The Pressure of Purpose (Mistaken Identity)

Roger Cooper

Bible Study • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Judges 6:1–2

Judges 6:11–14

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Introduction

Grace and Peace be multiplied unto you from God our Father, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Listen, can we clap our hands all over this place for our Pastor, Founder, and Leader… Bishop Brandon A. Jacobs… and for our First Lady and Executive Pastor Lady Vivian Jacobs. And in the Indy location, we thank God for our Executive Pastor Marcus Mabry. And while you are at it, clap your hands for yourself because everybody is somebody in God’s kingdom. And of course, while you are clapping your hands why don’t you keep clapping, open up your mouth, raise your voice, get up on your feet, and give praise to the God of your salvation. Come on Zion… why don’t you give God glory.

Listen, I want to be obedient to my assignment this evening for our midweek Bible Study. I would that you would stand that we might do our Ephesians Confession.

Ephesians Confession

Ephesians 1:17–21 KJV 1900

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

We make this confession because the Word of God is a MYSTERY and to understand the mystery we must have REVELATION.

Scriptures: Judges 6:1-2 & Judges 6:11-16

Prayer

Read: Judges 6:1-2 & Judges 6:11-16

Judges 6:1–2 KJV 1900

1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

Let’s jump down to verse 11.

Judges 6:11–14 KJV 1900

11 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

I want to reread verse 14.

Judges 6:14–16 KJV 1900

14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Give Subject: The Pressure of Purpose

Background

So, when last we gathered for our Bible Study… the spirit of God moved so heavy that we do not get to pickup where we last left off for our Bible Study at the end of June. How many remember what we were talking about?

PURPOSE

Our leader has been talking to us about purpose, specifically he has been teaching us on Kingdom Purpose. It is a series that we started in June (if memory serves), as we are pushing to get a better understanding of the exact role that we have to play in the Kingdom of God. We have spent a great deal of time talking about general purpose but we have also spent time talking about our Kingdom Purpose.

With that in mind, I have to ask the question...

How would you define purpose? (Speaking generally, not necessarily deep or spiritual)

Just so we can recap, Bishop Jacobs put it like this

Purpose is the original intent for the creation of a thing.

Purpose is the desired result that initiates the production of a thing.

Purpose is the destination that prompts the journey.

Put another way, if I could, purpose can be defined as the identity of a thing put into action. It is much like a butter knife, its purpose is inherit in its identity… it is a butter knife because its Purpose is best suited to the slicing and spreading of butter. The name originates from the action it is best suited to execute, and its suited to that action because someone DESIGNED IT that way. You can use a steak knife to slice butter and you can use a butter knife to slice steak but you will ultimately work harder because you are trying to use something outside of its purpose because you are ignoring its identity.

And I submit to you today that many people in the body of Christ do not UNDERSTAND their Kingdom Purpose because they do not KNOW and have not grasped their Kingdom Identity. And so many of us are walking around trying to cut steak with a butter knife, in the name of God’s Kingdom and it makes you tired, you get disappointed, and frustrated because you are having a case of mistaken identity that compromises your purpose.

It is important we understand that purpose is foundational to existence and is not something that you either have or do not have. But purpose is instead something that fuels your actions, informs your choices, and changes your future.

Keeping this fact in mind, I prayed to get an understanding of where God wanted me to go for this Bible Study tonight. To that end, I was led to the book of Judges so we could see purpose in action but also understand the pressure that purpose brings with it into our lives. Here in Judges 6, we see the beginning of the ministry and service of Gideon and in it I think we clearly see purpose in motion as the man of God tip toes into his calling as a Judge for the people of Israel.

Scripture Background

Judges 6:1–2 KJV 1900

Generally, the book of Judges has a simple yet repetitious model that is reflected at various points in the scripture.

In fact this pattern is recorded clearly in Judges 2:10-23 where the author clearly outlines the process that the people undergo in the book of Judges, wherein:

Israel does evil in the sight of the Lord.

God sends Israel’s enemies to gather against them and subjugate them for a time.

Israel eventually cries out to God, who raises up a Judge.

The Judge frees the people and establishes peace throughout the nation of Israel.

Here we see one such instance of the Israelites falling into idol worship, doing that which is right in their own eyes without regard for God.

In this instance God delivers them into the hands of the Midianites, where they stay for seven years.

Now their are multiple ways to deal with this portion of text but one thing that comes to my mind is where Bishop made clear your Purpose (especially as a leader) comes as the answer to a problem.

If their are no crimes… we have no police.

If their is not speeding… we have no speed limit.

If their is no sin… their is no savior.

This fact in mind… when we look at this passage of scripture we clearly see the children of Israel encounter a problem (one of their own making) and that problem will require a solution.

So I am now curious… are their things in the world that maybe you see as a problem that others do not see as a problem?

Are their things that bother you that perhaps do not bother others?

Do you have ideas about things for which most people do not even give a moment of thought?

In the coming text, we see Gideon come to terms with his problem and begin the process of becoming the solution.

Scripture Study

Judges 6:11–16 KJV 1900

And so, the Angel of the Lord comes into the scene and sits under an oak tree that was on land that was assigned to or owned by Joash, the father of Gideon.

The Angel sits and watches as Gideon is threshing wheat in the winepress and the text makes clear that he is in the winepress that he might HIDE from the Midianites.

To understand that we have to get a visual for what a winepress was.

The winepress was a sunken place in the earth where they had dug dirt out and line the entire pit with stone in the bottom and on the sides. This provided a place where grapes could be placed and stepped on to squeeze them and release the juices that would later be turned into wine. (It was called a winepress by faith, because the press did not produce wine it produced juice).

For this to work they would have to dig a lower pit and line it with stone as well and have a channel flow from the higher place into the lower place to give the juice somewhere to flow.

The critical piece of information is that Gideon is in the winepress and he is standing in its lowermost part because he can be below the line of sight and thresh the wheat there without being seen because Judges 6:3-6 makes clear that they are not just being ruled by the Midianites but the Midianites are actually burning crops, stealing cattle, and driving the Israelites into poverty.

So in fear of poverty and worried about getting to keep his crop, he goes into the winepress to thresh his wheat (I want to pause here).

How many times have you found yourself using the wrong tools for a job?

The winepress uses pressure to produce a flow… but a threshing floor uses the wind to blow away the parts you do not need. He is in the winepress (in the ground where the wind cannot reach him) and he has to work harder than ever to separate the wheat from the tare because where he is, the wind will not do his work for him. And so he is working harder than he needs to because he is using a tool for a purpose that does not line up with its identity. He is cutting steak with a spoon and sure he can do it but his fear has driven him to working harder than necessary and he has to do it all from a secret place.

Are there things that you want to do but you are too afraid to do them? Afraid someone might come and stop you… might steal your increase… or maybe take credit for your work?

So in this moment of fear, with frustration resting on him… the angel of the Lord appears to him and calls him a mighty man of valour.

He is scared, afraid, working in fear, living in fear… and the angel of the Lord appears to him sitting on a tree and calls him a man of valour.

I felt it necessary to define the word valour.... valour can be defined as the quality of possessing faculty, competence, power, or strength.

Calling him a man of valour is to say that he not only has the ability to be strong and exude power but is in fact to say that he has the knowledge to do so properly.

Has anyone ever been called something and found yourself feeling unprepared?

And not just something spiritual but even something natural. You had a child and were called a mother before you felt prepared or perhaps a father but you thought you were ready.

How many have been in that place and ask yourself truthfully, what was going through your head?

I say this because I think we sometimes look back at our situations and while we are thankful, I think we forget how hopeless it may have looked when you were staring down the barrel of the problem. And when you can put yourself in that space to remember just HOW LOW YOU WERE… it makes it easier to appreciate how far you have come.

Now, its funny the first thing Gideon does is he begins to accuse God. His first point is to address where he thinks that God has messed up… effectively questioning the validity of God’s claim that he is God.

Judges 6:13 KJV 1900

13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

Gideon very quickly becomes a victim, along with all of Israel, as he seeks to blame God for their faithlessness that ultimately led them to the place they were in.

Do we as the body of Christ take accountability for the role we play in our own place in life.

Make no mistake, Israel is in this position because they had a crisis of purpose driven by their perversion of their God given purpose.

God called them to be his chosen and elect people to represent him in the Earth… to serve him and have no other gods before him.

However, when the chips fell their disobedience in the conquest of Canaan led to them falling out of their Kingdom Purpose and ultimately losing their identity.

Is your situation because God forgot you… or you forgot, neglected, overlooked, or did not LIKE, His purpose for you?

And it is important to recognize the sovereignty of God in all situations, and ultimately you can be living fully in your purpose and still afflicted if that is the will of God… But I submit we give the devil to much credit and we shove on God to much blame for situations and circumstances clearly within our control.

This gets me to the crux of the lesson tonight.

Judges 6:14 KJV 1900

14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

What I love about God, is that he is so much God he does not justify himself, nor does he deny anything but he instead doubles down on his statement.

The problems you see, the things that plague you, the issues that just grind your gears… it is quite possible that it is manufacturer specification designed to eat at you until you recognize that it is your purpose.

God sends word to Gideon and rather than running with the word to go do the work he was called to… Gideon stood around blaming God.

Gideon is effectively asking God… where is the God of my fathers who delivered Israel from Pharaoh… where is THAT GOD.

And God reminds Gideon, did I not send you?

When God wants to do a work… he sends a man.

And Gideon is complaining about God… and God is saying thou art the man, sent for such a time as this.

It is at this moment that Gideon comes face to face with his Kingdom Purpose. It is the moment that most of us are praying to God for and waiting on God for. We want God to send a prophet with a word, an angel with a scroll, a burning bush with the voice of God… and that sounds really good and many of us feel like we would be convinced by these mighty moves of God designed to call us into our Kingdom Purpose.

But I submit to you, your response would be no different than Gideon’s response.

Judges 6:15 KJV 1900

15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

Despite everything, Gideon had excuses and reasons he was not qualified or able… because only when faced with his Kingdom purpose does he realize that God has called me a mighty man of valour that he does not see himself to be.

But God is so faithful that he provides him reassurance. God is so committed to you fulfilling your Kingdom purpose… he so desires to mend your case of mistaken identity… that he will reassure you because to doubt is to be human… especially in the wake of God calling you to do a miraculous work.

Judges 6:16 KJV 1900

16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Conclusion

What is the point of everything I have been saying and everything that we have talked about?

God has given you an assigned purpose, and even if it is at odds with your current situation… he still desires for you to unify your Kingdom Identity with your Kingdom Purpose so you can be what God called you to be and do what he called you to do.

Finally, this lesson showcases that their are other people who are dependent on you fulfilling your purpose. Churches, Cities, Nations, Races, Classes of people are all waiting on you to come to terms with your identity and step over into your purpose.

And truthfully, that increases the pressure but it also makes the labor that much more important.

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