This evening I would direct your
attention to the portion of scripture that was read from Judges chapter
7 and particularly words that we find in verse 20. Judges chapter 7 verse 20. And they cried the sword of the
Lord and of Gideon. So we consider this evening the
sword of the Lord. If you've looked at the account
of Gideon as we read it in the Word of God, you will see that
Gideon is surprisingly ordinary. He's a timid, fearful man, one
who needs plenty of reassurance from God. And perhaps we can
see ourselves in his timidity, in his tendency to fear and in
his need of reassurance from God. Well, God was very gracious
to Gideon. We read at the beginning of how
the Lord spoke to him and was gracious to him. And yet Gideon
required a sign. He said that he would put a fleece
of wool in the floor, and if the dew be on the fleece only,
and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that
thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And God graciously granted that
sign because when he got up early that morning, he took the fleece,
he wrung it out and he wrung out a bowl full of water. But
that wasn't enough for Gideon. And so he asked for a second
sign. This time, he asked God for it to be dry only on the
fleece and upon all the ground around there to be dew. And God
graciously did so. for it was dry upon the fleece
only and there was dew on all the ground. But really Gideon
ought not to have found it necessary to ask for those signs. He should really have just relied
on the Word of God. But God put up with his weakness
and God puts up with our weakness. He bears with us. I often like
to think of those verses from Psalm 103. Like as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth
our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. And so Gideon is
a very clear example in God's Word of God being merciful towards
Gideon, of remembering that Gideon was just a man. and that Gideon
was just a man made from the dust of the earth. Well, at the
beginning of chapter 7, Gideon rises up early with his army. He's eager to take on the Midianites.
He has been fortified by the word of God, the promise of God,
and those two signs that he requested being graciously fulfilled by
God. And so armed with these things,
he is eager to go and take the battle to the Midianites. But
we see first of all this evening that there are surprises for
Gideon. We know that Gideon has an army
of 32,000. And we know from chapter 8 and
verse 10 that there were In the Midianite host or army, 135,000.
By the time we get to chapter 8 and verse 10, there are just
15,000 left and 120,000 have fallen in battle. Gideon with
his army of 32,000 is facing an army that is more than four times greater
in size than his. But in verse 2 Gideon has a surprise. For the Lord says to him, the
people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites
into their hands. Well, some of you may know that
my wife is originally from Western Ukraine. And so for many years,
10 years since the Russian army first invaded the east of Ukraine
and took the Crimea, We have very much been engaged prayerfully
and practically to support the Christians in Ukraine and also
following the news. Military doctrine says that if
you want to be more certain of success to take or defeat your
enemy, you need forces that are ten to one in your favor. But here was Gideon. The forces
were not in his favour, but they were four to one against him. But then God told him there were
too many in his army. What a surprise it must have
been. Humanly speaking, it was most unexpected. In fact, humanly
speaking, it was absurd. But God speaks and God commands
and tells Gideon, the people that are with thee are too many. And when God says it, God is
right. God knows what he's doing. And
when God gets involved in our lives and he does things that
seem very strange and odd and make life more difficult for
us, we should remember that God's ways are true and righteous. His ways have to be followed.
Think of those words in Isaiah 55, For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. And Gideon
would need to know the truth of that, as he was surprised
by this news from God that the people were too many. And God
graciously gives the reason as to why the people are too many.
He says, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, mine own
hand has saved me. Well, God explained his reasoning
to Gideon. Now, he doesn't always do that
in the Bible. Generally, God doesn't explain to us why he
deals with us as he does. And sometimes the providence
of God is a great mystery. We can't understand what God's
doing. Well, Jesus said to Simon Peter, What I do thou knowest
not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. There are many things
that happen to us in life and we can't explain them. And as
time goes by, we still can't explain them. But God knows what
he's doing. God assures us. that in the hereafter,
in glory, we will know and we will understand why he has dealt
with us as he has. But here the reason is clear.
If God allowed Gideon and his 32,000 men to overcome the Midianites,
they would boast in their military prowess, their courage. They
would be telling stories to each other. They would be taking the
glory for the victory. that God is the one who must
have the glory for what he does. And so in the kindness of God,
in verse 3, he tells Gideon, Proclaim in the ears of the people,
saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and
depart early from Mount Gilead. Well, this was a provision in
the law of God that those who were afraid on the battlefield
did not have to go into battle. 22,000 of those 32,000 were afraid and
left the battlefield. Now Gideon only has 10,000 left
in his army. Now the Midianite army is 13.5
times bigger than his army. Well, if we look at it from a
human perspective, we'd say victory is now very unlikely. But in
God's view, And God's view is the most important view. Gideon's
army was still too large. If God allowed Gideon and his
10,000 men to overcome the Midianites, they too would boast about their
victory, boast about what they did. God rightly wanted the glory
given to him. And so there's this further sifting
of Gideon's army. And God tests them. He gets them
all to take a drink down at the brook. Almost all of them get down and
they put their face to the water and they drink. Just 300 lap
the water in their hand. And God says, those are the 300
that I want. And God promises to Gideon, by
the 300 men that lapped will I save you and deliver the Midianites
into thine hand. Let all the other people go,
every man to his place. Gideon's army is 300 men. The
Midianite army was now 450 times bigger than the army that Gideon
had. If we looked at it humanly, we
would say it's impossible. But God gave the promise of verse
7. And one of the reasons why God
often keeps the church feeble and small is so that he may have
the glory when a person is saved, when something good is accomplished
in his name. You see, God has said, I am the
Lord. That is my name and my glory
will I not give to another. Oh, there is always the temptation
when things go well in the church that man takes the credit to
himself for things improving, that man takes the glory away
from God. And you know, especially those
of you that preach in our chapels, how few many of our chapels are. I'm so thankful that your attendance
is better than most of the places I preach at. I often preach in
the countryside to just a handful of people, although there's more
at my own church, but not many more. But what about the population
of Hastings? I looked it up when I knew that
I was coming here to preach. In the 2021 census, there was
just over 91,000 people living here in Hastings. When we compare ourselves to
more than 91,000 people, we may feel to be few, but God can use
the few in his service. And indeed, he often does, because
then he gets the glory. Well, surprises for Gideon, but
then secondly, encouragement for Gideon. Gideon's army is
reduced to 300 men, but he still has the promises of God to cling
to. In chapter 6 and verse 16, God
said to him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite
the Midianites as one man. God has promised as well By the
three hundred men that lapped will I save you and deliver the
Midianites into thine hand. And yet even so, as Gideon was
considering things, he must have wondered, how can God save Israel
by the hand of just three hundred men? But God was gracious to
him again, because the Lord said to him that same night, as we
read in verse nine, Arise, get thee down into the host, for
I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go
down, go thou with fewer thy servant down to the host, and
thou shalt hear what they say, and afterward shall thine hands
be strengthened to go down unto the host. Of course Gideon was
fearful. If you look at the life of Gideon,
you will see that he was a fearful man. And maybe some of us are
fearful. We're fearful to speak of our
faith. Fearful of what will happen to
the church in this land. We look at the forces arrayed
against the church in this country and we may wonder how can the
church make a difference. You know there's virtually no
culture of church going anymore like there was a hundred years
ago in this land. We know there's little sympathy
for Christian teaching as there used to be in this country. We
know there's no respect for God's ministers. There's no time for
God. Every census that comes by, every
10 years, there is an increasing proportion of people in this
country who identify as atheist or agnostic. They don't believe
in God or they're not sure there is a God. And we may wonder,
how can God work? when so much is against the church
in our day. We know that the media is by
and large against the church. It's pushing what is evil. We know that social media is
a hive of unpleasant activity, wrong teaching. We know that
on the internet you're much more likely to find someone preaching
error than you are preaching the truth. How can we do? in the difficult
and dark days in which we live. Or we may fear and we may wonder
how God can work when the church is so small and so weak. Recently I was passed by another
Christian a video clip of a Muslim imam in the north of England
and this Muslim imam was openly encouraging his Muslim followers
to get stuck into this country and to try and convince people
that Islam was a far better religion than Christianity. And he said
words to this effect. He said, the people of England,
they're not much interested in the account of a man who died
on the cross 2,000 years ago to save people from their sins. And sadly, even some professing
Christians seem to want to water down the gospel, or they seem
to want to sideline the cross of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. But friends, we must cling to
the truths of God's word. What does the Apostle Paul say?
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth to the Jew
first and also to the Greek. Even if some professing Christians
have lost confidence in the Gospel, in the power of the Word of God,
let not you and I lose confidence in the power of the Gospel. We
must trust in the promises of God. Get in with all his fears
yet trusted in the promises of God. And God's words assures
us, dear friends, dear children, whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. Often think of those words in
Acts 16 as well. Think of the Philippian jailer.
His life has been turned upside down. He has been struck by the
kindness of the Apostle Paul and his friend Silas as they
called for him not to take his own life, not to do himself any
harm. And he said, Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? He's brought under conviction
of sin in a moment as it can happen. And that answer of the
Apostle Paul. is still the answer today. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Well, God was gracious to Gideon. He had the promises of God that
God would deliver the Midianites into his hand. But God had some
tangible encouragement for him. He went down with Fuhrer, his
servant, to the outside of the armed men that were in the host. Verse 12 emphasises the size
of the army that faced Gideon. We're told that the Midianites
and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along
in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude. Their camels were
without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. And as they saw the multitude
again, maybe some doubts and fears began to creep into Gideon's
mind. How can I possibly overcome this
great host with just 300 men? But he came, and he heard two
Midianite soldiers speaking to one another. And one said to
the other, behold, I dreamed a dream. And lo, a cake of barley
bread tumbled into the host of Midian. and came onto a tent
and smote it, that it fell and overturned that the tent lay
along." I don't know if any of you go camping from time to time,
but I imagine if you rolled a bread roll at a tent, the bread roll
would just roll a little way and then come back again. Certainly
wouldn't knock down the tent and turn it over so that it's
just laying flat. While Gideon was like that cake
of barley bread, insignificant, almost nothing, and yet God would
use him to overcome this great army. While Gideon was so encouraged
as he heard this dream, because the Midianite soldier who heard
the dream gave the interpretation, he said, this is nothing else
save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash. a man of Israel,
for into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host." Oh,
Gideon was very, very encouraged to learn that he would most surely
gain the victory. And as we look at the church
in our land and we generally see small congregations, so very
few attending a place of worship, so very few attending sound place
of worship, we may wonder, Is God really working through the
ministry of the Word today? Is God powerful as the Bible
tells us? Is God still able to save those
who come to him? Oh, he is. And you know, Revelation chapter
19 encourages us greatly in this matter. We meet there with one
who sits on a horse. And we're told in Revelation
19 verse 13, And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood,
and his name is called the Word of God. And out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations.
And he shall rule them with the rod of iron, and he treadeth
the winepress of the fierceness and wrath. of Almighty God, and
he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King
of Kings and Lord of Lords." And as we see today, the church
surrounded by enemies, so many in opposition to us. The growing influence of Islam,
the growing influence of militant atheism, We may tremble, but
God's Word tells us that Almighty God, through the Lord Jesus Christ,
will gain the victory. And John tells us in Revelation
19 verse 19, And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and
their armies gathered together to make war against him that
sat on the horse and against his army. Here is the final battle
pictured. All of the enemies of Christ
arrayed against him and his people. What's going to happen? John
tells us, And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them
that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped
his image. These both were cast alive into
a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the remnant were
slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword
proceeded out of his mouth. and all the fowls were filled
with their flesh. Friends, we can go to the Scriptures
and we can be assured that Almighty God will gain the victory over
all of his enemies. One day all those who cast doubt
on the Word of God and the existence of God will have their mouth
silenced when they see the Lord Jesus Christ returning in power
and great glory. or those who cruelly persecuted
Christians will have to tremble before the face of him with whom
they will have to do as he sits on his judgment throne and they
will be forced even though unwillingly to bow the knee before him and
confess that he is Lord. Sometimes it seems to us that
our situation is like that of Gideon. There are so few with
us and so many against us, but God assures us that the Lord
Jesus Christ will gain the victory. Well, the man who had the dream
and the man whom he told said, this is nothing else save the
sword of Gideon, the son of Josh, a man of Israel. And the sword of Gideon we can
liken to Gideon's trust in the word of God. Gideon trusted in
God's word. He believed that even with this
very small army he could overcome the Midianite host. He trusted
in God's word and you and I must similarly trust in God's word. Paul tells us in Hebrews, for
the Word of God is quick, that is living and powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of sunder
of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Word of God is
not to be underestimated. That in my work for the Trinitarian
Bible Society, It has been my privilege to help with the translation
of the word of God into many different languages around the
world. And although we don't see it so much here in our land,
in other lands where the scriptures are being read and preached and
remembered and meditated upon, God is most evidently building
his church. Well, Gideon worshipped and he
returned. And he said to his little army,
arise, for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. And so thirdly, victory for Gideon. What does Gideon do? It's really
very remarkable. If we're familiar with this account,
take a step back. He divided the 300 men into three
companies. And he put a trumpet in every
man's hand with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers. Warfare's advanced a long way. But I don't think anybody would
recommend fighting with a trumpet in one hand and an earthenware
clay vessel in the other hand with a lit torch inside it. And
it's so unusual that God must have either told him directly
to do this or God put it in his heart to do it. And it's remarkable how they
attack the Midianite host with these most unusual weapons. We're told in verse 19, So Gideon
and the hundred men that were with him came unto the outside
of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch. It was just
after ten o'clock at night. And they had but newly set the
watch. And they blew the trumpets and they break the pitchers that
were in their hands. And the three companies blew
the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the lamps in their left
hands and their trumpets in their right hands to blow with all.
And they cried, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. The sword of Almighty God comes
first. This is the word of God, that
mighty sword, that sword which we are told in Revelation 19
went out of the mouth of him who sat on the white horse. Gideon was not trusting in the
latest weapons that were then available in the land of Israel.
He was not trusting in the size of his army, but he was trusting
in the word of God and the promises of God who had assured him with
the 300 men I will deliver the midnights
into thine hand.' While the effects of the trumpets sounding, the
pitchers breaking, the torches flaming, the men crying, it led
to panic. And we're told in verse 21, and
all the host ran and cried and fled. God was at work. And we're told in verse 22, the
Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all
the host, and the host fled. Gideon and his men, they did
what God had directed them to do. It was a strange thing that
God asked them to do, but then God used those actions, the blowing
of the trumpet, the smashing of the earthenware vessels and
the cry of these men to cause panic in the army of the Midianites. Have you ever thought that we
too are called to do something very strange in the preaching
of the word of God? 1 Corinthians chapter 1, the Apostle
Paul writes to the church at Corinth about the preaching of
the Word of God. And he says to them in 1 Corinthians
1 verse 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness. And then he says in verse 23,
that we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block
and unto the Greeks foolishness. And in verse 21, for after that
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. You know, when it comes to preaching,
the method, the preaching, God's word says is foolishness. It could also be translated the
foolishness of the message preached. The message, the gospel, is foolishness
to those who perish. And who does God ordain to preach
the word of God? Men who are often considered
to be fools. We are called to carry what the
Bible says is a foolish message And we are to convey it through
the foolishness of preaching by men who are often regarded
as fools. And yet God promises that he
will work when the gospel is preached. Now, it's not as much as we would
like in our day. Oh, we would love to see greater
signs following from the preaching of the Word of God. we would,
although I believe that there's much the Lord hides from his
servants as to the benefit and blessing and the way in which
he uses the word preached. Some of you may recall the account
of the Puritan minister John Fawcett who was very burdened
one day and he was very burdened that someone would be saved through
the preaching of the word of God. And he preached and he closed
his service with a very solemn word of prayer. And yet he never knew of anyone
who was saved that day. Eighty-five years later, a man who was now a hundred years
old, living in North America, who had been in that service
that day when John Fawcett had preached and felt so burdened
that someone would be saved through his ministry. He'd been a lad
of 15 when he'd heard the sermon. 85 years later, the Lord brought
to his remembrance what that minister had preached that day.
And he made his peace with God. And the Lord used that sermon
preached so many decades earlier to the saving of his soul. The
minister had been dead for 55 years. Who knows how God will use his
word, even after we, his servants, have gone to our eternal rest. But across this world, day by
day, through the foolishness of preaching, through the foolishness
of the message preached, and through the weakness of God's
servants, God is still adding to his church daily such as should
be saved. But I do pray that through this
year, your pastor and others who minister here will know much
of the Lord's power accompanying the preaching of the Word, that
you might see in your midst the sword of the Word of God being
used mightily amongst you and in this town, that you may be
encouraged to see God's Word going forth and having free course. And we pray that it might be
in each of our congregations that there would be that work
of the Lord to build up his people and to save precious souls for
time and for eternity. And as you do so, yes, you may
be weak and fearful like Gideon. You may be few and you may feel
your fewness as doubtless Gideon in his 300 men did. But when
we do God's work, In God's way we must expect that in some measure
God will bless what we do. The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon. Amen. You are welcome after the service
for tea and coffee and cakes in the back room. Our closing
hymn is again from Hymns to Worship, hymn number 108. Revive thy work,
O Lord, thy mighty arm make bare. Speak with the voice that wakes
the dead and make thy people hear. Hymn 108 to the June 31. Thy mighty arm make bare, speak
with a voice that wakes the dead, and make thy people hear. Revive thy worker, Lord, disturb
the sleep of death, quicken the smouldering impasse now by thine
almighty breath. Life thy work, O Lord, create
and solve thus for thee. For the bread of life, O may
our spirits be. Revive thy worker, Lord, exalt
thy precious name, and by the Holy Ghost, allow for thee and
thine inflame. Revive thy work, O Lord, give
power unto thy Word, and may its pure and sacred truth in
living faith be heard. worker, Lord, and give refreshing
showers. The glory shall be all thine
own, the blessing, Lord, be ours. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according
to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.