• A pickup truck came racing by and knocked them off the road into the ditch
• The farmer sued for damages: Including loss of work time, claiming he had a broken leg, some facial injuries, and several cracked ribs that kept him bedridden
• The defense attorney told the judge, "Your honor, shortly after the accident occurred, my client heard the farmer say he had never felt better in his life!"
The farmer explained, “Yes your honor, that is exactly what I said, but let me explain why I said that. After he ran my dog, my horse and me off the road, we were lying in the ditch. The driver of the truck got out of his truck.
• Seeing that my horse had a broken leg, he took out his shotgun and shot my horse to put him out of his misery.
• Then noticing that my dog was bleeding and suffering terribly, he shot my dog.
Then he stood over the top of my mangled body, holding his gun, and asked, “How are you feeling?” I said, “Never felt better in my life!"
Today we want to talk about another farmer that had some problems of his own. His name was Gideon. The angel of the Lord appeared unto Gideon, and said he was a, “mighty man of valour!”
WHAT MADE GIDEON SUCH A MIGHTY MAN OF VALOUR?
He goes down in Hebrews 11 as one of the great heroes of the faith. We see from the scriptures:
• It was not because of his charming personality
• It was not because he came from an affluent family
• It was not because of his achievements in academics
Look at Judges 6:12 “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.”
Look at the word “Valour”, this is the Hebrew word, chayil, (khah'-yil) which means MIGHT, POWER, RICHES, STRENGTH, STRONG, SUBSTANCE.
When you take adjectives like this to describe a man, you know you are not talking about an ordinary man. But notice, WHY HE WAS NO ORDINARY MAN, “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, THE LORD IS WITH THEE, thou mighty man of valour.”
Some might be saying, “Preacher, the Lord is with everyone, He is omnipresent, wherever man is, God is there.” This is true, but the scripture here is talks about GOD BEING WITH GIDEON IN A VERY SPECIAL WAY!
Illus: For example, you fellows remember when you got married. The church was full of people, and you were with all of your guests that were there. But there was a very special girl that had stolen your heart, and you were with her in a way that was different from everyone else.
She was so special to you that you could care less if everybody else went home, just as long as she stayed. SHE WAS AND STILL IS PRECIOUS TO YOU!
We can be in a crowd of people, but at the same time we are with many, there can be one special person there that stands out above all others.
Illus: This is how Paul Harvey must have felt when he was inducted into the radio Hall of Fame. When he gave his induction speech, he told everyone that this was one of the greatest moments of his life. He could have compared that moment in his life to many wonderful things that had happened to him, but he compared that very special time when he was inducted in the hall of fame, to the thrill of kissing his wife.
We have these very special relationships in our lives that are different from all the rest. And we know that THIS VERY SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP Gideon had with the Lord, was something he wanted, because God does not force Himself on anyone.
You see, we have a world full of people that do not want God in their lives. They want to fill their lives with sin, and the activities of this world, and there is no room in their lives for God.
Illus: God gives them a 168 hours a week, and they will not give him one hour a week. They do not want God in their lives. And God honors their wishes and stays out.
But Gideon was not this way. God was with this MIGHTY MAN OF VALOUR! He was no ordinary man. Let’s look at his life. First we need to look at -
I. THE CALL OF GIDEON
A. THE PERSON
Look at Judges 6:11, "And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah…”
Notice, the angel of the Lord appeared unto this mighty man of valour! HE WAS NO ORDINARY MAN. However, we have a lot of ORDINARY people today who claim they have had the same kind of experience. Sometimes we will hear them say:
• God appeared to them in a dream
• The Lord Jesus appeared to them in a dream
• The Angel of the Lord appeared to them in a dream
When we hear these ordinary people talk like this, we can’t help but wonder what are they smoking, or eating before they go to bed.
Now, we do not have any problem with these ORDINARY people, putting themselves on the same level of the UN-ORDINARY people, like the Apostle Paul and of Gideon, who had these experiences. They can claim anything they want to claim. What we have a problem with is that they insist that we must have confidence in their claims.
But there have always been those who made claims that God showed them THIS or THAT!
Illus: For example, Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon cult, claims the angel Moroni appeared to him with golden tablets, and he wrote the Mormon Bible from those golden tablets. But the only problem is:
• This Mormon Bible has had over 1200 corrections, and they are still making more corrections
• This angel Moroni, that Joseph Smith claimed appeared to him, took the tablets back to heaven with him
Now he can make that claim, but I do not have to believe it!
There have always been men and women who have made ridiculous claims, but also there are people who will believe anything they hear.
There are some folks that you can walk up to, and look spiritual, and tell them that God appeared to you in a space shuttle, and they will look you in the face and say, “Praise God, that’s wonderful!”
There have always been those who have MADE CLAIMS, and those who have believed SUCH CLAIMS! But we do not have to believe what they claim. The only thing we have to believe as Christians, is what this Bible teaches.
Illus: People like this remind me of the fellow who stood up in front of a congregation one day, and he said God gave him a vision with large letters “PC”, that appeared in the clouds. He said, PC stood for Preach Christ. After several years of doing this, and things were steadily getting worse, he appeared before that same congregation and said, “A few years ago I stood before you, and I told you the Lord gave me a vision of these large letters “PC”, that appeared in the clouds.” He said, “I want you to know, PC did not mean PREACH CHRIST, it meant PLANT CORN!”
Most ORDINARY Christians will tell you they have never had a vision or a dream of God, the Lord Jesus, or even of an angel. But there are some very ORDINARY people who claim to frequently have visions and dreams.
Humor: I believe it has to do with their DIET! They need to quit eating some of that stuff they are eating before they go to bed.
The Bible says that Gideon was a MIGHTY MAN OF VALOUR. He was no ORDINARY MAN, GOD WAS WITH HIM, and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him.
But notice this, he might have looked like an ordinary man in the sight of men, but in the sight of God HE WAS NO ORDINARY MAN.
If Gideon went to school with us, he would not be the kind of person that everyone would have voted MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED! As far as we can tell.
• He had no natural ability
• He did not possess a dynamic personality
• He had no personal qualifications within himself
• He had no qualifications within his tribe
Gideon knew that he did not have these natural abilities. Look at Judges 6:15 “And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”
Illus: He makes you think of another fellow by the name of Moses. When God wanted to use him, he said, “Lord, I have this speech impediment, how can I do that?”
Gideon knew within himself that he was not up to the task that the angel of the Lord had asked him to do. He did not want to be in the spotlight! He did not volunteer for this job.
Illus: Gideon reminds us of the football game when everybody began to holler, “Let Johnny Play, Let Johnny Play”. The coach tried to ignore them. But they kept hollering, “Let Johnny Play! Let Johnny Play!” After about 20 to 30 minutes of this, the coach let Johnny go into the game.
The crowd said, “Let Johnny run with the ball!, Let Johnny run with the ball!” But the coach ignored the fans for about five or ten minutes. And finally he could not take any more, so he sent the message in, “Let Johnny run the ball!” But instead, the quarterback let everybody but Johnny run the ball. The crowd was still hollering, “Let Johnny run the ball”, and finally the coach called the quarterback to the side lines and said, “I sent a message in for Johnny to run the ball, why aren’t you listening to me?” He said, “Coach, I got the message and I called the play to let Johnny run the ball, but Johnny said he does not want to run the ball.”
This is the way Gideon was. He was not like those who must always be in the spotlight. He recognized that he did not have any special talents that stood out above everyone else. This mighty man of valour’s life was filled with humility.
He had a difficult time for he considered himself average. He told the Lord “…Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”
Illus: A scandal is brewing in the hallowed halls of education. It has to do with test scores given to our young people. A West Virginia doctor noticed some time back, that all 50 states claim that their students score above average on standardized test scores.
Obviously, by definition it is impossible for everyone to be "above average." Average is what most people are. Nobody, though, wants to admit it.
Gideon was not a man who was going around TOOTING HIS OWN HORN! He said:
• My family is poor in Manasseh
• I am the least in my father’s house
GIDEON was exactly the man the Lord was looking for to do the job.
You see there are people who are always more qualified it seems, than the people God has selected to use. But God can not use them, because they are so PROUD. If God was to use them, they would use the task God called them to do to exalt themselves.
This is why 1 Cor. 1:27,28 states, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.”
Notice, God can only use the HUMBLE. But notice something else, we have looked at THE PERSON, but look at-
B. THE PLACE
Notice what Gideon was doing when the angel of the Lord appeared before him.
Look at Judges 6:11, "And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.”
He is busy doing something. God can not use PROUD PEOPLE, and God can not use LAZY PEOPLE.
Listen, across this nation, our churches are filled with talented people, but yet across this nation, church after church today is struggling. Why? Because many churches are filled with LAZY people.
Illus: Our churches today remind us of the work force in this country. There are people who believe that the reason the business man goes into business, is to create jobs.
No, he does not go into business to create jobs, he goes into business to make money.
• And listen, if an employee is not willing to work and make him some money he can not use them.
• And listen, if you are not willing to work, God can not use you either.
God can not use some because of two reasons:
1. Some are too PROUD for God to use
2. Some are too LAZY for God to use
Notice, when God selected Gideon, he was the ideal candidate for God to use, because the Bible says he “threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.” In other words, he was doing something.
Illus: When the Lord called Peter, he was mending his nets. He was doing something. God knows it is no use to ask some people to do things, because if He did, they are to lazy to do them!
God will always find men and women who are HUMBLE and who will WORK.
We have looked at the CALL OF GIDEON, but let us also look at-
II. THE CHALLENGE OF GIDEON
Many folks like sports because they like a challenge. While each day ORDINARY men are doing what everybody else is doing, there are others out there that are pushing themselves to the limit to become the best they can become.
But the greatest challenge for man can be found in serving the Lord. This is the reason that many will not come to the Lord and serve Him, they are not UP TO THE CHALLENGE! So they fall in line and follow the crowd like ORDINARY men do!
When it comes to Gideon, this dirt farmer was facing one of the biggest challenges he ever faced. He knew that within himself he was incapable, but yet the Lord was calling him to do a job.
God has a way of taking our WEAKNESSES and using them to be our STRENGTHS.
Illus: A fellow came to D.L. Moody and said, “I was listening to you preach, and you literally butchered the English language.” Mr. Moody with a smile on his face said, “I am using my bad English to preach the gospel with, what are you doing with your good English for the Lord?”
Gideon knew he was incapable! WHAT A CHALLENGE, TO DO SOMETHING THAT YOU KNOW WITHIN YOURSELF YOU ARE NOT CAPABLE OF DOING!
The apostle Paul felt the same way, but he said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Gideon had the challenge to face the enemies of God. There were two kinds of enemies which Gideon had to face.
A. THE ENEMIES WITHOUT
Judges 6:3 “And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them.”
These were some cruel and evil people. In fact, they were so wicked, that God gave Saul instructions to UTTERLY DESTROY EVERYONE OF THEM! (1 Sam. 15:3)
• Amalek was cunning (1 Sam. 15:2) - He lay in wait ( a trap)
• Amalek was cowardly (Deut. 25:17 19) - He attacked from the rear and struck the weak first
• Amalek was a continual enemy of Israel (Ex. 17:16) from generation to generation
Gideon had to fight THE ENEMIES WITHOUT, but also he had to fight-
B. THE ENEMY WITHIN
Every believer must face enemies from without, yet the biggest enemy that we all have, can be seen every morning when we get up and look into the mirror. One of the greatest enemies is SELF.
Look at Judges 7:2 "Mine own hand hath saved me." Every believer must battle the most common temptations of:
• SELF CONFIDENCE
John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
Illus: One young preacher boy went to preach at a large church. All week he prepared his sermon, and in every sense of the word it was a masterpiece. He walked up to the platform very proudly, and preached his sermon, but it turned out to be a dud! He knew the sermon was a failure, and he knew the large crowd that came to hear him preach knew it was a failure. When he got through he walked off the platform humbly. A dear saint of God put his arms around him and said, “Son, if you would have walked to the platform the way you walked off, it would been a success!”
• SELF CENTEREDNESS
Psa. 100:3 “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
God made Gideon a mighty man of Valor because he-
• Recognized he was not capable within himself
• Recognized his enemies from WITHOUT
• Recognized his enemies from WITHIN
Conclusion: God took this dirt farmer, a mighty man of valour, and 300 men, and pulled off one of the greatest military victories that has ever occurred.
I. THE CALL OF GIDEON
A. THE PERSON
B. THE PLACE
C. THE PROVISION
II. THE CHALLENGE OF GIDEON
A. THE ENEMIES WITHOUT
B. THE ENEMY WITHIN
