Hidden Valor
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Thank you and welcome! Turn to Judges 7.
Have you ever met someone who was unaware of a talent or skill they had? Maybe it was you. Someone says, “Hey, you’re really good at that!” We are blessed to have teachers who get to help young people discover their hidden talents that will enable them to serve God.
Can we live valiantly in this world? It used to be easy to say we’d be valiant for God, but the world is changing. The world is getting worse, and we are called to stand for God and His Word no matter the odds against us and no matter the friends with us.
We’re looking at a time in our world when God is trying to get our attention. The sin and and suffering is everywhere.
We are able to see this in the storyline God has written into the Bible.
God wants history and life to petitioned us by His love, His plan, and His invitation.
This Book, Judges, shows us this time and time again: Sin, Suffering, Supplication, a Savior.
Read text: Judges 7:13-23
We see Gideon is valiant with his army of 300, but he was not always valiant. What changed?
The size of the Midianite army was 135,000. Gideon’s rag-tag group was only 300 men. Gideon was overwhelmed 450:1. Gideon looked around at the weapons available, and they were very lacking against the Midianite military machine. Who wins battles with lights and trumpets? Yet, Gideon was excited for the battle!
And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
From this snapshot, you might think Gideon was a mighty valiant warrior. But we know he wasn’t. When we are introduced to Gideon, he was afraid of his own shadow.
Why?
The people did “that which was right in their own eyes.”
God sent the Midianites…(who were they)…to get Israel’s attention.
Then, when Israel repented and asked for a judge to deliver them, and God picked out just the right person, except the person God picked out thought maybe God picked out the wrong person!
When we first see Gideon, he is hiding in a winepress threshing wheat. A winepress is the complete opposite of where you thresh wheat.
We might surmise that Gideon was just being smart and was using the winepress, so the Midianites wouldn’t catch him. No, the implication of the passage is that Gideon was afraid.
Gideon was the last guy you’d think of God using.
Proposition: Exchange defeat with valor.
Proposition: Exchange defeat with valor.
1. Release Idols and Worship God
1. Release Idols and Worship God
(This is so important! If we don’t worship God, we can’t get anything else right!) [Judges 7:15, Gideon worshipped before the battle.]
Accept God’s view of you.
Trust God’s Word. Other peoples’ opinions are merely opinions. We are to honor those over us, but all authority flows from God in the first place.
God will help you deal with your doubts. Your past, family, failures, etc.
What are idols? Idols are anything we put before the True God. Often those idols are what we fear and desire.
You can idolize fear itself and make it a false god. The Israelites did.
And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
The people worshipped Baal. If you’ve been with us through the study, you may remember that “Baal” is the name of one of the main false gods that Nimrod introduced to the world at the Tower of Babel.
God had to get Gideon to deal with his idols holding him back.
What idols do you have in your life? Can you name them? When is the last time you broke them down—or do you keep propping up the place, and making room for it, so you can worship it there?
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
God had to first deal with Gideon’s life. Everyone around him was doing what was right in their own eyes. They worshipped the gods of self and sight.
God taught Gideon that worship is done in faith.
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Deal with Your idols that cast doubt and crush being valiant.
Deal with Your idols that cast doubt and crush being valiant.
Your past, family, failure, personal goals and plans, fear, sin, …
2. Build a Reputation for Serving God.
2. Build a Reputation for Serving God.
Everywhere Gideon went around town, the people called him Jerubbaal. How’d he get that name? By living for God.
In Judges 6, Gideon started living for God, and he realized God was not going to bless people who worship false gods. He was a bit scared, but he destroyed a place Baal was worshipped, and the people got upset and wanted to kill Gideon. Gideon’s father stopped the people...
And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
Note: We do not live for our reputation. We must be careful about living for reputation.
ILL: Parents remind us of our last name and say, “You represent the (last name) family.”
Yes, this is true. We should desire to have a good name.
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favour rather than silver and gold.
We should be known for having character. You don’t want to be a snollygoster. (A clever person who lacks principles.)
But our character should be derived from a love for God, not a self-made list of do’s and don’ts.
God asked Gideon to do something outside what he was uncomfortable doing, but God developed Gideon into being valiant.
Being a valiant Christian is living inside God’s zone, so whatever He asks is able to be done with courage.
Courage is having faith in the cause and acting positively in the face of opposition.
Later, Gideon’s reputation as a man of God put fear in the hearts of the idolatrous Midianites when the Israelites broke their pitchers, blew their trumpets, and cried out, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon” (Judges 7:20)!
3. Surround Yourself with Valiant Friends
3. Surround Yourself with Valiant Friends
Notice that many signed up, but only a few made the cut to go into battle.
There are some people you would want to go into battle with, and there are others you would not.
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: But a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
The process God used to help Gideon select his army is not going to show up in a book like “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
Gideon must’ve been a little excited to see 32,000 men show up. “Now we’re talkin’!”
But...
And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
God told Gideon to send home those that were afraid, and 22,000 went home. There were still 10,000 people there to fight, but God said there were too many. (Judges 7:4)
God whittled down the army by testing the soldiers with the way they drank water. The ones who got down on their knees and drank were sent home, while the ones who scooped water and drank from their hand stayed.
Gideon was left with a whopping army of 300. Would you want to go into battle with 300 versus at least 135,000 Midianites (Judges 8:10)?
Today, we care too much about how many followers we have on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube; or the balance of power in the House and the Senate.
How about we go get content with the presence of God and with those who go with Him! If God gives us people who stick when we are attempting great things for God, that’s great!
It’s sad that churches and Christians settle for amassing people who do little of anything valiant for God.
Strength is not in numbers. We like numbers, but...
In God is my salvation and my glory: The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
Church, we must be careful of a church growth that is unhealthy. We are smaller now through various tests than we have been in other times in the past. I’d much rather go into spiritual battle with less, knowing those on our team are walking with God, and they will stick close to Him and God’s people when the skies get dark.
Better is little with the fear of the Lord Than great treasure and trouble therewith.
If you think being a valiant Christian in a valiant church is easy-peasy, think again!
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Gideon gathered valiant people who were on the team.
Jesus considered His closest friends and family to be those doing God’s will.
And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
The people who are closest to you, should be those you trust to help you be valiant in your walk and service with God.
Crowds are not your source of victory. You can do more with less when God is on your side.
Another way of saying this is that with God you’re always in the majority—you’re on the winning side!
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
The tests of life prove who is willing to make the cut.
One last thought about these 300 was that they were persistent and faithful. See the description of the 300 after pursuing the fleeing Midianite army:
And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Will you exchange defeat with valor?
Do you remember why God chose fearful Gideon and called him a man of valor? Do you recall why God built Gideon’s reputation with opportunities? Do you know why just a handful of soldiers were needed to defeat the enemy army? What turned the tide of the situation?
Israel had turned its back on God. This is a repeated theme in history. But God stays faithful to His plan to show us His love and forgiveness. God would one day send a Savior to save the world from sin. In Gideon’s day, God sent Gideon to save the people from Midian.
God uses us—those who are able to turn the hearts of fellow sinners back to the Lord. He sees something different in us because He is in us.
And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
Folks, the world needs Christians who are willing to stand for Christ and to win lost souls for His kingdom.
In the war for independence, Thomas Paine sought to inspire the early Americans. He said, “These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
With God’s presence, and as you stand with friends in your church and God’s family, we can all see the weak made strong, the poor made rich, the enslaved set free, the blind to see, and the lame to run to the feet of Jesus.
Let’s let God unhide our valor.
