The Privileged Few

Q: What does the Bible say about God's election?

The Bible teaches that God elects individuals for salvation according to His eternal purpose of grace. In the context of Judges 7, it is emphasized that what set apart the Israelites from the surrounding nations was God's eternal purpose in election. The difference between God's people and the heathens of Canaan is not found in their actions, but in God's sovereign choice to elect them for salvation. This is supported by verses that affirm that those who believe in Christ will receive remission of sins as a part of God's elect community. This view aligns with Reformed theology, which holds that God’s election is unconditional and based solely on His will, not on any merit from those He chooses.

Q: How do we know that predestination is true?

Predestination is affirmed by Scripture, showing that God actively chooses those who will be saved. The doctrine of predestination is a cornerstone of Reformed theology, rooted in passages that clearly articulate God's sovereign initiative in salvation. In Judges 7, the selection of Gideon's 300 warriors highlights God's divine message of predestination; only those He chose were equipped for the battle. Predestination is evident in Ephesians 1:4-5, which declares that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, predestining us for adoption as His children. This ‘choosing’ is based solely on His grace and purpose, illustrating the biblical foundation for the assurance of individual salvation within the context of God’s unchanging plan.

Q: Why is God's glory important for Christians?

God's glory is paramount as it represents His sovereign supremacy and purpose in salvation. Understanding the importance of God's glory is crucial in the life of a Christian. In Judges 7, God's methodology in reducing Gideon's army to 300 men illustrates that the victory over the Midianites would be attributed solely to God, hence maintaining His glory. It underscores the truth that salvation is entirely of the Lord; no human effort can contribute to it. Romans 11:36 emphasizes that all things are from Him, through Him, and to Him, which reinforces the idea that God's glory must be paramount above all, even when it appears that salvation could fail. This profound truth instills in Christians a humble reliance on God’s grace, underscoring that His ultimate glory is the foundation for our faith.

Q: What is the purpose of God's providence in our lives?

God's providence ensures that His sovereign will is carried out in the lives of the elect. The concept of divine providence is foundational in Reformed theology, indicating that God is actively involved in the governance of the universe and the lives of His people. In Judges 7, God's providence is evidenced in how He directed Gideon’s actions and determined the outcome of the battle against the Midianites. This reflects the belief that God orchestrates events to fulfill His purposes, ensuring that the salvation of His chosen ones is accomplished. Hebrews 1:3 affirms that God upholds all things by the word of His power, signifying that His providential hand is responsible for every detail concerning salvation and sanctification in the life of a believer.

Q: How does the story of Gideon illustrate God's power?

The story demonstrates God's power by using a small number to achieve a significant victory. Gideon's story in Judges 7 is a powerful illustration of God's sovereign power and grace in action. In reducing Gideon's army from 32,000 to just 300, God made it clear that the victory over the vast army of Midian was solely due to His intervention, emphasizing the truth that God often chooses the weak to confound the mighty. This narrative serves as a type of the way God operates—He utilizes frail instruments to accomplish His mighty purposes, thereby showcasing His glory. The apparent folly of Gideon’s tactics, armed only with pitchers, trumpets, and lamps, leads us to recognize that in our weakness, God’s strength is perfected. This narrative embodies the essence of faith in the sovereign grace of God.

Turn in your Bibles with me to Judges chapter 7. Judges chapter 7. I must begin reading here at verse 16. And he divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers. 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. When I blow with the trumpet, I and all that are with me then blow ye trumpets also on every side of all the camp and say the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch and they had but newly set the watch and they blew the trumpets and break the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the lamps in their left hand and the trumpets in their right hand to blow with awe.

And they cried, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the hosts ran and cried and fled, and the 300 blew the trumpets. And the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host. And the host fled to Beshitta and Zerath unto the border of Abelmehola and Tabith."

Now, the initial The taking of Canaan by Joshua, when he first came into that land and took it from the Canaanites, broke their power, broke their holding of that whole country, is a picture of God in Christ establishing his kingdom. That's how we looked at it all through the book of Joshua, that's how it is. and to him give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

That's what's being pictured. That's what's being typified all through the Old Testament. That's what prophecy is. And having received the inheritance given to them of God and presented to them by his power and his grace, Now it must be preserved and maintained and made sure for all their future generations. When Christ came, he conquered Satan.

He accomplished our redemption. It's over. It's done. It's ours. And it must be preserved for all those for whom he died. That's what's going on. We're not looking at exact declarations back here. If you try to plug in every little word, you're going to run into all kinds of problems. These are figures. These are types. These are pictures and patterns of heavenly things.

I titled the lesson this morning, The Privileged Few. A new generation of God's elect were born, and like every son and daughter of Adam, they did evil in the sight of the Lord. Why? Because it's our nature. I'm not excusing man. Your nature is not an excuse for your sin. You sin, and you're accountable for it. But that's why you sin.

What set them apart with the Lord, the only difference between them and these heathens, that's what I'm saying, what set them apart with the Lord is his eternal purpose of grace, his election in Christ, and his predestination of them to adoption. That's what set them apart. That's why God went with them. That's why God fought with them. That's why God intervened in their lives and did what he did. And that's why he does it still with his elect. Their sins are 100% owing to them. God's favor is 100% owing to God. Don't ever look within for some reason for God to love you, because he won't find you. It's not there.

And the lesson in these verses is concerning the privileged few. And before I begin, I want you to hear an excerpt from a sermon that I found on the internet from this very text. This is a sermon by rank Armenian religion. And they're looking at the same text that we're looking at, and this is what he saw. He said, here is the key to human history.

Common, ease-loving men are by their own wish excused from glory, from heroic deeds lasting renown and high fellowship with God in fighting the great battles of humanity and righteousness. They are permitted to return to their own places. They sink down into obscurity and oblivion. 300 heroes are chosen to be their deliverers and to smite for them the host of the Midianites and side by side with Leonidas and his 300 Spartans.

I don't know if you've ever heard a movie about the Spartans. And there was a great battle fought. And these 300 Spartans fought against multitudes, basically the same odds as what Gideon did. The immortal heroes. of Mount Gilboa. In other words, he's talking about these Hebrews that went down with Gideon. They're in the same class as these Spartans. That's what he's telling them. And he said, I would ask for them no greater glory than belongs to that Grecian company and believing that they are worthy to be stand together as the immortal 600. He groups them in with these heathens that fought these natural battles and elevates them to the sky.

That's not what's going on here, and that's not what's being taught. I can remember back in Arminianism, when they were fishing for future preachers, they'd go over here to this thing, and they'd start showing. They tried to preach this in a way that would motivate young men to dedicate their lives and make heroes out of it. That's not our lesson here in Judges chapter seven. The lesson is about a privileged few that God has chosen to experience by grace, the power and presence of God in the salvation of God's elect. That's what's being taught here.

There was nothing he saw in them that he didn't put in them. I know by the scriptures that there's nothing in us. we are together become unprofitable. There's no profit there. There's no potential there. God sees in me and what he puts in me. When he called Lot that righteous man, he wasn't looking in natural Lot and seeing a righteousness. He was seeing what he put in him. And there's nothing that God sees in us that he don't put in us. And what made these 300 men special was the grace and mercy of God.

And what motivated them to follow Gideon against overwhelming odds is nothing less than the revelation of how things really are. A few people, God has opened their hearts and minds and revealed to them the way things really are. The way you really stand before God and why.

What's really going on in this world? What is the ministry all about? And I have four things this morning I want to try to get across in this text. And they're in the form of questions. So here's the first question. What exactly is it that's taking place in Canaan? What's going on here?

And secondly, who's deciding who does what and how they're going to do it? Thirdly, what are the weapons that God uses toward this opposition that's gathered down this great multitude? How will he arm his army? And then lastly, what effect does these 300 men have on the pagan?

They're going to run down this mountain, and they've got pitchers with a lamp in it and a trumpet in the other hand, and other than that, They don't have anything. Now, down here at the bottom, there's a multitude so vast that the camels, just the camels that they had to pack their stuff on was like the sands of the seashore. It was a numberless multitude down here against them, and they were all carrying swords. How did I know that? Because he tells me at the end, they slayed each other with their swords. They had swords.

Hebrews didn't have anything but a picture with a lamp in it. And also, and I didn't mention it in those, and I'll put it in wherever I can fit it in, is there's a separation by God, a division by God. So first of all, let's consider this. What exactly is going on in Canaan as these Hebrews are forced to go into battle against the Midianites and Amalekites?

They didn't sit around and say, OK, I think we can whoop these boys, so let's get some men together and get up on this mountain. No, God's providence set the battle in place. There was no getting out of it. The battle was here. The problem is here. You're going to have to deal with it. You're not going to get around it. You're going to have to deal with this problem.

So what's going on? Well, God's taking what the pagan says is his. Isn't that what religion's preaching? Salvation's yours. All you have to do is make the decision. Walk down the aisle. Make up your mind. It's yours. How did it get to be yours? Oh, he gave it to everybody. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul tells us what's going on.

And he said they were all talking about the Lord's coming back any minute. Now, this is clear back yonder at the beginning when he first ascended up into glory, not very many years had gone by. And they're saying, well, the Lord's coming back tomorrow. How many people have we had that's raised themselves up and said, I can tell you exactly when he's coming back. It's going to be Tuesday morning at 3 o'clock, 19 something or other. And Paul said, now, let me tell you something. He said, his coming is not going to come until there first come a great, a great falling away. Isn't that what he said?

And that man of sin be revealed. Well, he's not talking about a certain individual the way Hollywood depicts it in all their ungodly movies. He's talking about a principle of evil that often resides in a single man or in a congregation of men or in a denomination. And this principle has followed men throughout all ages and groups and denominations and religions.

It's often called the spirit of Antichrist. And again, that word spirit is not capitalized. So this is talking about a spiritual concept, is what he's saying. It's a conviction and deduction of deceived men and women, and it causes them to oppose God and oppose his people. And the Holy Ghost further inspires Paul to give the gist of this understanding of Antichrist. And here's what it says.

They oppose themselves and exalt themselves above all that's called God. That is, all that they've ever heard or read concerning God. They raise themselves above that. The most honored, important, and sacred thing in religion is man himself. Isn't that the number of the beast? Man, man, man. Six, six, six. That's the number of the beast. Man is everything. Listen to him preach. Man is everything. It doesn't matter that God loses his glory. It's okay if that takes place. It's okay if God's purposes fail. It's okay if his name is dishonored, as long as man saves.

He exalts, he opposes himself, and he exalts himself above all that's called God. He puts man on the throne. That's what religion does. Puts man on the throne. That's the religion of Antichrist. And the real issue of false religion is the salvation of sinners. That's what it is. The real issue of true religion is the glory of God.

God's glory must be maintained if nobody's saved. God's not going to spare his own son. He sure ain't going to spare me. God's glory, that's the issue. Who's God? False religion challenges the throne. That's what Paul said. You're going to say unto me, how does he yet find fault for who has resisted his will? You know what Paul said? Nay, but old man, who art thou that replyest against God? God is God. And he's not going to hand you his throne. He's not going to hand you his reign. They're deceived men and women, and they set themselves in opposition against God. And what's going on in Canaan is what's going everywhere and in all ages.

God is manifesting his glory in the salvation of chosen sinners through the person and work of his Son. They're looking forward to the Christ who will yet come. And we're looking back to the Christ who did come. And we're looking up to the Christ who reigns.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that there's a God in heaven and that his son, being God, came into this world through the womb of a virgin, was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, accomplished the redemption of his people, and God raised him from the dead, declaring their justification, and then raised him up and set him at the right hand of God where he reigns and arranges all things? Do you believe that? Nobody's going to be saved if God don't intervene. Nobody. Israel didn't stand a chance. Even with 32,000, they didn't stand a chance of winning that battle. There's 100,000 men down here.

But God's going to save them because that's his purpose. And he's going to manifest his glory in that salvation. What's going on in Canaan is what's been going on ever since the garden. Generation after generation, each one being called of God in faith in Christ, each one being brought to the reality of it, the glory of it, and the greatness of it. And Cain is a picture of God's kingdom, and God is taking it away from those who claim it's theirs, and He's giving it to whom He will.

And I question my own self. Do I really believe that? Do you believe that your soul rests in the hand of God Almighty? It rests in His hands. You can't be saved without hearing the preacher, but he can't preach if God don't send him. I don't care what you want to talk about. You talk about the Holy Spirit. He's not coming unless God sends him. And God ain't going to send him unless Christ ascends and sits on the throne. It all comes back to this, doesn't it? To the glory of God. God has a purpose, and he's saving his people.

Our souls rest in the hands of God Almighty. And I just want you this morning to think along with me looking at this text and understand that your immortal soul rests in his purpose of grace, that your destiny has already been arranged by the eternal God and is right now being played out. Everything God determined to do is being done every day. My soul rests on his call, on his provision. My soul rests in his ways and means. God is revealing to Gideon and these men the reality of salvation.

That's what's going on. All right? That being so, who's calling the shots? Who's deciding who does what? God didn't just tell Gideon, you're going to go down there and smite those men. I'm just going to leave it to you, so you go around the mountainside and figure out how you're going to do it. That's not what he said at all, is it? No, he gave him exact instructions. People, they don't really ask me to my face, but they say it after they get home and talking to somebody else.

They'll say, who does he think he is? He don't even have a certificate where he graduated from a seminary. Who in the world does he think he is? Who made him God's representative to the people? Who put him up behind the pulpit? Why should I believe on him?

Who gave you permission to do these things? And you may laugh in yourself, and it's OK if you do with me. It ain't going to be OK with God. But God did. God did. Do you believe that? Obey them that hath a rule over you. How'd they get the rule? There is no power but of God. That's how they got it. They got it from God. And Gideon's the type of God's pastors. He called him to that position. He told him what to do and how it was going to end. And he, in turn, instructed the people. Gideon didn't come up with all this stuff. God told him.

Paul told the church at Rome that he was a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and separated under the gospel, which he promised to for by his holy prophets concerning his son, Jesus Christ. And he said he received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations. That's God's will, that's God's way. God's not left his people to their own imaginations and natural reasonings to whatever seems right unto them.

I write thirdly, and I didn't mention this point at the beginning, there's a separation. The salvation of God's elect will come to be manifest. He's going to manifest the glory of his name, and 32,000 men will not accomplish glorifying God's name. It's too many.

That's what he told them. He said, if I go down there with you and you whoop these people, he said, you're going to brag on it from now on. You're going to go home and say, we saved ourselves by our own hands. And that's exactly what people who believe in works do. They get this little experience that Satan or whoever gave them, spoke in tongues, walked an aisle, had a good feeling, whatever it was, and they'll go home and say, I saved myself by my own decision, by my own hand. But here's the end of the whole thing.

God sees and approves of what he does in us. He said this to Gideon in verse 4. He said, I'm going to try them for thee. Gideon's not going to separate this company. God is. Gideon's just going to stand there and give them the directions that God gave him. He's not going to go out there and stick his finger in somebody's face and say, you ain't going. No, sir. No, God's going to do that. He's going to take care of that. He said, I'll try them for you. And he said, here's how I'm going to do it. Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart. And we're looking at an army here, 32,000 men. 22,000 packed up and went home. 22,000.

The overwhelming reason why men will not follow their pastor in this thing of salvation or listen to him concerning the things of God is fear. It's fear. Afraid of losing what they had. My dad told me, he said, it's hard for me to believe that everything in my past was wrong. You fear losing what you had. Isn't that what it is?

We don't want to turn loose. We're talking about our soul. And we're hanging on to this thing of religion, thinking this is our ticket to glory. And we're hanging on. We ain't going to turn it loose. Fear. Afraid of losing what they have. They're afraid to give because it might interrupt their lifestyle. I'm comfortable. And if I give the way the situation demands, I might not be comfortable anymore. Well, you may not. You may not. They're afraid to follow because they might lose the security of family and friends. If I follow him completely, I guarantee you you're going to lose that security with your family and friends.

The Lord said, your enemies are going to be they of your own household. Mother, father, sister, brother, they're your enemies. And it's going to be effectual because you love them. And it's going to rip your heart out. They're afraid to follow, and they're afraid to respond to their calling because it might put them in harm's way.

Now, you try to put yourself up here on this mountain. You're looking down here. I mean, as far as you can see, there ain't nothing but soldiers. You can see their campfires burning, and they're up on this hill. I know it wasn't daytime because the lamp wouldn't have had any effect if it was in the daytime. So they're up on this hill this night, and they can see these campfires burning everywhere down here.

And God sends 22,000 of them home. I'll tell you what. They're sitting there with 10,000 men now. That's 10 to 1 odds if there was 100,000 men down there. What if this man not telling me the truth? I wonder if he's really called of God. The unbeliever's life is nothing but one big if. That's what it is.

If this, if that, if something else. Brother Tim James said one time, take all your ifs, braid them together into a chain, and hang them around the neck of the Lord Jesus Christ. You take care of all the ifs. All the ifs. If God calls a man, he's going to confirm his calling in the hearts of his people. They didn't all go home. 22,000 did, but they didn't all go home. There's still 10,000 men out there. And the biggest fear is that unbelievable opposition. Men can't get over that. My sister never could. So you believe you're right, and the whole rest of the world wrong. I said, no, I don't believe that. But I said, John did. John said, we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies. in wickedness, huh? Is that right? Well, sure it is.

22,000 of them packed up and went back to the tent. Then the Lord said, bring them here, bring the whole camp down here to the river. He brings them down to that river. Now I'm telling you, That river in that country had crocodiles, it had cobras, it had every kind of venomous spider known to man down there. There was everything in the world down that river. And he said, you bring them down here and let them drink. And he said, the ones that I tell you are going to go is going to go. The ones I tell you ain't going to go, send them home. That's hard, ain't it? It is.

These men worked. They volunteered for this. They wanted to do this. But some of them going home, and for good reason. They went down there and laughed at water like a dog. This is a picture of how men hear and drink in the water of God's gospel when it's being preached. 9,700 of them bent down and drank like a dog. Overwhelming majority. 300 men, Russell, went down to that water, looked at it to see what they were drinking, looked around to be sure they ain't going to get gobbled up, and then carefully got a handful of water and brought it up to the mouth. That's what Paul calls laying hold of eternal life. And drank it in. And Gideon said, you 300 are coming with me. The rest of you, go home. Go home. Did Gideon decide that?

No, God did. He said, I'm going to try. You say, well, I believe God's going to try you. I hope you can hear me. He's going to try you. He's going to find out. He's going to find out what's in you. These 300 men were privileged of God to be sober-minded. They understood what was going on. This thing is real. Your children, your friends, your mom, your dad, they're going to hell apart from hearing the gospel. Do we understand that? I wish I did. I wish I had that burned into my heart where I couldn't sleep. Me and souls are hanging in the balance of this thing. And sometimes I just act totally disinterested. My soul.

Well, I'm going to tell you one thing. These 300 men that he brought to the reality of this, let me see if I can find the right words. They held nothing back. There used to be a saying back when I was a kid, if you can't walk the walk, don't talk the talk. This is where it's at. God's going to bring you right down here, as Donnie Bell said, where the rubber meets the road. Here it is. You're going to hold nothing back. You better not. There's only 300 of you. And they're going down into this multitude. You better not hold anything back. But he showed them the power and presence of God going with them. And these men were convinced of it. They were convinced of it. How come they were convinced? That's why. He separated them. And I tell you, until he does, I'm not saying you're not saved, but I'm saying this.

You're not going to enter in this battle. You're not going to fight this battle. There's not going to be any warfare with you. You're just going to lay back in your tent and see how it comes out. But believers are in a battle. They're in a warfare. He tells you to put on the whole armor of God and tells you why. You're going to battle. I'm sure there were some Jews who thought they were just going to come up and God was just going to hand them cannon and they were just going to walk in and start eating cones. But it didn't happen that way. They had to go to war. A battle had to be fought. And this battle was nothing in the world except to prove your faith in God. All right, fourthly, how did God equip his army?

Gideon handed each one of them a picture. Can you imagine a look on their face? Here. And here's a little lamp. Put it down in the pitcher. Had to be a little lamp, didn't it? Wouldn't fit in a pitcher. Put it down inside that pitcher. And here's a trumpet. Well, I don't know how to play a trumpet. Just blow on it. Do the best you can. Just blow on it. Gave him a trumpet, a pitcher, and a little lamp.

He said, now you go to war. Now Gideon didn't stay up on the thing and tell them what to do. He said, I'm going with you. And when you see me and these hundred men, when you see us break that picture and take out that lamp and blow on that trumpet, you do what I do. What Christ tell us to do. Follow his example. Isn't that what he said? Where'd he go? Outside the camp. What'd he do? He sacrificed himself.

Do what I do. That's what Gideon said. Smash the picture. Let the light shine. And blow on that trumpet. Absolute, total nonsense, right? Well, that's exactly what the world says. The preaching of the cross to them that perish is foolishness. Absolute foolishness. But it pleased God by this foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Let me show you something over here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I don't want to spend too much time. I'm already over my 30 minutes. These 300 men were instructed to put their lamps inside the pitchers, and when the appointed time come to break the pitchers, expose the lamps and blow on the trumpets, and then shout, this is the sword of Gideon and the Lord.

Now over here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3, Paul said, if our gospel be hid, that's the light, isn't it? That's the light of God, his gospel. If our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost. All these people down in that valley, they're all lost. And it's hid to them that are lost. And we have a lamp lit.

And God has put this treasure into earthen vessels. That's what he says here in 2 Corinthians 4. He put it in earthen vessels. And he did it that the glory of the power is going to be of God and not of you. That's the same reason he did Gideon and the 300 men. Same reason. What caused them to be blind to it? It's the God of this world. God of this world. Everybody in that camp down there thought they was right. Everybody down there in that host, that opposing host, thought they was right.

It blinds the minds of them, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them. And Paul said, we're not promoters of trying to promote ourselves. He said, we're servants. We're servants of Jesus Christ the Lord, and he's the light, he's the truth, he's the light. For God, who commanded the light, verse six, to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we've got this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. And we see, how do men see this light?

In broken vessels. Is that not how they see it? Broken vessels. In Christ crucified, in his suffering, his being forsaken of God. Broken vessels. That broken vessel is demonstrated in Christ, same as it was in Gideon. And now it's going to be demonstrated in you. You'll see it as these vessels are broken, exposing him.

And then he goes on to tell you what he's talking about. He said, we're troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We're perplexed, but not in despair. We're persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed. always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. He's talking about us bearing that sacrifice to me, that's what he's talking about.

That the life of Jesus might be made manifest in us. It is his vessel being broken that reveals the light of God, and so we do what he did. That's the way we live in this world. That's the way we act in this world. Now the trumpet's a type of the preaching of the gospel, and so the light and the trumpet coincide with one another. When the light shines, the trumpet blows. That's how we see it.

Israel raises up in one voice, and they said, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Now, I didn't write the verse down, but there's a verse way back when he first started talking to Gideon. And Gideon was afraid. You remember Gideon pleaded that he was from Manasseh, and they were very poor, and he was the weakest one in his family, and we got 1,000 excuses. What God told Gideon was, I'm going to smite these Amalekites with you as one man.

Now how's he going to do that in our day? We're in union with Christ, are we not? One man. One man. And we're in union with one another in a local church. There's a body of believers that are one. They're not divided. They're one. They can't be separated. They're one. God will do the dividing. Oh, he ain't going to have this. Go home. Go to the tent. Go sit down and see how things work out.

But those who are going into war, those who are going into battle, those that are going to serve God, they're won. And God will defeat that enemy by one man, and that man is Christ. And Christ will shine in that congregation. He'll shine in that body of believers. And they'll go down and win the victory. And they'll do it every time. over and over and over, God tells of this and shows it. All right, one more thing and I'll quit.

What effect did these pictures of lamps and trumpets and these pitiful 300 men running down the mountain, what effect did that have on the sinner? That's what's being pictured down here, sinners. That's where God finds all us sinners, pagans, we're sinners, posing God.

What happened? when they broke the pitch and blew the trumpet and shattered the sword. They killed each other. Read it in verse 22. God caused them to raise their sword up, and they slayed one another. Isn't that what happens when we hear the gospel? We get on God's side in our own condemnation. We slay ourselves. That's what we do. We put ourselves to death. And God causes it. He causes it. We condemn ourselves.

And that's exactly what happened to these Amalekites and these Midianites. I can't even imagine the confusion that went on down there. You've got camels like the sand of the seashore and all this noise and racket and breaking and all this shouting and stuff. Man, them things going every which direction. People standing there in the dust swinging swords because they thought a multitude was in their midst and they killed each other. I don't know if you can see it or not, but I can see this as clear as a bell. This is exactly what's going on right here, right now. May the Lord open our hearts and allow us to see it. Thank you.

The Privileged Few

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's election?

How do we know that predestination is true?

Why is God's glory important for Christians?

What is the purpose of God's providence in our lives?

How does the story of Gideon illustrate God's power?

Sermon Transcript

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The Privileged Few

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's election?

How do we know that predestination is true?

Why is God's glory important for Christians?

What is the purpose of God's providence in our lives?

How does the story of Gideon illustrate God's power?

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