May the Lord be pleased to come
and bless us together this morning as we meditate in his holy word.
Let us turn to the book of the Judges, chapter 8, and we'll
read verse 4. The book of the Judges, chapter
8, and reading chapter 4. Verse 4, rather. Chapter 8 and
verse 4. And Gideon came to Jordan and
passed over he and the 300 men that were with him, faint yet
pursuing them. Just really three words I desire
to concentrate on this morning and that's faint yet pursuing. I'm sure you young people understood
perhaps this morning the reading about Gideon and to realize what
a wonderful deliverance it was that God gave to Israel. And what we see is the wonderful
mercy of God, the wonderful mercy of God, and the clear position
that God was to have the honor and glory. The Gideon and his men were not
going to be able to take any credit the wonderful way in which
they fought, but God was to get the honour and glory in the wonderful
way that he delivered them. Just tracing back, just a very
short way, we're told in chapter 6, and the children of Israel
did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered
them into the hand of a million seven years. We should not think,
and you young people should not think, that you can do things
which are wrong and get away with it. You shouldn't think
that you can just disobey the Word of God and please yourselves
and that God will ignore it and forget about it and you'll be
able to just carry on in the way that you wanted to. Well,
you see here, they did evil and what happened was the Lord delivered
them into the hand of Midian seven years. And we're told 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
and caves and strongholds. They tried to escape. Now it's
good and it's wonderful. And on so many occasions in the
word of God, We read the wonderful way that the Lord came to them. We read in verse six, and Israel
was greatly impoverished. That means they were very poor
and very low, a very difficult situation because of the Midianites. And then we're told, and the
children of Israel cried unto the Lord. cried unto the Lord. Well, the Israelites, and we're
no different, deserve not to be taken any notice of. But the
Lord was wonderfully gracious, wonderfully merciful to Israel. He heard their prayer. He heard
their cry. And the result was that he raised
up this man called Gideon. in the 11th verse we're told
and there came an angel of the Lord and sat under an oak which
was in Ofra that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite and his son
Gideon threshing wheat by the winepress to hide it from the
Millionites. You see it was a very difficult
time but the Lord determined to save Israel, to deliver them. And he was to demonstrate very
clearly that it was his power and his might that was to deliver
Israel. Well, I hope you notice as we
read down that seventh chapter, that the people came to Gideon
to fight, and it would appear there were over 32,000 people
and the Lord reduced that number first of all by 22,000
and then by another almost 10,000 and they were just left 300 men. 300 men to go and attack the
Midianites. Well we don't know exactly how
many there were but if you read on further it would seem there
were probably in excess of 120,000 Midianites. So there was a vast
company and there were just going to be 300 people that were to
come and to fight the Midianites. Well, the reality is that God
gloriously appeared so they didn't really have to physically fight. And the Lord devised something
which was quite amazing. You know that the 300 people
would just have a trumpet in one hand and a pitcher, that's
really, if you like, I suppose we could turn it like a flower
pot, which they put upside down, and in that was a light. And that's how they went to surround
the camp of the Midianites. And then when Gideon showed the
example, he broke the picture, and of course, there was the
light. And then the men, the 300, they
blew their trumpets. And they cried out as they were
instructed by God, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And of course, with all that
light and all those trumpets, it would seem the Midianites
obviously thought there were far, far more people. And therefore,
all the host ran and cried and fled. Yes, they fled. And so then the Gideon called up other people
to come and to fight and to pursue the Midianites until there was
a wonderful conquest. It's a wonderful account really
to realize the wonderful mercy of God and the power of God in
demonstrating that just in a very simple way that made the Midianites
afraid and they fled. Well, so that we have the account,
but they were pursuing the Midianites. And as we read this first few
verses in the eighth chapter, we could have carried on, but
it was quite long, so we didn't carry on. But we read the first
few verses And we're told that Gideon came to Jordan and passed
over he and the 300 men. So they'd been up a long time. It was nighttime when they were
there surrounding the camp. And therefore, no doubt, they
were tired. But here we're told that they came to Jordan and
passed over, and the 300 men that were with them faint, yet
pursuing them. Now you may think, well, there
were plenty of excuses, surely, to have a rest. They were tired. They were faint. And yet, you
see, they were yet pursuing. And this word, pursuing, means
that they ran after them. It didn't just dawdle along,
they pursued after the enemy. And so we're told they were faint,
and yet they were pursuing them. Well, you may think, well, okay,
I understand that. And that's a fairly clear picture.
How does it reference me today? Well, we should all realize,
and I hope most of you do, that of course, the Bible is really
a spiritual book. And it describes many natural
events which should direct us to our spiritual life and spiritual
concern and realize the relevance, therefore, that such statements
have to our spiritual life. Well, let's think about it in
this way. The life of a believer on this earth is a constant battle. It's a constant battle. And the
word of God clearly demonstrates that to us. And the Lord Jesus
spoke when he was in the upper room to his disciples as he came
to the end of his wonderful sermon to them. He told them that it
is through much tribulation that you and I shall enter the kingdom. be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world. And you may wonder what that
really means. Well, it can, of course, have
a fairly broad aspect. The tribulation can mean physical
difficulties, physical problems, which you and I may face and
have to contend with. but also it may be what we might
term spiritual problems. That means as we are attacked
by the devil in our soul. And you should remember that
while you and I are on the earth, the devil's aim is to overturn
us. The devil's aim is to destroy
us so that we will not believe the truth of God's word so that
we will not believe the gospel. That is his continual concern,
his continual desire to do that. Well, it's a great and wonderful
blessing if God brings into our lives this position so that we
realize the devil is pursuing us. And that we are to, as the
Word of God tells us, resist the devil, that he may flee from
us. Now, naturally, this is not something
which is easy. And that's why we have examples
like this, to give us a natural picture of the opposition which
exists. Here was the position. These
men were weary. They were faint. They were ready
to give up. But they didn't. And they pursued
the enemy. And what that really means in
a spiritual life is that we are to pursue the way that God has
set before us. We're not to give up. We're not to retire and think,
well, I've had enough of this, it's just too difficult. I really feel faint. I really
feel like giving up. That's why we have a very simple
statement of these Israelites. And they're described like this. Just really one word, faint. faint. What God knows about every
one of us here this morning is we journey through life and we
may find life not easy. We may not find life easy naturally. We may not find life easy spiritually. Don't forget the devil's aim and the aim won't alter this
side of the grave. The devil is always intent in overthrowing us. He's always intent on bringing
us into that position that the Word of God describes, having
an evil heart of unbelief the devil never wants his people
to believe you have a situation here in this account really which
is very dramatic and Gideon had this army this large army and
you see God told him to reduce it right down to a mere handful
and really It came to this, of things which are impossible with
men, are possible with God. Looking at it naturally, how
could 300 men possibly defeat this great army of the Midianites? Naturally speaking, it wasn't
possible. But what a blessing it is to
know that with God all things are possible. With men, things
are impossible, but with God they're not. They're all possible.
Nothing is too hard for the Lord. And that means, what it says,
nothing is too hard for our God. And again, what we have to realise
as I do often mention to you. Our lives are not for our own
gratification. They're not for our honor and
glory. That's why in this account, we're
told about this, the situation where the army of Israel was
indeed reduced right down and we're told why it was The Lord
said, the people are yet too many. And well, previously to
that, he says, the people that are with thee are too many for
me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt
themselves. That means a proud in themselves,
against me, saying, mine own hand hath saved me. It's good
for us to realise that in our lives sometimes, that the Lord
won't permit us to bring any glory upon ourselves. We won't be able to say, well,
I did that. And sometimes it comes very close
and we're tempted sometimes. You know, even in answered prayer,
to come and say, well, of course, I prayed for that and that's
the result. Well, that is true and it's right
to honour God, but we have to be very careful that we don't
try and claim our ability in our prayers. It's God's mercy
to us in hearing our prayers and answering our prayers. So then we can come and we can
then give God the glory. And therefore it's very clear,
isn't it? Yes, he said, unless we say my own hand has saved
me. It's very tempting sometimes
because of the pride of our hearts to claim some glory ourselves. Well, he had to reduce it further
down and right down to just the 300 people. And what a wonderful
blessing it was They came down to this very small number and
therefore they would not be able to have said, well, it was our
skill. There was no skill involved,
wasn't there? There was no ability. God brought about the victory. God did it in a very wonderful
way. And it's good in our lives to
be able to trace out God's hand and to see how he appears and
how things are worked out for his honor and for his glory. Gideon would not have been able
to have claimed any honor and any glory. But you see, God appeared
wonderfully. He heard the cry of Israel. He didn't turn his back on them.
He heard their cry. and he graciously answered. What
a good thing it is, what a wonderful thing it is, what a wonderful
mercy it is to have a God who is so kind and so gracious. Reminds
me of that which we read in the 107th Psalm. We're told in verse
six, then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he
delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the
right way that they might go to a city of habitation. That should be an encouragement
to us to realize that when we cry to the Lord, He hears us.
He led Israel in the right way, not perhaps in a way that they
thought they would go. And you can trace that out in
the Old Testament, how Israel went from one place to another.
But they were led in the right way and they did come at last
into Canaan. They didn't deserve to but they
did and he brought them to a city of habitation and God in his
great mercy and love brings his people safe home to glory. Yes and he will have the honor
and glory in that. You and I won't be able to say
well of course I changed my life. No we didn't. God changes our
life. God comes and directs us. And so it was on this account,
Gideon thought he needed a big army. God had different ideas
and God reduced that to just a mere, a mere handful. And they didn't find. They just
blew with their trumpets. Eventually they had to follow,
but initially they didn't. And that brought consternation
upon the Midianites. So they fled. Well, then they
had to continue. And this is really the thrust
today. The Lord may come, the Lord may
bless, the Lord may help. It doesn't mean to say we can
then take it easy and rest on our laurels and think, well,
I haven't got to do anything now. The Lord appeared and he helped
me in this and I can just know there was still this to be done. They still had to continue. They
still had to pursue, even though they felt faint, even though
they were ready, no doubt, to give up. And my friends, that's
so in our lives today, in our spiritual life. We may think,
well, God isn't answering my prayers. There's no point in
praying anymore. I think I'll just give up. Well,
remember, this here was Israel. They were faint, ready to give
up. But they didn't. And they pursued. They pursued. And this word, pursuing, really
means to run after. It didn't dawdle. It didn't hope
there'd be some other way. No, they ran. They pursued. It's a good thing, isn't it?
If we are blessed with that desire to run after the Saviour, our
blessed Lord Jesus Christ, in the Song of Solomon, we have
a lovely statement in the fourth verse of the first chapter. This
is what it says, draw me, draw me. We will run after thee. You might just note that it's
a prayer, draw me. The church wanted to be drawn
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And how relevant that is, because
by nature, in spiritual things, we're far off. And we need to be drawn to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I wonder this morning whether
there are any here who may perhaps pray in this
way. They come realising they're not
where they need to be. Perhaps they're not where they
want to be. Perhaps they haven't really got any desire. What a mercy it is if a prayer
like this is put into your heart. To God, draw me. Draw me to the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And it goes on, draw me. We will run after thee. Run after them. That means that
Christ suddenly becomes attractive. Suddenly we desire to run. Suddenly we desire to pursue. To pursue after the blessed Saviour. draw me we will run after thee
comes back doesn't it to this statement faint yet pursuing
yet pursuing you know you and I are fast hastening through
life we don't know how long we've got on this earth but it's a
good thing if we are pursuing the hymn writer says pursuing
the narrow way till him I view. By living faith to view the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let's be quite clear about this,
you know. All of us, every one of us, need, by faith, to view
the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour before we pass out of
time into eternity. And none of us know how soon
that day will come to call us from this earth. And the question
would be then, are we ready to meet God? Have we been drawn
by the Saviour? You may say, well why would I
be drawn to the Saviour? Why will I want to pursue this
great and glorious God? It's because He is the only one. that can save our souls. He's
the only one who redeems us, redeems us, delivers us from
the curse. The blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
There's no one else. No man, woman or child can save
our souls. And yet it is the vital and important
thing to know that we are saved, to know that we are redeemed. to know that we are saved through
that one sacrifice for sin that the Lord Jesus Christ paid when
he was off and up on the cross at Calvary, when he gave his
life, that wonderful sacrifice to atone for our sin. What a
blessing, my friends, if that is so. What a blessing today
if you and I can rejoice indeed in what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done. Yes, that's the great thing,
isn't it? What Christ has done. Well, there was this pursuing. The journey, a spiritual journey,
is one of pursuing. The devil will try and stop you.
He'll try and make you sit down. He'll try and make you take it
easy. He'll try and lull you to sleep.
Try and make it a turn away from the narrow way. I tell you, it's
too difficult. And in any event, it's not right.
In any event, the Bible isn't true, so you needn't worry about
it. Well, my friends, what a blessing it is when the Holy Spirit convinces
us, as indeed the Holy Spirit convinced Gideon all those years
ago to hear the directions of Almighty God. and to follow out
those commands and there was that great and glorious deliverance
well what a blessing it is for you and me today if we perhaps
feel like this faint faint, ready to give up don't be surprised
the devil wants you to give up you may feel faint you may perhaps
think Well, there's no hope for me, I'm just too bad. My sin
is just too great. I've sinned against light and
knowledge. No one is too far off. No one has sinned too much. And you only have to trace out
examples in the Word of God. You only have to look at the
case of Manasseh, who was a most wicked king until the Lord came. The Lord came, and the Lord turned
him, and the Lord caused him to pray to God, and he was accepted of his God. Well, I wonder, this morning,
How many of us have truly prayed to God? And when I say that, I mean this,
to pray from our very heart. If you pray from your very heart,
you know, one prayer will be very suitable for you. And that's
a prayer that the Lord Jesus illustrated to us in that parable
of the publican. the Pharisee. And how did the
publican pray? He prayed not a fancy prayer,
not a long prayer, but we can term it an effectual prayer. And it was this, God be merciful
to me a sinner. Well you can bless God today
if God has brought you to confess your sin in that way, to truly
pray to God from your heart, not just mere words, but true
words. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. You know what the Lord Jesus
said about that person? I tell you, this man or woman, went down to his house justified
rather than the other. And it wasn't because what he
had done. It was because what the Lord
Jesus Christ had done for him. Well, what a mercy for you and
me today if we have the evidence of the blessed work of the Holy
Spirit in our heart, which has changed us. And my friends, be
clear about this. The work of the Spirit does change
us. How does it change us? We have a new life. We have a
new life, we have a spiritual life. Whereas we were dead, now
we're alive. Spiritually alive. Things have
changed. Things become new. We see things
differently, why? Because God's given us spiritual
eyes. What a mercy, if that is so. And therefore you understand
this, draw me, we will run after thee. Yes, oh what a blessing. If people today really are drawn
by the Saviour and run after Him, run after Him. Well may
we all run after the Lord, that we might be with Him, see Him,
hear His voice, run after him, faint yet pursuing. Well, let's ask ourselves the
question this morning. Are we, are we pursuing the Lord
Jesus Christ? Do we want to be close to him? Do we want to hear his voice?
Or do the poor things of time blot out such concerns such desires
but you know the devil is a past master at deceit remember he
deceived adam and eve and he deceives people still today and
you'll probably say this you needn't worry about that yet
you enjoy your life well you tell the devil you don't know
how many days you've got on this earth and you desire, by the grace
of God, to run to Christ, run to the Savior. Faint yet pursuing. Well, it's a wonderful little
example, isn't it, in the Word of God, and we should bless God
that we have an account like this. You've heard, you've read
all of it, the wonder of it, and yet it comes down to this
These three words, and you see this, here they were, these 300.
They were faint, yet pursuing. And my friends, the journey of
the Christian is like this. We often become faint because
of the hardness of our heart. Because perhaps of the rebelliousness
of our heart. Because we sometimes cry out,
how hard's my lot? We're rebelling against God.
But what a mercy it is when God makes us willing, in the day
of his power, to suffer for his sake. And when the Lord brings
you and me into that position, it is a blessed place, and I'll
tell you why. Because it brings union to Christ. fellowship with his sufferings. That's what the Apostle Paul
desired, didn't he, in that third chapter of the Philippians. Sometimes
you might think that's a bit of a strange statement, a strange
thing to desire. But the reality is, the Lord
Jesus Christ suffered. He suffered to take away our
sins. And it's a great blessing if
the Holy Spirit leads us in one way or another to understand
a little of what Christ endured to redeem our soul. And I'll tell you this, it'll
put everything right. And you'll be thankful for the
situation which has brought you there there's no better place
than to be found on this earth with fellowship with his sufferings
because the sufferings of the Savior ordained by Almighty God to pay
the punishment due to you and me, because of our sins. What a saviour! What a great
and glorious saviour! Faint, yet pursuing. So you may feel faint. You may
feel ready to give up. But my friends, may we know what
it is to pursue. Pursue. The devil will put many
things in the way, in the path. Yes, he'll say, well you can't
do this, and you can't do that, and just wait a bit longer. Don't
forget the devil always has been, always will be a liar. Don't
be deceived by the evil man, evil person. Yes, how wretched
it is. We have a sinful heart. We have
a heart which goes after poor, sinful things. But what a blessing
if the Lord also has given us that new heart, which seeks after
spiritual blessings. Now, I can't answer for you.
You have to answer before God on this Lord's Day morning. Do
you understand something of what these three words mean? Faint,
but, and yet pursuing. Although you're faint, yet you
are pursuing. You're pursuing the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see in him a glory and a beauty. outside of the
things of time and be brought to that glorious place to be
able to say Jesus is to me the one thing needful. I am without
him. Perish must. All of us this morning,
do we know that? Do we realize that? Do we realize
that? Without a personal knowledge
of Christ, As our Saviour, we shall perish in our sins and
we shall sink into hell and be there for eternity. Oh, don't believe anything that
the devil tells us. Don't give up. Press on. Again, the Apostle Paul speaks
about pressing toward the mark that is set before us in the
Gospel. pressing on. Christian life is not easy, as
I said to begin with. No, it is through much tribulation
that we shall inherit the kingdom, but we have good cheer because
Christ has overcome. And as we read in Romans, we
are more than conquerors through him. Confidence in Christ, desiring
to honour and glorify Christ for what He's done in looking
upon us. Look back in your life. Look
back in your life. You have to say with a hymn writer,
what was there in me to merit esteem or give my Creator
delight? For even so, Father, we ever
must sing because it seemed good in thy sight. Oh, may we come
and praise our God for his wonderful mercy, for
his great favour, his tremendous love to unworthy sinners, to
think of that grace, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that
saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. It's grace that set me free.
Oh, my friends, may we rejoice in the evidence that we have,
if we can recognize we are faint, we have been faint, but he's
given us grace to pursue, to pursue the right way, not turn
away from it, to pursue. I will run in the way of thy
commands when thou shalt enlarge my heart. When the Lord enlarges
our heart, when he shows us what we are in our sinful nature,
to direct us to the glorious plan of salvation, through our
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to realise He is indeed precious. He is the one thing needful.
All my friends today, do we rejoice in Christ? Do we want to hear
about Christ? Do you say how sweet the name
of Jesus sounds in my ear. In my ear. It's a great test,
isn't it? It's good, isn't it, when it
is so. Well, there's just three words this morning then. Faint,
yet pursuing. And may we indeed, we will be
faint, but may we be amongst those who pursue the narrow way
to him we view.