Great Things For God 5 Gideon
Great Things For God 4 – Gideon, A Great Warrior NV 3/3/02 AM
OS: Leo Tolstoy wrote what the Encyclopedia Britannica describes as "one of the two or three greatest novels in world literature"—War and Peace. But he also wrote a book in 1879 called A Confession, which tells the story of his search for meaning and purpose in life.
Rejecting Christianity as a child, Tolstoy left his university seeking pleasure. In Moscow and Petersburg, he drank heavily, lived promiscuously, and gambled frequently.
His ambition was to become wealthy and famous, but nothing satisfied him. In 1862, he married a loving wife and had 13 children; he was surrounded by what appeared to be complete happiness. Yet one question haunted him to the verge of suicide: "Is there any meaning in my life which will not be annihilated by the inevitability of death, which awaits me?"
Nicky Gumbel, in the Questions of Life, explains what triggered Tolstoy's conversion:
He searched for the answer in every field of science and philosophy. As he looked around at his contemporaries, he saw that people were not facing up to the first-order questions of life ("Where did I come from?" "Where am I going?" "Who am I?" "What is life all about?"). Eventually he found that the peasant people of Russia had been able to answer these questions through their Christian faith, and he came to realize that only in Jesus Christ do we find the answer.
A hundred years later, nothing has changed. Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the rock group Queen, who died of AIDS at the end of 1991, wrote in one of his last songs on The Miracle album: "Does anybody know what we are living for?"
David writes in Psalm 16:11, “You have made known to me the path of life.”
I. Do you ever get the feeling you are living without purpose?
A. “There must be more to life than what I’m living.”
B. “I feel like I’m going in circles.”
TS] This morning we are going to look at the life of a man that provides for us a plan for making our life count by doing great things for God. Three chapters of the Bible give us his life story – Judges 6, 7, and 8. The life of Gideon
“One day in Children’s worship, I taught about Gideon. The following Sunday, for the sake of review, I asked who remembered last week's Bible hero. No hands went up. "Okay," I said. "I'll give you a clue: he fought a battle using only lamps, pitchers, and trumpets." Still no response. "Maybe you remember how he used a fleece to learn God's will," I said. Ten little blank faces stared at me. "One final clue," I pleaded. "There are people today with the same name as our hero, who go around hotels putting Bibles in the rooms." Finally an eager 8-year-old boy shot up his hand and said, "Oh! Oh! It was Hilton!"
TS] We’re going to consider the events of Gideon this morning and learn some more principles about doing Great things for God. That is precisely what gives us meaning and purpose in life.
Set the Stage – read 6:11-16 – Story form – read 6:33-34 (Gideon has made a decision to do the will of the Lord even when it goes against his family and the people of his clan.)
God is always concerned with His glory – notice 7:1-2 – Story form – 7:15, “…get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”
When God came into Gideon’s life things changed and his life accounted for much more than threshing wheat. There are some things that Gideon did that you and I can do in order to do great things for God.
I. DECIDE - Set your mind to do great things for God for the Right Reason.
A. GOD DELIGHTS IN TAKING ORDINARY PEOPLE AND DOING EXTRA ORDINARY THINGS THROUGH THEM – THIS ENSURES THAT HE WILL RECEIVE THE GLORY. NEVER CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE UNWORTHY OF ACCOMPLISHING GREAT THINGS FOR GOD! GOD CREATED YOU AND EQUIPED YOU TO DO EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE.
B. Its all about His glory (God’s glory = Right Reason)
1. 1 Corinthians 1031 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
2. John 17 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
C. A decision must be made and has been made already!
1. Matthew 6 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money… 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
D. Once you have decided to live your life for God you must then determine how.
II. DEFINE - Carefully define God’s will for your life.
A. How many times did Gideon double-check the will of God? (Offering, Fleece twice, and the eaves dropping.)
B. CONVICTION OF GOD’S WILL PRODUCES COURAGE AND ENTHUSIASM GOD WANTS ME TO … WITH MY LIFE. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE SEE CLEARLY THAT GOD IS LEADING THIS CHURCH TO AN ENTIRELY NEW PHASE OF WORK IN HIS KINGDOM
C. We can know what the Lord’s will is!
1. Ephesians 5 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
2. To be like Jesus, a Christian parent and spouse, etc.
3. If God has laid it upon your heart to be a teacher in our education program, host, group leader, or whatever. That is where you bring Him glory by being the best you can be. (Ministry Fair)
D. Philippians 2 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
III. DO - Approach the task with confidence believing with all your heart that you can do all things through Him.
A. 6:16, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
1. The Midianites numbered to the point they could not be counted.
B. God speaks the same message to us today.
1. Philippians 413 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.