Greater Is He That Is In Me
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· 24 viewsFaith like Gideon
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11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
INTRODUCTION
These were desperate and difficult days for the people of God.
They were living in the Promised Land, but had strayed from the Lord and forsaken Him.
In an act of divine chastisement, God had allowed the Midianites to overtake Israel and the people suffered under their heavy hand.
It is often in times of difficulty that God will raise up one to lead His people out of bondage and into victory.
Gideon was an unlikely candidate, but God chose to use him.
Often the Lord uses the weak and inadequate to accomplish His will.
We are living in a day much like Gideon’s.
The world has abandoned and forsaken God.
The church is suffering the effects of an evil world’s influence.
These are desperate days
but God is looking for those who will stand for Him in opposition to the wickedness of our day.
This will require a strong faith and sacrifice on our part, but it can be done.
Gideon wouldn’t have been chosen by his peers to lead this charge, but they hadn’t called, God had!
We may think that we’re unable,
but God can empower us.
I want to consider the credentials Gideon possessed as we think on: Greater is He that is in Me.
The Presence of Gideon
Gideon was a man much like each of us.
He didn’t immediately accept what God had asked of him.
He had some flaws that almost hindered his work for the Lord.
We must learn to overcome our fears and learn to rely on the Lord.
Many times our lack of confidence is the greatest hindrance to fulfilling God’s will.
We don’t need to be arrogant
just confident in the Lord’s ability to work through our lives.
His Activity
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.
Typically in that day the wheat was thrashed on the threshing floor
a place set aside near the field of harvest using oxen to tread out the grain.
It is noble that Gideon is even working in the harvest at all
but he has been overcome with fear.
He isn’t using all that is available to him to ensure the harvest.
He has brought a small portion of the wheat to the winepress
and is working in secret,
hidden from the Midianites.
Sadly this is the case for much of the church today.
We have abandoned the harvest
doing only a little work around the church
hidden from the world.
We have found that this is much easier.
As long as the world isn’t aware of what we are doing
then we don’t have to take a stand for the field.
We have grown complacent with the little that is being done.
We may see a little grain brought in to the storehouse
but much of the harvest remains in the field.
You will likely be attacked while working in the field
but we must labor for the harvest.
I’m glad that someone endured the difficulties to labor for my soul!
His Attitude
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
Upon hearing the call of God Gideon begins to question whether it is a worthy task.
He complains about the situation that Israel is facing.
If God hasn’t forsaken us, why has all of this come upon us?
Why hasn’t God performed a mighty miracle and taken care of the Midianites?
Gideon seems resigned to the fact that the suffering they face will never improve;
this must be God’s will for our lives.
He has decided to simply accept things as they are.
Satan would have us to believe that God has abandoned us.
He wants us to believe that our efforts will make no difference.
KNOW THIS...God is sovereign and He can do all things.
He desires us to be workers in the harvest.
We cannot assume that things will never be any better.
If you and I aren’t willing to stand for the Lord and try to make a difference, who will?
I can tell you that it isn’t God’s will for men to die lost.
He came for whosoever will.
He wants none to perish.
Man has brought much upon himself, but that isn’t what the Lord desires.
There is hope as long as we live in the day of grace.
His Assumption
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
Gideon begins to question the choice that God has made.
He begins to tell the Lord all about his inability in regard to his heritage.
Surely the Lord has made a mistake.
He doesn’t want me to become a leader.
Who are we to question the authority of God?
He knew all about Gideon
ARE YOU READY FOR THIS...He knows us as well.
Gideon wasn’t called because of who he was
he wasn’t expected to stand in his own ability.
This type of assumption is human nature.
Surely there is someone else who could do that task better than me.
Who am I that God would want me?
Many times we miss out on God’s blessings because we doubt that God can really use us!
The Potential of Gideon
Gideon looked at himself from a human perspective.
He was resting solely upon his own ability.
Gideon didn’t even know what he was capable of.
God knew much about Gideon that he had never seen before.
There isn’t a Christian here today who doesn’t have great potential through the Lord.
He wouldn’t have called us if He wasn’t able to equip us!
Notice the potential of Gideon. He Was:
A Man of Undiscovered Courage
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
All that Gideon could see was a heart filled with fear
but God saw a mighty man of valour.
This courage wouldn’t be found within himself, but given of the Lord.
Adversity has a way of bringing out the best in people.
It is amazing what we can accomplish when we are put to the test.
I wonder what lies within us that is waiting to be discovered if we’ll only submit to God’s will for our lives.
I never dreamed I could do what I am doing.
I do not stand alone or within my own strength,
but God could see more than I could possibly imagine.
God will never ask you to stand without first placing the courage and strength within your heart to do so.
You may not even realize that it is there,
God does because He is the One who placed it there!
Why not allow God to take His tender hand and remove the doubt to reveal what He has placed in our hearts?
A Man of Undeniable Ability
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
Gideon may not have fully understood or come to rest entirely in the Lord
but he was not asked to stand against the Midianites in his own ability.
The Lord will never send us out to be devoured of our enemies.
When we stand for the Lord we stand in His strength.
It may look as if the enemy will soon overtake us,
but God is in control.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
God’s will shall never lead you where His grace can’t keep you!
When we realize that we are not standing in our own ability, but in the Lord’s,
we are well on our way to becoming victorious.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
A Man of Unlimited Resources
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Gideon was a humble man of meager means.
He wasn’t a man of military might or experience.
He faced a host of valiant men who were seasoned in battle.
They may have enjoyed the best in modern warfare weaponry,
but Gideon had the Lord.
He would provide the resources necessary to overcome the enemy.
There is much that we cannot handle on our own
but the battle isn’t ours; it belongs to God.
We can’t begin to comprehend what the Lord is able to provide.
He delivered the Israelites in the face of certain death at the Red Sea.
He brought the victory through a shepherd boy and five smooth stones.
The Christian has at his disposal all that God can provide.
What more could we possibly need?
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
The world would have us believe that we must accept defeat,
but we have more than enough through Christ to overcome!
He has already overcome all that Satan could muster.
We are victorious in Him.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
The Performance of Gideon
Much could be said about Gideon’s fleece and seeking a sign, but in the end he was obedient to the call of God.
If we are to remain strong in the battle and continue in the harvest we must learn the principles that Gideon realized.
There are some definite steps that we must practice to ensure the victory.
He Regarded the Lord (25-27a)
Gideon was surrounded by those who had rejected the Lord and turned to worship Baal, even his father.
He had to reestablish the altar and worship of the Lord to be victorious.
We will never gain victory if God doesn’t have the preeminence in our lives.
Far too often we try to secure the victory without Him.
In every situation that we face we must seek the Lord and worship Him.
It would’ve been a futile effort without submitting to the lordship of God.
If we are to overcome in our day, we must restore the altars in our lives.
God has been given a back seat for too long!
It is time to remember who He is and our obligations to worship.
A battle will never be won without worship.
Gideon established the altar and worshipped God before he advanced against the enemy!
Worship must come first, no exceptions.
Much of the ground that we’ve lost in recent years is due to a lack of worship.
We no longer stand in awe of the God who is able to deliver!
If you need His help, spend some time at His feet.
Power will only be realized when praise has been offered!
We seem to have gotten things out of order.
We want God to show up in our time of need and then we will worship Him.
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
He Relied on Faith
7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”
The mission that Gideon had been called to do was impossible with man.
He started out with 32,000 men and God reduced that number to 300.
God knew that if there was a large army they would believe that they had overcome within themselves.
11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
These 300 men were no match for the Midianites,
Gideon was going to have to rely on the Lord to defeat the enemy.
This would require faith.
I suppose this is one area that we are all lacking in.
Many times we face situations that are beyond our control.
We tend to worry ourselves to death about what the outcome will be.
A lack of faith will hinder our progress in the work that God has called us to do.
The work that this church is responsible for is overwhelming.
We will never accomplish it without the Lord’s help.
We need to develop a faith like Gideon had,
march confidently into battle,
and trust the Lord to give the victory.
Without faith we will accomplish very little,
but through faith we can accomplish much!
Pastor Adrian Rogers said, “Victory is not achieved by fighting. It is achieved by faith. Faith is not believing that God can do something. Faith is knowing that He will!”
CONCLUSION
I want everyone to get to the place that you can claim that I know God will.
Gideon’s life was filled with difficulties that seemed overwhelming, and they were, apart from God.
We also face much that we simply cannot overcome, but we serve the same Lord that Gideon did.
I trust you will not depend on your ability, but learn to trust in what the Lord can do through you.
We need more people like Gideon in our day,
those who will answer the call and trust in the Lord.
We don’t have to accept what this world offers.
The work of the Lord can continue and prosper in us if we will do it through God’s power and in His way!