You Don't Know Small-Judges 7:1-7

Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. He saw

me and bought me with his redeeming blood. Victory

in Jesus, my Savior forever. Oh, victory in Jesus,

my Savior forever. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

you. What have you seen? What have you heard?

Where were you at in the Word this week? Maybe

you were praying and God said something to you,

or as you were walking along, you just looked

to the right, and God said, hey, pay attention

to that. I want to show you something. What do

you got? Start to cry. You know, crying to God,

tears are real. Last night, I felt so alone and

discouraged, but God just helped me through it.

I appreciate that God will toil with me through

it all. I don't listen or I do listen. He does.

And yesterday was really good. And also, I was

going to try to speak fast. But yesterday, my

son and my daughters and both sons, you know,

I'm just glad. Just a small influence in their

lives. I miss them greatly. Not just miss them,

but just want to be the man I can be. But I know

God's got them, and I just need to be what God

says me to be for them. I just want to say real

quick just how it all worked out. We were going

to go bowling, and we went to the dumbest things

that we do sometimes. They want us to go up the

escalators at the mall to get sporting goods.

So we went up there, and they were like, hey,

we should go up. They were looking at the golf

clubs. You guys want to do miniature golf instead

of bowling? So we did our cage drill, all these

things. And we went to this golf course, and

this one lady, she's an older grandma lady. And

none of this would have happened because we didn't

plan anything. We were just trusting God what

he wanted us to do. She talked to us and she

said, may you be washed in the blood of the Lamb

of Jesus. I've never heard that in my entire

life. Someone actually shared Jesus with me.

So I just boldly proclaimed right back to her

about, you know, we're in this together, sister.

And it was so cool. By the very end of the day,

my son said, we had a great day today. And I'm

glad he took me away from the tablet. Not because

of the tablet, because he was trusting in what

dad was going to do. And just like every day

puts an end to the church, what God wants to

do. I have a poem I want to share real quick.

And I got to tell you, like, none of this happens

by coincidence. Everything is God moving or God

removed. So I was told by some of the leaders

to help out arts and crafts and make sure we're

doing arts and crafts. So I'm not a very cool

person. You might think I am. You only met me

for five seconds. I like to run and I like to

hide. I like to adapt and blend in so no one

can tell where I'm at. Because I'm not used to

having anybody in my life. I'm not saying it

to break hearts. I'm just glad that God has a

hold of me and I have a real righteous relationship.

And I know that relationship because I've seeked

and trusted in him. And I've been through false

choices and false hope. I've got a truth as well.

The reason I share that is I reached out and

I said, I'm not going to say the names, but I

was like, hey, we're doing arts and crafts. You

know, that's what we're going to do today. And

just by saying that, someone else decided to

do arts and crafts. And we both wrote some poems.

And I just wanted to share what God put on my

heart. I give a title to it. I call it Christology

and Theology. Christology is basically the trinity

God himself has been before all, above all, ends

all. He's always there. History is in the Bible.

It's in every step of our lives. And theology,

if anybody knows high school or junior high,

college, it comes to the word, I believe, thesis.

When you write a thesis paper, you have to have

three, four major points, but you have to write

your paper explaining your points. And then you

have to have evidence to back it up so that they

can look at the evidence and see your claims

are true, or you just wrote a paper and just

tried to throw your opinion in. It can't even

be a statement, but there has to be proof to

your statement. And that's what theology is.

I looked it up. It's the nature of God, and it's

a study of religious beliefs. And, of course,

our theology is Christ alone. And so I just wanted

to share this poem that I wrote. It says, For

I am convinced, Romans chapter 8, the Scripture

Romans 8 · chapter mention

or the Word is that for me. So I open up these

verses to ponder my curiosity. So at this moment

I will shut down my heart and use my brain. So

now I can examine where he tells his story, which

I like to call history, in a picture frame. Paul

knew the word, God's stories and all. So through

heroes and zeros, all by his name, we're able

to reveal, little by little, God's glorious fame.

Jensen and Joe, we'll hear about angels and demons,

and the book of Daniel about life and death.

So many adventures and warnings. No way to explain

it. We'll try to grasp. through his living word

in just a little breath. So my explanation is

clear and concise. Just look into Ryan without

a fuss. Through history, we remember, or through

history remembers us with his love and mercy,

how he carried us. Now I'll shut down my brain

and open my heart or soul. This is an explanation

through life of Christ and Christ Jesus' life

and his reconciliation to all who want to know

and behold. Through all life and peril, And not

throwing the king, Jesus, God himself, the best?

What is the points of risk and growth and failures

and strengths and enduring with Jesus till we

find true rest? You need the convincing, then

be convinced today. But without God's lead and

redemption, you can never find his way. Because

God is perfect and holy, no corruption in sight.

He only came from his heavenly clouds to earth.

resurrection and death because of his one and

only. No one could make him. He came to us through

God's one and only birth. And this is the end.

So what verses did I seek? For what I'm convinced,

that neither death nor life, neither angels nor

demons, neither the present nor the future, nor

any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything

else in all creation will separate you from the

love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The price he paid only through himself, the Lord

Jesus can you afford. The reason I say that is

Paul was convinced not just by seeing miracles

and supernatural, that he also knew the Word.

He was convinced wholeheartedly, not just by

what he seen, but what he was able to trust in

and what God gave him. And so I ask you, you

have said it before, what are you convinced about?

Amen. And that came out of Arts and Crafts on

Thursday. Had a great time there. Sometimes if

you block out the time. You can discipline yourself

and say, okay, I'm going to do something during

this period of time. You might not go thinking,

I'm going to paint a painting or make a drawing

or something. Tony came to help. I feel like

Al wants me to write a poem. Sean also wrote

an awesome poem. He's not here to read it for

us today. We'll catch him eventually. But he

also wrote an awesome poem on Thursday. Poetry

obviously is an art. And there were some really

awesome paintings. You get a chance to see some

of the art that's coming out of there. It's just

amazing. And so we'll be doing that again in

two weeks. But really the focus is on God and

on being God's people. Who else has a quick word?

Yes, sir. So in youth Bible study on Friday,

I was talking about what is the church and how

the church isn't just a building or a place.

It's the gathering of a body of believers. And

we can do that anywhere. We can go out anywhere

and we can be the church. That is one of the

greatest things that I've ever experienced as

a Christian. That kind of blew my mind because

I've always, before I became a Christian, I always

thought that the church was just some place.

And I think that's a pretty big misconception

that the world has is a church is just some building

that you go to. And it's not. It's more than

just the building. It's the people. It's the

gathering of believers. It's God's Holy Spirit

showing up. And one of the verses that I like

is Isaiah 43, 1. It says, But now, thus the Lord,

your creator, O Israel, do not fear, for I have

redeemed you. I have called you out by name.

You are mine. And what's cool is God calls us

out by name. He calls us personally to follow

him. But it's up to us to answer that call. And

that's what really, I think. struggles a lot

with me personally is there's things that I know

God wants me to do that I'm absolutely terrified

to do because it is so outside my comfort zone.

Like for instance, the first time I got the call

to preach, I was terrified in my core. Because

I'm not good at speaking in front of people.

But then I look back and some of the things I've

said, some of the things that God's used me for,

and I'm like, you know, this is truly a gift

from God. This is not me. I couldn't do this

on my own. And then one of the great examples

that I gave my youth group, because we're going

to be doing some changes in the youth group,

that I really honestly feel God is going to do

amazing things with it. And one of the examples

I gave them was God is going to equip you to

do what he has you to do. and he wants you to

be a mouthpiece for him and he wants you to speak

for him. Look what he did with Moses. Moses was

complaining to God that he didn't want to go

out and he didn't want to do anything. He couldn't

do it because he wasn't good at talking. And

God gave him Aaron. God said, here, I will give

you someone who can talk for you. And that's

what I think God has done. He does with us all

the time. He puts people in our lives so that

we can be better equipped to do the things that

he has us do. a lot of extensive intellectual

debates with friends the last week or two weeks

and one of the topics was independence in a relationship

and It is very important for me in my marriage

and even in my other relationships, my sibling

relationships, parental, whatever the case may

be, that we're meant to be united together. Marriage

more specifically, because when you become married,

you become one with God. And independence doesn't

necessarily exist in that marriage. And in relationships,

you're meant to be able to lean on the people

around you and in your life. And her argument

was, you know, she enjoys being independent and

she likes being her own person. And it was a

real eye opener that the way the world works

is they think they have to do everything themselves

and leaning on other people is bad. As a church,

we are a family meant to rely on one another,

and specifically our devotional about marriage

yesterday was not only relying on one another

and being there for one another and communicating

every aspect, every decision you make should

be one decision together as a whole, and also

when you make a mistake or you turn against the

person that you were supposed to be with, if

you're with your sister and you get in an argument,

if you're with your parents and you're disagreeing,

whatever that case may be, you come to a resolution,

but then you pray after. It was our specific

devotional was. If you get into a disagreement

with your husband and you're at a controversy,

you come to an agreement and you say, I'm sorry,

I apologize, whatever the case may be. But the

strength in that is the prayer after, asking

God to turn over this sin or whatever this disagreement

was and pray that you can have this on mind for

future conversations. And when you pray together

about that, you're handing over this issue to

God, you're resolving it right then and there,

you're letting it go. It's no longer anything

that can be brought up again. And it specifically

for our marriage work wonders, but it's just,

it works like that as a church, as a body. If

one person falls off, we don't shame, we don't

judge. We come together, we fix the issue, and

then we pray about it together after. And then

we hand it over to God and we move on. I don't

want to take up too much time in the middle of

working on this project. So for one of my classes,

I had to write a choral hymn. And I chose Psalms

Psalms 18:49

18, verse 49. And it says, if I had the music,

I would sing it. I'm not far, but I don't have

it. So I'll read you the verse. It says, therefore,

I will praise you, Yahweh, among the nations.

I will sing about your name. And it only had

to be one verse. And I'm in the middle of writing

the chords right now for it. But Arda and I were

talking about this. I had to kind of find a chord

that was unstable. And I know this isn't going

to make sense for a lot of people, so I'll try

my best to explain it. But an unstable chord

is a chord that's kind of crunchy and isn't pleasing

exactly, but it's a strong chord. And it kind

of makes you, like, hear more when you hear it

because it has a lot of notes in its chord. And

it's very dissonant. I felt like in this, I couldn't

find a good place to put a crunchy chord that

kind of made you cringe a little bit. So Arne

and I were talking, and one of the most powerful

words in this, I think, is Yahweh. And I decided

that I was going to put this crunchy chord on

the word Yahweh to kind of emphasize that it's

powerful. So I'm going to put a powerful chord

on the word Yahweh because I think that's probably

the most important word of this. And words like...

We're also trying to use context to write ascending

and descending notes. So on words like praise

and sing and your name, I'm writing notes that

ascend because it kind of makes sense. That's

amazing. Wow. Thank you for letting us in on

that. That's kind of like behind -the -scenes

stuff. It's just something a little shorter now.

So we've had a rough week. So yesterday we wanted

to work on ourselves. Going crazy. I got a flat

tire. Just all kinds of weird. I don't know.

What are we going to do next? I don't know. Situation.

And then there was this little boy, a rollercoaster

bike. He shared with Kelly that he was very much

happy. He was a happy little boy. I don't know.

How can you feel that way? And he shared with

Kelly, hey, do you have a promise? And she was

like, yeah, I got one. And he was like, just

grab your promise and pray to God. and just the

thought of that in that moment like when it doesn't

make sense we've seen small children really be

used by god it could have been an angel what

a great what a great time Remember, Perry won't

tell it today because we're out of time, but

there's a story about a park bench. I think you

have about a man who was drunk off his butt and

said some powerful things. And so it doesn't

matter. God can speak through humans. And that

is just a phenomenal story. And you'll be holding

on to that one for a while. That's awesome. All

right, well, let's pray together. And then we'll

worship the God who's doing all this. And I bet

there's a lot more we could talk about. God is

amazing. He is at work and we are grateful. Even

in the midst of, I know there are people in this

room who are facing some very real trials and

really real difficulties. And even in the midst

of that, God is so good. And we cling to him.

Father in heaven, we do cling to you. We choose

to praise your holy name. We choose to lift up

our prayers to the God of heaven who can do something

about the situation that we're in. Thank you,

Lord. You have earned your place. You didn't

have to. It was yours, you deserved it, you owned

it, and yet you earned it. So we praise you for

it. Ask your blessings upon the tithes and offerings.

Ask your blessing upon our remaining worship,

that somehow we would find it in ourselves to

give you your proper place. Help us, Lord. In

Jesus' name, amen. One single drop of rain. Your

salty tear became the ocean. We've been working

through the book of Judges, and we are amidst

the story of Gideon. To this point, what we have

seen, and Gideon is really a turning point in

this book, so I just want to make sure that we're

clear where we're at. To this point, what we

have seen is a number of saviors arise for the

Israelites. The book of Judges could well have

been called the book of saviors, although I think

that might have done a little distaste to Jesus,

because he is the one and only true savior. The

judges who come, not all of them even judged.

But what they did do is they delivered the people

of Israel. When God's people were wicked and

in their sin and doing the wrong thing, they

suffered terribly. They were downcast. They were

oppressed. They were weak and small in their

own eyes and then cried out for assistance from

God. And God rendered that assistance. And this

time he renders it in the form of Gideon. Gideon

will. Despite his own weaknesses, his doubt,

his lack of trust of God, his wanting to check

God at every turn, he will lead God's people

to a great victory over the Midianites. As we

read from Judges chapter 7 today, I want you

Judges 7 · chapter mention

to look just for a second at the sermon title.

It is You Don't Know Small. In 1709, that's a

long time ago, over 300 years ago, there was

an incident. A playwright named John Dennis invented

a new thunder machine. for his play. It would

make the sound of thunder in the theater, and

it was very realistic compared to the thunder

you hear in the sky. Previously, all the thunder

was made by like buckling copper plates or that

kind of thing, usually by hand, and it really

didn't sound all that much like thunder, but

the people who were watching the play knew that

it was supposed to be thunder. He was fed up

with that, and he invented a machine that made

thunder that sounded like thunder. His play Appius

in Virginia was staged at London's Drury Lane

Theatre, which is a pretty famous place, but

the play quickly failed and closed after only

a few performances. Not very many people were

showing up to see the play. After his play's

failure, some nights later, Dennis attended a

performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth at the same

theatre. Macbeth has thunder in scenes one and

four. He was outraged to hear the sound of his

own thunder machine being used in the new production.

In the middle of the play in silence at a moment,

the opportune moment when everyone would hear

him, he stood up in the audience and he yelled,

they will not let my play run, but they will

steal my thunder. And that's where we got the

saying, stealing my thunder. As we look at the

text today, I want you to understand that I almost

wrote three or four sermons out of this text

today. There's a lot in there. I've preached

out of the text two times in my history. One

of them I remember vividly. It was over on Main

Street, and I cut out, out of white poster board,

the number 300, pretty big, put it on the wall.

And at the end of the message, during the invitation,

I asked anyone who was present who wanted to,

and the message was essentially that you can

be part of God's 300. You can dedicate yourself

to God's service, and you can overcome your own

weaknesses, your own barriers. And let God choose

you. And I ask people to come forward and sign

their name on the 300 if they were making that

commitment to do so. And almost everybody in

the room, not everybody, but almost everybody

in the room came forward and they signed their

name on that 300. Since then, there have been

those who signed their name on that 300. Some

of them are still with us in this room today.

You remember doing that. Some have come and gone.

They were serving the Lord and they walked away

from the Lord or walked away from our church

and went somewhere else and then are nowhere

now. Some have come and gone and are back again

today. Pretty neat that God does that. That's

a sermon I could have preached again. It's a

completely biblical sermon that you could allow

yourself to be chosen by God, to be part of the

300, to do the amazing thing, the crazy thing,

it's really what we're talking about, that God

would want you to do. And I could have preached

it again today. And we'll see a couple of others

as we go through the text today. And I'll try

to point them out to you. But there's one in

particular that ties into something that we studied

a few weeks back. And so I'll point that out

to you as we go through. And I honestly think

that God, in his subtlety, in his generosity,

in his kindness toward us, lets us see that thing

now. And I kind of think maybe Gideon didn't

see it from the way he responded. So if you grab

your Bibles and give me a little amen or hoot

or holler or something as we go to Judges chapter

Judges 7 · chapter mention

7. Thank you. This is God's word. We will read

the first seven verses of Judges chapter 7. Now

Judges 7 · chapter mention

therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the

people, saying, whoever is afraid and trembling,

let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.

So 22 ,000 people returned, but 10 ,000 remained.

So there's a couple things I want you to see

before I go any further in the text. This is

that one first stepping off point to a whole

sermon of itself. And it is this. As much as

Israel thought they were small, when the Holy

Spirit settled on Gideon and he blew that trumpet

and the word spread throughout the land, 32 ,000

men gathered to fight by his side against the

Midianites. That is not a small number. And it's

very much not a small number in a day when word

doesn't travel by telegraph or telegram or even

letters in the mail, right? The draft wasn't

in place. It was the trumpet blows and the messengers

go out and people just kept flocking in and they

brought whatever they could use as weaponry and

32 ,000 men had come. I submit to you that Israel

is not all that small if they can. in very short

order, within a week, call up 32 ,000 men to

fight the Midianites. It also says to me that

probably this could have been done before. Before

they lost so many people to the Midianites in

past seasons, which happened over and over again,

men, women, and children, especially the elderly

and the weak who couldn't flee into the mountains,

things like that. They all died to the rush of

the Midianites in past seasons. Imagine what

the size of this army might have been if they

had called it up five years prior. Israel was

not weak. Israel was not small, but that's how

they were seeing themselves. But notice God says,

you're too many. You're too many for me to use

you to save the people from the people of Midian,

because then they might say, look what we did.

So God says, all of those who are in fear and

trembling, and let's be super realistic, okay?

If you're one of 32 ,000 men who are calling

up against fighting the Midianites, and no one

has successfully fought the Midianites in recent

history, And their camels and their soldiers

reach as far as the eye can see. They cover the

shore and beyond, all the way to the mountains,

into the valleys and the hills. Everywhere you

look are Midianite and other eastern tribe warriors.

I'd be shaking in my boots. Let's be realistic.

Wouldn't we all be afraid? I mean, courage is

not not having fear, right? Courage is overcoming

your fear. And so here it is, he is saying, let's

be very clear about this, he is saying, if you

are here today because you are courageous, that

is to say you are overcoming your fear, if you

are here today because you are courageous, you

can go. You hear me? If you are here today because

you are courageous, you can go. Now don't we

love courage? I think it was Aristotle who said,

courage is the supreme of all. Human traits.

Because without courage, everything else is useless

and worthless. It all falls away. Courage is,

as is now traveling around the internet, courage

is doing the right thing when it doesn't make

any sense. When in all human understanding, you

go, well, this is the right thing, and I'm going

to do it because it's the right thing, because

it's what God wants me to do, even though...

It doesn't seem to make any sense. And it may

not get me the outcome that I'm looking for.

I might die in the process, but it's the right

thing. That's courage. And he said, if you're

afraid today, and even if you're overcoming your

fear, and you're here out of courage overcoming

your fear, you can go. And when he said that,

22 ,000 men left. I want you to hear today and

understand that it just might be that God is

going to wait to do the miraculous thing that

he wants to do. Until the people that are only

here because they're overcoming their fears leave.

If you're just courageous, as good as that is,

God may not do the amazing thing that he's going

to do until you're gone. So 10 ,000 remained.

That's a pretty good reduction. And, you know,

10 ,000 is definitely not enough to win this

battle. Mathematically, they were so outmatched,

there's no way they could win. But if you'll

remember, a similar thing happened with Deborah

and Barak, where they took a force similar to

what they've now wheeled this one down to, and

they went out and they fought. And first they

thought, well, we'll fight in the mountains where

the chariots can't get to us, right? And then

he said, no, go fight them in the plains. And

they went and fought them in the plains. And

then they won a great victory because God flooded

the plain and the chariots got bound down. And

there was no way they could have won that victory

if God didn't intervene. And then Barak and Deborah

sung a great song. And as part of that song,

it was all about praising God. And as part of

that song, they sung, Oh, the people that came

out to fight. Oh, how the leaders came to war.

And they gave credit to God for the people coming

out to fight. But the bottom line is, after that

happened, the Israelites went back into wickedness.

So we need something more. We need something

a little more extreme than just dismissing all

the courageous people who are overcoming their

fear to do what it is that God has called them

to do. And then God's showing up and doing something.

We need something a little more than that. And

so they're down to 10 ,000 men, but God is not

done. In verse four, then it says, then the Lord

said to Gideon, the people are still too many.

Remember, they are too many because if they win

the victory, then they might take the credit

for the victory or say, look at what we accomplished.

Then the Lord said to Gideon, the people are

still too many. Bring them down to the water

and I will test them for you there. Now, this

should be good, right? Give us some qualifying

character of a man of God who can be part of

the 300. These were men, by the way, but it applies

to women as well, right? Who can be part of the

300. And as he gives us this test, we apply the

test to ourselves, right? We can say, this test

that God is giving us, we'll be able to determine

whether or not we can qualify ourselves to be

part of the 300. So it sounds like it's going

to be pretty good. It's not going to go like

you think. If you know the story already, you

know what I mean. God says, I will test them

for you there. Therefore it shall be that he

of whom I say to you, this one shall go with

you, he shall go with you. But everyone of whom

I say to you, this one shall not go with you,

he shall not go with you. So he brought the people

down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon,

you shall separate everyone who laps the water

with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone

who kneels to drink. Now the number of those

who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth,

in other words, so they cupped the water, they

took it up and they drank it, Like that, as opposed

to down to the water like that. The ones who

lapped from their cupped hands was 300 men. But

all the rest of the people kneeled down to drink.

And the Lord said to Gideon, I will deliver you

with the 300 men who lapped and will give the

Midianites into your hands. So let all the other

people go, each man to his home. So the 300 men.

took the people's provisions and their trumpets

into their hands, and Gideon sent all the other

men of Israel each to his tent, but retained

the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below

him in the valley. That was verse 8. So that

sets the scene for next week. So first of all,

what I want you to see is that there is a direct

correlation between what God is doing here and

what God has already said in the book of Judges.

While Gideon is a transition point, and after

this, The judges aren't great. I mean, they're

great, and they do great, and they serve God,

but we're going to get Samson, who repeatedly

dismisses his vows to God and sins against God

and eventually dies just getting his strength

back just enough to destroy the Philistines after

he is taken by them for giving up his strength

to his prostitute wife, for lack of a better

way of saying it. Jephthah, who would make promises

to God that he never should have made to sacrifice

his own daughter, which was a thing that they

do, but not a thing that Israelites do, not a

thing that God's people do, and so on. So we

got judges who are coming after this who are

not going to be the greatest of character, right?

But to this point, the judges have been pretty

good, and Gideon maybe is the best of all of

them, although we see that he responded with

a lot of doubt and a lot of questioning of God,

but he should be past that now. This is after

the fleece incident that we looked at last week.

He should be done questioning God. We'll see

that even in these next verses, he still reserves

for himself some doubt or some question. But

we're not going to read those today. The bottom

line is this. God is showing us a greater narrative,

a history about himself. In chapter 6, verse

6, so back a little ways in the story of Gideon.

If you want, you can flip back to the left. It

says, So Israel was brought very low because

of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to

the Lord. And the word there, very low, is dal

-lal. Dal -lal in the Hebrew. You don't have

to remember that. It's kind of easy to remember

because it's like a baby doll, dal -lal. And

it means shrunken down, oppressed, having very

little left, impoverished, right? In finances,

in weaponry, in warriors, in any kind of prosperity.

And the Israelites were like that now because

of the continued coming of the Midianites. But

we now know, sometime later, Gideon will blow

a trumpet and 32 ,000 of them will come up to

fight. So they're not so impoverished, right?

It's not impossible for them to mount an army

of pretty considerable size. So what was God

actually saying there? Then in 6 .15, just a

little further in the story, in 6 .15, the verse

says, This is Gideon responding to God at his

call. And he said to him, O Lord, How shall I

deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least

in Manasseh. So we'll stop there for one second.

We'll read the rest of the verse in a second.

And that word there, the least in Manasseh, his

family was a small part of a small tribe, and

we talked about that. And so the word there is

dal. It is poor, weak, or thin. So Gideon was

saying to God, how can I be called to do this,

God? My family is about worthless. Compared to

many other great families are having great things

where I don't have much. I'm not much, right?

And he goes on to say then, he says, my family

is the least in Manasseh. And he goes on to say,

and I am the youngest in my father's house. And

that word there, where he says it's translated

the youngest, is to Saul year. And it means small,

insignificant, weak, least, or youngest. Now,

in 7 .2, we see God say, And the Lord said to

Gideon, The people who are with you are too many

for me to give Midian into your hands, lest Israel

become boastful, saying, Mine own power has delivered

me. And the word there translated boastful is

pa 'ar, which means to glorify oneself. Are you

seeing this? So what had happened was Israel

had become a people that they thought they were

small. They thought they were insignificant.

We saw it. It's been building up throughout the

book of Judges. Now, let's stop for a second

and take a long look at how they got to be a

people that thought they were small. What were

they doing? They were living in wickedness. They

had surrendered their course to sinful behavior,

to things that God would not have them to do.

They had taken into their houses the foreign

gods. They had taken the wives of people that

they were not supposed to marry, or husbands

from peoples that they were not supposed to marry.

They were doing things that God would not have

them to do. And while they were doing things

that God would not have them to do, what did

they think of themselves? They thought, we're

small and weak. I submit to you that there are

two possibilities there that come to mind right

away. The first one is, they were small and weak,

and so they thought they were grasping onto that

which would make them better or more significant.

They thought by taking the false gods, by doing

the things that they could do, That they would

somehow be better than the small and weak self

that they thought that they actually were. They

had low self -esteem, if you will. Low national

esteem. Low family esteem. They thought they

were low. They thought they were small. And so

one possibility is that they were taking unto

themselves these false gods, false methods of

worship, and wicked behaviors, sinful behaviors,

to make out of them something. They thought,

well, this makes me something. That's one possibility.

The other possibility, and I submit to you, they're

not mutually exclusive, and I'll show you how

in a second, is that in taking unto themselves

those wicked and sinful behaviors, they were

actually making themselves small and insignificant.

And this is what happens. This is why I say it's

not mutually exclusive. Because as you strike

out and take the things that you think will make

you okay in the moment, actually what you do

is in your own mind, you shrink yourself even

more. You fall farther and farther from the image

that God has for you, from the creation that

you were meant to be, from the born -again believer

that you can be, from the spiritual gifts and

spiritual disciplines and the word of God and

the prophecy of God and the prophecies of God

about you. You fall further and further from

that by taking to yourself things that are not

of God. And that's what was happening. When I

look at the book of Judges, I see a spiral of

sin. Basically, what happened is every time a

judge would come, they would, after the judge

comes, they sort of repent, they sort of come

back to God, start doing the things that God

would have them do. And during the judge's lifetime,

they pretty much stay faithful. But then when

the judge dies off or is gone, they spiral back

down into sin. And as we work our way throughout

this book, what we have seen, what pastors all

over the world have preached, what I have preached,

is how this sin spiral is a very real thing.

You repent, you turn back to God, then you slowly

degrade down into sin and you go deeper than

you went before. Then you repent, you turn back

to God, you slowly degrade down into sin, and

you go still deeper than you went before. Looking

for meaning in things that are meaningless. It's

a very real thing that people do. They repent

and turn back to God because it turned out to

be meaningless still. I went that far, but still

meaningless. No matter how far I went, still

meaningless. Okay, I repent and turn back to

God. And ultimately, they start to drift off

and sin again against God, and they go to still

further depths, and what do they find? Meaninglessness.

Right? So that's a message out of the book of

Judges. And it's a real message. It's not something

that you can't preach or teach. It's true. It's

the way it works. But I submit to you that the

underlying message actually that God is teaching

us here as we go a little deeper today is about

self -worth in the sense that they thought they

were meaningless and worthless. And so they got

into doing things that were meaningless and worthless.

And now, as God shows up again with a deliverer

who will be Gideon, as Gideon shows up, and they're

going to be delivered from their suffering and

go into another period of time of judges, right?

Another period of time of Gideon kind of reigning,

if you will, and they will be right for a while.

That's what's about to happen. And God is basically

saying this. He says, you don't know small. You

think you were small and groping around for whatever

will make you feel a little bit better. You don't

know small. You think you were hurting, like

this is really bad. Like, oh, this is terrible

what I was going through. You don't know small.

You don't. You've never been there. You're still

breathing. You're still walking, talking, doing

things. You don't know small. Small is dead in

trespasses and sins. Where literally nothing

you can do will ever be right. Even if it's right.

You tell the truth. You're honest. You give.

You serve. Whatever. It'll all be as filthy rags.

Small is trapped. Trapped. away from the grace

of God, trapped away from God's goodness, trapped

away from God's prophecies and promises and his

word. Small is about the descent. It is about

direction. It is about getting off the highway

of holiness and not heading toward God, but heading

toward manness or womanness or fleshness or lusts

and desires. Getting into those things that seem

small sometimes at first, but drifting away from

God's idea of your life. That is small. That's

what God says is small. So God says, I'm not

going to do this because if I do this today through

32 ,000 warriors, if I do this, then here's what

you're going to do. You're going to say of yourself,

I'm not small, which was true all along. You've

never been small. You were created in the image

of God. You are God's people. I brought your

families out of Egypt myself. I sent rocks falling

from heaven to destroy armies. I buried chariots

in mud. I buried the army of Pharaoh under the

sea. The list goes on. You were never small.

You don't know small. You don't even know what

it is. Clearly, because you thought you were

small. Now Gideon comes and in 32 ,000 words

he says, well, you're going to say, well, I'm

not small. You get up tomorrow morning and you

do a good thing, you're going to say, I'm not

small. You get up tomorrow morning, you tell

the truth when you could have lied. You share,

give, and be kind when you could have been stingy

or selfish. You bad mouth somebody when you could

have built them up. you're going to say to yourself,

I'm not small. It doesn't matter if your choice

is terrible or your choice is good. When your

choice is terrible and you get the results you

think you want, you say, I'm not small. When

your choice is good and you don't get the results

you want, you say, I'm small. See, we're confused.

We don't know small. And God is trying to teach

us there is a small. There is a small that you

can know. A small that God knows. A small that

God wants to reveal to us that will get the results

that we ultimately want. God says, this group

is not small enough. They think they're small.

They think their families are small. The people

are small. They think their army is small. They

think they're individually small. They're afraid,

shaking in their boots. But notice then that

the real failing is not in the size of the army

at all, but in the hearts of men who after victory

would want themselves. God's stated desire as

we go through this whole episode of Gideon's

life and really the life of Israel, and I submit

to you it's our life too. God's stated desire

was to save the Israelites. They had cried out,

begging God, save us, save us. So he said he'd

save them. And he told Gideon he'd save them.

And he repeatedly proved to Gideon that he was

going to use Gideon to do it. But God wanted

to save them in just such a way that they cannot

say that they did it themselves. Hear me now,

as simple as this is. If you are a Christian

because you say you are a Christian, if you are

a Christian because you say you chose God, chose

Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you

are a Christian because you say, I prayed a prayer,

I believed, and I am a Christian because I prayed

a prayer and I believed, that's not true. That

is not how salvation takes place. You believe,

you pray, that's called faith. And then by grace,

Through that faith, the God of the universe saves

your soul because his son paid for your soul.

God's stated desire was that he would save them

in such a way that they cannot say that they

did it themselves because if you say you did

it yourself, I don't care what words you use

to say that, but if you say you did it yourself,

it has never been done. Salvation is in no other

name. God is a saving God. But God is also a

sorting God. This is the blessing of it. God

will take care of all the sorting. You have no

sorting to do. In your lifetime, when it comes

to saved or not saved, believe, not believe,

righteous, not righteous, right, not right, you

have no sorting to do. You do what's right. You

be right by God. And when you see somebody else

and you think maybe they're not, then you go

and you ask them. And you say, hey, it looks

to me like this is going on or whatever. And

you ask them, are they right by God? Is this

sin or not? And if they say it's not, but the

Word says it is, then you take the next step.

You go to Matthew 18, accountability. You take

the next step. You bring a brother or two, or

a sister or two, or whatever. Let them sort it

out with you. Ultimately, go in front of the

church. Those last things, you can only do if

they're part of your church, if they're part

of your kingdom group. If you're a part of the

called -out assembly of God, that's what accountability

is for. That being said, you don't sort. Let's

say it comes down to, you realize it. let's say

it comes down to Matthew 18, we go the whole

way. We bring this person in front of the church.

This has happened in our church, by the way.

The whole way, come in front of the church and

say, well, you know, I talked to them with so

-and -so. We all talked together and they think

what they're doing is not sin or they said they're

going to just keep on doing it even though they

admit that it is sin. So we think that they shouldn't

be a member of the church anymore. And the church

votes to remove them from membership. The Bible

says you treat them as a tax collector or a sinner.

Did the Bible just say to you not to treat them

as if they're saved or that you now know that

they're not saved? No, but you know that they're

living as if they were a tax collector or a sinner.

So in other words, that is sin. They're living

in sin. But that doesn't mean they're not saved.

It's not our job. When the Bible says, judge

not lest you be just, it's not talking about

sin. Judge not lest you be judged. It's talking

about salvation. You don't judge other people's

salvation. That's not your job. You're not the

sorter. God's the sorter. If anything, you're

the shuffler. Bring them all in. Let's take every

single one who proclaims to be a Christian and

we'll look at the word together. We'll figure

out whether we really are saved. We'll let some

people who already thought they were saved for

decades actually gets saved by the name of the

risen Savior. This is no joke. Maybe they think

they're small. And the best they can do is to

save themselves by professing the name of Jesus

or by praying something or by telling people

that they believe. They think they're saving

themselves and making themselves a little bigger

by doing that. But when they figure out that

it's Jesus who saves and Jesus who makes small

and Jesus who makes big, that can change. God

is a saving God and a sorting God. He saves all

who will truly come to Him. If they really come

to Him looking for salvation, He saves. Even

people who have, get this, even people who have

never heard the name of Jesus. I understand there

is only one name given among heaven by which

we must be saved. But that Muslim woman who was

running from the tsunami and she prayed to the

Christian God because she knew the Muslim God

wasn't going to do anything for her and she thought

maybe the Christian God would and she said, God,

if you'll save me, I'll serve you for the rest

of my life. And God spoke back into her heart

and said, run to the Christian church, even though

it was on lower ground. She ran to that church,

even though it was on lower ground. And that

church didn't flood, but the mosque flooded and

everybody died. And she was spared because she

ran to that Christian church building. And then

she's serving, I think she may have gone to be

with the Lord now, but she served her whole life

because God saved her through the name of Jesus,

which she had heard, but that's not how she came

to him. She didn't, somebody ABCs the salvation.

She cried out for salvation to the living God

and the living God spared her. And she said,

okay, I'll serve you all my life. Has that happened

to you? Has the God of heaven spared you? If

so, you are not small and it is not a small decision

to take unto yourself wicked or evil things.

God is writing a history that will serve them

as a people and serve us as a people. Remember

last week we learned that when faced with an

impactful moment, a moment at which God is about

to call you to do something amazing or really

going to ask you to stretch yourself or whatever,

that in the offing of that moment, God wants

you to know his mind and to do this through the

presence of the living Christ and the spiritual

disciplines that he ordered. God has to get the

credit. He has to get the credit here, not because

he's a glory hound, but because men need salvation.

And anyone who comes to Israel to be part of

Israel, but doesn't come to God, will still burn

in hell for eternity. God is the author of salvation

here. And only God. He is a jealous God. Not

in jealousy like men have jealousy, but in desiring

that people may gain access to salvation that

Christ paid for. God's investments must be used

for that purpose, not for the temporal betterment

of man. God doesn't give you money so you can

save it up or buy yourself nicer things. He gives

you money so that you can walk in the kingdom

of God by whatever means He chooses for you to

use it. And if He tells you to put it in the

bank, then put it in the bank. And if He tells

you to invest it in kingdom work, then invest

it in kingdom work. Jesus didn't die to pay your

electric bill or heal your body or your broken

heart. He died to save souls and take up residence

in people who were formerly dead in their trespasses

and sins. He died as the ultimate testimony of

victory available only through God. And it was

not done in a corner or out of sight or behind

a veil. It was publicly done. It has been known

the world over. Jesus died to steal the weapon

that is death out of the hand of the devil, according

to Hebrews 2. Revelation 1. Jesus now has the

keys to life and death and he wants to share

them with you, church. And if you want them,

you can have them. And if you have them, you

don't dare put them away or set them aside. You've

got to use them for what they were meant. Notice

that as they go into this battle, as Gideon leads

them out, these 300, the nation has not repented

of their sins. A village over, Up in the mountains,

still a high place, still a firstborn child being

burnt in the fire in the hopes that Molech will

save them from the Midianites. Still temple prostitutes

all night long with different men in the hopes

that their crops will be sufficient, they can

survive into another season. Israel had not repented

of their sins. Wickedness was still in their

midst. Notice also that in the 32 ,000 men, people

were not sent home by standards that could have

applied fairly to anyone. 22 ,000 men went home

because they were afraid. You know what kind

of man you've got to be to not be afraid to fight

an army that's 20 times your size, even when

there's 32 ,000 of you? Nuts. Crazy. They weren't

saying, oh, well, God's going to do this. It's

going to be awesome. We're all going to stand

here, and they're just going to bounce off of

us. They were going, we're all going to die.

Three -quarters of us are going to die. God's

going to win the victory. He's going to free

our nation. But three -quarters of us are going

to die. That's not scary. Yes, that's scary.

You've got to be nuts not to be scared under

those circumstances. So 10 ,000 guys remained

who were basically nuts. And of the 10 ,000 guys

who were basically crazy, they probably were

like, these are guys who were in debt so high

over the top of their head that they were like,

I may as well just die. You ever see that movie

Armageddon? The one guy gets a loan from a loan

shark and he goes up to defeat the meteorite

that's going to hit the earth or pass by the

earth. And he wants to die. The whole time he's

trying to get killed because he knows if he comes

back to Earth, he's going to have to face the

debts. It's like that. Some of these guys had

so much debt that they're like, I just need to

die in this battle. At least I can do something

good on my way out. Some of them were probably

like multiple personality disorder and thought

they were Gideon. We're talking about crazy people

that were not afraid of an army 20 times their

size that had already decimated their nation

for time and time and time again. They thought

they were small. They did not think they could

win. But they were hopeful that they might if

sufficient price was paid. They were not afraid

of death. And then the decision from Gideon's

point of view appeared to be made by who drank

water in a certain way. Now, a lot of pastors

preach a whole sermon right here. Because, you

know... If you're a guy who cups his hands in

the water and lifts something like that, you

can see around what's going on. Whereas if you're

a guy who puts their hand on the ground and lifts

it from the stream, during that time, you've

given up your ability to see around you, right?

And say, oh, you're a whole sermon. You can go

online right now and get one. Not by me, but

somebody. And it wouldn't necessarily be unbiblical

to do that, to start there, as long as you back

it up scripturally. And they're saying, these

guys, the reason they were chosen is because

they're more alert. I mean, listen, okay. We've

pretty well already figured out that the 300

guys versus the 300 ,000 Midianites and their

friends, it doesn't matter if they can see around

them or not. It doesn't matter if they're the

most alert. It doesn't matter if they're the

best warriors. So to say that if you're the person

who's smart, cunning, wise, recognizes authority,

whatever this means, whatever that is, that ain't

the reason they were chosen. They were chosen

because they were 300. They were chosen because

God said, take them and don't take the others.

But again, from Gideon's point of view, all he

saw was these are the 300 that drank a certain

way. There's a sermon there, but be careful because

you can slide into going, well, they were chosen

on their merit. They were chosen because of their

alertness. They were chosen because of their

dependability or because they were woodsmen or

because they were warriors profound or something

like that. It doesn't matter. They could be the

best warriors who ever lived. And if God doesn't

intervene, they can't win against 101 odds. They

can't do it. That brings us to our conclusion.

And it's a doozy. Apparent faithfulness in life

can come with certain trappings. Men who are

in their church, they're serving. I went down

to Atlanta. I went to a big church while I was

in Atlanta. Some of us went to a conference.

Some of us, Tim might have been there. So it

was a few of us that went. Big conference. We

sat down in about like the 32nd row out of 200

rows. So we were pretty close to the front. And

at the beginning of the service, they announced

to the congregation, it was election time, all

of the politicians who were in attendance that

day. See, sometimes faithfulness can come with

certain trappings. People recognize you. People

give to you things. They're more likely to take

care of you. They're going to bend over backwards

for you. When we work hard and succeed at something

no one else has done or maybe could do, and that's

what was on the line here. Gideon was about to

do something that nobody else could do. When

we work hard at something like that and then

succeed and we get the credit, the promotion,

the paycheck, the degree, the raise, the praise,

the audience that will listen to us, platform,

and we can sell our next book, whatever it is,

We deny access by those people who are giving

us credit to first -hand knowledge of the living

God unless we give credit where credit is due.

When you get it right, you've got to say, you've

got to admit, you've got to appeal to anyone

who will listen. Yeah, I got it right, but I

could not have done this if it were not for the

living God. Say, but other people get degrees.

Other people get raises. Other people get praises.

Other people get audiences. Other people get

blessings. Other people look good. Sure. And

if they don't give credit to the living God but

claim to be a Christian, then understand that

they are standing in the way of God getting the

glory, which means God getting the presented

salvation. God can save them. But God won't have

a chance to save them just because you got a

degree, just because you got a reward, just because

you did well somehow. God is not going to have

a chance to save them just because of that. But

if they will look to you and you will point to

Him, then there's a chance. And that's what God

was saying. We cannot deny access by those people

who are giving credit to us to a first -hand

knowledge of the living God. We cannot do it.

In John 4, Jesus is talking and He says, that

God is looking for worshipers in spirit and truth.

It would be good enough to worship God in spirit,

I think, if the Holy Spirit comes in you, worship

Him, that would be great. You need to worship

Him in truth. It's really got to be about God.

It'd be great to worship God in truth, that it's

really about Him. But if the Holy Spirit isn't

in it, it's really not going to be anything anyway.

You need God to show up and inhabit you so you

can be the kind of person that not only has a

relationship, alive, walking in Christ, but also

makes it available to your loved ones. In John

15, 5, Jesus is speaking, he says, I am the vine,

ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and

I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.

That means you produce a lot. You bring Christians

in, you produce a lot through the Holy Spirit,

you do kingdom work, right? And then he says,

for, because, without me, ye can do nothing.

Let me be really super clear. Without God, you

wouldn't be allowed to take another breath. You

can't prepare another meal. You can't. Give of

your money or keep your money. You can't work

at your job, clock in or don't. God is the one

who has authored creation and keeps it going

to this point in time. He must get the credit.

Philippians 4 .13, a verse that we all like to

quote, right? I can do all things. That's my

daughter's favorite verse. She's 11. This is

my favorite verse. She's got a couple of others

that she really likes now, but she really likes

this one. In fact, it's the key verse for our

kids group. Their motto is, we are mighty, right?

And it says, I can do all things through Christ

who strengthens me. Do you know what the all

things that he's talking about in Philippians

4 is? It's not all good things. It's not all

good things. Some are bad things. Suffer, struggle,

fight, work, sweat, bleed. I can do all things.

It is to be content no matter what you are going

through. Because he gives you strength. But let's

flip that around for one second. Let's realize

that if that's true, I can do all things through

Christ who gives me strength. Then what things

can you do outside Christ who gives you strength?

And the answer is nothing. And so when you take

that strength that Christ has given you, we take

that strength that he has given you and you go

after the wicked. You go after evil things. You

do what you should not do. You'll feel small.

And then you'll seek it even more. Trying to

get control. You'll go to church, going through

the motions. You'll go to worship, going through

the motions. You'll sing a little hour maybe

for a while. The problem being dealt with here

is that God's chosen people, when in wickedness,

will make their own way, when possible, just

the same as anyone else. Everyone wants to make

their own way. Everyone's just trying to do the

best they can. And so when we, as God's people,

choose the wrong way, we will still try to do

as good as we can. And then people will look

at us and they will count our apparent successes

for glory. But a rich man who fails to know the

mind of Christ will die the second death and

be separated from God for eternity. You'd better

be poor if making you rich would make you go

to hell. You'd better be lonely if giving you

many relationships would take you to hell. Don't

steal God's thunder. Go and do amazing and great

things and change the world for the better. Cast

out demons and evil spirits. Bring about healings.

Exercise your spiritual gift. Exercise the spiritual

disciplines. Preach the word. Evangelize. Witness.

Tell what you have seen and heard. Do all these

things in season and out because we know the

terror of the Lord. But don't steal God's thunder.

Remember I told you at the beginning that when

the gentleman, Dennis, John Dennis, invented

the thunder, for his play, which didn't last

long. And then they stole his thunder and used

it for Macbeth. Those two scenes in Macbeth,

they are the scenes where the witches are on

the stage. The witches are on the stage, and

the thunder in Macbeth is meant to say that the

witches, for one, had some control over creation.

They could control the weather. God controls

the weather. The thunder was meant to announce

that the The evil, the wickedness that takes

place in that play was being fostered by evil

spirits and demons as brought about by the witches

in Act 1 and Act 4. And that's not entirely untrue.

But God creates the thunder. God gives the victory.

Get used to saying this. God gave me the victory.

When you're suffering, when you're hurting, when

you're down and out, when you've got next to

nothing, say, God... is giving me the victory.

I will have victory in this situation. Blessed

God should have to make you small so that you

can find salvation yourself. So that others can

find salvation through you. The paralyzed man

had to be paralyzed to cry out to Jesus. The

blind man was blind to cry out to Jesus. The

dead man couldn't even cry out to Jesus, but

his loved ones did it for him. The widow who

was broke put in the two mites and put in more

than all those other guys. Because she did it

in her desperation. Do you need to go to being

truly desperate to eventually have a real relationship

with Jesus? If that's what it takes, then that's

where he'll take you. He wants to save your soul.

He wants to unleash you to do amazing things.

He will not do it through any strength or capability,

which you will then use to vaunt yourself and

put yourself up and say, see, I am big. But if

you will say instead, God is big. God is big.

And if you say you're small, then say you are

small in comparison to God, not in comparison

to other men. If you have accepted Jesus Christ

as Lord and Savior, you are big. At this point

in time, I'll ask the praise team to come forward

and lead us in our closing hymn. If you are here

today and you have thought of yourself as small

or unable to give yourself excuses why you can't

do what it is that God has called you to, I'm

asking you today to repent of that sinful thought.

And instead say, okay, God, do in me what you

want to do, whatever that is. Maybe you're here

today saying, I realize now, listen, I have truly

accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

My Lord means he held me up to do what I do.

My Savior means he paid the price for my sins.

If you would do that today, then you do it now.

It's not a special phrase you've got to say.

You don't have to be super intelligent. In fact,

Jesus said that tax collectors and poor martyrs

will come and sit down in front in the kingdom

of God before you. He was talking to very wise,

very knowledgeable Bible scholars. He said that

tax collectors and poor martyrs will come and

sit down in the kingdom of God before you. If

you're in this room and you understand just enough

to say, I have not accepted Jesus Christ as my

Lord and Savior in earnest, and you're willing,

then do that right now where you're seated. And

you say, I need to follow Jesus in all my life,

in all my heart. I need to put away this wickedness,

this evil. Then you do that right now. I realize

when I do these things that I'm not supposed

to do, they make me feel small. And the further

down that road that I go, the more meaningless

things I encounter. I know I need to come back

to God. Stop thinking of myself as small or unable.

Think of myself as God's age capable. You don't

have to be crazy. This isn't even a crazy thing.

You should be a little afraid because God's going

to need you to do something amazing. If you say,

okay, God, use me to do that, whatever that is,

then he comes. Would you stand with me and sing

this hymn? and then respond however you feel

led to the Lord.