The Calling Of A Cynic

Well, spending very much time at all reading through the stories of the Bible, it doesn't take long, does it, to develop a certain affinity for particular individuals that we read about.

All of us probably have people that we would say, well, this is my favorite person to read about in the Bible, or this is the person that I love the most.

And there's many people that we read about in the Scriptures, our love for them, our concern for them is really rooted in the fact that they are such great examples to us.

None of them are perfect examples, but we look up to some of them, right, as spiritual examples.

We see David against Goliath, and we want to be that courageous for God, right?

We see Paul and his efforts in serving the Lord in so many missions endeavors and the way that he sacrificed even his own health and body for the good of the Lord and the good of his kingdom.

And we think that's such a wonderful example of how I would love to live my life, and we love those characters because of that.

We're not enamored with them so much because we relate to them, but because we want to.

We hope to. We want to be like them.

They feel much like biblical mentors to us in our Christian walk.

But they often feel a lot like ideals to pursue more than peers that are walking alongside of us, don't they?

Then there's a different kind of person that we love as we read through the Scriptures,

and it's not so much that we look up to them because there's not always a lot to look up to.

A lot of times it's because we find them immediately relatable in their various weaknesses and failures.

And I find that one of the most relatable individuals in all the Bible is this man, Gideon, who's at the heart of this section of Judges.

Gideon was a cynic who was consumed with fear and lived in constant need of reassurance from God.

His life was a spiritual rollercoaster even.

He has moments, as we read through these next few chapters, he has moments of incredible faith and of strong leadership that is exemplary.

And then there's also times of great spiritual dearth in his life.

Times where he commits sin that devastates his family.

And not only his family, but the nation as a whole as they look to him as a leader of sorts during this time after he defeats Midian.

He's just up and down as far as his spiritual life is concerned and his obedience and faithfulness to God is concerned.

He's not typically a person that comes to mind when we're trying to rank the people of greatest faith in the Bible.

Yet he still makes it into that great chapter of faith in Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

But he's not really the one that immediately comes to our mind, is he?

That makes his life a helpful reminder, I think, to us that it's not the strength of our faith that ultimately matters.

It's the object of our faith, isn't it?

I don't know if you ever go through life and you sit in church and where you look at these people that you follow on YouTube or Facebook or whatever.

And you just think, man, these people are just like, they're so much better Christians than me.

I can never be like that.

And then you start to mess with your mind a little bit and you think, you know, maybe I just don't have it.

Maybe the love of the Father isn't in me because I'm not like this other person here.

I don't think like that.

I haven't grasped things like this other person.

And it beats us down.

We beat ourselves down in that.

And sometimes we need somebody like Gideon to come along the way and say, and just remind us, you know,

this is not about if you have more faith than another person.

It's not about what you do.

It's not about the strength of your faith.

It's about the object of that faith that brings us through.

And, of course, that matters when the object is the Lord himself.

I love Gideon because I am Gideon.

I very much like him.

And in the end, Gideon's story reveals to me God's incredible, indescribable, incomprehensible grace.

That seems to be a theme through our service this morning, doesn't it?

I didn't intend for it to be that way.

A lot of churches are, today is Reformation Day, right?

As Tuesday marks the anniversary of Luther nailing his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg 500 years ago or so.

And a lot of people are celebrating that, which puts a huge emphasis on grace.

To be honest with you, every Sunday at Lakeside Bible Church is Reformation Sunday.

Every Sunday is a Sunday that's focused on grace and on the grace of God.

And I find that in Gideon's story, that's really what begins to come to the surface, as it does with all of the other judges.

We see tremendous grace and patience and love and mercy from God, which encourages me.

Because on the days when I'm most like Gideon in his failures and in his weaknesses,

I can look to a passage like this and be reminded of the great, marvelous grace of our Lord.

Lord willing, we're going to spend the next few weeks looking through these chapters that cover the Gideon cycle in Judges.

And what we want to do is keep one eye on the big picture, and that is what God is doing in and through the nation of Israel.

So we don't want to forget that.

We don't want to lose the big picture.

We don't want to lose the forest for the trees, okay?

But we're going to keep the other eye on the trees, too, right?

The other eye is going to be set on the finer details of how God is working through his servant, through Gideon.

So we want to see God working on the big scale through Israel,

and then we want to also be mindful of how God is working through this man, Gideon.

And today we're going to consider God's call of Gideon,

seeing both his design in it for Israel and then also his grace toward this man and other cynics like him, okay?

First thing I'd like for you to see is a message from God.

A message from God.

Look at verse 11 with me again.

The angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Ebiah's right,

while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

So the story opens with Gideon struggling under the oppression of Midianite,

these Midianite marauders, which we studied about last Sunday.

Just as a reminder, for seven years, God allowed this coalition of semi-nomadic tribes led by the tribes related to Midian.

They would invade the land of Israel every year.

They would invade its territory.

They were stealing all of its harvest.

They were stealing all of its livestock.

They were laying waste to the land as they came in, so there would be nothing to recover from thereafter.

They were quite literally stealing food from the mouths of the Israelites,

and many of them were having to go and live and retreat to these mountain caves

until it was safe enough for them to come back to their homes,

perhaps specifically in the region around the Jezreel Valley.

And we're introduced to Gideon here through the eyes of this messenger of God,

this angel of God who looked on as Gideon tried to hide a portion of his family's harvest.

He's beating out the wheat, but he's not doing it on the threshing floor.

Typically, this would be done on an elevated place, somewhere where there's lots of wind,

and they could easily divide the chaff from the grain and so on and so forth.

Gideon isn't doing it there.

Did you notice where he's actually beating out the grain?

He's doing it in the confines of the wine press.

Why?

It tells us.

He's trying to hide it from the Midianites.

See, it opens here with this in view.

Gideon, this man who has suffered for seven years now,

whose family has suffered for seven years.

We get this picture of a frustrated, beleaguered individual doing everything he can just to survive.

That's his situation.

Look at verses 12 and 13 now.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him.

After watching him a little while, perhaps he came down to where the wine press was.

I don't know.

And he says,

The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.

Now, that's an unexpected title.

Because this mighty man of valor wasn't very mighty when he's hiding in the wine press, beating out the grain.

Interesting, isn't it?

Verse 13.

And Gideon said to him,

Please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?

Where's all of his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted, saying,

Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?

But now the Lord has forsaken us, given us into the hand of Midian.

It's a real Debbie Downer here, isn't he?

We learned in our previous study last Sunday

that when we look at God's discipline through the lens of Scripture and with a heart of faith,

it moves us from despising the discipline of the Lord to rejoicing in it.

And then Hebrews chapter 12 cautions us about this.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

And it notes for us that an alternative perspective of our trials

and the things that God allows us to endure this life,

even as it relates to his corrective discipline,

that an alternative perspective than a heart of faith

actually hardens our hearts further.

And what it produces in us is bitterness rather than growth.

Let me just read this verse to you.

Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 15.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God,

that no, quote, root of bitterness springs up and calls us trouble,

and by it many become defiled.

You can go back and study that passage this afternoon.

This is set in the context of the discipline of God,

the chastising hand of God for his people.

And the bitter root that the writer refers to,

it alludes to a passage in Deuteronomy,

which describes someone who turns away from God

and then spreads their rejection quickly like poison to others.

That's the picture in Deuteronomy 29.

And the writer of Hebrews, he's playing on that,

and he says if we have a different perspective of the difficulties of our lives,

if we have a perspective that's not filled with faith,

it's going to produce this poisonous root.

We're going to become embittered toward God,

and then we're going to spread that poisonous bitterness

toward the other people in our lives.

In other words, what he intends to say is that misinterpreting God's discipline

can lead to a deadly, contagious form of apostasy,

something that we might call spiritual cynicism.

And I think we find a bit of this here with our friend Gideon.

Gideon acknowledges here the angel of the Lord,

says the Lord is with you,

and what is it that he immediately says?

Yes, yes, this is, it's all the Lord's fault.

He acknowledges,

the Lord has given us into the hand of Midian.

But how can you possibly say that the Lord is with us?

That's his response.

Instead of listening to the message of the prophet

from verses 8, 9, and 10 in this same chapter,

Gideon becomes a cynic

who denies God's goodness,

denies God's love.

God's messenger proclaimed that God was with Gideon

and hinted even at Gideon's future

as a mighty warrior for God's people,

but Gideon responds cynically.

He makes a complaint against the Lord instead.

Yeah, if the Lord's with us,

where is he now?

I've listened to my parents and my grandparents

talk all about the wonderful deeds of the Lord,

but where is God when I need him?

He seemed to have been there for mom and dad.

Where is he now?

If the Lord was with us,

we wouldn't be in this mess.

So I don't know who you are,

but I can say for sure,

the Lord is not with us.

The Lord has forsaken us.

Does that complaint sound very familiar to you?

You ever read your Bible

or listen to somebody give testimony

about the goodness of God

and all you can do is just kind of roll your eyes

because you think, you know,

it's really wonderful that they think

that there's these good things happening in their life

and that God's responsible,

but where's God when I need him?

You know, if the Lord was really with us

as we've been singing all morning,

I wouldn't be in this terrible mess that I'm in.

We develop this hardened cynicism,

just like Gideon.

And fortunately for Gideon and for us,

the messenger of God presses on.

Look at verse 14.

And the Lord turned to him and said,

go in this might of yours

and save Israel from the hand of Midian.

Do not I sin to you?

And he said to him,

please, Lord,

how can I save Israel?

Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh

and I'm the least in my father's house.

We see this often in the scriptures too,

don't we?

Through his messenger,

God declares that he was raising Gideon up

and that he was going to empower him

to fight against Midian,

but Gideon misses the whole point here.

The emphasis of God's message

through the angel of God

was that he was sending Gideon

with his power.

That's the emphasis of what

this messenger is saying.

The might of yours

that he says here in verse 14,

that's not something significant

about Gideon.

That's not something significant

about his strength

or about his accolades

as a warrior.

That has nothing to do with Gideon.

It was a promise of empowerment

from God himself.

Go, Gideon.

Do not I sin to you, Gideon.

But Gideon completely misses the point.

In an episode that's reminiscent

of Moses' encounter with God

in the burning bush,

Gideon judges this message

from the messenger of God

on the basis,

not of God's strength,

but on the basis of his own weakness.

Notice how he responds.

He says,

what are you talking about?

My family,

we're the lowest on the totem pole

when it comes to the tribe of Manasseh.

And guess what?

Manasseh's not really glowing

as far as the 12 tribes are concerned.

And even among my family,

I'm the least.

I'm the runt.

What do you mean

I'm going to be the one

to do something with Midian?

You see,

his cynicism robbed him

of an ability

to comprehend the weight

of God's message.

But still,

the greatest promise

is still yet to come.

Look at verse 16.

Here's how the Lord responds.

He's so patient, isn't he?

And the Lord said to him,

but I will be with you

and you shall strike the Midianites

as if they are just one man.

One of God's most important

and most prevalent promises

in all the scriptures

is this phrase,

I will be with you.

I'll be with you, Gideon.

The promise of God's presence

and his power

is sufficient

to overcome

all of our weaknesses.

It's sufficient

to overcome

all of our failures,

all of our sinfulness.

There's a lot of people

who foolishly

put faith in themselves.

They would have been

the ones who,

when this messenger comes,

says,

well, of course

I'm going to be the one

to defeat Midian, right?

Put a lot of pride

in themselves.

But a cynic

doesn't put faith

in anything,

including himself.

He says,

no.

Nobody's going to beat Midian.

You know why?

Because the Lord's

not actually with us.

That's Gideon's perspective here.

That's his position.

And here's the thing.

Whether your problem

is pride

or cynicism

or something else,

God calls us

to trust in him alone.

It remains the same.

What's God saying

to Gideon?

Trust me.

I will be with you.

Dale Ralph Davis

has this great paragraph

in his commentary

on this passage.

He says,

basically,

God has nothing else

or more to offer you

in relation to this phrase,

I will be with you.

You can go through

a lot with that promise,

he says.

It doesn't answer

your questions

about details.

It only provides

the essential.

Nothing about when

or where

or how

or why.

Only the what

or better,

the who.

But I will be with you

and that is

enough.

This is part and parcel

of the gospel message,

isn't it?

Mere religion

relies on

man's strength

to deal with

the problem of sin

and death

in our lives.

agnostic cynicism

says that there's

no possible way

to ultimately deal

with sin

and death

in our lives.

There's no way

to fix it.

We're just doomed.

But the Christian gospel

looks at the person

and the work

of Jesus Christ

who's already defeated

sin

and death

on our behalf.

And it's through

Jesus

that God says

to us,

I will be with you.

I will do

what you will

never be able

to do for yourself.

Trust in me

alone.

Gideon,

trust in me

alone.

Christian,

trust in me

alone.

Cynic,

trust me.

It's a message

from God.

Number two,

we see a sign

from God.

Sign from God.

Look with me

at verse 17.

Gideon warms up

a little bit

and he says to him,

if now I have

found favor

in your eyes,

then show me

a sign

that it is you

who speak with me.

Please do not

depart from here

until I come

to you

and bring out

my present

and set it

before you.

And the angel

of God said,

I will stay

till you return.

So the message

from God

had officially

grabbed Gideon's

attention,

right?

But his fear

and his skepticism

again,

would not allow

him to trust

God's word

apart from

some supernatural

sign.

And all through

this story

and into chapter

seven and chapter

eight,

we're going to see

that Gideon

is in constant

need of

reassurance

from God.

Always asking

for a sign

to confirm

God's promise.

Hardened

by his

circumstances

perhaps,

filled with

fear,

Gideon

lacks

the faith

to simply

take God

at his

word.

What is it

about us

that demands

that God

put his money

where his

mouth is,

so to speak,

every time

he gives us

a promise?

It's like we

can't trust him

unless there's

always some new

sign,

always some new

writing in the sky,

some new

revelation,

temptation,

or he's

not trustworthy

anymore.

Has God not

done enough

to prove himself?

Has he not

done enough

for you?

Has he not

given us

enough reason

in his word

to trust him?

He's got a

100% success

rate on

delivering on

his promises,

yet we still

find it so hard

to just simply

rest in those

promises.

Now I think

Gideon is

demanding a sign

here in part

out of fear.

I think it's a

weakness of fear,

it's a lack of

faith,

I think his

cynicism is

playing a role

in this as

well,

and sometimes

that's what

we do.

We sense

maybe through

the preaching

of the word

or reading

of the Bible,

we sense

that there's

something in

our lives

that God

is dealing

with and

God wants

to do or

God is

convicting us

of,

and we're

demanding that

God do

something else

to confirm

what he's

actually telling

us in his

word,

and that's

coming out of

a heart of

fear.

We're afraid

to look foolish

perhaps,

we're afraid

that maybe

we just

haven't figured

it out just

right,

or we're

just filled

with sin,

maybe whatever

it is.

Sometimes that's

why we demand

these signs,

and we want

something that's

unique and

personal to

us,

but other

times we

demand a sign

because of

this innate

cynicism that

I think is

evident in

Gideon here

as well.

A cynic

demands a

sign,

100%

indisputable

evidence of

God's

existence and

God's

goodness and

God's

trustworthiness,

and the

reason they

demand such

a sign is

because they

don't think

such evidence

is actually

possible.

This is the

heart of a

cynic,

right?

You see

what the

word says?

That doesn't

matter.

They hear the

testimony of

others,

that doesn't

matter.

only what

matters is

that they

can make

their demand

on God

and say,

God,

I will only

follow you

and obey

you and

believe you

if you do

this and

this and

this and

this,

and they

make it so

impossible,

of course,

nothing's

impossible for

God,

but they make

it so

impossible because

they don't

actually think

that God's

ever going to

answer that.

They don't

actually think

that any of

that evidence

is actually

possible for

them.

So what they're

doing is they're

making a demand

for a sign

in order that

they may defend

their cynicism

because at the

end of it,

they can say,

look,

we prayed and

we asked for

God to do

all these

things and

look,

he hasn't

done any

of it.

In fact,

our lives

are worse.

I was

right.

Here's what

the cynic

does,

right?

We demand

size.

We want

this thing.

Last night,

I went to bed

thinking about

this last night,

but there were

these two teenagers

that came up to

the popcorn table

at the event we

were working at

last night.

They were 13

years old.

One of them

was a Muslim

and the other

girl,

she's 13 years

old.

And as we're

chatting just

briefly at the

popcorn table,

she tells me

that she's not

religious at all.

She's not

interested in any

kind of religion.

And so I gently

pressed on that

just because I was

curious.

How does a 13

year old just

decide that they

don't want any

kind of religion

at all?

And we had just

a brief conversation

and at some

point I said

something along

the lines of,

what I would

encourage you to

think about is

that there must

be some kind

of truth out

there.

There must

be something.

Even if you

disagree with what

I believe,

there must be

something.

And she looks

back and she

doesn't try to

defend that.

She looks back

and she just

says,

no,

no,

no.

That's all she

would say.

she has so

hardened her

heart,

even as a

13 year old

girl.

It's not that

she denies that

there is truth

there.

She just doesn't

want to believe

it even if she

sees it.

It's that

cynical heart,

isn't it?

Gideon is getting

there.

I think there's

some different

things going on

with Gideon too,

but some of us

maybe are there

in a position

like that.

You're making

these demands

for God

because you

don't think

God's actually

going to do it.

He might not.

But the issue

isn't with what

God's willing to

do.

The issue is

with your

hardened heart.

But God's so

very patient

with us.

Notice how

long-suffering

he is with

Gideon's demands.

Look at verse

19.

So Gideon went

into his house

and he prepared

a young goat

and unleavened

cakes from an

ephah of flour.

That's a lot

of flour.

That's 22

liters worth of

flour.

This is a

massive cake.

The meat he

put in a basket

and the broth he

put in a pot

and he brought

them to him

under the

terebinth

and presented

them.

The angel

of God

said to him

take the

meat and

the unleavened

cakes and

put them on

this rock and

pour the broth

over them and

he did so.

Then the angel

of the Lord

reached out the

tip of the

staff that was

in his hand and

touched the

meat and the

unleavened cakes

and fire

sprang up from

the rock and

consumed the

meat and the

unleavened cakes

and the angel

of the Lord

vanished from

his sight.

I don't know

what Gideon

was expecting.

Certainly it

wasn't something

like this,

right?

He runs into

his house.

This would have

taken time.

This would have

taken a lot of

time.

He runs into

his house.

He prepares this

enormous meal,

no doubt as we

see in other

places in the

Old Testament.

He presents it

to the angel of

God as an

offering or a

show of respect

in order that he

may get a sign

from him as

payment in regard

for this show

of respect,

right?

And he brings

out all of this

unleavened bread

and he takes care

of the goat and

he prepares the goat

and he sets it out

there and he brings

the broth and

then the angel

of God doesn't

treat it like a

meal.

That's what's

strange,

isn't it?

He treats it

like an offering

and he begins to

instruct Gideon

on what to do

and he says,

take the stuff

and the broth

and pour it over

the other stuff

and put it on

this rock and

Gideon does all

this stuff.

So he instructs

Gideon on what

to do and then

he takes the tip

of his staff and

he touches the

meat and suddenly

fire burst out,

not from his

staff,

from the rock.

It just bursts

into flames.

It consumes all

the meat and

all the bread.

Gideon,

no doubt in

astonishment at

that moment,

looks up and

suddenly the angel

of God has

vanished.

He's nowhere to

be seen now.

He's completely

gone.

There's your sign,

Gideon.

I don't know what

you were looking

for, but here it

is and I think it

begins to soften

Gideon's heart,

doesn't it?

God was very

patient to do this

for Gideon.

I don't think we

should take that to

mean that he will

always do that for

us.

Sometimes that's what

we expect, right?

We go to a passage

like this and we

say, well, if God

did all that for

Gideon, then surely

he'll do it for me.

So we just encourage

ourselves in the

demands that we

give to God and the

truth is God's

probably not going

to do any of that

for you.

You know why?

Because he's already

done enough for you.

The sign we have

now is the sign of

the Spirit that

comes and transforms

our lives.

God calls us to

trust him, not test

him.

And that's something

we need to learn.

In his kindness, he

does often answer even

our most faithless

prayers.

But his desire is that

we trust his word,

relying even on how

he has proven himself

to others that we

read about, even

Gideon.

Number three, we see

the peace of God.

So we've seen a

message from God, we've

seen a sign from God.

Now we see the

peace of God.

Now we have to be

careful, let me just

preface what I'm about

to say with this.

We have to be careful

not to read new

covenant realities into

an old covenant

narrative.

That can be a very

dangerous thing to do

and you don't want to

do that.

But if we were to use

gospel language to

describe this scene,

I think this would

be akin to what we

would say would be

Gideon's moment of

conversion.

Or at least it gives

us a significant

parallel to what

conversion looks like

for us who are under

the gospel of grace

and in the New

Testament time.

And I want you to

keep that in mind.

Look at verse 22.

Then Gideon perceived

that he was the angel

of the Lord.

Gideon said,

Alas, O Lord God,

for now I have seen

the angel of the

Lord face to face.

This is a markedly

different response

than we saw before.

Alas is an expression

of grief and concern.

Gideon gets his sign

but he's not excited

afterwards.

He's terrified

afterwards.

Having realized that

he had been in the

presence of this angel

from God, Gideon was

now afraid for his

life.

But his fear wasn't

of Midian this time.

Now his fear is of

God.

I have stood face to

face with God

through his messenger.

Gideon's saying,

and he expects now

to die as a result.

How foolish,

says Barry Webb.

How foolish all his

anger seems now.

And how dangerous.

If only he could

retract his outburst

about everything

being God's fault.

But it's too late

for that now.

All he can do

is blurt out

his fear

like a condemned

man.

I love this statement

from Dale Ralph Davis

as well.

There is nothing

amazing about grace.

As long as

there's nothing

fearful

about holiness.

What is it that's

happening with Gideon

here?

The holiness

of God

is a terrifying

reality

for those

whose eyes

are open to it.

That's what's

happening with Gideon.

The Lord has been

gracious to actually

open his eyes

to the Lord's

holiness.

And when our eyes

are open to God's

holiness,

an encounter with

God,

it does not

initially bring

feelings of hope.

It brings feelings

of despair.

because when we

encounter the

holiness of God,

when we're awakened

to it,

it simultaneously

causes us to

come to grips

with our own

unholiness.

And when this

moment comes,

all we're left

doing is crying

out for mercy.

Alas,

O Lord God,

have mercy

on me,

O Lord God.

He has no other

cry to make.

How foolish

and dangerous

our faithless

cynicism seems

when we finally

have a genuine

encounter with

God.

The God we have

thus far

denied or

rejected or

being

embittered

toward.

But it's through

this despair

that we can hear

the voice of God

speak his peace.

Look at verse

23.

But the Lord

said to him,

Peace be to you.

Shalom,

Gideon.

Do not fear.

You shall not

die.

Then Gideon

built an altar

there to the Lord

and called it

Yahweh is peace.

To this day

it stands at

Ophrah,

which belongs

to the Abiezrites.

Now why does

Gideon call the

place Yahweh

is peace

or the Lord

is peace?

It wasn't

merely about

the announcement

of peace.

It was the

experience

of that peace.

Because of his

earlier statements,

Gideon trembled

at the realization

of encountering

God through

his messenger.

He viewed

himself as

worthy of

death before

the face of

God.

But it was a

declaration of

peace from God

that he heard,

not a declaration

of condemnation.

Isn't that amazing?

Peace be to you,

Gideon.

Do not fear.

You're not

going to die.

I'm not

going to kill

you.

Gideon

experienced

God's grace.

And then it

produced in him

a very genuine,

perhaps for the

first time in his

life,

a genuine

moment of

worship.

Now isn't this

how the movements

of the gospel

work in our

lives?

We have an

encounter with

the holiness of

God,

which produces

fear.

We see his

holiness.

We see our

sinfulness.

All we're left

to do now is to

cry out for

mercy.

And then that

moves us to

this experience

of peace.

God speaks

peace through

the gospel.

And then what

happens immediately

after?

We're driven to

genuine worship.

True

worship.

worship.

Now some of

you have been

trying really

hard to

worship.

But you

can't help but

get the sense

that something

just isn't

right.

You're doing

your best to

sing the songs

and to pray the

prayers and to

follow the

readings and to

understand the

sermons and to

hear the word.

But deep down at

the end of the

service, every

Sunday, Sunday

after Sunday

after Sunday

after Sunday,

you know that

you have not

had a genuine

worship.

You have not

truly worshiped

and you know

it.

It's like you're

pulling on the

rope if you go to

the old churches

with the church

bells, right?

But you know

what I mean?

You send the kid

or whoever it is

and they go and

they ring the bell

and that's what

your worship feels

like Sunday by

Sunday.

You're running to

the rope and

you're singing all

the songs and

praying the prayers

and you're listening

and you're taking

the notes, you're

doing all this

stuff and you're

pulling the rope

and nothing's

happening.

There's no bell

donging up there.

It's just quiet in

your heart.

It feels forced.

In fact, it's not

even really all that

interesting to you.

You're just doing

whatever you can to

get through it and

you're pulling on

that rope and

nothing's happening.

And maybe it's

time for you to

consider whether

or not your rope

is even attached

to the bell.

You cannot truly

worship in spirit

and truth as

Jesus said in

John chapter 4

John 4 · chapter mention

until you have

had a genuine

experience of

grace.

An authentic

moment of

knowing the

peace of God

after realizing

what you deserve

is the wrath

of God.

That's the only

thing that can

move you to

true worship

but it's only

through the

gospel of

Jesus that you

can actually

experience that

grace.

We sing about it

all the time.

Christ our hope

in life and

death.

What truth can

calm the troubled

soul?

God is good.

God is good.

Where is his

grace and

goodness known?

Not in the

goat and the

unleavened bread

and the broth

that suddenly is

consumed by fire

that shoots out

of a rock.

That's not where

his grace and

goodness will

ever be known

for you.

His grace and

goodness is known

in our great

Redeemer's blood.

Our sins as

Gideon knew

well makes us

God's enemies.

It sets us on

the path destined

for God's eternal

wrath but in

love God sends

his sinless son

to take his

wrath in our

place.

On the cross

Christ suffers

Christ suffers

as an atoning

sacrifice for

our sins so

that through

him we can

now truly have

peace with God.

It is through

the cross of

Jesus that God

says to us

peace be to

you.

Peace be to

you.

Not because of

you and not

because of some

sign but because

of Jesus who took

your place

peace be to

you.

This is what

Paul was on

about in

Colossians chapter

one.

God was pleased

through Christ to

reconcile to

himself all

things whether on

earth or in

heaven making

peace by the

blood of his

cross.

And then he

graciously invites

us into this

peace through

simple faith in

what Jesus has

done.

You know what

the cross says?

It says I will

be with you.

Trust me.

It's God's

promise.

You know how

it is received?

Simply by

believing it.

That's Romans

5.

Therefore since

we have been

justified by

faith we have

peace with God

through our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

There will

continue to be

remnants of

Gideon's sin

and fear

throughout the

remaining

chapters but

the importance

of his call

here cannot be

overstated.

Through it we

find these

glimpses, these

gospel glimpses

that is

fulfilled in

Christ.

We see again

and again the

wonder of God's

mercy and love

towards sinners.

we find in

Gideon's call

that God can

transform the

most embittered

cynic.

I don't know

all of you.

I don't know

exactly what

has happened in

your life or

why you're angry

with God if you

are angry with

God or whatever

it may be.

What I do know

is that God's

peace, God's

peace can even

change your heart.

He can transform

your heart.

He can give you

a new heart

action.

He won't answer

all your

questions.

He never

promised to do

that.

And he's not

going to make

everything in

your life better.

That's a false

gospel.

That's not what

he does.

He didn't make

everything in

Gideon's life

better.

In fact, things

are going to get

real hard for

Gideon real fast.

But what he says

is I will be with

you and if you

will trust me,

you will have my

peace and you

can trust him.

Alistair Begg said

one time I was in

a service that was

on, the context of

it was on suffering

and he said when

you cannot sense

his presence, you

can always trust

his word.

And maybe you're

here and you just

need to repeat

that to yourself a

few times.

I don't feel God's

presence in my life

right now.

I don't feel that he

is with me.

The messenger on

Sunday morning

preaching Judges 6

said that the Lord

is with me.

I don't feel that

today.

But what you

need to do is

not take my

word for it.

You need to

trust his word

for it.

You may not

sense his

presence but you

can trust his

word.

The other thing

that this teaches

us is that

God's power

can use the

weakest

and most

fearful of us

as his

instruments of

grace.

That doesn't

get any better

for Gideon and

it's almost

comical to see

how many times

he keeps coming

back to God

with this

just deep

need for

reassurance.

I'll save it

for those studies

to explore it

and laugh at it

but it's just

amazing how

truly weak

Gideon actually

is.

We think of him

as this mighty

warrior.

It's really not

what he was.

He was weak.

He was like us.

Weak.

Cynical.

Constantly in need

of reassurance.

And look at the

way that God

used his life

as an instrument

of grace.

So all praise

to him.

Amen.