Okay, if you would turn with
me to Judges chapter seven, last couple of verses, we'll move
on to chapter eight this evening, but I wanna look at verse 23
through 25 in Judges chapter seven. It reads, and the men
of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and
out of Asher, and all of Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. And Gideon sent messengers throughout
all Mount Ephraim, saying, come down against the Midianites and
take before them the waters unto Bethbara and Jordan. Then all
the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and took the waters
unto Bethbara and Jordan. And they took two princes of
the Midianites, Oreb and Zeb, and they slew Oreb upon the rock
of Oreb, and Zeb they slew at the winepress of Zeb, and pursued
Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon on
the other side Jordan. Now chapter eight, verse one.
And the men of Ephraim said unto him, that being Gideon, said,
why hast thou served us thus? That thou callest us not when
thou wentest to fight with the Midianites. And they did chide
with Gideon sharply. Now what Ephraim is saying here
is this, why have you neglected us? Why have you overlooked us? Why didn't you call on us to
fight? And more importantly, why didn't
you call on us first? Gideon was of the tribe of Manasseh,
and as you know, Ephraim and Manasseh were brothers, and Jacob
gave preference to Ephraim, the youngest. Remember when he gave
them the birthright, his hands crossed, and he blessed, gave
Ephraim the birthright, even though Manasseh was the older
brother. And even though he was the firstborn,
Ephraim received the blessing of the firstborn. And what we
find here is actually nothing but just wounded pride and pride
of grace. According to the law of Moses,
the elder shall serve the younger. And that is a picture of the
old covenant serving the new covenant. The new covenant takes
precedence over the old, just as Ephraim took precedent over
Manasseh. You know, Mr. Spurgeon once said,
I've heard Brother Henry quote this many times, but it was Brother
Spurgeon that I believe said it originally. He said, God deliver
us from the pride of race, the pride of face, the pride of place,
and the pride of grace. You know, we have no reason to
be proud of our race, our nationality, where we're from. None of us
had anything to do with our parents, what color they were, where they
lived, nothing at all. Face, appearance, how we look,
nothing, nothing to take pride in that over. What about place,
our position, our standing in the world? Well, so-and-so's
got a big job. He's got a big business. There's
nothing to be proud of there. It's the Lord that gives us these
things. It's the Lord that gives us the
health and the ability to work. So none of these things were
to take pride in, but pride of grace, my, my, that's depending
on grace without depending on God. You know, there's a lot
of people that do that. It's to make grace something
you earned by your own doing and strength, which is not grace
at all. I forget who it was. One of the
commentators said, should a mud wall be proud because the sun
shines on it? How can one be proud of a free
gift? Grace itself cannot be proud,
yet we ourselves can be proud of grace. Verse one tells us
that Ephraim was upset. He did chide with Gideon sharply. These men of Ephraim, they used
some rough words. They used some bad language. And our Lord said that out of
abundance of the heart a man speaks. And the men of Ephraim's
language proved anger and wrath and envy and jealousy and ill
will. They were upset. That word chide
means to scold. This just wasn't a little disagreement. I mean, they said, what is your
problem? Can you just imagine the conversation? Have you ever been scolded? It's
not very pleasant. It's to give one a piece of your
mind. I'm gonna give him a piece of
my mind. Well, I've had somebody do that to me before. It's not
very pleasant. They gave Gideon a piece of their
mind, but anytime and every time that we're angry or our anger
is really against God, I wish that we could grab a hold of
that. It's against God since it's God
who predestines and ordains all things. Is there evil in a city
and the Lord hath not done it? All trouble, all calamity is
sin of the Lord. You know, there's a lot of folks
that struggle with that. I talked to a man just this week,
struggles with that. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will, works all things together for the good
of his chosen people. The Lord had whittled down Gideon's
army from 32,000 down to 300. God had no intention of using
the men of Ephraim in the first part of this battle. But God did use them. And all
the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and took the two princes
of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeb, and they cut their heads off
and they brought their heads to the other side of Jordan.
And when Gideon crosses the Jordan to meet up with the men of Ephraim,
he sees the heads of these two princes. And it becomes very
obvious, I believe, to Gideon that the Lord had blessed them
too. It's the Lord that does the blessing.
We're in this thing together. We rejoice in the blessings of
others as if we ourselves were blessed. Lord, help me to be
more that way. When somebody else prospers,
somebody else, the Lord blesses somebody, we ought to rejoice. We ought to rejoice that the
Lord's blessed them. We're members of the same body,
so he's blessed us too, hadn't he? Now the history of Ephraim
is an interesting one in relation to Manasseh. They always exhibited
a trait that can be described as pride of grace. Matter of
fact, that's what I titled this, for whatever it's worth. They
always seemed envy and jealous as if and when the tribe of Manasseh
was honored in any way. We'll see that, I believe, in
chapter 12. Again, it was obvious that God had blessed Gideon. and the people of Manasseh. But
Ephraim too is also blessed, but he's angry and he seems unable
and unwilling to rejoice in the success of his brother. Now,
why was the slaughter of Oreb and Zeb such a great victory
and success? You know, a little study into
their names gives us some insight. We discover a great deal when
we consider their names. Oreb means raven. You know what
a raven is, that black bird that's always on the side of the road
eating dead things. And zeb means wolf. Ravens are known for their hunger
of flesh. The word ravening and ravenous
originate from the word raven. Many of the Jewish commentators
believed that these were the nicknames given to these two
princes. These weren't their original
names. Oral's nickname pictured him as a ruthless killer who
devoured his enemies with a passion of a raven. Have you ever been,
ever seen a raven in the road and you drive and they fly off?
And before you look in your rear view mirror, they're already
back on that dead carcass and eating it again. They're just,
Passionate about it. And Orb was passionate about
murder. Oh, he... And Zeeb wasn't any
different. His name means wolf. This was
a nickname, I believe. Well, a wolf is a skillful predator
with an unquenchable appetite and desire for killing. Gluttonous
for killing would be a good way of saying it. And these two princes
were notable killers. How interesting is it that the
Lord described false prophets this way? Beware of false prophets,
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves. Oreb was killed upon a rock. I'm certain that that was named
the Rock of Oreb after he was killed upon the rock, but that
rock pictures Christ. Zeb was killed at a wine press.
The blood of God, the blood of Christ slays or saves one or
the other. And the point I'm endeavoring
to make is this, God blessed Aphraim with this notable effort,
and instead of rejoicing with his brother Gideon, they felt
cheated and shunned, and I'm telling you, it's nothing but
wounded pride of grace. and it ought not be among the
people of God. Now again, verses two and three
of Judges eight. And he, Gideon, said unto them,
what have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of
the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezar? Now in a very mild and gentle
manner with soft words, the scripture says, turns away wrath. That's
what Solomon said. Gideon says, what have I done
in comparison to you? All we did was blow trumpets.
All we did was break clay pots. All we did was just hold torches.
It was the Lord that set the Midianites one against the other
to slay each other. It was the Lord that did it.
We didn't do anything. That's nothing compared to what
you've done. You have the heads of two murderous princes of Midian,
and the Lord blessed us, and the Lord blessed you, and it
was all God's doing. That's what Gideon's saying.
He says, is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better
than the vintage of Abiezar? In other words, we only started
the fight. We set the enemy to running,
but you, Ephraim, has done the gleaning. You've done the cleaning
up. You've done the, is not the gleaning
better? And what Gideon is saying is
this, the weak in the house, of Ephraim is better than the
strong of Abiezar. And Abiezar was Gideon's family. He's saying the weakest man among
you is stronger than me, better than me. I'm nothing, I'm nobody,
I can do nothing. Gideon didn't have any interest
in sharing in God's glory. Why would anyone, really? Why
would any of us desire, once we've truly seen what God's done
for wretched sinners, why would any of us want to try to do something
that's already been finished perfectly for us? And then take
glory in that. Folks who are proud of their
grace, love, have good things said about them. And that was
the case here. It says, then their anger was
abated toward him when he had said that. Folks are proud of their grace.
Love, love to have good things said about them. That was the
case with the Pharisees, wasn't it? The Lord said in John chapter
five, I receive not honor from men, but I know you that you
have not the love of God in you. I come in my father's name and
you receive me not, but if another come in his own name, him you'll
receive. You receive one another. In Matthew,
how can you believe which receive honor one of another and seek
not the honor that cometh from God only? In Matthew chapter
23, the Lord Jesus said, but all their works, speaking of
the Pharisees, he said, all their works they do for to be seen
of men, they make broad their phylacteries, they stuff these
prayers in their, and their robes looked like they got on shoulder
pads, and they'd walk down the street, and folks would say,
oh, now there's a godly man right there. Look at all the folks
he's praying for. And they're doing it to be seen
to men. They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the
borders of their garments. And they love the upper room
at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues and their greetings
in the marketplaces. And they love to be called to
men rabbi, rabbi. But be not ye called rabbi, for
one is your master, even Christ. And all ye are brethren, and
call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father,
which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters,
for one is your master, even Christ. We have only one father,
we have only one master, and we have only one teacher, and
that's God. We're all taught of God, aren't
we? No man has any reason to be proud. No reason whatsoever,
especially with grace. Presently proud of their grace
that was freely given. Now, no doubt Gideon's response
to Ephraim is one of a mature believer. It's a response of
graciousness. He's saying that his victories
are not even to be compared with the honor due Ephraim. While
you took these kings and you, We didn't do anything compared
to what you did. And Ephraim's pride is stroked, and he's satisfied
with Gideon's response, because to Ephraim, it meant that Gideon,
as the tribe of Manasseh, knew his place. Gideon, you remember back all
those years ago when our father Jacob blessed Joseph's two boys? And he gave me the birthright.
You should have called me first, but we'll let it slide because
you've said some good things today. And here Gideon is bowing to
the providence of God. Though Gideon was of Manasseh,
the firstborn Ephraim was given that place by God through Jacob
and Gideon of Manasseh bows to it. I'm sure it wasn't easy. I know something about man's
nature because I have one. I have a fallen nature. I know
what it's like. I battle with the old man every
day. I hope we're able to see and understand
that our depravity is real. It really is. And may God enable
us, as he did Gideon, to take the lower seat. and honor others
above ourselves. Well, I haven't done anything
compared to you. I may have mentioned Sunday that
religion today feels entitled. It does. I mean, they do feel
entitled. Religion says if we suffer, then
everyone should suffer. If someone's blessed, we ought
to be blessed too. This jealousy reveals our entitled
feelings. Natural men and women feel that
since they are blessed with grace, they should have it better than
others. God warns us against such thinking.
And whatever God warns us of, that is a good reason to know
that it's a real problem. Whatever God warns us of in the
scriptures, you can bet it's a real problem with us. 1 Corinthians 8, I wanna read
you a few passages here. And if any man think that he
knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing, yet is he ought to know.
Galatians 6, one through three. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness, considering thyself. Lest thou also be tempted. Bearing
you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
For if a man think himself to be something, when he's nothing,
he deceives himself. About 1 Corinthians 4, 7, we
all know that verse. For who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
And if thou didst receive it, why do you glory as if you didn't
receive it? There'd be no need of such an
admonishment if we didn't look at God's grace as something that
we earned, deserved, or merited. There'd be no reason to be admonished. Everything that grace gives,
God gave us. Everything. He gave this grace
to us in Christ. It was because of what Christ
did for us, not what we did for God. So it makes it unearned,
deserved, and unmerited. Why do we glory as if we hadn't
received it? That's what Paul's asking. If
you received it, what do you have to brag about? Thus said
the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory
in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me. If you want to glory in something,
glory in the fact that God has revealed Christ to you. And then
he gets all the glory. He said, that I am the Lord which
exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. We have no wisdom
but that which we have in Christ. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. We have no might, no strength.
When we were without strength, Christ died for us. Isn't that
right? We don't have any strength with that which God has given
us in Christ. Our needs are supplied not according
to our personal riches. I don't care how much money you
have in the bank, it'd never be enough. A rich man cannot
glory in his riches. It's in Christ in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of what? His grace. Now that's where we're
rich, in Christ. We have the riches of his grace. In 2 Corinthians chapter 19,
verse 17, Paul wrote, but he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Is there any other place for
glory? Not in his or herself, not in outward circumstances,
not in wisdom, knowledge, learning, not in eloquence, not in your
own righteousness, not in your own labors, not in works that
you've done. Let him that glories glory in
the Lord. Pretty specific. Paul wrote and
said in Corinthians, for not he that commended himself is
approved, but whom the Lord commended. You know, a man and woman goes
out on a job interview and the employer asks for a reference
and someone to commend them for the position and that African
says, well, I commend myself. And that'd be praise to ourselves,
wouldn't it? We can't ascribe this commendation
to ourselves. Self-commendation stands for
nothing and it's nauseous and it's disagreeable to God, I'm
telling you. We can't ascribe it. The wise
man Solomon wrote, let another man praise thee and not thine
own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips. Paul said, let
every believer be of one mind, like-minded, of one accord. No strife, no vainglory. But
in lowliness of mind, let him esteem other better than themselves. Lord, help me to do that. Help
me to do that. You know, that's exactly what
Gideon did. He didn't need the praise of men. He knew the Lord
had done it all. He gave the preeminence to Ephraim. He esteemed Ephraim better than
himself. And all of us, every blood-bought
sinner that trusts in Christ, we've got to give all the preeminence
to Christ. For he's the head of the body,
Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that
in all things, he might have the preeminence. All things,
everything, everything. Preeminence means to be first.
Lord, what have I done in comparison to you? We cannot do what the holy law
God demands. We cannot provide the perfect
righteousness holy justice requires. We cannot render the perfection
needed to be accepted of God. How then are we accepted? In
the beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the perfect one. And
he who knew no sin and did no sin. And the one who is well
beloved of the Father. and the one who provides all
for us that God requires of us. I was thinking about this yesterday.
There's, you know, there's really not a soul alive that cannot
understand the simple statement, salvation's of the Lord. Now
there's, I understand that some folks don't believe it, but that's
not what I'm talking about. That is, there's only one way
you could take that. Salvation is of the Lord means
The Lord is salvation. In order for salvation to be
of the Lord, that means that the Lord had to provide it. It's
of the Lord, that little preposition of, O-F. identifies the source. You see, Biden is the president
of the United States. He's not the president of Russia.
He's the president of the United States. I'm the pastor of Bible
Baptist Church. Jesus Christ is the Lord of salvation. The source between the unsaved
and the saved is the Lord. The source of salvation between
the lost and the found is the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Gideon's telling the men of Ephraim
how blessed they are and who it was that blessed them. We
have no reason to take pride in the grace that we've been
shown. Look at verse three again. God hath delivered into your
hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeb. You're not blessed
because of what you did. I'm not blessed because of what
I did, Gideon's saying. He said, we're blessed because
God has delivered these things into our hands. Salvation and
deliverance has never been by works of righteousness that we've
done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. By the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed. on us abundantly through Christ
our Savior, Titus 3, 5, and 6. Every good and perfect gift,
speaking of the blessings, come down from the Father of lights
in whom and him, there is no variableness nor shadow of turning.
Of his own will beget he us with the word of truth. We must receive
with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Paul wrote, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you
which are spiritual, restore such a one to the spirit of meekness. We read that a moment ago. And
boy, these words are so convicting, considering thyself. We struggle
so hard in forgiving others. Let me, I'll rephrase that. I,
Struggle very hard with forgiving others when their sin's against
me. I wonder how many times I consider
myself, lest I also be tempted. We'll always sing a different
tune when we're the guilty ones. Lord, help us consider ourselves,
our frailties, our sin, our inabilities, our unwillingness. When we're
tried and tempted, we want mercy, don't we? Well, that should be
the first thing we give to those who are. Mercy, be merciful and
gracious. With all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring
to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Gideon
was a meek man. This is true of all the meek.
The meek shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that
seek him. Your heart shall live forever.
Psalm 22, 26. Psalm 25, 9. The meek will he,
God, guide in judgment. And the meek he will, will he
teach his way. All taught of God as we saw a
few weeks back. But the meek shall inherit the
earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The
Lord lifted up the meek. He casteth the wicked down to
the ground. What does he do with the meek?
He lifts them up. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people.
He'll beautify the meek with salvation. Psalm 149, four. And the Lord said, blessed are
the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Our Lord Jesus said,
take my yoke upon you and learn of me. He said, because I am
meek, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and in me you shall
find rest for your souls. Well, Christ is our great example
in all things. Peter wrote, but let it be the
hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible, even
the ornament of a weak and quiet spirit, which is in the sight
of God a great price. The internal grace given freely
to us by Christ is an ornament to the soul. The inward man, the new man,
it's out of reach of Satan in this world. He can touch the
old man, but not the new. He can stir up the corruption
in the old, but there is no corruption in the new. It's born of God and incorruptible. We're born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever, Peter said. The old man, the outward man
is corrupt according to his deceitful lust. But in the inward man is,
we're Christ workmanship. Under good works, we're created
in righteousness and holiness. The grace of meekness and humility
and quietness, well, it's a fruit of the Spirit. And it's what
makes a man lovely in the sight of God. And in the sight of God,
it's a great price. Lord, help me to be meek and
lowly in heart. God gives the meek the beauty
of salvation. He'll raise up in judgment for
them, it says, not against them, for them. My Lord is gonna stand
on the day of judgment and plead my cause. And my cause is innocent
because I am found in him. Well, I pray that the Ephraim
in us, if I may put it that way, might be subdued by God's grace
and that we would be more like Gideon and show grace to those
who oppose us. I think often about what Paul
wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 10. He wrote, by the grace of
God, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed
upon me, was not in vain. You know, when I get to looking
within, sometimes I think, my, my. Paul said, I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was in
me. Whatever we are, it's by the grace of God. However, with
the believer, God's grace is never vain because the true child
of God is gonna labor more abundantly than one who takes pride in their
grace. And then they'll tell you that
it was not them that did it. It was the grace of God within
them. It's not them, but the grace
of God that caused them to labor more abundantly and do the things
pleasing to God. That's why Paul could truly say,
by the grace of God, I am what I am. Okay, well, I want you
to look at verse four in closing. And it says, and Gideon came
to Jordan and passed over he and the 300 men that were with
him, faint, yet pursuing them, speaking of the enemy. Now, question,
did you notice God's grace in verse four? Gideon and the 300
men that were with him pursued the enemy. Not one of them was
lost. Not one. Started out with 300. Here's 300 men still with Him. Not one of God's chosen will
be lost in the end. Everyone that Christ died for,
all that the Father gave the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall
be saved. Every single one. Not a one will
be lost. Having loved his own, Christ
loved them alone until the end. Friends, that's grace. Marvelous
grace. Amazing grace. Grace that's greater
than all our sin. Well, may God be pleased to give
us that grace for the glory of God and the good of his people
and for Christ's sake.