Be Not Deceived

Q: What does the Bible say about Gideon and his battle with Midian?

The Bible recounts Gideon's battle with Midian in Judges 8, highlighting God's sovereignty and the miraculous victory He provided. In Judges 8, we see Gideon leading 300 men against the Midianites, defeating an army of 120,000 without traditional weapons. This narrative illustrates God's power and the means by which He accomplishes His will, often through unlikely circumstances. The victory was not by human strength but by divine intervention, showcasing the core theme of reliance on God over self-sufficiency. Gideon's men, equipped only with clay pitchers and trumpets, demonstrated that it is God's rule, not our efforts, that brings about victory.

Q: Why is it important to support God's work in the church?

Supporting God's work in the church is crucial for unity and the fulfillment of His mission, as believers are called to be active participants in His kingdom. In the sermon, it is emphasized that the men of Succoth and Penuel disregarded Gideon's call for assistance, illustrating a deeper issue of spiritual ignorance and a lack of support for the work of God. Just as these men were challenged to recognize the authority and victory God had already provided, Christians today must understand their role in lifting up God's work through their support and service. The church operates under God's order and authority, and believers are called not only to acknowledge this but to actively participate in the ministry, ensuring that the light of the gospel is spread and that the church thrives as the body of Christ.

Q: How does Matthew 18 relate to our behavior towards others?

Matthew 18 teaches that our treatment of others reflects our relationship with Christ, emphasizing humility and accountability. In Matthew 18, Jesus calls His disciples to humility, using a child as an example of the attitude necessary for entry into the kingdom of heaven. This passage reveals that how we treat others—especially those who are vulnerable or marginalized—directly reflects our understanding of God's grace. Offending one of these 'little ones' carries serious consequences, reminding us to be vigilant and compassionate in our interactions. Our behavior towards each other is not just a social matter; it is a spiritual reflection of how we honor God and recognize His work in the lives of His people. The call is to be mindful of our responsibilities within the body of Christ, ensuring that we act with kindness and do not lead others into sin.

Our lesson this morning will be taken from Judges chapter 8, verses 4 through 23. Now, the initial assault of Gideon and the 300 men that God had whittled down and gave him for this assault, he's assaulting 120,000 men. He describes them like the sand of the seashore. He looked down. The camels, he said, were so many that they were like grasshoppers. It must have been something from that mountainside looking down in that valley at all that opposed him. And God sent him and 300 men down, and they never lifted a sword. They had clay pitchers with lanterns in them and a trumpet in the other hand. And so now this initial assault is all over. The multitude of the rebels lay dead in the valley floor. More than 100,000 were slain in this initial assault. They slayed one another.

And Gideon had met with the tribe of Ephraim and settled their controversies. And we studied that about an attitude of grace. And then he continues his pursuit of these ungodly kings. So let's read these verses together, beginning with verse 4, Judges chapter 8.

And Gideon came to Jordan and passed over, and the 300 men that were with him fainted, yet pursuing them. And he said unto the men of Succoth, give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me, for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Ziba and Zalmunna. And the princes of Succoth said, are the hands of Ziba and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto this army? And Gideon said, therefore, when the Lord hath delivered Ziba and Zalmunna into mine hand, I'll tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars.

And he went up thence to Penuel and spake unto them likewise. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. They said, Zain, Zain. And he spake also unto the men of Penua, saying, when I come again in peace, I'll break down this tower. They evidently had a big fortress built there with a tower. But what he's telling them, he's going to take this proud authority from them.

And Ziba and Zalmunna were in Karkor. And the host with them, about 15,000 men, all that was left of the host of the children of the east, were their felon 120,000 men that drew sword. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in the tents on the east of Noba and Job. I'm not saying that right anyway. And he smote the host, for the host was secure. That is, they were sleeping. They thought the battle was over. They thought everything had ended. And when Ziba and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them and took the two kings of Midian, Ziba and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.

And Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from the battle before the sun was up. And he caught a young man of Succoth and inquired of him. And he described the princes of Succoth and the elders thereof, three score and 17 men. And he came unto the men of Succoth and said, behold, Ziba and Zalmunna, with whom you did upbraid me, saying, are the hands of Ziba and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto the men that are weary? And he took the elders of that city, and by thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with these things he taught the men of Sukkah. They learned a hard lesson. It doesn't say if he beat them with the briars or drug them through it. I don't know which he did.

And then he beat down the tower of Panua and slew the men of the city and said unto Ziba and Zalmona, what manner of men were they whom you slew at table? And they answered. As thou art, so were they, such as resemble the children of a king. And he said, they were my brethren, even the sons of my mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you. And he said to Jether, his firstborn, up and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth. And Ziba and Zalmuna said, smart Alec rebels, they said, rise thee and fall upon us. For as a man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose and slew Ziba and Zalmuna. And he took away the ornaments that were on the camel's necks.

Now in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 7, it says, remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation, their behavior, the goal of it. It were to do it to honor their Lord and adorn the gospel that's being preached.

And Gideon had the rule of God over these men. Not just the 300, but over all those that he came in contact with. But there's a difference between ruling over men and having the rule. A great king has captains and generals and so forth who carry the king's rule over certain portions of his kingdom.

Peter said this over in 1 Peter chapter 5. He said, feed the flock of God. which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind." Now, listen to this, neither as being lords over God's heritage.

There's a difference between having to rule and ruling over. There's a big difference. Now, I've known men in the past who were pastors who tried to rule over men. We don't rule over men. We have God's rule. I'm subject to him. And you're subject to him. I'm just part of his designated authority. I'm not the king. And we're to rule over God's heritage in this manner, not as lords, but as examples to the flock.

Now God has a work he's doing in this present evil world, and he's ordained the means by which he's going to carry this out, his church, his pastors, his evangelists, and the spirit of the living God. And our God is a God of order. He's going to have order. And he'll have all things in order, especially among his churches.

And his rule is carried out and exercised in love being kind and compassionate and patient and long-suffering and gracious. What our Lord had to say to these seven churches in Asia, he said by way of the angel of the church, that is, by their pastor. And they're called angels because they're ministering spirits sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. That's why that name is interchanged between the spirits of heaven that are angels and in men. It's the same ministry.

And it's no small thing to the Lord when his people are treated poorly. You may think it's a little thing. It's not a little thing with God. Turn with me over to Matthew chapter 18. I believe this is the lesson that's being taught here in these verses. The discussion here in Matthew 18 is an answer to his disciples' question about who's going to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. What a question to ask. A man saved by grace wanting to know who's going to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. What they expected, was to hear some names like Elijah or Jeremiah or Daniel or Solomon or David or somebody.

But instead, the Lord called up a little child to him, set him up on his knee. And he said, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You won't have to worry about who's the greatest. You ain't even going. except you become as this little child and be converted.

What that mean? That means to change all your ways, change your attitude, change your mind, change your lifestyle. You're going to become as this little child. You're going to come in to eat not thinking that you somehow earned this food or prepared this food, but you're going to sit down and be thankful because God prepared it and gave it to you. You're going to be as a little child. You're going to understand that everything you have is by provision from somebody else. You're going to be like a little child.

Salvation is by grace and mercy and not by works of righteousness, which we do. Therefore, the greatest there is the least here. Every child of God is a trophy of God's grace and everything about him has to undergo conversion. He has to be converted. He's not this way naturally. Somebody comes up and just basically with their comments slaps you in the face, your reaction is punch them back in the mouth. That's not the way of a believer. His whole concept of God, salvation, principles of life, and the way he's accepted and all of these things.

And he says here in Matthew 18, verse 14, whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now watch this. And whosoever receiveth one such little child in my name receiveth me. You mean the way I treat my brother is the way I treat the Lord? That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones, who's that? That's the believer. That's that man for whom Christ died. That's that man whom God made full provision for in love before the foundation of the world. Who so shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me? That tells you who the little ones is.

It were better for him that a millstone be hanged about his neck and that he was drowned in the depth of the sea. Just take him out on a ship and that big millstone, put it around his neck, and throw it overboard. It'd be better for him. Are you with me so far?

Matthew 18 says, woe unto the world because of offenses. Now who's he talking about? He's talking about everybody out there that has a deal with one of God's children. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come. But woe unto that man by whom the offense cometh. Now listen. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it out. Whatever it is that's causing this offense, get rid of it. That's what he's saying. Though it be dear to you like a hand or a foot. He's not telling you to cut your hand off and your foot. He's telling you whatever these things that you feel is so dear to you that you have to cause this, throw it away.

Get rid of it. Get rid of it. It's better to enter into life, hope, and name rather than having two hands and two feet be cast into everlasting fire. And if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee, for it's better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."

Now, he's not telling you to pluck out your eye. He's telling you that there's things so dear to men that it would be like an eye. It's such a touchy thing. So what do I do with it? Get shed of it. Get rid of it. How do I do that? Think about it. Pray about it. Struggle to do it. There's a war going on and that war is to do the right thing. And there's right things and there's wrong things. And because you're saved by grace, don't mean it's okay to do the wrong thing. You see what he's saying?

Except you be converted. Grace converts a man completely. He told Peter, after everything Peter suffered, he said, when you're converted, strengthen the brethren. When you're converted. My soul, he thought he was converted years before. But conversion is an ongoing thing. It's an everyday thing. We're being turned.

And then the Lord goes on to tell us how he left heaven itself to seek and to save these lost sheep, and now heaven itself rejoices over that little lamb more than the multitude that's already there. They're looking down and rejoicing over that lost sheep. Here they are, a multitude that no man can number. But they're not rejoicing in themselves, they're rejoicing with what they seek.

Now I hope you'll go home and read the rest of this 18th chapter of Matthew and ask the Lord for some understanding. But Gideon and his 300 men are a picture of God's church as fellow laborers with Christ in this world and going about to carry out the will of God and are weary and in need of sustenance. Now listen, the men in Succoth and Penuel are Jews. These are not Gentiles. These are Jews. And why were they there?

Well, they considered this whole thing and said, you know, I think that way's a little too harsh. I think what we need to do is just marry into these Gentiles and just ease our way in and just sit under their rule. Their rule ain't all that bad. We'll just sit under their rule, and we'll do things their way. Their religion ain't really all that bad. I know it looks contemptible, but it ain't all that bad.

That's who Gideon is confronting. Their whole concept of salvation is bonded in this thing of compromise of the purpose and name of God and it's so they can live in peace with the world under an ungodly king. And the only way you can do that is to bow to his God, his religion, and his way. That's the only way you can do that.

They're false professors of faith. These men are in pictures of churches in this world who go by the name Israel, or Christian, if you will, but these are pictures of God's church, and here they are, and they're pretending to be God's church, but they're really not. They're only Israel in name. Now, if you don't believe that, read Romans chapter 9 and Romans chapter 10.

Here's what they said, are the hands of Ziba and Zalmunna now in thine hand that we should give bread to your army? They looked at him and saw an uncertain future, didn't they? If this man get in and these 300 men, see, they didn't know the battle had already been fought. They didn't know there was 120,000 dead men laying out there in the valley. He's only got 15,000 left, and they're on the run. Well, these men didn't know that.

And they're looking at Gideon and saying, are these kings now in your hand that we ought to just start serving you and giving you stuff? Is that what you're saying? They were ignorant of these things, ignorant of what took place. Well, isn't that the problem with religion today? They're totally ignorant of what took place on the cross. Battles already been fought. The enemy's laying dead on the floor. Now it's a matter of who reigns. And that's what's going on here.

And so it is in this present wicked world. Men and women are not willing to support, give anything to the work of God because they're ignorant of the victory of Christ at Calvary. And they just go on serving bail and despising God's church. Oh, you don't follow that man over there, do you?

That's a cult over there is what I heard. He thinks he and that little flock has the power of God. He thinks he's got the truth and nobody else has it. All they saw in Gideon and the 300 men that followed him was an uncertain future. That's all they saw. Now let me read you something.

Ecclesiastes 5.1. Keep thy foot when thou goest into the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools. For they consider not that they do evil. They don't think it's an evil thing. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God's in heaven, you're on earth. God's holy, and you're a sinner. God's sovereign, and you're nothing.

He's everything, and we're wigging and maggots. Can you picture you looking at that dead corpse, and it's covered with maggots? Can you picture one of them maggots putting his thumbs behind his suspenders? Well, let me tell you what I think. You're just a maggot.

Bread is the food desired by God's sheep. That's what they want. That's the sustenance they're looking for. Our Lord said, I am the living bread which come down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he'll live forever. The bread that I'll give is my flesh, which I'll give for the life of the world. Not for every man and woman in it, but for all those deceived in it. and know it, but they're hungry and thirsty by God's pervenient grace.

Now, these places are very significant. When God delivered Israel out of Egypt, better than half a million men besides wives and children, so well over a million. And the very first place they stopped was Sukkot. And that's where Moses told them, made very clear what the Passover feast was, told them that it's going to be something that they're going to keep forever, that this is going to stand forever. The principle behind this Passover is going to stand forever.

And then they built these little booths to worship God. And they were called tabernacles. That's before God ever built the tabernacle. And these little tabernacles. And that's where he instituted the feast of the tabernacles, which celebrated this deliverance out of Egypt. Worshipped their God because of it. That's Succoth. Penuel is where Jacob wrestled with God. He wrestled with Christ, and Christ threw his hip out He pinned him down. He brought him down, didn't he? And Jacob said, I'm going to let you go. This is Penuel. What I'm saying is this.

The whole history, the whole heritage of these Jews that lived here was established here way before they were ever born. And they're living in a total denial of it, ignorant of it, totally ignorant of what this thing of being a Christian is. These men wanted the best of both worlds. They wanted to get along with the world and were willing to compromise to do it, yet they wanted the election of God. They wanted the security of God's covenant and the promise of life hereafter. Isn't that what every man in the world wants and what his relatives try to give him when he dies?

Well, he's not suffering anymore. Boy, you better give that some thought. Now hear me, Matthew 16, 25. Whosoever shall save his life shall lose it. And whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. All these ignorant men were trying to save their life, trying to preserve what they thought they had, and they were doing it contrary to the grace of God, and they were deceived. That's what I titled this lesson, Be Not Deceived.

John 3.36, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. The wrath of God abideth on him. There's coming a judgment. And that's basically what Gideon told these men. I'll be back. And I'm coming back with those two kings. I'm coming back with them. The Lord sent me. And what I'm telling you is coming from him. And the fact that you Said what you said to me has consequences.

And brethren, be careful when you're talking about one of God's children, and especially about his pastors. Be careful what you've got to say. Be careful. Be careful of their consequences. And there's consequences to everything we do, isn't it, in life? Everything we do. We hold back this, or give that, or whatever. There are consequences.

Need to think about these things, and don't just do them. Well, it's time to go to church. Boy, I hope you put more thought in it than that. Yeah, there is a time. There's a time to come over here. There's a time to hear, and so on. But we need to think about it. Pray about it. Ask God to meet with us.

Be Not Deceived

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Gideon and his battle with Midian?

Why is it important to support God's work in the church?

How does Matthew 18 relate to our behavior towards others?

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Be Not Deceived

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Gideon and his battle with Midian?

Why is it important to support God's work in the church?

How does Matthew 18 relate to our behavior towards others?

Sermon Transcript

About Darvin Pruitt

Comments

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