Sorrow for God, love's will rest,
yours restored. Be still, my soul, when chains
and tears are cast. All right, let's turn in our
Bibles to Judges chapter 6. Judges chapter 6. All right, this is the story
of the children of Israel. They were now entering into the
promised land. Well, they were in the promised
land. Now, these are those children of the parents who did not go
in. You remember, God left them to
perish in the wilderness, but these are those twenty and under
children. and with Joshua and Caleb. These are God's people. So now
they are better than their parents were, surely. They are much better. God approved of them. They are sinners just like their
parents, just like them. Well, look at chapter 5, verse
31. It says, the last line there,
verse 31, says, ìThe land had rest forty years.î Forty years. Now, forty years they were in
the land and had some amount of rest, some rest. Now, they
had gone through some tribulation, and now theyíre about to go through
more. Our Lord tells us this, that we must, through much tribulation,
enter the kingdom of heaven. But much of their troubles were
attributed to this. Chapter 6, verse 1. Look at it. The children of Israel did evil
in the sight of the Lord. Now, these are children of those
who perished. They did evil. What did they
do? It doesn't say, does it? Turn back to Deuteronomy chapter
8. I think I know because I've done
it. Deuteronomy chapter 8. It does not say what the evil is
that they did, but knowing myself. They had 40 years of rest, relative
rest. I think I know what it was. Forty years of peace and prosperity. Look at it here in Deuteronomy
chapter 8, verse 7. It says, The Lord thy God bringeth
thee into a good land, a land of brooks, of waters, fountains,
depths, spring out of valleys and hills. Verse 11, Beware that
thou forget not Right there it is. Look at it. Verse 12, "...lest when thou
hast eaten and are full, and built goodly houses, and dwelt
therein, your herds and flocks multiply silver and gold." Verse
14, "...your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord thy
God." I think that's what they did. Is there any doubt in your mind?
That's what we all do. Verse 20, he says, As the nations
was the Lord destroyed before your face, so shall you perish,
because you would not be obedient in the voice of the Lord your
God. Well, their parents did perish. Well, these children
entered in, but they turned out to be no better than their parents,
really. And this world, I know myself,
this world, the things of the world, will make us forget God. And then troubles come. Troubles
come. And it says in verse 6, Israel
was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites. The world,
though we may be rich and increased with goods, yet this world will
make us poor. It's your way, but get caught
up in it like them. And then it says in verse 6,
and they cried unto the Lord. You can read for yourself sometimes,
Psalm 107. It keeps talking about the mess
they got in every time they cried unto the Lord. And that's my
biography, Psalm 107, my autobiography. They cried unto the Lord, and
the Lord, whose mercy endureth forever, whose covenant is sure,
he answers." Well, how? Go back to Judges now. How does
the Lord answer? How does the Lord answer us? One way. All our health, all
our hope, all our strength, all our comfort. I mean, A-double-L. All our peace comes from God's Word, and that's
the gospel. All our peace, all our hope,
all our health, all our strength, all our courage, all our comfort,
all our consolation, all our health, A-double-L, comes from
the gospel. Now, we've heard this, and we've
heard this, and we've heard this. But as I was saying to Brother
John, God's Word really never means a thing until you need
it. And we want to find out, if we
haven't already, that all our hope, all our help, all our strength,
all our knowledge, all our help, It comes from the gospel. Look
at it, verse 8, the Lord sent a prophet. They cried, the Lord
sent a prophet. And look at what he says. Here's
the good news. He just repeats. All this prophet
does is repeat what God has already known. That's all he does. Look at it. Verse 8, The Lord
sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them,
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have brought you up from Egypt. You were in Egypt by my decree,
by my purpose, according to my eternal purpose ordered before
this world began. You ended up in Egypt. You know
the story, don't you? You know the story about Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob. Jacob gone and his son Joseph
ascended the throne. Joseph died and the people were
left. You know the story. You know
God's purpose in all that, don't you? I brought you up, I put
you in Egypt and I brought you up there 400 years for my purpose. Everything about you I have ordered
in all things from the very beginning. I brought you out of Egypt, look
at it, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage.
Brought you forth out of the house of bondage. I delivered
you, verse 9. out of the hand of the Egyptians.
I brought you, you were in Egypt, you lived in Egypt, but you were
not of Egypt. I delivered you. You were right
there in Egypt, and I sent all the plagues to Egypt, but I spared
you. I smoked them, blindness, all
the diseases of Egypt. Now, I'm Jehovah I saved you from Egypt and brought
you out of the house of bondage. I set you free." The truth sets
us free. The Son sets us free indeed.
Read on. And he said, and I draved them
out, your foes, all them that oppressed you. Some of us were in religious
bondage and didn't even know. He said, I draved them out, brought
you out and drove them out. Gave you their land. God said
to these, through the prophets of these Israelites, He said,
I gave you their land. I gave you a land that didn't
belong to you, that you didn't deserve. You didn't deserve this,
you didn't deserve any of this. But I gave it to you. Read on,
verse 10. I said unto you, I am the Lord
your God. I didn't say that to them. I
didn't say to the world that I loved them. I didn't say, I
kept it hidden from the wise and the prudent. But I told you,
I'm the Lord your God. I told you. And I said, Fear not, but God
saith unto thee, I am the righteous, in whose land thou dwellest.
But, oh God said, but we. He hath not obeyed my voice.
I'm guilty. We're all guilty. Under an oak,
which was an oak brook, and that pertained unto Joas, a by Israel,
and his son Gideon, fresh wheat by the wine press. And he was
doing that, and he's hiding it from the Midianites, from the
enemies. He was making bread for God's people, and he's hiding
it from the enemies. That sound familiar? God came
to this man, God chose this man, a man chosen from among the people.
Verse 12, And unto the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him,
The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Do you know who this is talking
about? Can you see it? Egypt doesn't see it. You could
give this passage of Scripture A thousand people, they wouldn't. Do you see it, y'all? Who's this
talking about? Gideon? Jesus Christ is who this mighty
man of valor is, chosen of God. He's going to deliver the people
as one man, like by himself. Because the Lord's with him.
The Lord is with him. The Lord is going to send him.
Now, no type is perfect. We're going to see this as a
type of Christ, but no type is perfect. No man perfectly represents
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the reason God wrote a
book with one million types in it. You see? Because not one type won't suffice. Not one man. You know, there
are many men that represent Christ in Scripture. types, Joseph,
Daniel, me and David, but no man can perfectly represent Christ,
can he? Because Christ is perfect, and
no man is perfect. Well, Gideon now, he's talking
as a man here in this next verse. Gideon says here what all of
us have said or will say at some point. Look at verse 13. Gideon said unto the Lord, O
my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen
us? Where are all the miracles? Which our fathers told us, I
say, did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord
has forsaken us. We're delivered in the hands
of But you know, I did think of
our Lord when he was hanging on that cross. I did think of
him when he said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
So in that, it does apply, doesn't it? Christ did say that. Now, he knew. Christ knew why,
didn't he? He said that for our sake, didn't
he? Christ said that on the cross
for our sake. He knew why God had forsaken him, because he
was me. He was my substitute. He was being made sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made to righteousness. We
were accepted. He was rejected. We're accepted in the beloved.
He's rejected because of us. We enter into the... We'll never
be forsaken of God because Christ was forsaken of God, he said.
And he cried, that's why he cried that, so that we would know.
And Gideon cried this because, and I'm glad he did, because
we're going to cry this if we haven't already. Where are we? Why is all this before us? It's
the Lord be with us. I hear that this world out here,
this blessed one's world out here is so full of faith, you
know, like Psalm 73. They don't have troubles. They
see miracles all the time. Where are the miracles? For us? Huh? I'm glad he cried this. Aren't
you? We're going to see. God's going to show him the miracle
of all miracles. The greatest miracle of all,
that he does not show the world. They may see strong illusions
and believe a lie. We're going to see the truth. Let's see this here. My Lord,
why? Why? Why? Well, now Christ knew
why and Gideon knew why. Gideon knew why. Gideon was a
man of God. He knew why. He just told us
up here in verse 1 that the children of Israel did evil on the side
of the Lord. Gideon knew that. If he was a righteous man, he
saw what was going on around him. He was like Lot and Sodom. He knew why. Lot knew why God
was going to destroy Sodom, and Gideon knew why all this had
happened to God's people. Now listen very carefully. Don't
shut me out until about five minutes from now. But sin hath
brought all the agony on the human race. All the agony that happens to
this human race is because of sin. Sin, not sins. Understand me? Sin. God does not punish our
sins. He said, there are sins and iniquity
I remember no more. Didn't he say that, John? God
does not punish his people because of their sins. Do you remember
the story when our Lord was telling about the Tower of Siloam? Were
these men greater sinners? No. But sin, you see, sin brought
into this world pain, suffering, sickness, death. Even on those,
and Romans tells us this in chapter 5, chapter 7, even children,
even those who have not sinned at the similitude of Adam's transgression. Remember that? Things befall
us because sin is in this world. Stay with me. Our Lord said in
the garden, He said, Dying you shall die, didn't He? Dying you shall die. And Adam walked out of that garden
a little while later and saw his son laying dead on the ground.
Was that God punishing Adam? No. Sin. Was God punishing Abel? Oh, no. Oh, no. He's going to punish
Cain. Boy, he's going to punish Cain.
Set a mark on him. But sin brought all that. You
see? Sin brought all that. We get
sick because of sin. Sin's in this world. We get sick.
We get sick because of sin. We die because of sin. Sin's
in this world. We're going to die because of
sin. Everybody in this world is going
to die. Why? Because of sin. We suffer because of sin. We're
going to live because of Christ. The world is going to die because
of sin. You understand that? The world's
going to die because of sins. We're going to live because of
righteousness and not our own. Well, Gideon asked this question.
Did the Lord be with us? Where's all his miracles? Well, now the Lord has delivered. I read all this. Gideon said,
We've read all this. We've heard of all this deliverance.
Our parents have told us. Now the Lord has forsaken us
and delivered us into the enemy. I was immediately reminded of
our Lord in Lazarus. Go over to John chapter 11. When
I read this, I was immediately reminded of this. John 11, our
Lord, and Mary and Martha and Lazarus, the whole story, you
know it well. But this reminded me of that. Gideon said, if you're
with us, why does this happen? Well, Mary and Martha said that,
didn't they? Huh? John 11, verse 5, Now Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lasser. And all things work together
for good to them that love and are loved. We love Him because
He first loved us. All things. Now, he loved him. Right there is the key to that
whole story, that he loved him. It says right there, he loved,
named their name. Well, it says, when he had heard,
therefore, that Lazarus was sick, well, he stayed right where he
was for two days. Why? Well, Mary and Martha, now, they're
flesh. Verse 17. The Lord came, verse
17, he found that he'd laid in the grave four days. Of course
he did. That's where he put him. That's where he put him. You
see, he intentionally stayed away. This whole thing's working
according to his purpose. Verse 21 says, Martha said, Lord,
if you'd been here, my brother hadn't died. See that? That's what Gideon said to him.
But I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it to thee. Jesus said unto her, Thy brother
shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again, the resurrection of the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die." You believe this? Never die. Well, he did. No, he didn't. Well, he will. No, he won't. Oh, she said, I believe that
thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which cometh into the
world. Well, down to verse 33, when Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, and the Jews also weeping, and which came with her, he groaned
in the Spirit. And I love this verse. It says
he troubled himself. He was troubled, but he troubled
himself. And he said, Where have you laid
him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. The unbelief, and what do we know
about it? Go back to the judges, and we'll
go back to the text. And it says in another place,
he groaned again. All the people said, could not
this man? He said, oh, how he loved him. Yeah, he did. Well,
could not this man who Have raised him from the dead? And the cause
that he shouldn't die? Yeah, sure he could have. He's
not going to get greater glory this way. And they groaned again.
Well, the Lord wept because of unbelief. The Lord wept because of what
sin had wrought on this world. He's not weeping over Lazarus. He's not weeping over Lazarus. He knows. He may be weeping. John's going
to bring him back. He came that Lazarus might have
life. That's why Christ came into the
world, to give Lazarus life, not temporal Life more abundant. Life more abundant. It won't
end here. Life more abundant. There are
some good things in this life. There they are. But life more
abundant starts over there. Lazarus would die in a few years.
Life is going to die again. But Christ died that Lazarus
might live forever. That's the miracle. This is the
miracle of miracles, he said. This is the miracle of miracles.
Our Lord raised him, and it was glorious, and it was wonderful.
And they were praising him, and they were thankful, only for
him to die again. But now our Lord went and died
that Lazarus would never die. that he be raised forever, never
to die again. In our text, sin has wrought
all this, but Christ came to deliver us from the penalty of
sin. Verse 14, the Lord looked upon him and said, Go in this
thy might. Thou shalt save Israel from the
hand of the Midianite. Have not I sent thee? He doesn't
say, Now you will try, you will make a real effort if somebody
helps you do this. He said, Now shouts, I have sent
you. You are going to be strong in
the Lord and in the power of his might. You are going to go.
Verse 16, And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee,
and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. You know, when it talks about
children of Israel going into the promised land, it sounds
like Joshua did it all. When it talks about, and Joshua
led them into the promised land. One man against so many? Yep.
That's exactly right. That's what the scripture says
our Lord Jesus Christ did, doesn't it? Huh? When he had by himself
purged our sins. And that wasn't a figure of speech.
That's a fact, by himself, purged our sin. The scent of God, God
was with him, and he as one man, smoked our sin, our greatest
enemy, our foe, and sat down, and he's expecting now. And I
love that verse. It says he's expecting. He's
not walking the floor, hoping this, hoping that, things out
of his control. Oh, no. He's fulfilled his purpose
that God sent him to do, and he sat down, his work was finished,
sent the Holy Spirit to round them all up for whom he died,
and he's expecting. He said, I know my thoughts toward
you, thoughts of peace. I know your end, because I declared
the end on the beginning. I'm the author and I'm the finisher
of your faith. I know it. And if you'll keep
your mind on the end, you'll rest, you'll have peace
today. Well, in this picture, look at
verses 19 through 21. Gideon went in and made ready
a kid, and unleavened cakes, and an heap of flour, flesh he
put in a basket, put the broth in a pot, brought it out under
the angel of the Lord, under the oak, and presented it. And
the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened
cake, lay them upon this rock." It just happened to be a rock
there, Stan. And he laid it on a rock and
poured out the broth on the rock, and he did so. Then the angel
of the Lord put forth the end of a staff, he had a staff in
his hand, put forth a staff in his hand and touched the flesh,
the unleavened cake, the kea, that is the sacrifice, and the
bread that was made, and there rose up fire out of the rock,
consumed the flesh, the unleavened cake, the angel of the Lord departed
out of his sight. Departed out of his sight. Do
you see Christ in all of this? Blessed are your eyes. Blessed
are your eyes if you see Christ in all of this. Blessed are you.
Christ is all and in all of this, isn't He? Christ is the Lord,
the angel of the Lord. Christ is Gideon. Christ is the
sacrifice. Christ is the unleavened bread.
Christ is the rock. Christ is all and in all. Well,
verse 22, when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord,
Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God, for because I have seen an angel
of the Lord face to face, alas. Verse 23 and 24, the Lord said
unto him, Peace unto thee, fear not, thou shalt not die, because
you have seen me. You are not going to die. You're
going to live. You understand that? Because
you've seen me, because I've revealed myself to you, because
I've done all this, no, be it from dying, you're going to live. Nobody's seen me, but I'm showing
myself to you. I'm not going to die, no. To
the contrary, you're going to live now. Because you sing in
the sacrifice. In verse 24, Gideon built an
altar there in the Lord and called it Jehovah Shalom. Jehovah Shalom. The Lord send
peace. And it's this way yet in the
Oprah and the Ezra.