Don't Neglect The Word | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church

We're in Judges chapter 7, and in the book of

Judges 7 · chapter mention

Judges, in chapter 6, let me just give you some

history here so that it makes sense when we read

it. In Judges chapter 6, Gideon was called, everybody

Judges 6 · chapter mention

say Gideon, just making sure you're all awake.

Gideon was called, and he was... called in a

very interesting place. He was threshing wheat

in a wine press. And he was threshing the wheat

in the wine press because the Midianites ruled

the land. And the Midianites were watching the

threshing floor where the wheat was normally

threshed. And Gideon knew if I take the wheat

to the threshing floor, the Midianites are going

to steal it. And so he was threshing the wheat

in a wine press, and the angel of the Lord came

to him and said, greetings, mighty warrior. And

he did not feel like a mighty warrior in that

moment. And he said, what do you mean? Who am

I? And his calling, he was called to be the next

ruler, the judge of Israel, the next one up,

and to deliver. the Israelites from the hand

of Midian. And so then later on, after he said

yes, he went to choose the army. And God said,

I want you to do what I tell you to do. And God

whittled the army down from thousands of people

across Israel to 300 men. And so God said, I'm

going to deliver you from Midian with 300 people.

And that would take an act of faith. The Midianites,

if you read the story, it says they were like

locusts on the seashore. They were uncountable.

There were so many of them. But God was going

to do it with 300. Can I just tell you this is

not part of my message, but God does not need

resources to get anything done. He just needs

availability. He needs somebody to say, here

I am, Lord, use me. And God can and will do it.

Amen? We don't see a way, but God will make a

way. Hallelujah. And so we pick up the story

in Judges chapter 7 and verse 9. And it happened

Judges 7 · chapter mention

on the same night that the Lord said to Gideon,

Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered

it into your hand. That's a powerful word from

God, isn't it? If you are afraid to go down,

go down to the camp with Purah your servant,

and you shall hear what they say. And afterward,

your hands shall be strengthened to go down against

the camp. And he went down with Purah his servant

to the outpost of the armed men who were in the

camp. Now the Midianites and the Amalekites,

all the people of the east, were lying in the

valley as numerous as locusts, and their camels

were without number as the sand by the seashore

in the multitude. And when Gideon had come, there

was a Midianite telling a dream to his companion.

And he said, I've had a dream. To my surprise,

a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp

of Midian. It came to a tent and struck it so

that it fell and overturned and the tent collapsed.

And then his companion answered and said, this

is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the

son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand,

God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.

This is quite a story, isn't it? So the enemies,

the ones that don't even know God, had a dream.

And his buddy interpreted the dream and said,

this is the hand of Gideon. And what they didn't

know is that less than a stone's throw away,

Gideon and his servant Purah were sitting there

listening to the interpretation of the dream.

God had already spoken to Gideon. But now God

is confirming his word through his very enemies.

This is an amazing story. And so it was, verse

15, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream

and its interpretation that he worshipped. Father,

I'm just asking you that in this moment that

you would speak to us your very word in Jesus'

mighty name. In Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah.

This is an amazing story. Gideon needed to hear

a word from God. We are no different. We need

to hear a word from God. We need to hear the

voice of the Lord. Amen? Let me share some scriptures

with you. You can just write them down. I'm going

to read them too quickly for you to turn to them.

I want to read some scripture. Hebrews 4 .12.

For the word of God is living and powerful and

sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to

the division of soul and spirit and of joints

and of marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts

and intents of the heart. Ephesians 6, 17. And

take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word

of God. Isaiah 55 10 for as the rain comes down

and the snow from heaven and they do not return

there but water the earth and make it bring forth

and bud that it might give seed to the sower

and bread to the eater so shall my word be that

goes forth from my mouth it shall not return

to me void but it shall accomplish what I please

and it shall prosper in the thing For which I

sent it. We're talking about the word of God.

2 Timothy 3 .16, all scripture is given by inspiration

of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,

and for correction in instruction and righteousness

that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly

equipped for every good work. That's a great

scripture, isn't it? You can tell from just what

I'm reading that the word of God changes everything.

The word of God is powerful and effective. Now

listen to this. In the beginning, this is John

1 .1. In the beginning was the word. And the

word was with God. And the word was God. And

then John 1 .14. And the word became flesh and

dwelt among us. beheld his glory. Jesus is the

living word. Amen? We're talking about the word

of God. We're talking about that thing that sustains

us and changes us and shapes us. The psalmist

said, your word have I hidden in my heart that

I might not sin against you. This is the word

of God. I love 1 John 2, 14. It says this, I

have written to you, young men, because you are

strong and the word of God lives in you. I want

to read that one again. All the young men, listen

to me. I have written to you, young men, because

you are strong and the word of God abides in

you. That's powerful. And then the last one that

I'm going to read for now, John 15, 7. This is

a promise from Jesus. If you abide in me and

my word. abides in you, you will ask whatever

you desire and it shall be done for you. We need

to latch on to that promise. Amen? I'm going

to read it again. If you abide in me and my word

abides in you, you will ask what you desire and

it shall be done for you. And so just in these

verses that I've read, the Word of God shapes

us and changes us. The Word of God leads us and

guides us. The Word of God empowers us. The Word

of God changes our prayer life. We didn't continue

in Acts chapter 4, but in Acts chapter 4, one

Acts 4 · chapter mention Acts 4 · chapter mention

thing they did is they quoted back to God Psalm

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. And they prayed the word of God back

to the Lord. The word of God changes everything.

The word of God is powerful and effective. There

is power in the word of God. There has been an

onslaught down through the centuries against

the word of God. It's the most burned book, banned

book, book that has been discarded and tried

to be silenced throughout history. There were,

in fact, times in dark times in church history

where leaders tried to keep the people of God

from knowing the word of God. They wanted only

the priests. To know the Word of God. Why? So

that they could exercise control over the people.

It was a dark chapter in the history of the church.

Keep everybody in the dark. That way we can use

the Word of God to manipulate the people. And

then came along people like John Wycliffe. John

Wycliffe was a Catholic priest. Some people don't

know that. But he was also called the morning

star of the Reformation. This English scholar,

he directed the first complete translation of

the Bible into English in the 1300s. And he argued

that the Bible was the ultimate authority for

Christians, not the Pope. He sent out traveling

preachers to share the Scriptures with ordinary

people. This was the beginning of something.

Another man named John Huss was a Czech. In Bohemia,

he was inspired by John Wycliffe and he promoted

preaching and worship in the local Czech language

instead of Latin so that the common people could

understand the word of God. He was burned at

the stake for heresy. which sparked a national

movement to defend the freedom of Scripture.

Isn't that awesome? Another important step in

the advancement of the Word of God came in 1440

when the printing press was invented in Germany

by, I forgot to write his name down, Gutenberg,

thank you. And right after the printing press

was invented, a man by the name of William Tyndale,

who was an English scholar, he translated the

first New Testament into English using the...

the Greek language that the scriptures were written

in. It was the first one. And he printed the

first copies in 1526. He stated this, that his

goal was to make a common plow boy know more

of the scripture than the clergy. That was his

goal. I want to make the common plow boy know

more of the scripture than the clergy. Wow. That's

pretty awesome, isn't it? He was martyred by

strangulation for translating and distributing

the Bible without church approval. Can you even

imagine it? This is the history of the church.

This is where we came from. And from that history

up until now, from the time of William Tyndale,

really, up until now, the Scriptures have gotten

more and more and more and more accessible. And

I thank God for that. Somebody give God praise

for that. Praise God. And so we, in fact, within

this last calendar year, we were honored to partner

with our missionary, Mark Haney, and we helped

financially support a project that interpreted

the Scriptures into a verbal language. The language

of the people that he is trying to reach is not

written. It is only verbal. And so they translated

and recorded the entire... scriptures into the

language of the people so that they could hear

the Bible for the very first time in 2025 and

2026, for the very first time they can hear the

scriptures in their own language. Hallelujah.

It's happening. It's amazing. And in my lifetime,

in my lifetime should Jesus tarry. Every language

on the planet will have access to the Scriptures

in their own language. Somebody give God praise.

It is happening right now. Praise God. Praise

God. And yet, so many of us in our walk with

the Lord are neglecting. The Scriptures. It takes

effort to get the Word inside of you. It takes

effort. Nobody can do it For you. If you are.

Finding yourself. Sluggish. In your Christianity.

It could be that you are neglecting the word

of God. If you are finding yourself. Bored. with

your Christianity. You would rather do a thousand

other things. It could be that you are neglecting

the Word of God. And the remedy is very simple.

You open the book and read. Open the book and

read. Gideon didn't have a Bible to read. And

I believe God speaks direct just like he did

to Gideon still today. But I believe that the

main source of our inspiration and hearing from

God comes from this book. Amen? Gideon had to

hear from God. It takes effort to get the word

of God in your heart. But some of your spirits

are starving. Your spirit feeds on the Word of

God just like your body needs food. And some

of our spirits are starving because we have neglected

the Word of God. I'm not asking you to read the

scriptures through in a year. That's some of

your practice. I think it's good. I'm not asking

you to read seven chapters a day to keep the

devil away. What I'm asking is that whether it's

a verse, One. Or a chapter. Or you have a plan

that you follow. That you feed your spirit with

the word of God. Somebody say amen to that. Hallelujah.

Feed your spirit with the word of God. Hallelujah.

We had a woman in one of the churches that we

pastored before we came here who would stand

up every Sunday nearly and give a prophecy. And

she said to a group of people, she said, God

speaks to me direct. I do not need to read the

scriptures. That was the end of her giving words

in the church. We got to get the word of God

inside of us. Husbands, you think you can lead

your marriage without the word of God inside

of you? Parents, you think you can lead your

families without the word of God inside of you?

We need the word of God. The word of God has

been exalted above his name. The word of God

is powerful. Hallelujah. Glory to God. The church,

friends, is founded on the word of God. Praise

the Lord. And everybody's glad they weren't sitting

in that chair right there because I just let

out some spittle. It must be true. The word of

God, the word of God changes everything. I'm

preaching a basic message here. We've got to

come back to the Word of God. Do you think Gideon

could have done what he did without a word from

God? Without the Word of the Lord? No, he needed

the Word of the Lord. In fact, later in the story,

I'm not going to take the time to read it this

morning because I want to get to the part where

we make a fresh commitment, church, to the Word

of God. I'm trying to stir you up, brother. I'm

trying to stir you up, sister. I'm trying to

stir you up to get back to the basics of the

Word of God. Amen? Feeding your spirit daily

by reading the Word of the Lord. It's more important

than anything else. It's more important than

your job. It's more important than the physical

food that you eat. It is more important than

anything that you feed your spirit with the word

of the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So Gideon,

what did he go through? If you read later on.

towards into chapter 8. It says in verse 4 that

he came to the river Jordan, although he was

exhausted, and he crossed it. He had had trouble

with the Ephraimites in verse 1. He had to cross

the Jordan River in verse 4. When they got to

the other side, the men of Succoth, they had

refused to give them any food, and they had to

pursue their enemies with nothing to eat. And

they did it anyway. Was it food that sustained

them? No. Was it their own strength that sustained

them? No. It was the word of the Lord that sustained

Gideon and his 300 men to go and capture the

kings of Midian and destroy the Midianites entirely.

Hallelujah. It was the word of God. What is it

that's going to sustain you? What is it that's

going to keep you on the right path? What is

it that's going to keep you moving forward? It's

the Word of God that is going to sustain you.

It sustained Gideon. It's going to sustain us.

Hallelujah. Now, Gideon... When he heard the

first time that God spoke to him, he did not

mix it with faith. Remember, God told him, he

said, hey, I'm going to use you to overtake the

Midianites. But if you're still afraid, let me

speak to you another way. Take your servant.

and go to the camp of the Midianites and listen.

And God spoke to him another way. And when Gideon

heard the interpretation of the dream, something

happened inside of him. And that thing that happened

inside of him was faith. We have got to mix the

word of God With faith. And believe. Hallelujah.

Faith. We've got to mix it. With faith. And the

word of God mixed with a believing heart. Will

sustain you through anything that you face. Matthew

Matthew 24:35

chapter 24 verse 35 says. Heaven and earth may

pass away. But my words will never. pass away.

Matthew 7 24 says, therefore, whoever hears these

words of mine and does them, they mix them with

faith believing. I will then liken to him to

a wise man who built his house on the rock. The

rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew

and beat on that house and it did not fall for

it was founded. on the rock. Hallelujah. Was

founded on the rock. Praise God. Founded on the

rock. Are you founded on the rock? Now, in my

life, in many different departments, I have had

goals, but many of my goals have remained merely

aspirational. Does anybody know what that word

means, aspirational? It means that you have incredible

intentions, but they never actually come to fruition.

You believe that it's a good thing, but it never

manifests in your life. How many of you have

aspirational goals when it comes to eating? Ha

ha ha ha ha ha. Yeah. There's a lot more hands

up on the inside than on the outside. I know

that to be true. You have aspirational goals

with exercise. You know that it's good for you.

You know that you should do it, but you don't

do it. You have the belief. But friends, aspirational

faith is not faith. Aspirational faith, it just

keeps you in the same place that you are day

after day after day after day, year after year

after year after year, and nothing else changes.

God wants us to move from the aspirational to

the real. And where the rubber meets the road

is, Am I going to get up 15 minutes early so

that I can pray and read? Am I going to meditate

on the Word before I go to sleep at night? Am

I going to feed on the Word? I had a friend that

just made it her goal that every time she ate

food, she was also going to feed on the Scriptures.

That's a pretty good goal, isn't it? have the

word with breakfast. She had the word with lunch.

She had the word with dinner. I don't know if

she's still doing that, but a season of her life,

that's the way that she did it. She decided,

I'm going to feed my body. I'm also going to

feed my spirit. I'm going to open up the word

of God. I'm going to open up the word of God.

Well, I don't understand it, pastor. Well, I

don't understand it all either. I'm growing.

But I know this, it has power in my life. And

God will increase and he'll teach me by the Holy

Spirit and he'll teach you and he'll lead you

and he'll show you. And you might not at first,

at first you might say, well, what good did that

do me to read that? What good did it do me to

read all those names in Chronicles? What good

did it do me to read this or read that? But I'm

telling you, if you will stick with it and you

will make it your portion, you will make it your

habit that you will grow in the Lord simply by

reading the Word of God. Continue anyway. And

then finally this morning, I want to say this.

The written word can never replace the living

word. I want to say that again. The written word

can never replace the living word. What did Gideon

do when faith came into his heart and he realized,

hey, this really was the God that spoke to me?

He got down on his face and he worshiped. He

worshiped. Let me read a scripture from John

John 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. This is very interesting for the religious

among us. He says this, you diligently search

the scriptures for in them you think you have

eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify

of me. But you are not willing to come to me

that you might have life. That's very interesting,

isn't it? Because the religious scholars were

looking at this book like a textbook. They were

looking at this book not as God intended them

to look at it. They were trying. to master all

of the commandments so that they could be better

people. When the living Word, Jesus, came on

the scene, they were blinded to it. They couldn't

see. Oh, but when you and I come to this book,

and we don't forget that this book Leads us to

the living word of God. Whose name is Jesus.

Oh, then life comes into us. Imagine what it

was like for Paul. His name was Saul in Acts

Acts 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9, and he was a master of the Old Testament.

In fact, he had most of the Old Testament memorized

as a star student in the Word, hand -chosen disciple

of Gamaliel. He was a student of the Old Testament,

but he despised Christians and Christianity,

and he was even putting them to death. Can you

imagine what happened to him when he met Jesus

on the road and was knocked off of his horse

and blinded, and he heard the voice of heaven,

and he saw the light, and he said, Saul, Saul,

why are you persecuting me? And Saul, his heart

began to stir. Something began to happen. And

he responded and said this, who are you, Lord?

Who are you, Lord? He was saying, I don't know

who you are, but you are bigger than me. Who

are you, Lord? He already knew this person talking

to me right now has some cloud. And Jesus responded

and said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

It's hard for you to live the way you're living.

And in the next three days, Saul surrendered

his life to Christ. And can you imagine? He had

all that. word in him that he had diligently

studied and it was inside of him but can you

imagine how all of that word began to go and

come to life as he met the living word and he

came he came to the understand the old testament

scriptures now not through the lenses of gamaliel

not through the lenses of all his all his teaching

ever since he was a child but through the lenses

of the living word Jesus. Hallelujah. It's no

wonder that as soon as Ananias came and laid

hands on him and he received his sight, it's

no wonder that he began to preach and teach that

Jesus was the Messiah. And he began to prove

it from the Old Testament scriptures that he

had memorized in his heart. Everything came to

life. Hallelujah. Because you cannot separate

the written word. From the living word. We've

got to come. To the Lord. When you open your

scriptures. You're saying to God. God I want

to know you more. God I'm hungry for you. God

feed me today. God open up my eyes. To what you

want to say to me today. Give me ears to hear.

What you want to say to me today. God is speaking

to some of you. And he's saying come back son.

Come back daughter. To my word. It will sustain

you. I'm going to ask if the worship team would

come. And begin to minister. We build our life

on Jesus. What are we building our life on? The

Word. The eternal Word of God that will never

change. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Father.

Thank you, Father. Just begin. Just begin to

respond this morning to the Word. I don't know

what everybody else is going to do, but I'm I'm

going to give myself to God's word. I'm going

to feed my soul and my spirit every day on the

word of God. I'm going to lean my ear into here.

What God would say to me through his word. We

believe in this church and the gifts of the spirit.

We believe in the verbal gifts. We believe in

teaching and preaching. We believe in the prophetic.

We believe in prophecy and interpretation of

tongues. We believe that God speaks to us in

many different ways. But this morning, the call

is to reaffirm our commitment to the Word of

God. The Word of God. Thank you, Lord. Just have

a conversation with the Lord right now. Just

you and him. God, renew our love for your word.

We're addicted to so many things in this life.

God, forgive us. We come back to the word. God,

we feed our bodies, but we so often neglect our

spirit. God, we give ourselves to the word of

God. We come back. We come back. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh,

my God. Thank you, Father. I'm going to ask everybody

to stand across this place. And the altar call

this morning is simple. We're giving ourselves

to the word of God. We're going to sing this

song just once through. Building our lives on

the foundation of Christ, the living word. And

as we sing it, if you... If you want to make

a fresh commitment to the word of God, I'm going

to ask you to get up out of your seat. I'm going

to ask you to come down. I'm going to ask you

to come down to the altar here and just make

that commitment to the Lord. Brianna, go ahead

and lead us. Thank you, Lord. You're worthy,

God. You're worthy. Just find a place around

the altar. All of it. Worthy of every breath

we could ever breathe. We live for you. We live

for you, oh God. Holy, oh. Jesus, the name above

every other name. The living word. Jesus, the

only one. We could ever breathe for you. We live

for you. There is no one like you. There is none

beside you. To those around me. There is none

beside you. There is none beside you. Open up

my eyes in wonder. to those around me. Let's

sing, I will build my life. Oh God, this is what

we're praying this morning. Calling out to the

living word. I will build my life. Lord, we repent

right now from the things that have kept us from

your word. It is the enemy that has worked overtime

to keep us too busy, too entertained, too comfortable,

too enthralled with this life, too caught up

with other responsibilities. And we have neglected

your word. And we ask your forgiveness right

now. In the name of Jesus. And we ask a washing

to come. A washing to come. God, never has your

word been more accessible than it is right now.

But we repent, God, and we turn. We turn to your

word. We turn to your word. We will build our

lives on your word. We will follow your word.

Come what may, we will give ourselves to the

living word of God. Hear our cry, O God. couples

are up here together I thank you for marriages

built on the living word of God I thank you Lord

Jesus for families and homes built on the word

of God that say like Joshua as for me and my

house we will serve the Lord hallelujah I thank

you God for the commitment to allow the word

to have its place in our lives and in our hearts