Hold Nothing Back Part 2 - Gideon

Hoping to help his church save money, Pastor Jones decided to paint the church exterior himself, but all he had on hand was one bucket of paint. So he collected a bunch of empty buckets and some water, which he used to thin the paint enough to cover the building. Then he spent the whole day painting.

That night it rained and washed off all the paint. The pastor was so discouraged and asked God, “Why…why Lord, did you let it rain and wash away all my hard work?” To which God replied, “Repaint AND thin no more!”

We are currently in a sermon series called “Hold Nothing Back”. I hope our church will be inspired to Hold Nothing back when it comes to God’s plan for us, our motives, how to fighting spiritual battles, encountering Christ, and how to living a victorious life each and every day.

Today we are going to focus on one of the Judges of Israel named Gideon. The Bible puts him at the head of the list of judges. Though he sometimes wavered in his faith, he was still a “man of faith” who held nothing back in his trust in God.

Hebrews 11:32 NLT

32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.

Gideon is an example to us of how to hold nothing back. When we realize that he was a farmer, not a trained warrior, we see how wonderful his faith. His faith should inspire us in our walk because if God can use someone like Gideon then He can certainly use someone like us!

Judges 6-7 is where I plan to keep us for today. It tells the story of Gideon, his calling, and the plan for battle.

We find Gideon hiding out in the bottom of a winepress threshing wheat because the enemy didn’t want Israel to have any food. Jesus appeared to him and told him that he wanted Gideon to lead the people in a fight against the enemy.

Well, Gideon had a lot of questions. He had a lot of excuses. He asked for a sign that God was going to help him in the battle.

He was only content after four signs that God would give the victory.

Through the course of events God gave Gideon the plan to defeat the enemy.

Never in history has there been a more seemingly foolish plan of battle. God gave Gideon instructions and he was simply carrying them out to the letter.

What instructions did God give to Gideon?

1. Divide the 300 men into 3 companies.

2. Put a trumpet in the hand of every man, with an empty pitcher, and a lamp burning within the pitcher.

3. Surround the camp of the enemy and do exactly as the leader did. When he blew the trumpet all should do so, breaking the pitchers, holding the lamps in their left hands, and crying, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon” (Judg. 7:17–20).

Imagine 301 trumpets (counting Gideon’s) blasting all at once when the whole camp of the enemy was asleep, then waking to see 301 lamps burning all around the camp, and hearing the breaking of pitchers and 301 loud voices crying, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.” This would be startling in itself without the added confusion produced supernaturally by the Lord. The Midianites, believing that a huge army had suddenly made an attack, fled in all directions.

That’s the basic story of Gideon being called, holding nothing back, and how he walked in victory. This farmer who was hiding in a pit just trying to get a little grain had an encounter with God that changed his life and it changed the lives of an entire nation of people.

I want to pull some truth from his experience and hopefully encourage you to hold nothing back so that you can walk in the same victory. I believe there are people waiting for people like us to step up in faith and trust that God can do the impossible.

People who hold nothing back are People of Valor, they are People who take a Stand for God, and they are People who are Conquerors. We see those things in the story of Gideon. Let’s talk about each and remind ourselves that we are those people.

Holding Nothing Back means we must have Valor

Valor: great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle.

Judges 6:12 ESV

12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

Seven years of bondage under the Midianites had brought Israel to its lowest level. It’s not where they were supposed to be. God wanted better things for His chosen people.

When we open the Bible to Judges chapter 6 we find these people hiding in dens. They were so defeated that they weren’t even allowed to harvest their own crops. They weren’t allowed to eat their own food.

These are the circumstances that lead Gideon to a hiding place to harvest some wheat.

He was in a winepress, which was basically a hole in the ground, trying not to be caught.

God was ready for this to end so Jesus himself appeared to Gideon to remind him of the promise that Israel was to live in freedom.

When Jesus said that Gideon was a “mighty man of valor”, it seemed like He was mocking him. Valor means that you have courage and yet we see a weak man hiding in a hole just trying to get food to live.

God was only anticipating what Gideon would become by faith.

God Knows Your Potential

All too often we question if God is calling us into His plans. We look at our limitations, but God looks at our possibilities.

I like what Jesus said when He called Peter to follow Him.

John 1:42 ESV

42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

You Are…You Shall Be

Peter had no idea what he was getting into when he dropped his nets and followed Jesus…and neither do we. Only God can see the future.

Peter went from fishing to preaching to a crowd of thousands. He lived a life that was studded with the miraculous. People just wanted to touch his shadow in hopes of being healed by God through him.

We are no different from Gideon or Peter. Jesus is coming to us calling us by a name that we have a hard time accepting.

He called this farmer who was really a man of valor.

How did Gideon respond? Well, probably at lot like we do..He started asking God questions because he had a hard time believing.

Judges 6:12–16 NLT

12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” 13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” 14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” 15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” 16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”

Judges 6:17 NLT

17 Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me.

Do you see Gideon’s unbelief as he questions God: “If … why … where … how … if …?” Then he asks God to show him a sign! This is certainly not the language of faith.

Gideon could not understand how the Lord would use a poor farmer like himself to deliver the nation.

God met his unbelief with a series of promises: “The Lord is with you”; “you will save Israel … have I not sent you?” “surely I will be with you” (vv. 12, 14, nkjv).

The only way we can hold nothing back is by BELIEVING that the promises of God are true.

That He will be with us, He has sent us, and He will be with us.

Unlike Gideon we must not seek a sign from God. We have the entire Word of God as a sign of His faithfulness.

Romans 10:17 NKJV

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The word of God calls us courageous. It calls us men and women of Valor. We need to know that God is with us. We must trust that He can take our lives and turn them into something good.

People who hold nothing back are People of Valor and they are...

———-—

We must be People who Stand

Judges 6:25–26 NLT

25 That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. 26 Then build an altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.”

It is one thing to meet God in the secrecy of a winepress, but quite another thing to stand up for the Lord in public.

Don’t you see this problem in our modern Christian experience?

Sometimes what happens in here doesn’t translate or make it into our regular daily life. Do the people around us know that we are followers of Jesus? Are we afraid to take a stand for what is right?

The Lord didn’t call us to be bystanders in this world, He has called us to go out and make disciples. We do that by standing up when we are being told to sit down. We must take up the cause of Christ in all aspects of our lives.

You WILL be Tested

The night Jesus appeared to Gideon God tested his dedication by asking him to tear down his father’s idolatrous altar to Baal, and to build an altar to Jehovah. More than this, he was to sacrifice his father’s special bull (probably reserved for Baal) on the new altar.

Our testimony has to begin at home. We have a responsibility to our friends and family first. What a shame it would be to do the work of God all over the world and yet our own family doesn’t know the truth. We must first get our houses in order.

Parents must lead our children, Husbands and Wives must love each other. I’m tell you, God wants us to minister first to those closest to us.

Gideon obeyed God’s command. He was willing to take a stand. But let’s look at HOW he took his stand.

Judges 6:27 NLT

27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town.

Gideon obeyed the Lord, but he showed unbelief by doing it at night, and by asking ten other men to help him.

Can’t we look at the story and shake our head at the weakness of Gideon?

I mean he just had an encounter with Jesus!

Shouldn’t he have woke up the next morning, gathered all the people from the tribe, tell them what Jesus said, and then like the sacred altar on fire? I mean isn’t that what we would have done?

Well…maybe, but most likely we’d do what Gideon did…we’d call all our buddies for strength and support. Then come up with a plan that would get us in the least amount of trouble, but still accomplish what God wanted.

Why do we do this? We know what the Bible says...

Romans 8:31 NLT

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

It really comes down to what it did with Gideon, he wasn’t completely convinced that God was really on his side.

We have got to get to the point where we are CONVINCED that God IS on OUR Side.

God is on OUR Side

Gideon didn’t believe that, which explains why he was asking for so many signs. He just had a hard time accepting that God really wanted to use him.

If we can’t get it out of our heads that God wouldn’t use someone like us then we will never stand up when it counts. We’ve got to trust the Word of God and believe that no matter what God is in control of our lives.

One problem is that we are so afraid of what people might think of us or what they might do to us.

Can you imagine what was going through Gideons mind when he destroyed the scared altar of that his father had built, and killed the sacred cow? He probably thought he was toast and that he would be next on the fire.

But’s that’s not what happened.

Judges 6:28–32 NLT

28 Early the next morning, as the people of the town began to stir, someone discovered that the altar of Baal had been broken down and that the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down. In their place a new altar had been built, and on it were the remains of the bull that had been sacrificed. 29 The people said to each other, “Who did this?” And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash. 30 “Bring out your son,” the men of the town demanded of Joash. “He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole.” 31 But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, “Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!” 32 From then on Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means “Let Baal defend himself,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.

We can imagine the anger in the neighborhood when the people discovered the destroyed altar the next morning!

Did they kill Gideon?

No! Rather, Gideon became a leader, able to summon the army together to prepare to fight.

God will never use a “secret saint” to win great battles. We must come out in the open and take our stand, regardless of the cost.

Miracles Happen when We STAND

God can turn what we think is the worst situation into something MIRACULOUS.

People who hold nothing back are people of valor, people who stand, and...

We are People who Conquer

Judges 6:34 NLT

34 Then the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him.

Now, we get to the warrior stuff. Gideon was walking out the promises of God in his life. He was now the leader of a massive army.

An army of thirty-two thousand men rallied to his side, but he was still doubtful of victory.

He asked God for more signs that He was with Him. It wasn’t enough that Jesus appeared to him and that God had raised up a massive army behind him, Gideon wanted more assurance.

This is what he asked.

Judges 6:36–40 NLT

36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, 37 prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.” 38 And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” 40 So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.

What a picture of the grace of God. Even when we are in doubt, God has mercy and leads us by His faithful hand.

God is Faithful

Gideon “put out the fleece” twice, and both times God answered. It is too bad, though, when God’s people trust circumstances to lead them instead of relying on God’s clear Word.

We have the Word of God available to us more now than ever before. We have it in a book, on our phones, in our computers, we hear it preached, we go to studies, and yet we sometimes find ourselves asking God for even more.

In order to be a conqueror, it’s not enough to have an army, you have to have faith. Faith that God is going to do what He says. We can only know what God is saying if we open the book.

That’s what builds our faith.

How do we know when we aren’t standing in faith? Because we’re afraid.

Gideon was afraid. He had to conquer his fear and unbelief if he was going to conquer his enemy.

Gideon was not the only one afraid; 22,000 soldiers were also fearful and went home...

Judges 7:2–3 NLT

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. 3 Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.’ ” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.

This seemed like bad news to Gideon, but the hits kept on coming because God did not need all of the remaining 10,000 men, so He tested them and sent most of them home.

Judges 7:5–6 NLT

5 When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” 6 Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.

Now we are down to 300! This sure doesn’t seem like Gideon was going in the right direction. If he was afraid with 32,000 warriors how much more fear would he have been with only 300?

Well, as you might have guessed, Gideon was VERY afraid!

God told Him to go down and take the enemy camp, but if he was afraid then he could go down with his servant to spy on the enemy first.

So, he went down as a spy, and this is what happened...

Judges 7:13–15 NLT

13 Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!” 14 His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!” 15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the Lord. Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Get up! For the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!”

The barley cake represented Gideon, you see, barley was the poorest kind of food. But God was going to use this ordinary farmer to win a great victory!

Folks, if we are going to be people who hold nothing back, we must realize that the only way to be a conqueror is to first defeat FEAR.

We must defeat Fear

Gideon got his fear under control by finally relying wholly on the Word of God.

This is how we fight out battles! We have faith instead of fear.

This victory was won by the power of God, the enemy’s weapons were useless in the battle.

I mean look at how 300 men won the physical battle! It’s kind of nuts!

Gideon put a trumpet in the hand of every man and a lamp burning inside a water pitcher.

Then they surrounded the camp of the enemy, blew the trumpets, broke the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, screaming, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon”

Judges 7:21 NLT

21 Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape.

The Sword of the Lord!

Amazing story. Unbelievable. Well, it had to be to give God the glory.

In our lives if we are going to be people who hold nothing back, we should expect the same types of seemingly hopeless situations. Situations that only through faith in God can we claim the victory.

Here’s one final thought.

The pitcher, torch, and trumpet have spiritual significance.

We are all three of those things. We are called to be clean vessels.

2 Timothy 2:21 NLT

21 If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

We are called to be a torch:

Matthew 5:16 NLT

16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

And we are called to be the trumpet or a witness for Christ:

1 Thessalonians 1:8 NLT

8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it,

Pitcher - Torch - Trumpet

If we are going to conquer our enemies we must make sure we are right with God, we are letting our light shine, and we are telling of the goodness we have found in Christ.

Friends, it’s time to hold nothing back. We are people of valor, people who stand, and people who conquer.

The steps in Gideon’s victory are easy to trace:

He had a promise to believe (God can use us), an altar to build (Willing to Stand), a vessel to break (surrender), a lamp to burn (good deeds), and a trumpet to blow (gospel).

God will give the victory. HOLD NOTHING BACK.