God Is Always Looking For Volunteers Who Measure Up

Judg 6:1 - 8:35

1. God was looking for volunteers for a Project He had planned

a. The Midianites needed to be defeated because they couldn’t live in harmony with Israel

b. God could defeat the Midianites by Himself but isn’t it wonderful He included Isreal in His plans

c. When Jesus includes you things begin to change in your Life

(1) It increases your self worth - You want to fellowship with people who care about your ideas

(2) It increases your spiritual awareness - you know the difference in right and wrong based upon the Bible

(3) It give you a spiritual purpose - It’s not your plan but you are asked to volunteer to help develop & impliment Jesus plan

(4) Jesus wants your participation - become a volunteer

d. Let’s think about people who volunteer according to Hebrews 11

(1) Enoch - lived a life pleasing to God

(2) Noah - Trusted God’s Word about His future

(3) Abram - Asked to move to another city & country

(4) Moses - was asked to overcome his fear

(5) Harlot Rahab - chose to change the way she lived - chose God’s people

(6) Job - decided to be good when he could have been bad

(7) Isaiah - Here am I lord send me

(8) Gideon - A little with God is a lot in victory

Judges 6:14 (KJV) And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go (Gideon) in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

2. Bible students can see a pattern in the O.T. & N.T about the characteristics of the volunteers He uses

a. One example of this is found in Deuteronomy and the requirement God has commanded for volunteers in His army

Deuteronomy 20:8 (KJV) And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.

(1) Fear is contagious Covid-19 is a good example

(2) Negative attitudes can destroy a good person’s productivity

(3) Jesus doesn’t like a weak heart concerning volunteers in His Spiritual Army either

b. "None of us is as smart as all of us." -- Ken Blanchard

c. Let’s look at God’s idea of a Good Volunteer

A Good Volunteer Is A Person Who Has Faith In God’s Plan

1. One thing about God’s plan is He doesn’t give you all of His plan at once

a. Why - If you knew all of Jesus plan for your life it would fall into the catagory of fact not faith

(1) Fact = “Well that sounds good to me.”

(2) After viewing the Fact you might say = “No thank you.”

b. Jesus wants you to have “Faith” in what He wants for you is the best for you.

2. Gideon's faith did not come easy for him

a. Your faith will also be a struggle when Jesus wants you to go in the opposite direction you are going in

b. Gideon's faith increased after the miracle of the fleece.

c. Gideon showed his faith by naming the altar he built, "Jehovah Shalom" (The Lord is Peace).

d. He did this before the battle had even been fought—before the victory had been won.

3. Gideon was asked to do certain tasks not knowing Why

a. God said, "Tear down the pagan altar" and Gideon tore it down.

b. God said, "Build an altar to me." Gideon did it.

c. God said, "Reduce your army!" and Gideon did.

d. God instructed Gideon to arm them with pitchers and trumpets and lamps and Gideon did.

A Good Volunteer Is A Person Who Is Humble

Judges 6:15 (KJV) 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.

1. The Angel Of The Lord Promoted Gideon

a. The angel said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior,"

b. Did Gideon look behind him to see who the angel was addressing.

2. We see humility in Gideon before he volunteered for a few reasons

a. He did not think of himself as a mighty warrior or a man of courage.

b. To Gideon Mighty men of courage do not thresh their wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

3. Jesus sees what you are capable of now who you are right now

a. When God finished with Gideon he was a man of courage.

b. Great men of the Bible had humble beginnings yet was promoted by God to positions of service because they volunteered

4. Three Things Challenge Humilty and require the right balance in a Christians life

a. The first thing to challenge humity is “Conflict”

(1) Gideon had to deal with the ones God didn’t ask to volunteer

Judges 8:1 (NASB) Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him vigorously.

(2) Gideon and His volunteers won a great victory and all some can do is complain about how it should have been done

(3) Gideon minimized what he had done and maximized what others had done because Gideon didn’t seek any praise or credit

Judges 8:2-3 (TLB) (2) But Gideon replied, “God let you capture Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army of Midian! What have I done in comparison with that? (3) Your actions at the end of the battle were more important than ours at the beginning!” So they calmed down.

b. The second things to challenge humility is “Power”

(1) Israel was thrilled with the victory over the Midianites they tried to make Gideon king

Judges 8:22 (TLB) Now the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Be our king! You and your sons and all your descendants shall be our rulers, for you have saved us from Midian.”

(2) Gideon refused the opportunity for wealth and power

(3) The lust for personal power can be seen in America

(4) “Power” threatens the peace & harmony & progress of the church.

c. The third thing to challenge humility is “Personal Gain”

(1) It was the custom of soldiers in that day to plunder the fallen soldiers of the enemy.

(a) The Midianite soldiers all wore golden ear rings.

(b) Gideon said, "bring them all to me."

(c) They did: 1700 shekels of gold!

(d) Gideon made a beautiful decoration for the place of worship and kept for himself not one shekel.

(2) I believe the hard working Gideon from being a farmer to a great warrior wanted to get prosper

(a) It mattered to Gideon how he gained his wealth

(b) Gideon lived what Jesus taught long before Jesus

Matthew 22:21 (KJV) ... Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

(c) Gideon believe the wealth from the victory belong to God

Conclusion

1. What happened when Gideon volunteered?

2. Israel enjoyed 40 years of peace!

3. Great things can happen when you volunteer or surrender to the will of Jesus