The six names are mentioned in
this 32nd verse. The scripture sets forth not
only the six names, but then it also says, and the prophets. Now, Lord willing,
I would like to look at each of these names in this 32nd verse, and then
Lord willing, take each of the prophets. So it may be that we'll
be in verse 32 for a while. But the Lord has been pleased
to mention out of this 11th chapter of Hebrews, These particular
names. And I think that we would do
well to look and see what the Lord has to say concerning each
of these. Now these names that are mentioned
in that 32nd verse, most of them were actually judges And we'll
be looking in the book of Judges tonight. And I want to take the
first one that was mentioned, Gideon. Now, Gideon was one of
the judges. And the judges were actually
those that governed from the time of Joshua's death. Joshua was the one that led the
children of Israel Across the Jordan River into Canaan, ordered
the encircling of Jericho. Joshua was the one that sent
the spies into Jericho to go and spy out the city. They met
with Rahab, we looked at last time. So the time of the judges
was from the time of Joshua's death until the end of Samuel's
ministry. Whenever the people said that
they wanted a king, and Samuel kept telling them, you don't
want a king. God's your king. No, we want a king like everybody
else. It's okay. So he gave them Saul. You know,
the Lord, He will chasten His people whenever they think they
want something. And they let Him have it, you
know, to teach them. A good lesson. So the time of
the judges, the time of the governor, and during the time of the judges,
if you go back and read, I encourage you to read those chapters in
Judges. And you'll find that these judges
that were mentioned, during the time that the judges lived, the
Lord blessed the people, I mean, they prospered and the Lord would
send peace and comfort. And when the judge died, I mean
almost without exception, this would be the first thing that
was said. And the people did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped the gods of
the land. Oh, the blessing of having Him
who ever liveth. When the judge died, the people
rebelled against God. Well, Gideon, one of the judges,
the first one that is mentioned in this 32nd verse. And tonight
I'd like for us to look at Gideon. I want you to take your Bibles
now and turn to the book of Judges, chapter 6. Judges chapter 6. Judges chapter 6. I'd like for
us to look at, we're going to go through most of chapter 6
and then to chapter 7. And I want us to look. at the faith of this man, this
judge, Gideon. Let's begin in verse 1. Judges
6, verse 1. And the children of Israel did
evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord delivered them into
the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed
against Israel. And because of the Midianites,
the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains
in caves and strongholds. And so it was when Israel had
sown, and the Midianites came up, and the Malachites, the children
of the east, even they came up against them. And they encamped
against them and destroyed the increase of the earth without
coming to Gaza. and left no sustenance for Israel,
neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle
and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude. For both they and their camels
were without number, and they entered into the land to destroy
it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and
the children of Israel cried unto the Lord." Now here's the
perfect picture. of God's people. Are we not,
just like the nation of Israel, prone to wander? If the Lord
does not keep His people, they would not be kept. We're going
to. That old nature in us, in fact,
Hosea 11, it talks about us being bent to backsliding. But all in the mercy of Almighty
God, Hosea 14, verse 4 says, I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely, for
mine anger is turned away from them. The mercy and longsuffering
of Almighty God, how thankful that we are, should be, and should
increasingly be, for the mercy of Almighty God. How quickly
our minds turn. How quickly. I've said before,
honestly, just think to yourself, what a struggle is it? What a
struggle it is to pray and to be consistent and to keep your
mind. I mean, all of a sudden you realize,
I'm just thinking, where did I go? What am I doing? Trying to pray. Trying to pray for you. Trying
to pray for this church. Trying to bring to my memory
pastors, assemblies, asking the Lord's blessing. And all of a
sudden, I'm thinking about something. We look at these people, the
people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And you
think, boy, those scoundrels, we're just like them. But the
Lord says, I love them. They're mine. Well, then in Judges
continuing, verses 7 and 8, the Scripture says, It came to pass
when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the
Midianites, that the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of
Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the
house of bondage. Oh, the sweet method, if I can
say it like that, of God's grace. The Lord, in our rebellion, chastens
us. But is it not because of His
love that He lovingly chastens us and causes us to cry out for
mercy, and then sends a word of comfort? Sent a prophet to
them. Reminded them of the mercy. Well, in the mercy of our God,
for His people, here they are, did evil in the sight of the
Lord. The Lord put them in bondage. Put them in a position where
they were hemmed up, hiding in caves and mideonites. People
go out there and try to grow them a garden, you know, get
them something to eat. Midianites come in there and
take it. Cried unto the Lord. The Lord
sent them a prophet. Well, in the mercy of our God,
the Lord sent a judge, a governor. And it was for their good. Now,
I want you to look here in Judges 6, verses 11 and 12 at the call
of Gideon. Here's this man Gideon. Verses
11 and 12. And there came an angel of the
Lord which sat under an oak, which was in Ophrah that pertained
unto Joash, the Aber Ezraite, and his son Gideon threshed wheat
by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, The Lord is
with thee, thou mighty man of valor." This was Jehovah. This was the
Lord God Himself. Here is, I believe, one of those
times when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared, just like He did to
Abraham, before He actually came into this world, made flesh,
and took upon that 33 years of residency. Here He is appearing.
This is the way I know it's the Lord. In verse 14, it says, "...and
the Lord," see that capital L, capital O, capital R, Jehovah,
looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt
save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent
thee?" So I know that there is the Lord calling Gideon personally. Here is the voice of all that
the sheep hear. Here is the Lord Himself. He
said, My sheep hear my voice. Gideon heard him. The Lord was
assuring Gideon of his presence. assuring him of Gideon's victory
totally because of God's purpose and God's will, God's power,
God's presence. And the Lord revealed to Gideon
who Gideon was in Christ. He says to him, you're a mighty man about her. Here's Gideon. Hiding. Threshing. Hiding from the Midianites. And how was Gideon's strength
actually set forth? Now, the Lord told him, He said
to him in that twelfth verse, He said, He appeared to him,
He said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of
valor. And let me show you how the Lord
was pleased to reveal to Gideon Gideon's true strength. I want
you to look at verses 13-15. And Gideon said unto him, O my
Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befalling
us? And where be all His miracles
which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring
us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken
us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And
the Lord looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and
thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have
not I sent thee?" And he said unto him, O my Lord, wherewith
shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is my tribe. The tribe that I am from is poor
in Manasseh. And I am the least in my Father's
house. The people of God are tried people. If the Lord is with us, why are
we going through what we're going through? Why is this befalling
us? Why? Why are we going through
whatever you're going through right now? The trials. The family trials, the financial
trials, the physical trials. Why? Why? If the Lord is with
us, why has this befallen us? It's that the Lord might draw
His own to Himself. That He might show Himself to
be their assurance. That He might show His power,
His faithfulness, in his people. How was Gideon shown to be strong
in the Lord? The Lord told him, you're a mighty
man of valor in Christ. How did Gideon see it? I'm the least in my family. Me? This tribe that I'm from is just
a thousand of us. Mighty man of valor? Paul says,
when I'm weak, then I'm strong. When a man thinks himself to
be capable, when he thinks himself to be able, when he sees himself
as truly mighty in himself, he's in for a fall. Pride. Pride comes before a fall. And
in the mercy of Almighty God, The Lord confirmed to Gideon
his purpose to deliver the people from the hand of the Midianites.
Look at verses 17-21. He said unto him, If now I have
found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest
with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee,
until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present and set it before
thee. And he said, I will tarry until
thou come. And Gideon went. and made ready
a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah flower, the flesh he
put in a basket. And he put the broth in a pot
and brought it out unto him under the oak and presented it. And
the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened
cakes and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth.
And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord put
forth the end of his staff that was in his hand and touched the
flesh and the unleavened cakes, and there rose up fire of the
rock. and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes, then
the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight." Now here,
Gideon went and he said, listen, would you just stay right here?
And he said, let me go and get my present and bring it. Would
you stay here? And the Lord said, I'll stay.
So Gideon went and he got a kid, he got a little goat, and then
he prepared actually a meat offering. A meat offering, if you remember
we studied years ago, back when we studied the offerings, the
sacrifices. A meat offering was actually
a bloodless, it says meat, but actually it was made of fine
flour. A flower. And it set forth the
actual humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The meat offering in
the Lord. He brought that kid, and there
was that sacrifice, the actual lamb, and he had that meat offering,
that flower offering setting forth the glorious humanity of
our Lord. And he said, I want you to take
it and just put it on a rock. Put it on this rock right here.
Put it on that rock just like that rock is. Don't put your
hand on it. Don't try to dress it up. Don't
try to do something to it and say, look what a wonderful sacrifice
I've prepared. Just lay it on the rock. And
he said, take the broth and pour the broth upon that offering.
It was an oblation. A libation offering. It was an offering to the deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The kid was the sacrifice of
the Lamb Himself. The meat offering, the fine flour,
set forth the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the broth was a libation. That's what it translated, a
libation. An offering to the deity of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And there, the Lord accepted
that offering, showing Gideon that Almighty God was with him,
that the Lord had looked upon Gideon and the people with favor,
that Gideon had found favor, grace in the eyes of the Lord.
So there Gideon built this altar, set forth this altar. He called
that place Jehovah Shalom. The Lord is my peace. Well, then
the Lord commissioned him. In verse 25 and 27, Scripture
says, It came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto
him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock
of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy
father hath." Let me tell you this. I may have said this before,
but a lot of times you'll see this name, Baal. Baal means just
a false god. It's just a false god. Balaam,
one false god. Balaam means multiple false gods. So this was just a god. He said, I want you to go. Now
here he is. The Lord found him, threshing,
hiding, calls him, thy mighty man of valor. Gideon confesses. I come from a very small, small
tribe. Monastery, there's just not very
many of us. The Lord said, I'm with you.
Gideon said, well, you just stay right here and let me go and
get my present. He comes back and he offers a
sacrifice unto the Lord. The Lord accepts it, you know. And so, now here's the next thing.
The Lord tells him, he said, now, I want you to go. And I want you to take your father's
young bullock, seven years old, and I want you to throw down
the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove
that is by it. And build an altar unto the Lord
thy God upon the top of this rock in the ordered place. And
take the second bullock and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood
of the grove which thou has cut down. Then Gideon took ten men
of his servants and did as the Lord had said unto him, and so
it was, because he feared his father's household and the men
of the city, and he could not do it by day, that he did it
by night. Now here was Gideon, a man weak
in self, but with the presence of God.
And here he was at peace He was at peace. The Lord was at peace
with him. And Gideon was at peace. He was settled. And he said,
I want you to go and I want you to tear down that altar that
your daddy has set up. He told him, he said, I'll throw
down the altar of Baal. Now here's the mighty man of
valor. Gideon, he just goes in there
at night. Why? He was afraid. Took ten men with him. Went at
night. But I'll tell you what he did.
He obeyed God. And he honored his dad. Honored his dad. He would honor his father, destroying his father's God. You know the scripture says,
love your neighbor. I've said before, I think about
Brother Scott in this community all these years. And so many
people would say, well, I don't even know who my neighbor is.
Love is exhibited by truthfulness. Truthfulness. Almighty God has
set forth a preacher of the Gospel to proclaim Christ and tell somebody
the truth. You've been the best friend that
you could possibly be to somebody when you're truthful with them.
It is the truth that shall set a man free. A lie is not going
to set anybody free. I want you to go and I want you
to tear down that altar that your daddy set up, and cut down
the grove as by it, and build an altar unto the Lord thy God
unto the top of the rock." Gideon did it. Now here Gideon
was going home to his friends and family and telling them in
action what great things the Lord had done for him. Gideon
did here weaken himself, fearful, afraid by night, but he moved. He moved with fear and respect
by faith. Faith. You think a man or woman
will move respecting God and all the time in themselves? have
feelings of uneasiness and fear? Absolutely. Here was a man right
here that did it. By night. But he did exactly
what the Lord had said. But Gideon did just exactly whatever
true preacher of the gospel does. He tore down the false, deceptive
idol that was opposed to God's will and God's rule. And he built
an altar unto the Lord. And we by the grace of God expose
lies and set forth the truth himself. But then I want you
to notice what happened in response to what Gideon did. He did just
exactly what the Lord told him to do. Look at verses 28 to 30. And when the men of the city
arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down,
and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock
was offered upon the altar that was built. And they said one
to another, Who has done this thing? And when they inquired
and asked, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this
thing. And the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy
son, that he may die, because he has cast down the altar of
Baal. And because he hath cut down
the grove that was by it." Oh, the speech of an unregenerate. One that loves that which is
evil and hates Almighty God. And here, these men have come
out there and said, now who did this? Who tore down our God? Think about this. If somebody
could come and tear down your God, tear Him down, throw Him
out of the way, who is that? Who is a God like that? There's
a little g God. Nobody. And I want you to listen
to what Gideon's daddy... Now this was Gideon's daddy's
God. And I want you to listen to what
Gideon's daddy had to say. Look at verses 31 and 32. And
Joash, it is his dad, 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 while it's yet this
morning. If he be a God, he's talking about Baal. If he be
a God, let him plead for himself, because one has cast down his
altar. Therefore on that day he called
him Jeroboam, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he
hath thrown down his altar." Now let me tell you just exactly
what he just said. That was Gideon's daddy's altar
and God. And when those men of that city
came and got all huffed up and said, who did this? Bring him
out here, we're going to kill him. And Gideon's dad stood,
stood with Gideon, stood honorably before the Lord. And he said,
listen, if this God right here, if He's a God, then let Him plead
for Himself. Those who are left to themselves
have one thought toward the Lord God and God's people. I hate
you. And I desire your death. But
Almighty God rewarded Gideon with a new name. His daddy was
the one that quoted it. He said, therefore, on that day
he called him Gerubbable. It's a rubble ball. I looked
it up. It actually means Baal plead,
or a better interpretation that we can understand, Baal's antagonist. This is Gideon's name. Baal's
antagonist. You know, it's a blessed stigma. to be called a hater of false
gods. An enemy toward the ignorance
of the truth. Those who oppose God and God's
truth, and God's people, God's gospel, to be called one that
stands against that, that's what Jeroboam means. Baal's antagonist. One that stands against that
which is wrong. God hating. This man fearful
in himself, hiding from the Midianites, was revealed by the Lord to be
a mighty man of valor. And he was made so by the grace
of God. And it was evidenced by faith. I'm telling you, he moved with
fear. And the Scripture says in verse
34, Gideon being assured of the Lord's presence, it says, 34,
but the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet. And Abiezer was gathered after
him. Now, I'll tell you what happened.
He blew this trumpet. The Lord had revealed to him,
he said, you're going to be the one, you're going to be the man
that I'm going to use. You're going to be the instrument
in the driving out of the Midianites. I'm just weak. I can't do this.
Go tear down your daddy's idols. He goes in there at night. He
does it. They stand against him. The Lord
embolders. Not only Gideon, but Gideon's
dad stands. He said, that's no God right
there. I'll tell you who this man is,
Gideon. He's Baal's antagonist. And the Lord, the Scripture says,
4, the Spirit of the Lord, verse 34, the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Gideon, and Gideon blew this trumpet. Now, there was
32,000. I'll tell you where I found that
out. Look over in Judges 7, verse 3. It said, he blew the trumpet,
and men started assembling. I'm going to stand with you on
a war against the Midianites. And here's where I got the number
32,000, Judges 7-3. Now, therefore, go proclaim in
the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid,
let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there
returned of the people 22,000, and there remained 10,000. So I know they started off with
32,000. 32,000 men came, going to stand with
Gideon. We're going to fight. I'm with
you. I'm with you. You can count on
me, buddy. I'll be there. When the going
gets tough, tough get going. I'm with you. The Lord told him,
he said, alright, tell everybody that's afraid you can go home.
22,000 of them left. But before we get to that part,
Gideon put out a fleece, going to ask the Lord's direction.
The scripture sets forth verses 36 to 40. Gideon said unto God,
If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, behold,
I will put a fleece of wool on 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 it was so, for he rose up
early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed
the dew out of the fleece a bowl full of water. And Gideon said
unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will
speak but this once. Let me prove, I pray thee, But
this once with the fleece, let it now be dry only upon the fleece,
and upon all the ground, let there be dew. And God did so
that night, for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was
dew on all the ground." Gideon believed God. He believed
God. But you know what? Oh, Lord,
we believe, but help our unbelief. The Lord told him, I'm with you. I'm going to deliver you out
of the hand of the Midianites. Gideon brought his fleece, asked
the Lord's direction, and the Lord showed him. The first night,
Gideon said, Lord, I don't want to anger you, but would you do
this one more time? I read that and I thought, Lord,
thank You for Your longsuffering. Thank You for Your mercy. Thank
You for Your grace. Lord, thank You that You don't
cast me out in my weakness. Well, the Lord took those 32,000,
as I said a while ago, and He said there are too many. Verse 2, chapter 7, 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 has saved
me. Then verse 3 we read, Now therefore
go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever
is fearful and afraid, Let him return and depart early from
Mount Gilead, and there return to the people twenty and two
thousand, and there remained ten thousand." Now, too many. Still too many. The scripture
sets forth in Joshua 7, verses 5 to 7. The scripture says, But
let's just read verse 4. The Lord said unto Gideon, The
people are yet too many. Bring them down to the water,
and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of
whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall
go with thee. And whomsoever I say unto thee,
This shall not go with me, the same shall not go. So he brought
down the people unto the water. And the Lord said unto Gideon,
Everyone that lapeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lapeth,
Him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise, every one that boweth
down to his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped,
putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all
the rest of the people bowed down unto their knees to drink
water. And the Lord said unto Gideon,
By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you and deliver
the Midianites into thine hand. Let all the other people go,
every man unto his place." Everybody go down to the water. Every one
of them that goes down and picks up some water and drinks the
water and looks around, he said, you set them over here. Those
that get down on their hands and knees and just start drinking
like this, looking straight down, set them over here. Three hundred
of them brought the water up to their mouth. He said, put
those 300 over here. That's the 300 that I'm going
to use to set you free. 300 against a whole host of the Midianites. How can that be? Verse 9 says, It came to pass
that same night that the Lord said unto him, Get thee down
unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand." Now here's
300 men and that whole army of Midianites. 300 men. Then the Lord told Gideon,
He said, Now, I want you to do something. And here's where we're
going to see the omniscience of Almighty God set forth for
Gideon's comfort. I want you to look now starting
in verses 10 through 14. Now, here's what the Lord told
him. He got 300 men. Verse 10 to verse 14. If thou fear to go down, go thou
with Purah. Thy servant down to the host,
and thou shalt hear what they say. And afterwards shalt thy
hands be strengthened to go down unto the host." Then he went
down to Purah, his servant, unto the outside of the armed men
that were in the host. And the Midianites, the Amalekites,
and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like
grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number
as the sand of the seaside. For multitude, and when it came,
and when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream."
Now listen, here's what he's done. The Lord said, I want you
to go down there. Come out there and just get on
the outskirts of all those men. And I just want you to listen
to what you hear. You listen. I've given these
people into your hand. Now you go down there and you'll
be strengthened. In when, verse 13, Gideon was
come, behold, there was a man that told a dream." Now here's
two of his enemies, and they're talking. Two of the enemies over
there, and Gideon is listening. There was a man that told a dream
unto his fellow and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream. And lo, a
cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and
came into a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned
it that the tent lay long. And this fellow answered and
said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son
of Joash, a man of Israel. For into his hand hath hath God
delivered Midian and all the host." Now, the Lord ordered,
number one, He gave one of them a dream. And He told that dream
to another guy. And the other guy, the Lord gave
him the interpretation of the dream. And he gave him the interpretation
to talk to Gideon. He was actually talking to one
of his fellow cohorts there. But Gideon heard it and the Lord
told him, he said, you go down there and I'm going to prove
to you that I've given this people into your hand. And here was
one of the enemy saying, I know what you're talking about. You're
dreaming about Gideon. They'll say, the sword of Gideon,
the son of Joash, a man of Israel, for into his hand has God delivered
Midian and all the host." And now Gideon has been emboldened
by faith. And here we see the glory of
Christ. Set forth in what's getting ready
to happen. I want you to look here at verses
16 to 18. This is what the Lord told him
to do. He says, I want you to divide
the 300 men into three companies. He put a trumpet in every man's
hand with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers. And
he said unto them, look on me and do likewise. And behold,
when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that as
I do, so shall you do. And when I blow with the trumpet,
I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on
every side of the camp and say, The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon." And here we find Almighty God getting ready with 300 men
to set forth the absolute victory that we see in the Lord Jesus
Christ over all of our enemies. What's getting ready to be set
forth here is our mighty victor. The Lord set forth that he was
to take, in verse 19, Gideon and the hundred men that were
with him came into the outside of the camp in the beginning
of the middle of the watch, and they had but newly set the watch,
and they blew the trumpets, broke the pictures, And their hands,
and the three companies, blew the trumpets, and break the pitchers,
and held their lamps in their left hand, the trumpets in their
right hand, to blow with all. And they cried the sword of the
Lord. And Gideon, and they stood, every man in his place, round
about the camp. And all the hosts ran and cried
and fled. And the three hundred blew the
trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against this fellow.
Even throughout all the hosts, and the hosts fled to Bethshida,
and Zerarath, to the border of Abelmilah. And the victory was
actually given by the Lord and Gideon, all he was to do, surround
them, blow the trumpet, the sound of jubilee, the sound of victory,
the sound of release, blow the trumpet. Break the picture, a
beautiful fit picture of the broken body of the Lord Jesus
Christ, broken as our sin bearer. And the light that was in that
picture, shine forth, that glorious light that set forth the light
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gideon saw Christ. in the victory over the Midianites. Gideon had to do one thing. Wait on God. Blow the trumpet. Break the pictures. And cry the
sword of the Lord in Gideon. And God destroyed them. Our victory
is looking to and believing our glorious Lord and Savior. The battle is His. The victory
is ours in Him. He is the victor. And we are
more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Here was a
man weak in himself. Gideon, hiding. The Lord came
to him and He said, Thou mighty man of valor. I'm the least of the least. I'm the bottom rung of this ladder."
He said, I'm with you. And Gideon, believe God, offered
to sacrifice, tear down your daddy's altar. Did it by night. And the Lord took his dad, turned
his dad's heart to stand with Gideon and gave him a name, Baal's
antagonist. I want you to call the men. 32,000 of them came. That's too
many. Too many. Send 22,000 of them
home. That's too many. I'll divide
them. I'll take 300. Just put 100,
100, 100. I'm going to give the Midianites
into your hands. This is how I'm going to do it.
You just take a trumpet and sound the trumpet. We sound the gospel
of God's free grace. What do we preach? What do we
declare? We sound a clear sound of the gospel of God's grace.
What do we preach? We preach the broken body. Paul
says, I'm determined not to preach anything but Christ and Him crucified.
We preach the broken body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Christ, who is the light of the world, He is the
victor. God confounded those people,
those Midianites, and Gideon got the victory by the grace
of God. And all the while, Gideon saw
Christ in him. He is our life. Time, Paul said, would not be
enough to tell of the faith of Gideon. Lord, bless these words
to our heart tonight. Lord, may we see Knowing in ourselves
we are weak people. Almighty God says you're a mighty
man of valor in Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. Bless
these words for Christ's sake.