The God of Impossible

“when God pleases to convert the heathen, he'll do it without consulting you or me.”

“Expect great things from God. Attempt great things from God.” William Carey

What keeps you from atttempting great things from God?

What keeps you from expecting great things from God?

Write these things in the corner/ reference the questions

Next week we start and eight week journey on defining what faith is and what it is not. Today we are looking at one of the men in the “hall of faith”

Hebrews 11:32 ESV

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

We often see God move when circumstances are challenging. Judges 6:1-10

What is the condition of Israel at this time…the condition of the whole nation can be summed up in one verse…Judges 21:25

Judges 21:25 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

They have had 40 years of rest from the Cannnites, delivered by the judge Deborah and Barak

Yet, they did evil in the sight of the Lord

This is what the evil did, it sent them into a cycle

Rebellion

Retribution

Repentance

Rescue

So, the question to ask when you see challenging circumstances is not what is my condition or what is going on, but what is God doing and saying, so what is God doing and saying, expect great things from God

God doesn’t need the right conditions to move…he is not like us

Judges 6:7–10 ESV

When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

Who will God use to attempt great things for him?

God often uses the least qualified to accomplish His will. Judges 6:11-40

Who is Gideon?

Judges 6:11 ESV

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

He was hiding

He doubted God’s goodness

Judges 6:13 ESV

And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

He was from a weak clan

Judges 6:15 ESV

And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

He had some important qualities

He understood the worship of the Lord

Judges 6:18 ESV

Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

He was obedient, but he was scared

Judges 6:25–27 ESV

That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

But he was bold and courageous

Judges 6:28–30 ESV

When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.”

But even in this he still doubted

Two Fleeces:

Judges 6:36–37 ESV

Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.”

But in this doubt, he began to think about the interests of the nation instead of himself

A mark of maturity is when you begin to think of what is better for the whole than for you, he hid his resources for himself, now is he set to help save the people and the resources of the nations from the mauraders who were raiding but are now incamped.

Application…most people who feel they are not strong enough or good enough will have seasons like Gideon, strength mixed with struggle

Faith mixed with fear, its often not just one emotion that we god through, which reminds us that God can do more with a few than a huge crowd, it depends on who they are loyal too

Because why, its his fight, don’t get enamored with yourself and your gifts and don’t de value all that God can do with you, either extreme is not heathy, but the main take way is that its God who is the hero of the story,

Judges 6:12 ESV

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

God doesn’t need he masses to accomplish his will. Judges 7:1-18

We place a lot of emphasis on how big something is, and we have to be careful that we don’t equate blessing and success on the size of something, nor should we think that just because something is big doesn’t mean that God is not in it

Yet, this part of the story is quite surprising, because we see Gideon growing in confidence, obedience and influence, so much so he goes “viral” and gains 32,000 followers

Judges 7:2 ESV

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

How will he cut his army down, God’s army, not Gideon’s

Some leave because of fear

Judges 7:3 ESV

Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

Some fear losing…life, reputation, influence, a part of something big (Danny’s comment to me about being a part of something exciting, day to day ministry is always exciting)

THe Final Cut was from 10,000 to 300

Why? It’s seems arbitrary.

Judges 7:5–6 ESV

So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.

THe big take away here is that Gideon did what God said, he grew, he didn’t fleece him adn we are in that place now to ask. What does God want Westover to do now. IN the past we have been obedient, what is he calling us to do now…I think God is calling us to health. To put people in groups, to teach them how to serve and love one another, to mobilize us into ministry. Because the victory belongs to the Lrod

The victory belongs to the Lord. Judges 7:19-24

How were the people a part of the victoty

2 things

They were all united.

Judges 7:21 ESV

Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.

2. They believed in the vision and their leadership

Judges 7:20 ESV

Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

In the end, God’s every trophy and every victory is God’s victory

How do you apply this as a mature believer? What makes the difference in your life, what you have acquired in your life?

As a new believer? Don’t look at your circumstances look to the Lord

How did God do the most impossible task of bringing unholy, broken people, to a Holy loving, all powerful God, it did it through the broken body of Christ who is described in Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:2–5 ESV

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.