you with me?
• All the oppression/calamity suffered/Israelites
• They are like the trials in our lives…
• The bad things in our life can become the good things
• But we have to respond to them in the right way
• turn our hearts back to the Lord
• Back to greater dependence, obedience, and faith.
Can we make that our NY resolution SPBC?
• Stepping out in faith/expanding our knowledge
• Family devotions/faithfulness to His church.
Remember. It’s not about our circumstance in life, it’s all about our response to our circumstances.
• I mean, what if the end result/circumstance/you face
• What if it develops/deeper faith/willing obedience to God.
• Who is for this?
It’s going to be a banner year if we take heed/this Word of God.
• To reach the lost/truly encumber love in our hearts.
• Children of the King will do this.
• Cry out to God for strength/power/self-control.
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The Israelites cried out to God. God hears their cry and God sends a judge.
• Wait a minute! A judge?
• When you hear the word “judge” what comes to mind
Maybe you picture someone in a black robe issuing out sentences, or putting people in jail.
• But these judges God raised up were prophets, priests, mighty warriors and heroes.
• They were political, spiritual, and military leaders.
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When you read thru Judges/read/three/Deborah,Gideon/Samson.
Each of them has fascinating stories of how God used them to rescue His people.
But these judges were not chosen because of their top rank in the military, their status, nor for their flawless traits.
• God used flawed people
• who were the most unlikely to save a nation
• but they were the most faithful so His name would be great.
1. God uses unlikely heroes.
Please turn/me to Judges 6:11.
• At this point, Gideon is not a mighty warrior!
• Gideon is a farmer!
• Who is found in the wine press threshing wheat.
• He is fearful.
How do we know, because he is hiding under a tree in a winepress threshing wheat.
• I am not an expert
• but wheat is generally harvested in the open
• on a threshing floor so the wind can blow the wheat
• And separate the chaff leaving the wheat to be collected.
Out of survival, Gideon is found threshing the wheat in the wine press, because it was getting close to harvest time and the ruthless barbarians called the Midianites will show up at any moment and wreck any crops in their path.
• They have done this now for 7 years!
• You seeing how God is already working beforehand?
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The angel of the Lord shows up and gives him a nickname, “Mighty Warrior”.
• Gideon basically say’s yeah right, mighty warrior!
• I am the youngest in my family.
• I am the runt!
• My family, they are the weakest in the land.
I am sure if Gideon was in High School he would have been voted “least likely to succeed.”
• But don’t miss this!
• The Lord is calling Gideon.
• The Lord gave Gideon a new name
• and the Lord gives Gideon a promise.
In Judges 6:16, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
• You will find throughout scripture
• when God calls you out and commissions you
• all you have to do is obey Him by faith!
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Faith means:
• obeying/God/spite/what we see/how we feel
• obeying/God/spite/what the consequences might be.
God is calling/commissioning many of you in this fold.
• I can name several here that I have seen the evidence that you have been faithful.
• That you have stepped out the boat.
• And you’re still living!
• You haven’t drowned in the water in that step of faith.
• Keep walking on that water….it’s challenging/but rewarding.
As you will see as the story unfolds Gideon becomes a mighty warrior, but that was not the first character trait God looked for.
2. God looks for those who are faithful.
God tests Gideon’s faithfulness immediately.
Sometimes we want to wait until we are ready to follow God.
• I will on my 40th birthday!
• That is my New Year’s resolution.
• I will next Sunday.
• But you will never be ready.
Remember faithfulness is being willing to obey and follow the Lord as He calls, not when you’re ready.
• When you step out in faith
• Don’t be surprised when testing follows.
• That night Gideon’s faith was tested by the Lord.
Read Judges 6:25-27…
Gideon’s first step of deliverance may have been the most difficult of all, but reformation had to take place at home.
You see, there was no hope of deliverance from outside oppression unless there was first a change/inside.
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What matters is that he followed the Lord faithfully.
• Gideon smashed his father’s altar of Baal and replaced it with an altar to Jehovah.
• Then he sacrificed/father’s prize bull to Jehovah.
• He turned against his father/but followed the Lord
• In his faithfulness God restored his father/Joash
• His father returned to the Lord/defended Gideon.
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This is like the Lord telling us….
First go to your home and clean house.
• Destroy the idols at home!
• Take away the very things at home that create a barrier between you and me, pretty significant task.
Gideon follows the Lord’s command, but he chooses to go under the cover of night.
• You can see why he worked at night.
• The Canaanite/worship/thoroughly infiltrated the nation of Israel.
• His actions caused an immense uproar among the men.
• The mob wanted to kill Gideon
• I would be afraid too.
• What a test.
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The Lord gave Gideon a mission but left the method up to Gideon.
• What is the mission the Lord speaks to of?
• Everyone has one…
• The method of completion is up to you.
3. The Lord honors obedience. He looks for men and women who will step out in faith when He speaks.
• Gideon passes the test. He’s ready right? Wrong.
God says I’m sending you now to battle..to destroy the Midianites, Amalekites, and the eastern peoples.
Gideon summons the tribes of Asher, Zebulun/Naphtali and sent messengers throughout Manasseh.
Gideon/ready/step out of the boat/in the waters/he has his men?
Wrong...Doubt’s God. Don’t we do the same?
Wool fleece on the threshing floor.
• Dew on the fleece/dry ground
Don’t be angry with me, one more request.
Allow me one more test. How many do you want?
• Fleece dry and ground covered with dew.
So now Gideon is ready again
• Gideon gathers 32,000 men/Lord say’s you have to many.
• Sorry, did you say to few?
• No, to many.
• The Lord say’s, tell them to go home if their afraid.
• Fearful, hesitant, uncertain.
• If you are one/these/you’re not going/victory
• 22,000 men leave for home.
• Now, there are 10,000 men left.
• Ok, 10,000 we can do this.
• The Lord say’s wait, whittle this done to 300.
• Down/water/300 lapped the water
• God separated
• Lazy from the alert, uncommitted from the watchful.
This doesn’t sound like a wise battle plan. It doesn’t make sense.
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The Midianite army was made up of 135,000 fighting men.
• By thinning out the Israelites army to 300
• fight with the odds of 450 to 1.
• I would say calling them outnumbered/understatement!
But remember they have something the Midianites do not have, The Lord.
• The Lord told Gideon that they will be victorious.
• The Lord said He would be with them.
Explain the battle.
If the Israelites went into to battle with a full army and won, who would get the glory?
• Wouldn’t they stand and say look at what we did?
• The Israelites won!
• But the Lord gave them unbelievable odds
• against an unbelievable army
• who were led by an unlikely hero
• to make His Name GREAT!
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Think about it
• let’s send a boy into battle a giant named Goliath
• with just three stones/sling,
• Let’s march around a wall/blow trumpets.
• Killing 1000 philistines with jawbone?
• Does not make sense.
• Where are the big guns?
• A stone, a trumpet, jawbone?
I Corinthians 1:27-29 reminds us,
27 God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one can boast in His presence.
GOD USES UNLIKELY HEROES WHO ARE FAITHFUL, TO MAKE HIS NAME GREAT!
• Who are the unlikely heroes here this morning?
• I want to leave you with this challenge this morning.
• Imagine.
If God called you to do something for Him and promised you success, how would you respond?
How would it change you, your family, your community, or church, and how would it transform your relationship with God?
God uses unlikely heroes who are faithful followers, so His name will be made Great!
Are we going to be great this jubilee year?
I wonder who God is going to rise up?
