The Whirlwind

Introduction:

The Whirlwind (2 Kings 2):

3. never leaves. (v15-25)

1. God is with you: Trust His direction. (2 Kings 2:2-6)
2. God is with you: rely on His Power , not your own. (2 Kings 2:7-14)
3. God is with you: know that He Never Leaves. (2 Kings 2:7-15-25)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:05

  Good morning. Let's pray before we get started this morning.

  00:07-00:24

  Lord God, thank you for the time that you've given us today. Thank you for this opportunity as we're going to dig into your Word. I just pray that you would open our hearts and our minds right now to what you want to do this morning.

  00:26-00:29

  To you be the glory, God. In Jesus' name, Amen.

  00:32-00:38

  Open your Bibles with me please to 2 Kings 2.

  00:41-01:04

  And as you're turning there, I would I just like to ask you, have you ever noticed how differently some people say goodbye? And I'm not talking about about how some people say the word goodbye, and some people say something like adios, or sayonara, or peace out.

  01:04-01:05

  Not talking about that.

  01:07-01:15

  I'm talking about how some people say short goodbyes, and some people say long goodbyes.

  01:16-01:18

  Short goodbyes and long goodbyes, right?

  01:20-01:25

  I remember just growing up, just visiting different houses with my family.

  01:27-01:33

  Some houses that we visited, it would be time to say goodbye, time to say thank you.

  01:34-01:38

  And that would take maybe a couple minutes and then we'd be on our way.

  01:40-01:54

  And at other houses, we'd have to start saying goodbye about an hour before we actually had to leave Because with some long goodbyes, it can be a bit more of a process.

  01:56-02:05

  It's almost like as you move to each room between you and the door, a new conversation just keeps beginning.

  02:06-02:12

  And then, eventually you do reach the door, and then you can leave.

  02:12-02:19

  Well, but with some long goodbyes, how many know that a new conversation even starts when you're outside?

  02:21-02:27

  I remember my sister and I would be in the car, we would be fully buckled.

  02:28-02:37

  My dad would actually have the car running, but the windows are still rolled down as we're trying to wrap up saying goodbye.

  02:41-02:46

  And this is important, you have to hear me here, I'm not complaining at all.

  02:46-02:48

  I'm not criticizing in any way.

  02:48-02:52

  I fully support all of the long goodbyes out there.

  02:52-02:55

  I'm team long goodbyes, okay?

  02:56-02:59

  Sometimes that's just how goodbyes go, right?

  02:59-03:04

  Especially when you haven't seen someone for a while, you miss each other.

  03:06-03:20

  But my point about goodbyes is, and we are about to take a little bit more a serious turn, the reason that we say goodbye is because people leave.

  03:21-03:25

  And now I'm talking about more than just leaving after a visit.

  03:28-03:30

  There are many ways that people can leave.

  03:34-03:38

  Sometimes it's under bad or maybe even sinful circumstances.

  03:41-03:47

  Like, "We have a disagreement, and so I'm no longer speaking with you," leaving.

  03:49-03:54

  Or, "I've been hurt, and I don't want to resolve it," leaving.

  03:55-04:00

  Or, "Tragically, I'm not willing to stay in this marriage," leaving.

  04:02-04:12

  And sometimes, the circumstances can be good, but they're still bittersweet, like moving across the country for a new job, leaving.

  04:12-04:16

  You're certainly excited for them, but it still stings.

  04:19-04:27

  And of course, the leaving that all of us are going to encounter is the death of an important person in our life.

  04:28-04:39

  And in that case, even in the best circumstances, The death of a loved one is the single hardest thing that we have to face on this earth.

  04:41-04:48

  At those times we wrestle with, "How do I even go on after this?" People leave.

  04:51-04:55

  Well today we are going to study how to handle that biblically.

  04:57-05:02

  And we're going to see three truths of God when people leave.

  05:03-05:08

  And as I'm sure that you can already tell, this is not an easy message.

  05:10-05:19

  And I realize that it's incredibly sensitive because all of us have been affected by someone leaving in some way.

  05:20-05:24

  Not just to death, but in all the ways that I mentioned, and there are many more.

  05:26-05:30

  So I would just ask that you would please have grace with me this morning.

  05:31-05:51

  know that my intent isn't to bring back any hurt or pain or sadness at all. My only goal is to present you with what God's Word says about this. Amen? Thank you. Okay, let's turn to the text.

  05:52-05:57

  Again, 2 Kings 2 and we're starting in verse 1.

  05:59-07:18

  It says, "Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal." So pause there for a moment. I realize we only read one verse, but there's already a lot to process. I mean, first off, spoiler alert for one of the most amazing events in all of history. But before we get to Elijah being taken to heaven by a whirlwind, who's Elijah? Right? Who's Elisha? Well, if you want the full story on how these guys came into the picture, you'll find it in 1 Kings 17-19, but I'm going to bring you up to speed today. Elijah was a prophet, meaning he was God's representative or God's messenger on earth, and he performed incredible miracles like calling down fire from the sky that demonstrated God's power. And Elisha was Elijah's apprentice, and he was called into ministry years earlier when Elijah walked by him and threw his cloak on top of him. Seriously, that's what happened.

  07:21-07:45

  Well, in the passage that we're going to read today, the time has come for Elisha to succeed Elijah, but that means that Elijah is going to leave. And that brings us to our first truth of God when people leave. God is with you and our response should be to trust his direction.

  07:47-07:51

  So let's see that by picking it up in verse 2.

  07:54-09:11

  And Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, 'As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.' So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, 'Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?' And he said, 'Yes, I know it. Keep quiet.' Elijah said to him, 'Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." (Sensing a theme.) So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that the Lord today will take away your master from over you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know it. Keep quiet." Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on. Stop there.

  09:13-09:19

  So Elijah knows that he's leaving and he's going around saying his goodbyes.

  09:19-09:29

  I don't know if he was a short goodbyer or a long goodbyer, But in fact, everyone in these verses knows that Elijah is going to leave.

  09:30-09:59

  Now, for whatever reason, these prophets don't think that Elisha knows, so maybe they were trying to be helpful in telling him, but Elisha is just like, "Yeah, I know he's leaving. Please just keep quiet about it." Because on top of that, how do you think Elisha felt when his mentor, the person he's been following for years repeatedly three times asked him to stay behind.

  10:02-10:11

  He gave up everything to follow Elijah. And so we have to ask, why? Why would Elijah do that?

  10:12-10:28

  Well, maybe Elijah legitimately just wanted to go through it alone. Maybe. But in studying the passage in context, I believe that Elijah was testing Elisha. And let me explain what I mean.

  10:29-10:34

  These verses are all about the Lord directing things. Did you see that?

  10:35-11:12

  Verse 1, "The Lord is about to take Elijah." Verses 2, 4, and 6, "The Lord has sent me to Bethel, to Jericho, to the Jordan. Verses 3 and 5, "The Lord is going to take your master." So God is directing things, but notice that Elijah trusts God's direction. He keeps going where God wants him to go. And in turn, I believe he's really asking Elisha, Knowing what's coming, are you going to stay committed too?

  11:14-11:31

  And every time, how did we see Elisha answer? He said, "As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." He's all in. Elisha flat out refuses to do anything but follow Elijah.

  11:32-11:34

  He's also trusting God's direction.

  11:36-11:44

  Now, for us today, not everyone who leaves us is doing so because that's where God is leading them.

  11:46-11:50

  If someone's in sin, then they're obviously not following God's direction.

  11:52-12:15

  But whether they are in the right or the wrong, let's be honest, trusting God's direction is not our typical response when someone leaves. I would argue the most common response we have isn't to trust God's direction, it's to give Him directions, right? "God, what are you doing?

  12:15-12:31

  It's not time for this person to leave yet. Do not let this happen." Now please hear me. It is a good thing to ask God questions, to cry out to Him, and to pray for change.

  12:33-12:43

  The problems come when we want to be God instead of trusting that He is God and we are not.

  12:44-13:11

  Exactly. Now of course the greatest example of trusting God through difficulty is Jesus Christ himself. The Bible tells us in Luke 22 that before Jesus endured suffering like no one else would, before Jesus hung on the cross, what did he do? He asked God questions. He cried out to God.

  13:12-13:26

  He prayed for change. Jesus prayed, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me." But do you know what he said next?

  13:28-14:03

  He said, "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done." And I know that there are people in this room who have lost someone in the past few years, in the past few months, and I am not minimizing the pain or the struggle or the challenge of that in any way. But we have to submit to God's will. Don't give God directions. Trust His direction.

  14:06-14:09

  Our second truth of God when people leave.

  14:11-14:16

  God is with you. Rely on His power, not your own.

  14:19-14:23

  So let's jump back to the passage, continuing in verse 7.

  14:26-14:33

  "Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them as they were both standing by the Jordan.

  14:35-15:15

  Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go across on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me." And he said, "You have asked a hard thing, yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you.

  15:16-15:22

  But if you do not see me, it shall not be so." Stop there for just a moment.

  15:23-15:30

  So with some of these other prophets watching, Elijah and Elisha approach the Jordan River.

  15:31-15:38

  Elijah rolls up his cloak, hits the water, it miraculously parts for them, and they walk across.

  15:39-15:42

  Kind of reminds you of when Moses parted the Red Sea, doesn't it?

  15:44-16:20

  And after that, perhaps for the first time, Elijah acknowledges to Elisha what they both know, that he's going to leave. And he asks what he can do for Elisha before that happens and in verse 9 we read Elisha answer, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me." Now we could do a whole Bible deep dive just on that sentence but let's cut to the chase.

  16:22-17:28

  Elisha is asking for what he needs to continue Elijah's mission. He's not asking for a double portion like he wants to be twice as famous or twice as powerful as Elijah. He's asking for a double portion because he's seen Elijah serve God and he wants that and then some. He wants what Elijah has with God and even more. But if Elisha's request is holy, if it's a humble request, why did Elijah say it's a hard thing? Maybe like me reading this you wondered why didn't Elijah just give it to him? And this is the key. Whose spirit is it Really? Who really has the power? Is it Elijah's power that lets him rain down fire from the sky?

  17:30-17:36

  Is it Elijah's power that lets him part the Jordan like we just read a moment ago?

  17:38-18:03

  No. It's God's spirit. It's God's power. And that's why Elijah says it's a hard thing, because it's not up to Elijah to give God's spirit. But Elijah does believe that if Elisha sticks with him and continues to trust God's direction, he will receive his request.

  18:05-18:09

  So let's keep reading, picking back up in verse 11.

  18:11-18:35

  It says, "And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, 'My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!' And he saw him no more.

  18:37-18:42

  Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.

  18:43-18:50

  And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

  18:52-19:10

  Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, 'Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?' And when he had struck the water, The water was parted to one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

  19:13-19:14

  It's absolutely incredible.

  19:15-19:19

  Can you even imagine seeing something like that?

  19:20-19:22

  I mean, I can't, honestly.

  19:24-19:30

  But what I think we can imagine is what Elisha is going through.

  19:31-19:38

  Because to some degree we all know the feeling of loss, of someone leaving.

  19:39-20:02

  And I think the Bible makes it pretty clear that Elisha is overcome with emotion, overcome with grief. And he demonstrates it by tearing his own clothes. And then he picks up the cloak, probably the same cloak that years earlier Elijah used to call him into ministry.

  20:04-20:07

  I mean, what do you think that cloak must have meant to him?

  20:10-20:36

  Now, there are varying opinions by biblical scholars on why Elisha said, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" But to me, based on the previous verses that we read, it's the grief talking. I think, I think it's the grief talking even though I know what you're thinking. Elijah technically didn't even die.

  20:38-20:51

  But I think that Elisha picked up the cloak and out of his emotion he was just screaming into the air as he slammed the water. But when he did that, what happened?

  20:52-20:57

  Just as they did for Elijah, the waters parted.

  20:59-21:20

  And again, this is the key. Whose power parted the waters? We know it's not Elijah's power because he's not even around anymore. And the cloak is a symbol of the position that Elisha now has, but the cloak itself doesn't have any power.

  21:20-21:25

  No, it's God's power, now with Elisha.

  21:27-21:37

  And in the same way, when any one of us is in that whirlwind of people leaving, it's so important not to try to handle it ourselves.

  21:39-21:42

  We need other loved ones' support, of course.

  21:42-21:47

  God designed us to be in community, to love each other, and to help each other.

  21:49-22:03

  ultimately we have to rely on God's power to restore us after we grieve. We have to rely on God's power to follow His direction through that as we just read.

  22:07-22:38

  So think of it this way. I played on the basketball team when I was in high school. And one practice we're doing an outlet pass drill. So we're partnered up and one guy is just taking off running down the court. The other guy pretends to grab a rebound, turns around, launches a long court pass to him. Well we get to my turn. It's my turn to run. So I take off sprinting.

  22:40-22:46

  But the problem is, when I turn around to receive this pass, it's short.

  22:48-22:53

  And so I slam on the brakes, and I reach back to try to catch it.

  22:54-23:04

  And unfortunately, the way that the ball landed on my finger was so precise on the finger that was extended.

  23:06-23:07

  I hope everybody's sitting down.

  23:08-23:15

  The top bone smashed into the bottom bone and it shattered into a lot of pieces.

  23:18-23:25

  Now with a complex break like that, is that something that I'm able to fix by myself?

  23:26-23:27

  No way, right?

  23:27-23:29

  I have to go see a surgeon.

  23:31-23:40

  I have to rely on someone with the ability to actually open up my hand, put everything back together, and close it up.

  23:41-23:42

  I can't do that.

  23:44-23:50

  Now of course we believe that all healing is God's healing, but you see my point.

  23:51-24:05

  Just as I was completely reliant on a surgeon to fix the break in my finger, we are completely reliant on God to fix us being broken when we're grieving.

  24:08-24:30

  God is the only one who can lift us out of the emotional turmoil of losing someone and at the same time enable us to serve him through the midst of that. We are completely reliant on God and we have to rely on God to do exactly what he did for Elisha in this passage.

  24:33-24:54

  And having done that, now we're going to see God declare to Elisha and to everyone else, "Look, I may have taken Elijah, but I, God, haven't gone anywhere." And that's our third point for today.

  24:55-25:00

  God is with you. Know that He never leaves.

  25:03-25:10

  So we are going to go back to the text, picking it up in verse 15.

  25:13-25:34

  It says, "Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him." Pause for just a second there.

  25:34-25:54

  Remember those guys who watched Elijah part the Jordan River and get taken to heaven? Well, if there was any doubt in their minds that Elisha was carrying on Elijah's legacy, They now watch him perform the exact same miracle that they just watched Elijah do.

  25:56-26:00

  And from that, they conclude something that is absolutely profound.

  26:02-26:09

  The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And this is so important to grasp.

  26:11-26:19

  First off, Elijah's spirit is exactly what we saw Elisha ask for. So God granted his request, right?

  26:21-27:02

  But remember, whose spirit is it really? It's God's. So another way of saying the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha is the Spirit of God rests on Elisha. In other words, immediately after taking Elijah, God demonstrates he is now with Elisha. God immediately reminds everyone, "Yes, I may have taken Elijah, but I, God, am still here." So just please keep that in mind.

  27:04-27:04

  And let's keep reading.

  27:05-27:13

  Verse 16, "And they said to him, 'Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men.

  27:14-27:16

  Please let them go and seek your master.

  27:17-27:23

  It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has caught them up and cast them upon some mountain or into some valley.

  27:24-27:29

  And he said, "You shall not send." They wanted to go look for Elijah.

  27:31-27:43

  But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send." They sent there 450 men, and for three days, they sought him, but did not find him.

  27:44-28:02

  And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, "Did I not say to you, do not go?" Now, Elisha is clearly a better man than me, because in Elisha's shoes, I would be looking at these guys in disbelief, like, are you serious?

  28:04-28:07

  God literally told all of us he was going to take Elijah.

  28:08-28:13

  But they just kept hounding him until he was so embarrassed, he let them go and look around.

  28:15-28:18

  But anyway, verse 19.

  28:20-28:39

  Now the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord sees, but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful." He said, "Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.

  28:40-28:48

  Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, "Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water.

  28:49-29:01

  From now on, neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it." And so the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

  29:02-29:12

  So, Elisha is backtracking the path that he walked with Elijah, and after recrossing the Jordan, he's now back in Jericho.

  29:13-29:15

  And what do we see him do?

  29:15-29:19

  He miraculously heals the water of the whole city.

  29:21-29:28

  God is again establishing that his power that was with Elijah is now with Elisha.

  29:29-29:56

  So, in other words, God is saying for the second time since taking Elijah, the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. God is again saying, "I am still here." Now, let's keep reading, and for anyone who has ever thought that the Bible is boring, better buckle up.

  29:57-30:11

  Verse 23, "He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, 'Go up, you bald head!

  30:12-30:18

  "Go up, you bald head!" And he turned around and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord.

  30:19-30:25

  And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the boys.

  30:27-30:32

  From there, he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there, he returned to Samaria.

  30:36-30:37

  What just happened?

  30:40-30:48

  But seriously, this passage is one of the most controversial that I have ever studied.

  30:50-30:54

  Some scholars consider this a major mark against Elisha's character.

  30:55-31:07

  And I think we all, reading this for the first time, struggle with the question, "Is that okay?" What does God think about this?

  31:09-31:22

  And I believe that as difficult as this event is for us to understand at first, this is God saying the exact same thing for the third time.

  31:24-31:27

  The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.

  31:29-31:31

  I am still here.

  31:33-31:34

  Where do I get that?

  31:35-31:43

  Well, the truth is God used prophets to perform miracles and to perform acts of healing.

  31:44-31:47

  And we just read Elisha do both of those.

  31:48-31:53

  But God also used prophets to perform acts of judgment.

  31:55-32:06

  And in fact, if you read the chapters preceding this one, you'll see that God specifically used Elijah to judge hundreds of false prophets who were worshiping a false god.

  32:08-32:10

  And Elisha is God's prophet now.

  32:13-32:19

  Now, these boys were taunting Elisha to "go up." Go up?

  32:21-32:27

  Well, it's not really common for someone to "go up" like Elijah just did, is it?

  32:29-33:29

  So what they were really saying was, "Hey, Baldy, if you're really God's prophet, why don't you go up into the air like Elijah just did?" And look, even something like that might not sound like a big deal to us, but the truth is, according to the law, insulting God's prophet is exactly equivalent to insulting God himself. And they were also questioning if God had even established Elisha as his prophet at all. So it wasn't the offense to Elisha that brought out the bears, it was the blatant disrespect of God. Now, do not walk out of here thinking that it's our place to bring judgment because it is not. Judgment belongs to God.

  33:31-33:36

  And I hope this is obvious, but you also can't send bears after someone who offends you.

  33:40-33:57

  But what we need to focus on instead is what God repeatedly declared to Israel here, and he declares to us today through his Word that though people leave, God is always with his people.

  33:58-34:00

  He's not leaving.

  34:03-34:11

  But though God isn't leaving, I have to remind you that someday each one of us is going to leave.

  34:13-34:21

  Probably not in the same way that Elijah did, but I guarantee you all of us are going to leave.

  34:23-35:21

  And just as we're studying the truths of God when someone else leaves, we have to consider what happens when I leave. Now, you should plan for what happens to the people that you care about when you leave, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about do you know where you're going when you leave? And only you can answer that for yourself. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Do you recognize that through his death and resurrection he made the only way for us to leave this world and arrive into God's presence? As It's almost the same thing that God is declaring in this passage through Elisha, that He never leaves.

  35:22-35:31

  When you trust in Jesus Christ, when you receive His forgiveness, He will never leave you.

  35:32-35:36

  And from that point on and for eternity, He is with you.

  35:37-35:40

  And praise the Lord, you are with Him.

  35:43-35:56

  And you know, it just struck me studying this passage, Elijah's name means "My God is Yah" meaning Yahweh, the God of the Bible.

  35:58-36:01

  And do you know what Elisha's name means?

  36:03-36:13

  The name Elisha means "My God is salvation." Is Jesus your salvation today?

  36:16-36:23

  In this life, Jesus is the only way that we can respond to the truths of God that we study.

  36:24-36:31

  Trusting God's direction, relying on God's power, knowing that God never leaves.

  36:35-36:38

  And as we close, I actually have something to confess to you.

  36:40-36:50

  If you look down at your outline, it says three truths of God, but while the responses differ, the truths are really all the same.

  36:51-36:52

  God is with you.

  36:53-36:54

  God is with you.

  36:55-36:56

  God is with you.

  36:58-37:07

  And the reason for that is I believe that that is the truth that God wants us to hold in times of loss.

  37:10-37:14

  Because people inevitably leave us one way or another.

  37:16-37:18

  And no person is going to be with us forever.

  37:20-37:26

  We have to know deeply that God never leaves us.

  37:28-37:35

  God promises that even as he does allow people to leave our lives, we will never be alone.

  37:36-37:41

  And that's a promise that only God can truly provide.

  37:44-37:51

  So please don't let "God is with you" just be a generic or meaningless set of words.

  37:53-38:07

  Because through God's actions as Elijah left the earth, we can see that when people in our lives leave, we have to act according to the truth that God is with us.

  38:09-38:20

  With His presence through Jesus, we can endure as people leave us, and ultimately, we can be with Him when it's our turn to leave.

  38:23-38:24

  Will you pray with me, please?

  38:27-38:31

  Lord God, we thank You for who You are, God.

  38:34-38:43

  We thank You, Lord, that You created this entire universe, and You created each and every one of us.

  38:45-38:54

  And yet, God, out of Your love, You didn't just create everything and then walk away.

  38:55-39:01

  that You chose to be with Your creation, to be with Your people.

  39:04-39:22

  God, I thank You that for anyone who confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believes in their heart that You, God, raised Him from the dead, We never have to be alone.

  39:25-39:41

  And God, I thank you that through your presence with us, we can endure all the trials of life, even the hardest trial, God, of losing someone that we love.

  39:43-39:57

  God, as we prepare to worship you now, I just pray and ask that all of us would feel your presence, God, with us right here, right now.

  39:59-40:22

  And God, I pray that even as we leave today, that we would be more aware, God, of how you are with us wherever we go. Thank you God. Thank you for your love. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 2 Kings 2

1. What was your big takeaway from this week’s sermon?
   

2. Did you ever have a difficult time trusting God’s direction? How can we guard our relationship with God during those times?
   

3. Ultimately God is the only one with the power to restore us, but what are ways that we can support or show God’s love to a grieving brother or sister in Christ?
   

4. It is easy for “God is with you” to become a truth that we ignore, or don’t fully absorb. Why is that? How can we avoid trivializing God’s presence, and how could that strengthen us through losing someone?

Breakout
Pray for each other that may see and feel God’s presence from within the whirlwind.

Less is More.

Introduction:

Odds: 4-1

God's 2-Step Plan for Your Victory (Judges 7:1-15):

1. Lose your Self-Confidence . (Judges 7:1-8)

   Isaiah 42:8 - I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other...

God gave 2 tests to Gideon's already way-outnumbered army:

1. Test #1: Are you Afraid ? (Judges 7:3)

   Odds: 13-1

   Duet 20:8 - And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.

2. Test #2: Are you paying Attention . (Judges 7:7)

   Odds: 450-1

2. Put your confidence in God . (Judges 7:9-15)

   1 Corinthians 10:12-13 - Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:01

  Judges chapter 7.

  00:02-00:08

  Many years ago I saw on the back of a book from a best-selling Christian author, this blurb.

  00:09-00:26

  It says, "No matter where you are in life, you can be better." I saw that like, "I can be better! I can be better!" He goes on to say, "God is preparing you for greater things." And I'm like, "Hahaha." It says, "He's going to take you further than you thought possible." Yes!

  00:26-00:29

  But then this next line made me stop in my tracks.

  00:30-00:46

  It says, "So don't be surprised when he asks you to think better of yourself and act accordingly." I was like, "What? Think better of myself? Here's the problem. I don't know about you, but I already think too much of myself.

  00:47-00:54

  God is not going to ask me and he's not going to ask you to think better of yourself. He's not.

  00:55-00:56

  We're already there.

  00:56-01:01

  And if you came to church for a pep talk this morning, you're going to leave sorely disappointed.

  01:01-01:07

  Because I'm here to tell you on the authority of God's Word, listen to me, God is not out to build your self-confidence.

  01:08-01:08

  He's not.

  01:09-01:12

  God really doesn't care about your self-confidence.

  01:12-01:13

  Do you know what God's out to do?

  01:14-01:15

  He's out to build your God-confidence.

  01:16-01:18

  That's what He's out to do.

  01:19-01:23

  So we're not called to think or make more of ourselves.

  01:24-01:29

  We're called to make less of ourselves so that God can be more.

  01:30-01:38

  And it's a lesson we're going to see in the text today that Gideon learned, and hopefully when we leave here today, you and I can learn it too.

  01:38-01:41

  So recall last week we started talking about Gideon.

  01:41-01:44

  He was called to save Israel from the Midianites.

  01:45-01:52

  And last week we talked about him laying out his fleece for confirmation and why that was a bad idea, and that message is available online.

  01:53-01:55

  if you haven't heard it or you just want to hear it again.

  01:56-01:59

  Well, when we get to the passage today, it's time for battle.

  01:59-02:07

  Gideon and his army versus the Midianite army, but there's a problem with Gideon's army.

  02:08-02:11

  The problem with Gideon's army is simply this.

  02:11-02:16

  They were too big for God to use.

  02:17-02:22

  What? His army was too big?

  02:22-02:26

  Yeah. Now to put it in context here, we're going to see this in the text.

  02:26-02:31

  You're like, "Well, how big was Gideon's army?" Well, listen closely here, don't get these numbers mixed up.

  02:32-02:39

  The Midianite army, the Midianite, the enemy, the bad guys, the Midianite army was 135,000 fighting men.

  02:40-02:45

  And at this point, Gideon's army was 32,000.

  02:45-02:47

  Now I did the math ahead of time.

  02:47-02:49

  But do you know what the odds are there?

  02:49-02:52

  We put the odds up. We're going to keep track of this during the message.

  02:53-02:54

  These are 4 to 1 odds.

  02:54-03:03

  In other words, if you were in Gideon's army, that meant you had to take down 4 of the enemy just by yourself.

  03:04-03:08

  Okay? 32,000 versus 135,000.

  03:08-03:10

  You yourself had to take down 4.

  03:10-03:18

  And by the way, every soldier on your side also had to take down 4 men of the enemy.

  03:19-03:20

  How are those odds?

  03:20-03:27

  Well, it would be like the peewee football team of your local elementary school taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

  03:28-03:30

  Okay? Not great odds.

  03:31-03:50

  But this is what Gideon was up against, and God was looking at their army and He's like, "Yeah, your army's way too big for Me to use." God says, "I don't like these odds, but not the way that you think." And I want you to think right now of an area in your life in which you're seeking the Lord for victory.

  03:50-03:56

  I know there are some people here, some people watching at home, that need victory right now in their finances.

  03:56-04:03

  Like, "I am upside down financially, and I don't see a way out." There are people here that need a victory over besetting sin.

  04:04-04:24

  Like, "I have been struggling with this sin issue for years, and I can't seem to get a victory over it." Or maybe you have issues or obstacles in your workplace, that you're like, "Man, I need the Lord to win me a major victory here." Well, if that's you, if you recognize where you need a victory, today is going to be ultra-simple.

  04:24-04:26

  I'm going to show you God's two-step plan for victory.

  04:27-04:31

  I want to challenge you, there's no victory without following both steps in the right order.

  04:31-04:35

  You ready? On your outline, here's God's two-step plan for victory, if you're taking notes.

  04:35-04:38

  I'm just going to give them both to you right now. We're going to see it right in the text.

  04:39-04:40

  God's two-step plan for your victory.

  04:41-04:42

  Number one, you have to lose your self-confidence.

  04:43-04:44

  That's number one.

  04:44-04:47

  And number two, you have to put your confidence in God.

  04:48-04:50

  First of all, lose your self-confidence.

  04:50-04:53

  Let's look at the first eight verses in Judges 7.

  04:53-04:59

  It says, "Then Jerubbabel," that is Gideon, that was a nickname that he got.

  04:59-05:04

  It says, "And all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Herod.

  05:04-05:09

  And the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of Moreth in the valley.

  05:10-05:19

  "The Lord said to Gideon, 'The people with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hand.'" What? Listen to the reasoning here.

  05:20-05:41

  He says, "Lest Israel boast over Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved Me.' Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home, and hurry away from Mount Gilead.'" Look at this, "Then 22,000 of the people returned and 10,000 people remained.

  05:42-05:45

  And the Lord said to Gideon, 'The people are still too many.

  05:46-05:50

  Take them down to the water and I will test them for you there.

  05:51-05:54

  And anyone of whom I say to you, "This one shall go with you," shall go with you.

  05:54-05:58

  And anyone of whom I say to you, "This one shall not go with you," shall not go.

  05:58-06:01

  So he brought the people down to the water.

  06:01-06:08

  And the Lord said to Gideon, "Everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set by himself.

  06:09-06:15

  Likewise, everyone who kneels down to drink." Okay, so here's the picture.

  06:15-06:29

  God's like, "Take him down for a drink." And it's the people that the water up and drink it out of their hand, lapping it up like a dog versus the people that get on hands and knees and basically bury their face in the water, all right?

  06:29-06:35

  It says, "And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths was 300 men.

  06:35-06:39

  But all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.

  06:39-06:47

  The Lord said to Gideon, with the 300 men who leapt, I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand and let all the others go, every man to his home.

  06:48-06:56

  So the people took provisions in their hands and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men.

  06:56-07:00

  And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

  07:01-07:03

  Okay, number one, lose your self-confidence.

  07:04-07:08

  Now between Gideon's army and the Midianites was this valley.

  07:09-07:15

  And you have to try to put yourself in Gideon's place here because what he would have seen would have been terrifying.

  07:15-07:17

  We're gonna get to this in verse 12.

  07:17-07:28

  But verse 12 tells us that the Midianite army looked like locusts, looked like, and on all their camels and all their, it said that it was like sand on the seashore.

  07:28-07:30

  That's what it looked like to Midian.

  07:31-07:35

  And I already told you at this point, at the beginning of the story, it was a four to one.

  07:36-07:47

  And God says, "Your army's too big, Gideon." I wanna tell you today that God is not as concerned about how to win a victory as He is with teaching us how to trust Him.

  07:48-07:51

  And you will never, you will never trust God.

  07:51-07:53

  I mean, fully trust God.

  07:53-07:56

  You will never do it if you have confidence in yourself.

  07:57-07:59

  And this is what Gideon needed to learn.

  07:59-08:10

  And this is what you and I need to learn, church, that if our victory in our lives, whatever your battle is, if it's won by self-reliance, that's ultimately disastrous.

  08:11-08:21

  If you win all your battles by your own strength, that's ultimately disastrous because you begin to take credit and praise for that.

  08:22-08:22

  Right?

  08:23-08:26

  Those of you who were here last week, do you remember that sermon I gave last week?

  08:26-08:28

  Do you remember that sermon last week?

  08:28-08:30

  That was a really good sermon, wasn't it?

  08:31-08:33

  I mean, I'm a great preacher.

  08:34-08:39

  And I look at the people that get saved and I say, "Lord, did you see those people that I saved?

  08:39-08:41

  "Lord, do you see these people?

  08:41-08:44

  "Lord, I changed their lives.

  08:44-08:49

  "And like, frankly, God, you're lucky to have me." That's a major problem.

  08:49-08:51

  I don't really believe those things.

  08:51-08:56

  In fact, you saw in July, guest speaker month, we have another amazing guest speaker next week.

  08:56-09:00

  I am the most replaceable person in this church, and that's okay.

  09:01-09:08

  But you see, it's a major problem when we adopt that mindset of, "Look what I did. Look who I saved. Look what I'm doing.

  09:08-09:22

  Look at me. Look at me. Just look at how awesome I am." And that has caused so many preachers to crash and burn because they think that they did the job, and they deserve the glory.

  09:23-09:31

  and that has put them on a higher plane than other people, which it has not, but it has caused so many preachers to crash and burn.

  09:32-09:32

  What about you?

  09:33-09:34

  Like, well, I'm not a preacher.

  09:34-09:43

  Yeah, but you can serve in this church in whatever capacity, whether it's with kids or up here leading worship or in the AV booth or with the youth group or whatever you do.

  09:43-09:49

  And you can sit back and you say, "You know what, Pastor Jeff, sure is lucky to have me at this church.

  09:49-09:52

  And what would Harvest Bible Chapel be without me?" And you know what?

  09:52-09:57

  It's about time I start getting the recognition I deserve in this church.

  09:57-09:59

  People actually say those things.

  09:59-10:07

  And I just want to remind myself and I want to remind you of a verse that should stop us dead in our tracks when we start to walk down that trail.

  10:08-10:09

  And here's the verse, all right?

  10:11-10:17

  Isaiah 42.8, "I am the Lord, that is my name." Look at this next phrase.

  10:17-10:21

  He says, "My glory I give to no other." Church, God loves you.

  10:22-10:31

  He loves you with an infinite love, but there is absolutely one thing that God will not do for you, and that is allow you to receive the praise that He deserves.

  10:32-10:33

  He's not going to share that with you.

  10:34-10:36

  He's not going to let you get credit.

  10:37-10:42

  He's not going to let people start looking to you for the things that only He can give.

  10:42-10:45

  He's not going to do that, because that's ultimately destructive.

  10:46-12:16

  And church, I want to tell you, whoever you are, wherever you've been, whatever you've done, you can't be too small for God to use. If you're feeling insignificant, you can't be too small for God to use, but you can be too big for God to use. Just like Gideon's army. So just to make sure that Gideon wasn't going into this battle with any self-confidence, God did two things to reduce his army. I just want to review those quickly. He gave him two tests. Two tests that Gideon's already way outnumbered army, and test number one, are you afraid? We saw that in verse 3. God promises his presence and his power, but despite that, some people are still too afraid. We talked about that with Beric and Deborah. If you're battling with fear, I'd like to remind you that fear focuses on the problem, not on God. All right? Only one thing can take center stage in your heart. Either God or the focus of your fear, and whichever one you allow center stage is going to get your attention. That's why you're afraid. That fear thing is, you're giving it too much attention instead of giving it to the Lord. And we saw that if you're fearful, God's not going to force you into battle. He says, "Hey, tell the scaredy cats to go home." Why? Well, I'll just jot this reference down. You can look up later. Deuteronomy chapter 20 and verse 8, God told the Israelites, this is so counterintuitive. When we see somebody afraid, we're like, "Hey, buck up, pal!

  12:16-12:20

  You're going to war!" God's different. He goes, "You scared? Go home.

  12:20-12:36

  Just go home." Why? Here's the thing, fear is contagious. That's why. And the Lord says that fear is contagious. God's like, "If you're scared, I don't want you walking around to the other soldiers, 'I don't know if we can win this because we're outnumbered.'" Because now the other soldiers are like, "Well, you know what?

  12:36-12:37

  He's got a point, we kind of are outnumbered.

  12:37-12:38

  I'm not sure if this is gonna work.

  12:39-12:40

  And now all of a sudden that's spreading.

  12:41-12:43

  He goes, no, no, no, I don't want that to spread.

  12:43-12:45

  So get them out of here.

  12:45-12:47

  So that's what the Lord did here.

  12:48-12:52

  Wait a minute, I had a joke in here about fear being more contagious than COVID.

  12:53-12:54

  Is it too late for that?

  12:54-12:55

  Too soon?

  12:55-12:56

  All right, hang on.

  12:56-12:58

  Maybe a future retelling of this.

  12:59-13:01

  All right, anyways, imagine how Gideon felt.

  13:02-13:04

  Okay, he's already numbered four to one.

  13:04-13:07

  God's like, your army's too big, to tell the scared people to go home.

  13:07-13:11

  I think Gideon might have been thinking, well, I probably have like six or seven that are scared.

  13:13-13:14

  22,000!

  13:14-13:16

  That's like more than half the army.

  13:16-13:17

  Could you imagine?

  13:17-13:21

  More than half the army is like, oh, you mean we can go home if we don't want to fight?

  13:21-13:22

  That's too little.

  13:23-13:26

  Gideon, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

  13:27-13:28

  That left Gideon with 10,000.

  13:29-13:30

  Now what are the odds?

  13:30-13:34

  The odds now with 10,000 people left are 13 to one.

  13:34-13:45

  Again, to put it into perspective, if you're a soldier in Gideon's army, that means you are responsible, you and every soldier on your side are responsible for taking down 13 Midianites.

  13:45-13:48

  Actually, it's like 13 and a half, so you can round up to 14.

  13:48-13:50

  So just imagine yourself in battle.

  13:50-13:57

  I get to take down 14 of the enemy just by myself, me and everybody else on my side.

  13:58-14:01

  And the Lord shows up and says, "Okay, Gideon, we got a problem.

  14:01-14:04

  "13 to one's not good odds." He says that's still too many people.

  14:05-14:06

  So test number two.

  14:07-14:08

  Okay, test one, are you afraid?

  14:08-14:09

  Test number two, are you paying attention?

  14:10-14:16

  Test number two, you saw that in the passage where God says, "Watch how they drink." Okay?

  14:16-14:27

  And the people that lapped up like a dog brought their hand to their mouth and lapped up like, he goes, "Yeah, just keep them." And there were only 300 people drinking that way.

  14:28-14:31

  Now, God's word gives us all the details that we need to know.

  14:32-14:36

  But have you ever been reading the Bible and just been wondering about some details that God didn't tell you?

  14:36-14:39

  Because when I get to this passage, here's something that I've always wondered.

  14:40-14:43

  How did that discharge speech go?

  14:43-14:52

  When Gideon gives up to the soldiers and he's like, "Hey, this was after they drank and they drank their..." How did Gideon go up to the ones that God was sending home?

  14:53-14:58

  He's like, "Hey, yeah, look..." This is a hard conversation to have.

  14:59-15:12

  I know we're even more outnumbered than we were, but you see, God didn't like the way that you drank the water, so God said that you're supposed to go home, pack up, you're done.

  15:12-15:13

  Like, what?

  15:14-15:15

  Here's the thing with this test.

  15:16-15:19

  None of them knew that they were being tested.

  15:19-15:31

  God was seeing who was being watchful, you know, drinking with their hand, looking up, keeping an eye on the enemy, and who was oblivious, face down in the water.

  15:32-15:35

  But even the method isn't the point of the test. Here's the point of the test.

  15:36-15:40

  God gives us tests when we are unaware. Did you know that?

  15:40-15:49

  God rarely shows up and says, "Hey, I'm about to test you. Get ready." Usually the Lord is testing us when we don't know that we're being tested.

  15:49-15:58

  That's how His tests work. Many, many years ago at my old church, We had this family that had this teenage son who's well into adulthood by now.

  15:58-16:00

  But this teenage son kept getting into trouble.

  16:01-16:02

  This is an absolutely true story.

  16:03-16:04

  This teenage son kept getting into trouble.

  16:04-16:13

  And I remember I'd go to a local juvenile home where he was incarcerated for a while because he couldn't stop getting into trouble.

  16:13-16:24

  And I remember sitting down with him where he would just cry, "Oh, I just missed my mom." And every time I was with this kid, he came across as just the sweetest boy.

  16:25-16:33

  And I go and talk to his mom, who was a member of our church, and she's like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, he's such a good boy. He's always the victim.

  16:34-16:37

  You know, the poor boy is always the victim.

  16:38-16:41

  Every time kids get in trouble, he's the one that takes the fall.

  16:42-16:59

  And he's never doing anything wrong. He's so sweet." and it's, "My little cherub, my little Angel Cakes baby cherub, he's so good." It's just a shame that he's always the victim of circumstance.

  17:00-17:09

  And well, one day I was going into the Freedman's, the grocery store downtown Butler, back when that was still open, remember Freedman's?

  17:10-17:14

  And I was walking in and I heard this commotion.

  17:15-17:24

  And I turned around and right there across the street, I saw him, his back was to me, but he didn't see me, this kid, you know, this innocent kid that was never the cause of any problem.

  17:25-17:42

  This white car drove by and he smacked the hood and I'm not gonna repeat everything, but he made an extremely rude gesture and shouted some really horrific profanities at this car in a, I'm trying to, I should have thought about this beforehand.

  17:43-17:52

  It was like a, "Hey, bring it on, pal. Let's fight," kind of thing, but he said it in like the most nasty way possible.

  17:52-17:55

  He didn't know I was standing right behind him.

  17:55-17:55

  All right?

  17:55-17:59

  And this is the kid that for months, all I've heard is what a precious angel cherub he is.

  18:00-18:03

  And I'm watching all of this take place.

  18:04-18:11

  And I just got to tell you, this is one of the perks of being a pastor, was the look on the kid's face when he turned around and saw me.

  18:12-18:27

  Oh, it was priceless. Because he was doing his thing, he's like, "Aaargh!" And then he turns around and he looks right at me, he's like, "Pastor Jeff, how are you doing?" And he knows that I knew.

  18:28-18:29

  But you see, that's the point.

  18:29-18:39

  When you know you're being tested, when you know you're being watched, you can force yourself to talk and act in a certain way.

  18:40-18:43

  But the question is, how do you act when you think no one is watching?

  18:44-18:52

  You see, that was the test that this kid failed, and that was the test that God gave Gideon's army, because it's those moments that reveal who we really are.

  18:53-18:58

  Anyways, this test reduced Gideon's army to 300 people.

  18:59-18:59

  Okay?

  19:00-19:04

  It started with 32,000, sent the scared home down to 10,000.

  19:05-19:07

  So if you're keeping track, what are the odds now?

  19:07-19:10

  It's 450, that's actually 450 to one.

  19:10-19:12

  So forgive my typo there.

  19:13-19:14

  450 to one.

  19:14-19:16

  So again, put yourself in Gideon's army.

  19:16-19:18

  Do I get to paint this picture for you again?

  19:18-19:20

  When you started, you had to take down four.

  19:21-19:22

  Then you had to take down 13.

  19:23-19:27

  What are your chances of taking down 450 people?

  19:28-19:29

  What are your chances?

  19:29-19:30

  I would say it's impossible.

  19:31-19:33

  In your own strength, it is impossible.

  19:33-19:44

  You cannot beat 450 people, No matter how big or bad or strong or trained you are, you are not taking down 450 people by yourself.

  19:44-19:45

  That's step one.

  19:45-19:50

  All self-confidence must be stripped away, but that doesn't bring the victory by itself.

  19:50-19:51

  You've got to go to step two.

  19:52-19:56

  Very simply, lose your self-confidence, but put your confidence in God.

  19:57-19:58

  Look at verses 9 through 15.

  19:59-20:07

  It says, "That same night the Lord said to him, said to Gideon, 'Arise, go down against for I have given it into your hand.

  20:08-20:56

  But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hand shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.' Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp, and the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number as the sand that is in the seashore in abundance. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, 'Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.'" Like, that's a weird dream.

  20:56-21:12

  "And his comrade answered, 'This is no other than the sword of Gideon, the son of "Joash, the man of Israel, God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp." As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped.

  21:13-21:21

  And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, "Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand." Stop there.

  21:21-21:25

  Okay, so you have to think that night Gideon probably didn't sleep that well.

  21:25-22:04

  You probably wouldn't either if at the beginning of the day you had 32,000 people people, and at the end of the day, you had 300. And then the Lord shows up again. And Gideon was probably like, "Pfft, now what? Let me get it. 300's too many, Lord? You have like five kindergartners you're going to send to battle? Like, what is it here?" But God gave the command to attack, but first He gave Gideon some more grace, a courage builder. He said, "Take Purah," which was his servant, "and go spy." And there was that that dream, you're like, "What's that dream about?" Well, the barley cake was a picture of Israel.

  22:05-22:07

  Understand the picture here, barley was like poor man's food.

  22:08-22:10

  Barley was what you fed the livestock.

  22:11-22:15

  And it was a picture of being forced to poverty.

  22:16-22:22

  Because we saw last week that that was how Midianites were attacking Israel.

  22:22-22:26

  They were just taking all their crops, all their animals, they were just taking all of their resources.

  22:27-22:29

  So Israel was destitute.

  22:29-22:34

  So this barley cake was a picture of Israel, and the tent obviously referring to the Midianites.

  22:35-22:37

  So they were sent down to overhear this dream.

  22:38-22:39

  And here's the point.

  22:39-22:42

  When Gideon heard this dream, he realized...

  22:42-22:44

  Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second.

  22:45-22:53

  It's not 135,000 Midianites versus 300 Gideonites.

  22:53-22:58

  In that moment he realized it's 135,000 versus God.

  22:59-23:03

  That's the point, you see, God put fear in the Midianites' hearts.

  23:04-23:09

  And he wanted to show Gideon that he was already winning the battle before the battle even started.

  23:09-23:14

  Church, I want to tell you, when God calls you to battle, He is not going to give you the pep talk.

  23:15-23:17

  He's not going to boost your self-confidence.

  23:17-23:26

  What God's going to do, ironically enough, when He calls you to battle, is He's going to rip away all of the self-confidence that you have.

  23:27-23:37

  God is going to leave you bankrupt, He's going to leave you unarmed, and He's going to leave you vulnerable, and He's going to teach you that you have no other choice but to trust Him.

  23:37-23:42

  He's going to teach you that He and He alone is your only option.

  23:42-23:46

  And by the way, that's how it is with the cross of Jesus Christ, isn't it?

  23:47-23:48

  That is how you're saved.

  23:48-24:00

  It wasn't as if Jesus died on the cross and said, "Okay, I did my part for your salvation, now here are the things that you have to do in order to be saved." Jesus Christ accomplished it all.

  24:01-24:04

  He paid for your sin in full when He died on the cross.

  24:05-24:17

  And He's not saying, "Now here's what you have to do, here's your checklist, here's what you bring to the table." The only thing He calls you to do now is to come and say, "I realize I am totally dependent upon you.

  24:18-24:20

  I need you 100% Lord.

  24:21-24:24

  That's what God did for Gideon by His grace.

  24:25-24:26

  Church sometimes that's what He does to us.

  24:27-24:52

  And right now if you're going through a season of hurt or disappointment or loss, I want you to think about this story and say maybe this is God's way of ripping away any self-confidence that I have so that I can trust Him deeper, because then I'm going to see God do something that only God can do, and there is nothing more glorious than that.

  24:53-24:55

  The battle, I'm not going to...

  24:55-24:56

  I'm just going to give you the overview of the battle.

  24:56-24:57

  You can go home and read this.

  24:58-24:59

  Like, how did that battle go?

  24:59-25:00

  Verses 19 through 25.

  25:01-25:03

  Here's what the Lord did through Gideon.

  25:04-25:06

  Divide the 300 into three groups of 100.

  25:07-25:13

  And He gave them trumpets, and He gave them jars with torches in them.

  25:13-25:21

  And I imagine there were probably some of the soldiers that were like, "Can I have a weapon?" Right? "We're taking on an army, we're outnumbered 450 to 1.

  25:21-25:30

  How about something more than a trumpet and a jar?" God's like, "No, this is what you're using." Well, they separated into three groups of a hundred.

  25:31-25:38

  And Gideon and his army, they blew the trumpets, they smashed the jars, they held up the torches, and the Midianites completely freaked out.

  25:39-25:41

  They panicked, they were already scared.

  25:41-25:55

  But when this happened, and they heard the noise and they saw the torches, they just panicked, and they started attacking each other and fleeing, and more Israelites jumped in and pursued, and they beheaded the princes, Oreb and Zeb.

  25:56-25:59

  Never had a baby dedication with an Oreb or a Zeb.

  26:00-26:02

  But those were the Midianite princes.

  26:04-26:06

  But that's a sermon for another time.

  26:06-26:17

  So as we come to the end of this, I have to ask myself as a pastor, and you have to ask yourself, church, what did Gideon learn that he would commend to us?

  26:17-26:24

  If we had Gideon right here today, say, "Gideon, what did you learn from all of that?" He'd give you a three-word sermon.

  26:24-26:28

  He'd say, "Here's what I learned. Less is more." Less is more!

  26:29-26:43

  You're like, "Well, Pastor Jeff, you've obviously never adopted that philosophy in your sermons." "Hey, look, I'm a work in progress just like you. Less is more." And when you understand that that's how God's math works, you start to see it in other places in the Bible, don't you?

  26:44-26:48

  For example, Jesus had 5,000 men plus women and children.

  26:49-26:50

  How did He choose to feed them?

  26:51-27:01

  Jesus said, "I know. I'm going to open up a Costco right here, and I'm just going to tell them to form an orderly line, and they can get all the provisions." Is that how Jesus chose to do it?

  27:01-27:06

  He said, "No, I'll take the little boy's lunch." Why did God choose to do that?

  27:06-27:07

  So that people would know.

  27:07-27:16

  You remember, Jesus ascended into heaven and He left the work of the ministry to spread the gospel and change the world to how many disciples?

  27:16-27:17

  There were 11.

  27:18-27:22

  And then you get to the book of Acts, there's just 120 people.

  27:22-27:27

  There's a group like this size that God used to change the world.

  27:27-27:27

  Why?

  27:28-27:29

  So that people would know.

  27:30-27:37

  And when Gideon went to battle, 135,000, God took his army from 32,000 to 10,000 to 300.

  27:37-27:41

  Why? So that people would know. So that people would know what?

  27:42-27:46

  That when it's put in God's hands, less is more. Less is more.

  27:47-27:50

  I want to close looking at 1 Corinthians 10.

  27:50-27:58

  It says, "Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

  27:59-28:05

  "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man." Look at this next phrase very closely.

  28:05-28:10

  It says, "God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

  28:11-28:19

  But with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it." You know, this is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible.

  28:20-28:22

  How is this misquoted? People say this all the time.

  28:23-28:25

  You know, the Bible says God doesn't give you more problems than you can handle.

  28:26-28:29

  You're having a rough day, things are going hard in your life.

  28:29-28:31

  And that's the word of encouragement people give you.

  28:32-28:36

  They say, "Well, God doesn't give you more than you can handle." And they base that off of this.

  28:37-28:41

  And the implication here is, "Hey, you're having a hard time, you're going through some stuff.

  28:41-28:44

  Hey, I'm here to encourage you that you can handle this.

  28:45-28:50

  You can handle this because God's not going to give you more than you can handle.

  28:51-28:58

  So whatever you have, God assumes that you can handle." That is not what that passage is saying at all.

  28:59-29:01

  The context of this passage is clear.

  29:01-29:03

  He's talking about temptation.

  29:03-29:09

  He's saying God won't ever allow you to be in a situation where you are tempted and you have to sin.

  29:09-29:11

  You're like, "I'm in a corner. I have no choice.

  29:12-29:16

  I'm going to have to sin." He's saying God always provides an escape route.

  29:17-29:19

  You're never forced to sin.

  29:19-29:20

  That's what he's talking about.

  29:21-29:25

  But the way that this is misquoted is actually completely opposite of the truth.

  29:26-29:29

  God's not going to give you more problems than you can handle.

  29:29-29:31

  God won't give you more than you can handle.

  29:31-29:35

  And I'm here to tell you this morning, yes, He will.

  29:36-29:44

  I'm here to tell you that absolutely, for sure, 100%, God is going to give you way more than you can handle.

  29:45-29:46

  Here's why.

  29:46-30:50

  I want you to imagine in your life, if you only get the amount of problems that you're able to handle. Let's assume that the way this is misquoted is true. Let's just pretend for a second. The only problems you get are the problems that you're able to handle. Do you know what that means? That means that you're going to navigate through life, taking care of your problems, and eventually you're going to get to the point that you're going to say, "You know, I really don't need God for anything. I've been able to handle all these messes that I've had, I've handled them just fine. What do I need God for?" But to His glory, God will give you way more than you can handle so that we can be put in the same position that Gideon was in. So that we learn daily, "Lord, Lord, I need you. Lord, I can't do this without you." So church, when the enemy looks too powerful, when the battle looks unwinnable, and you realize that your resources are depleted, and your resources seem completely inadequate.

  30:51-30:53

  You just need to put that all in God's hands.

  30:54-30:56

  And like Gideon, you're going to discover less is more.

  30:57-30:58

  Pray with me, please.

  30:59-31:03

  Father in heaven, we thank you for this amazing account from your Word.

  31:04-31:12

  God, I pray right now for myself, and for my brothers and sisters here, that like Gideon, Father, I pray that you would destroy our self-confidence.

  31:13-31:18

  Because Father, we know the reality is the only people who aren't in heaven are the people who thought they didn't need you.

  31:19-31:31

  The people who think that they can navigate through life and manage in their own strength and never need to call upon the Lord or see your hand move or watch you do what only you can do.

  31:31-31:34

  Father, rip away our resources.

  31:35-31:48

  Father, take our army down from thousands to hundreds and bring us to the place that we cry out, "Lord, I need You." Give us the faith that we need to fully embrace everything that You provided in Jesus Christ.

  31:49-31:51

  It's in His name that we pray. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Judges 7:1-15

1. What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
   

2. Why did God reduce Gideon’s army? Why do you think He did it in stages (32k to 10k to 300) instead of just doing it all at once?
   

3. Isaiah 42:8 says “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other…” (See also Isaiah 48:11) How would you respond to someone who says, “Isn’t it egotistical of God to demand all the glory?”
   

4. In Judges 7:9-14, why did God let Gideon spy “if he was afraid” (Judges 7:10)? Since Gideon was obviously still afraid (made clear by Gideon taking God up on His offer), why didn’t Gideon get sent home with all of the other fearful soldiers earlier (Judges 7:3)?

Breakout
Pray for one another, specifically that God would remove all self-confidence and teach us to find all of our confidence in Him!

How (Not) to Know God's Will.

Introduction:

How do I know the will of God for my life?

Matthew 6:10 - Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Ephesians 5:17 - Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Why "fleeces" aren't the way to know God's Will (Judges 6:36-40):

1. Gideon already Knew God's will. (Judges 6:36-37).
2. Gideon wasn't revealing his trust, he was revealing his Doubt . (Judges 6:36-37).
3. Gideon was Telling God what to do. (Judges 6:37-39).
4. Gideon still wasn't Convinced after the first round. (Judges 6:39).

What is God's Will for my Life?

1. Saved

   2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise vas some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2. Sirit-filled

   Ephesians 5:17-18 - Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit...

3. Sanctified

   1 Thessalonians 4:3 - For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality...

4. Submit to the government

   1 Peter 2:13-15 - Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

5. Sometimes suffer

   1 Peter 4:19 - Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

6. Showing gratitude

   1 Thessalonians 5:18 - give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:43-00:46

  Open up, if you please, to Judges 6.

  00:50-00:51

  Judges 6.

  00:52-00:57

  Now, we're going to be looking at the last few verses, but I need to sort of give you an on-ramp.

  00:57-01:07

  So what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you the CliffsNotes version of what happened in Judges 6, and I strongly encourage you to read this if you haven't already, because it's an amazing account.

  01:09-01:10

  for our purposes today.

  01:13-01:15

  I'm going to give you the CliffsNotes version.

  01:15-01:19

  Judges 6. The first six verses, we see the cycle again.

  01:19-01:20

  Israel falls into sin.

  01:21-01:24

  God punishes Israel by sending an invading nation.

  01:24-01:26

  This time it's the Midianites, the Amalekites.

  01:27-01:30

  And what they did was they were taking all of Israel's resources.

  01:30-01:36

  They'd just show up and take the crops, they'd take the livestock, they would just take everything from Israel.

  01:38-01:47

  Verses 7-10, an unnamed prophet shows up and says to Israel, "You have not obeyed the Lord." Which is why you're in the position you're in again.

  01:48-01:51

  Verses 11-27, the angel of the Lord shows up.

  01:51-01:53

  Again, we talked about this before.

  01:53-01:56

  This is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.

  01:57-02:01

  So the angel of the Lord shows up to a reluctant Gideon.

  02:04-02:05

  Israel's next judge.

  02:06-02:18

  Now Gideon says, "I'm weak. Will you show me a sign?" So Gideon makes meat and cakes, and the angel touches the meat and the cakes with the end of his staff and torches them.

  02:19-02:20

  And then the angel vanishes.

  02:20-02:24

  And that night, the Lord spoke to Gideon.

  02:24-02:31

  He said, "Hey, tear down the altar to Baal and Asherah, and build an altar to the Lord." So Gideon did that.

  02:32-02:38

  At night, verses 20-35, The men of the town were completely ticked off by this.

  02:38-02:40

  They're like, "Who tore down the idols?

  02:42-02:44

  We're going to kill them." And they find out that it was Gideon.

  02:44-02:48

  So they go to Gideon's dad, and they're like, "Hey, bring him out.

  02:48-02:54

  We're going to kill him." And Gideon's dad ends up bailing Gideon out.

  02:55-02:59

  Meanwhile, while all this is happening, Israel's enemies were assembling.

  02:59-03:04

  They crossed the Jordan, and they encamped, Gideon assembled his army.

  03:06-03:08

  As I said, he's Israel's next judge.

  03:09-03:18

  The Lord showed up to call him and to prepare him, but Gideon was having some very serious doubts about God's will for his life.

  03:20-03:22

  And that takes us to verse 36.

  03:24-03:36

  It says, "Then Gideon said to God, 'If You will save Israel by my hand, "As you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor.

  03:38-03:59

  If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said." And it was so, when he arose early the next morning, and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to...

  03:59-04:04

  And Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me.

  04:05-04:08

  Let me speak just once more, please.

  04:08-04:11

  Let me test just once more with the fleece.

  04:12-04:24

  Please, let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground, let there be dew." And God did so that night.

  04:26-04:31

  And it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

  04:34-04:36

  Here's a question we're going to be asking this morning.

  04:37-04:39

  How do I know God's will for my life?

  04:42-04:45

  How do I know what God wants for my life?

  04:46-04:54

  And I've got to tell you, over the years of ministry, I've seen this become, ironically enough, I've seen this become an unhealthy obsession with people.

  04:55-05:09

  I remember very early on meeting a young lady I just don't know what to do because I feel like when I'm at home, maybe God wants me to be at church, but then if I go to church, what if somebody was going to call me at home and needed me there?

  05:09-05:11

  And how am I supposed to know where God wants me?

  05:12-05:17

  And that might sound silly to you and I, but this woman was... she was in tears.

  05:18-05:26

  She was driving herself crazy, obsessing over where exactly does God want me to be at any minute.

  05:28-05:32

  I worked with a man. Christian.

  05:33-05:42

  I said, "What are you doing with your life?" He says, "Well, I'm going to stay at home until God tells me what to do." Through his 20's, through his 30's, through his 40's.

  05:43-05:45

  Still waiting for God to tell me what to do.

  05:48-06:04

  Or, one of the most bizarre cases I've seen, and not just bizarre but creepy, I remember going way back in Bible college, there was a man who dated this girl, and she broke it off.

  06:05-06:09

  And he shows up at her dorm, like, bussing, pounding on her door.

  06:10-06:12

  "The Lord said that we're supposed to be together!

  06:13-06:20

  God told me this is His will! We belong together!" Like, scale of 1 to 10, how creepy is that?

  06:22-06:32

  She's like, "God didn't tell me that." Well, nothing's more important to a Christian than doing the will of God, right?

  06:33-06:38

  I mean, honestly, get any true born-again believer, there's nothing more important.

  06:39-06:41

  And actually, Jesus taught us to pray for that, right?

  06:43-06:44

  Didn't He teach us to pray?

  06:46-07:02

  Matthew 6:10, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So when we say the Lord's Prayer, when we pray the ingredients of the Lord's Prayer, we're praying for God's will to be done.

  07:03-07:12

  For any true Christian, you say, "All I want for my life is what God wants for my life." Right? That's all we want.

  07:12-07:20

  "I just want what God wants for my life." Nothing else. Nothing less, nothing more, just what God wants for my life.

  07:22-07:23

  So how do I know the will of God for my life?

  07:24-07:28

  Well, have you ever heard the phrase, "putting out the fleece"?

  07:28-07:30

  How many people have heard that phrase?

  07:30-07:32

  You've got to put out the fleece. Okay, a lot of you have.

  07:32-07:33

  You've got to put out the fleece.

  07:33-07:35

  You want to know God's will for your life?

  07:36-07:37

  You've got to put out the fleece.

  07:37-07:39

  That's how you know God's will for your life.

  07:39-07:46

  You've got to put out the fleece You've definitely used the concept.

  07:48-07:51

  Use the concept even if you don't know the term.

  07:52-07:56

  How do I know God's will for my next job?

  07:57-08:03

  Or I'm thinking about buying a new car, but how do I know which car God wants me to buy?

  08:04-08:08

  Right? Or possible spouse.

  08:10-08:12

  How do I know it's God's will that I marry this person?

  08:13-08:20

  And for any situation like this, when you put out the fleece, you say, "I'm just going to put God to a little test.

  08:21-08:44

  I'll put God to a test, and as He performs for me, He will confirm what He wants me to do." For example, you say, "God, if You want me to marry this person, have her call me or text me by seven o'clock, and if she doesn't, then I'll know it's not Your will." Um, hmm, what if she calls at 7.30?

  08:46-08:57

  Are you like, well God, I'm not sure what time zone you're operating on at present, but she's really cute, so I'm gonna take this as a yes.

  08:59-09:08

  Or what if you're like, God, if you want me to take this job, then they're going to call and offer a base salary of $60,000.

  09:12-09:14

  What if the job offers $55,000?

  09:17-09:22

  Are you like, "Well, that's close enough." Or are you like, "You know what, maybe the devil's trying to trick me.

  09:23-09:32

  God doesn't want me to have the job, Satan's throwing me a curveball here." Or if we say, "God, you know what, our church is looking at property." We're not, we're pretending here.

  09:32-09:43

  But God, our church is looking at this property, and if you give us the money, by October 1st, we're going to buy this property.

  09:43-09:46

  Well, what happens if October 1st comes and we don't have the money?

  09:48-09:52

  Do we just borrow what's lacking and call it faith?

  09:55-10:00

  So you can see where it gets a little gray, doesn't it?

  10:00-10:01

  It gets a little sketchy.

  10:01-10:07

  It gets a little hard to navigate and discern your way through when we put God to these little tests.

  10:10-10:21

  But at the same time, Ephesians 5.17 says, "Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Like, well, how do I do that?

  10:23-10:27

  Is setting the fleece the way to go to determine God's will?

  10:27-10:28

  Is this the way?

  10:29-10:31

  getting it here. Is this the way you determine God's will?

  10:33-10:36

  And the answer is absolutely not.

  10:36-10:39

  Okay? Bad example.

  10:41-10:46

  So in order to learn God's will, the first thing I'm going to do is tell you how not to know God's will.

  10:46-10:54

  On your outline, "Why Fleeces Aren't the Way to Know God's Will." "Hang on, Pastor Jeff. It's in the Bible, man.

  10:54-11:01

  How do you know that this isn't the way for Gideon and for us to know God's will?

  11:01-11:04

  How do you know that Gideon was wrong to do this?

  11:04-11:08

  I'm going to give you four reasons why Gideon was wrong to do this.

  11:08-11:12

  Letter A, Gideon already knew God's will.

  11:14-11:25

  It wasn't as if Gideon was sitting around going, "I just wonder what God's will for my life is." Jesus Christ personally showed up and told him.

  11:26-11:29

  And then the Lord spoke to him again that night.

  11:30-11:36

  God's will, if you look at chapter 6, God's will is already stated three times in that chapter.

  11:36-11:39

  Verse 12, verse 14, verse 16.

  11:39-11:41

  God could not have made it any clearer.

  11:42-11:43

  He showed up and told him.

  11:43-11:46

  And you're like, "Well, how do we know..." Okay, Pastor Jeff, I get that.

  11:46-11:50

  But how do we know that Gideon really understood God's will?

  11:50-11:54

  How do we know that Gideon really understood what God was saying?

  11:54-11:57

  Because Gideon repeated it back to God. Did you see that?

  11:58-12:14

  In this passage here, he goes, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said..." Then later on, verse 37, "Save Israel by my hand, as you have said..." Gideon points out twice, "I knew exactly what you said." So Gideon already knew God's will.

  12:17-12:24

  Letter B, "Why fleeces aren't the way to know God's will?" Because in this passage, Gideon isn't revealing his trust, he was revealing his doubt.

  12:26-12:30

  He wasn't revealing trust in the Lord, he was revealing doubt in the Lord.

  12:32-12:51

  God already promised and proved Himself to Gideon throughout chapter 6, and now Gideon here was saying, "God, I know what You said, I know what You said, but I don't know if I really believe." In the church, has God promised to direct us and to guide us?

  12:51-12:53

  Has God promised that to us?

  12:53-12:55

  Has He promised guidance and direction?

  12:56-12:58

  Like cover to cover in the Bible, right?

  12:58-13:21

  He says things like, "I will be with you always, even to the end of the age." He says things like, "I will guide you." "I will instruct you." "I will tell you the way in which you should go." Things like, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Things like, "The Lord is my shepherd." "Jesus, I am the good shepherd." hear my voice and they follow me." Over and over and over.

  13:21-13:24

  God has promised to lead and to guide us.

  13:25-13:26

  So what's the problem?

  13:29-13:30

  I am. I'm the problem.

  13:34-13:38

  Our fleeces, when we put God to these little tests, they're driven by doubt.

  13:39-13:43

  And so often, church, we're exposed to what is clearly God's will, and we just don't believe Him.

  13:45-13:47

  So Gideon wasn't revealing his trust, he was revealing his doubt.

  13:47-13:51

  Let her see, "Here's a problem." Gideon was telling God what to do.

  13:53-13:56

  See, Gideon didn't come and say, "You know what, Lord?

  13:57-14:01

  I'm really afraid. Can you do something to relieve my doubts?

  14:01-14:02

  Can you reveal yourself to me?

  14:03-14:15

  Can you strengthen my spirit? Can you..." It wasn't that. It was, "Yeah, God, could you change the course of nature because I'm telling you to?" You see, we are called to obey God, not the other way around.

  14:16-14:16

  You got that, right?

  14:18-14:20

  He is God and I am not.

  14:20-14:22

  Right, I am not God.

  14:23-14:25

  Last time anybody checked.

  14:26-14:26

  And neither are you.

  14:27-14:29

  And yes, Gideon was going through an ordeal.

  14:30-14:35

  It was a hard season, but humbling yourself before God does not mean you establish the guidelines for God to work.

  14:35-14:36

  That's not how it works.

  14:38-14:40

  Gideon was telling God what to do. That's a bad plan.

  14:41-14:43

  Okay? We come as children.

  14:43-14:45

  and certainly we come boldly before the throne.

  14:46-14:52

  We bring our supplications, but not the right attitude.

  14:54-14:55

  Letter D.

  14:57-14:57

  Here's a problem.

  14:57-15:00

  Gideon still wasn't convinced after the first round.

  15:00-15:01

  You notice that?

  15:02-15:04

  Laying a fleece is the way to know God's will.

  15:05-15:10

  Gideon found it to be kind of ineffective himself, because the first test wasn't good enough.

  15:12-15:13

  He actually had to try another.

  15:14-15:18

  And we see even in this passage, he knew he was treading on thin ice.

  15:18-15:19

  Did you catch that?

  15:19-15:31

  He was like, look, verse 39, "Lord, please don't be angry, but..." So if this is the way we learn God's will, why wasn't Gideon satisfied the first time?

  15:33-15:40

  So I would suggest to you, church, that laying out the fleece is not the way to discern God's will.

  15:42-15:43

  You're like, "Well, hang on.

  15:44-15:45

  Hang on, Pastor Jeff.

  15:47-15:56

  If Gideon wasn't doing the right thing, then why did God respond to him?" Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?

  15:57-16:00

  Everybody go, "Huh?" Yeah. Yeah.

  16:01-16:02

  Riddle me this, preacher boy.

  16:02-16:07

  Why did God respond to him Gideon wasn't doing the right thing.

  16:08-16:10

  And the answer is grace.

  16:12-16:13

  The answer is grace.

  16:16-16:19

  God had plans for Gideon and God had plans for Israel.

  16:22-16:25

  And Gideon was a lot like me in this way.

  16:26-16:28

  He was a little slow on the uptake.

  16:30-16:31

  Anybody else that way?

  16:33-16:37

  and my God loves me so much that He teaches me the same lessons over and over sometimes.

  16:40-16:41

  And that's what we have here.

  16:41-16:43

  This is God being gracious.

  16:43-16:45

  This is God being gracious.

  16:46-16:50

  But we're not to make something like this the playbook for God's will.

  16:50-16:52

  This passage is descriptive.

  16:52-16:54

  This passage isn't prescriptive.

  16:54-16:54

  Alright?

  16:57-16:59

  So that's how you don't know God's will.

  17:00-17:12

  And I would dismiss you now, I'd be afraid that you would leave and somebody would say, "What did you learn in church?" And you would say, "Well, all we learned was how not to learn God's will today." I can't leave you hanging.

  17:15-17:22

  God wants you to know His will even more than you want to know God's will.

  17:22-17:23

  Do you believe that?

  17:24-17:26

  Like, I want to know God's will. God wants you to know it.

  17:27-17:32

  So, He wrote it all down for us. Right here.

  17:33-17:34

  He wrote it all down.

  17:35-17:39

  Just as Gideon had the revealed Word of God, so do we.

  17:41-17:53

  Yes, God has given His Holy Spirit to guide us, and God has given other Christians to counsel us, but both of these are confirmed by aligning to His unchanging Word.

  17:55-18:00

  So, I'm going to tell you today, what is God's will for my life?

  18:00-18:01

  What is God's will for your life?

  18:03-18:04

  I'm going to give you six things.

  18:04-18:08

  Now, every one of these things could be a sermon series.

  18:09-18:16

  We're doing a fly-by today for the purpose of understanding God's will as a whole, okay?

  18:17-18:20

  So, what's God's will for my life?

  18:20-18:20

  Six things.

  18:21-18:23

  I just want to know what God wants for me.

  18:23-18:24

  Put it down. Here they are.

  18:25-18:25

  Alright?

  18:26-18:27

  First thing God wants.

  18:27-18:33

  First thing God's will for you, number one, without a doubt, top of the list, is God wants you saved.

  18:34-18:35

  He wants you saved.

  18:37-18:38

  Look at 2 Peter 3:9.

  18:38-18:55

  It says, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, as some count slowness, patience towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." Absolutely. Number one, top of the list.

  18:56-18:57

  God loves you.

  18:59-19:05

  God has an eternal love for you that is beyond human understanding or description.

  19:09-19:17

  A love that He demonstrated by sending His Son to die in your place on that cross to take away your sin.

  19:17-19:19

  That's how much God loves you.

  19:21-19:26

  If your salvation meant me killing one of my sons, it's not going to happen.

  19:28-19:33

  I would not sacrifice my son for any one of you.

  19:33-19:36

  I wouldn't sacrifice my son for all of you collectively.

  19:37-19:38

  You are loved.

  19:41-19:44

  You are loved, but I don't love you as much as I love my son.

  19:47-19:48

  But you see, that's where God and I are different.

  19:51-19:54

  God was willing to allow His Son to die in your place.

  19:58-20:00

  Why? Because He wants you saved.

  20:01-20:07

  That's the degree to which the Lord wants you to receive the gift of eternal life.

  20:09-20:11

  He made perfect provision through the death of His Son.

  20:13-20:13

  That's number one.

  20:13-20:15

  Number two, God wants you Spirit-filled.

  20:16-20:19

  Ephesians 5.17, we already touched on this briefly.

  20:19-20:39

  Ephesians 5.17 says, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." You're like, "What is the will of the Lord?" "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." Yes, all born-again believers have God's Holy Spirit.

  20:43-20:46

  So what do you mean it's God's will that we are Spirit-filled?

  20:46-20:57

  where he says, "Be filled with the Spirit," the Greek tense literally is, "Be being filled." It's a picture of constant flowing.

  20:57-20:58

  Constant flowing.

  20:59-21:00

  Constant flowing.

  21:00-21:02

  It's not a stagnant pond.

  21:02-21:06

  It's a river constantly flowing in you and through you.

  21:06-21:08

  We talked about that in John a few months ago.

  21:08-21:10

  But it's a constant river.

  21:10-21:11

  That's God's will.

  21:13-21:22

  It's that relationship of walking with Jesus Christ in His Spirit, as His Spirit indwells you.

  21:22-21:24

  Be being filled. That's God's will.

  21:24-21:25

  And notice the picture that He uses.

  21:26-21:27

  He compares it to being drunk.

  21:28-21:32

  Just as a drunk person is completely controlled by the alcohol.

  21:32-21:34

  The alcohol controls the way he walks.

  21:35-21:36

  The alcohol controls the way he talks.

  21:37-21:38

  The alcohol controls the way he thinks.

  21:40-21:42

  The Holy Spirit should have that kind of control over you.

  21:43-21:46

  The Holy Spirit should be controlling how you walk, how you talk, how you think.

  21:47-21:49

  The Holy Spirit should have that control.

  21:51-21:55

  It's an act of cooperation and participation with the work of the Spirit.

  21:55-21:56

  But that's God's will for your life.

  21:56-21:59

  He wants you saved, and He wants you walking by His Spirit.

  21:59-22:00

  He wants you Spirit-filled.

  22:00-22:02

  Thirdly, He wants you sanctified.

  22:06-22:12

  1 Thessalonians 4.3 says, "For this is the will of God." Your sanctification.

  22:13-22:14

  into sanctification.

  22:14-22:18

  It's just a fancy word that means growing and maturing in Christ.

  22:19-22:26

  Just as a human baby grows and matures and develops into an adult person, that's how it is as Christians.

  22:27-22:27

  We are baby Christians.

  22:28-22:29

  We grow and mature and develop.

  22:29-22:31

  That process is called sanctification.

  22:31-22:35

  The only difference is as Christians, we never stop growing and maturing and developing.

  22:37-22:39

  It's a constant process.

  22:40-22:41

  Well, can you be specific?

  22:41-22:43

  Well, He is. 1 Thessalonians 4.3.

  22:44-22:47

  Your sanctification, He makes an immediate application point.

  22:47-22:49

  You abstain from sexual immorality.

  22:51-22:54

  It's a big part of your sanctification, is keeping yourself pure.

  22:57-22:59

  That's what God wants for you.

  22:59-23:00

  He wants you growing.

  23:00-23:03

  He wants me growing, maturing in Christ.

  23:05-23:06

  What's God's will for your life?

  23:06-23:08

  He wants you saved. He wants you Spirit-filled.

  23:08-23:09

  He wants you sanctified.

  23:09-23:10

  you want you to submit to the government.

  23:13-23:37

  1 Peter 2 says, "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good." He says, "For this is the will of God, that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

  23:40-23:44

  You see, as Christians, it ruins our testimony to be lawbreakers.

  23:45-23:48

  So God has called us to submit to the governing authorities.

  23:49-23:54

  Fifthly, it's God's will that we sometimes suffer.

  23:55-23:57

  We sometimes suffer.

  23:58-24:01

  "Therefore let those who suffer..." Look at this.

  24:01-24:09

  "According to God's will, entrust your souls to a faithful Creator while doing good." Sometimes it is God's will that we suffer.

  24:12-24:13

  And that's not very popular to say.

  24:13-24:15

  That's not very popular in a lot of churches.

  24:16-24:18

  But it's popular in the Word of God.

  24:19-24:21

  And that's really the only thing we're concerned about in this church, right?

  24:22-24:24

  It's God's will sometimes that you suffer.

  24:24-24:27

  Now, I have to explain again.

  24:27-24:32

  and this is just an overview, but I have to give a word of explanation here.

  24:34-24:38

  He's not talking about chalking up tragedies as being God's will.

  24:38-24:39

  That's not what he's saying.

  24:39-24:42

  Well, so-and-so died in an accident, but it's God's will that I suffered.

  24:42-24:44

  That's why he died in that accident.

  24:44-24:49

  Or, so-and-so got this disease and passed away, and it's God's will that he suffered.

  24:49-24:50

  That's not what he's talking about.

  24:50-24:56

  If you look at the context of 1 Peter 4, he's talking about suffering because of persecution.

  24:57-24:58

  That's exactly what he's talking about.

  24:58-24:59

  It's standing for Christ.

  25:00-25:04

  People hate you because you're standing for Christ.

  25:05-25:07

  You're suffering for persecution.

  25:07-25:09

  You're suffering for righteousness' sake.

  25:09-25:12

  Why in the world would that be God's will for my life?

  25:13-25:14

  I'll tell you why.

  25:15-25:18

  Because when you suffer for righteousness, that makes you like Jesus Christ.

  25:19-25:19

  Right?

  25:21-25:26

  And God's number one goal for you, Romans 8.29, is to be conformed into the image of His Son.

  25:26-25:29

  God wants you to look like His Son.

  25:31-25:34

  And one of the ways that happens is when you suffer for righteousness' sake.

  25:34-25:43

  When you take a stand for the truth, and people hate you for it, and you suffer for it, sometimes it's God's will that you suffer for that.

  25:43-25:44

  And that's okay.

  25:46-25:47

  Because that's making you like Jesus.

  25:48-25:52

  And then finally, what's God's will for my life?

  25:52-25:56

  Save, spirit-fill, sanctify, submit to the government, I sometimes suffer.

  25:56-25:59

  Number six, showing gratitude.

  25:59-26:01

  Liberation is hard.

  26:04-26:11

  I could not think of a synonym for thankfulness that began with an "s." Anybody?

  26:12-26:12

  Anybody?

  26:13-26:14

  That's what I thought.

  26:16-26:22

  I saw you people like, "Oh, I see how he snuck the's' in there." Showing gratitude.

  26:24-26:26

  that you're about to do right now.

  26:28-26:39

  1 Thessalonians 5.18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Again, sort of like we talked about in the last point.

  26:41-26:44

  You're to give thanks in all things, not for all things, right?

  26:45-26:47

  I'm not thankful for tragedy.

  26:47-26:52

  I'm not thankful for people suffering or dying.

  26:52-27:22

  or "I'm not thankful for hard circumstances from evil people." What that means is, "I'm thankful in, even when the whole world is crashing around me, I'm thankful for everything that God has done, I'm thankful for everything God is doing, and you better believe I'm thankful for everything that God is going to do." And when you have that attitude, that's why He says, in all circumstances, give thanks.

  27:23-27:24

  Give thanks.

  27:26-27:28

  This is the will of God in Christ Jesus.

  27:30-27:31

  So here's God's will for your life.

  27:31-27:32

  Are you ready?

  27:32-27:33

  This is God's will.

  27:34-27:48

  If you are saved, if you are filled with His Spirit, if you are sanctified, morally pure, if you are submissive to the government, if you're suffering for righteousness' sake, if you're thankful for everything, then you do whatever you want to do.

  27:49-27:50

  That's God's will for your life.

  27:53-28:01

  His will has a lot less to do with the whats and the hows and the wheres.

  28:02-28:04

  God's will for your life is more about who you are.

  28:05-28:08

  And the person He's making you to be by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Small Group Discussion
Read Judges 6:36-40

1. What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
   

2. Why is “fleece-laying”, like Gideon, not the way to learn God’s will? How do we know Gideon didn’t need to do that?
   

3. How do you know someone’s advice is from the Lord or from their own ideas?
   

4. Tell of a time you struggled to know God’s will for something in your own life? How did you ultimately make the decision? Did you feel it was the right one?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

You Have to Step Up.

Introduction:

How To Be a Difference-Making Leader (Judges 4:4-9):

1. Identify the real Need . (Judges 4:6).
2. Identify the Person for the job. (Judges 4:6).
3. Motivate that person to action. (Judges 4:6-9).

Biblical Motivation 101:

1. Confront with God's Command . (Judges 4:6).
2. Strengthen with God's Promise . (Judges 4:7).
3. Encourage with your Presence . (Judges 4:9).

4. Develop and execute a clear Plan . (Judges 4:6-7).

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:03

  Open up your Bibles with me please to Judges chapter 4.

  00:04-00:08

  And if you do not have a Bible, there are Bibles in some of the seat backs in front of you.

  00:08-00:12

  And you can keep that. Consider that a gift from your friends at Harvest Bible Chapel.

  00:13-00:25

  While you're turning there, I'm going to ask if you would please to say a prayer for me, to be faithful to bring God's Word, and I will pray for you to be open to receive God's Word.

  00:26-00:26

  Let's pray.

  00:27-00:40

  And all of God's people said, "Amen." Many years ago, when I was heavily involved in prison ministry, we were actually living in downtown Butler, and one day a man showed up at my door.

  00:40-00:41

  And Mark, I know you know this man.

  00:41-00:44

  I'm not going to say his name, but you know exactly who I'm talking about.

  00:44-00:52

  This man showed up at my door that I met in prison, and he seemed a little winded, seemed a little exasperated.

  00:52-00:57

  And he's like, "Hey, hey, hey, Pastor Jeff." I'm like, how do you know I live here?

  00:57-00:59

  That's not important right now.

  00:59-01:01

  He's like, Pastor Jeff, I need your help.

  01:01-01:03

  I need your-- would you help me?

  01:03-01:04

  I just need your help.

  01:04-01:06

  But I'm like, sure, what can I do for you?

  01:07-01:12

  And he goes, look, my girlfriend lives in the apartments across the street.

  01:12-01:14

  And there was this big apartment building across the street from my house.

  01:15-01:16

  I said, oh, OK.

  01:16-01:20

  He goes, my girlfriend, her apartment's in that building across the street.

  01:20-01:22

  And I need to go over there.

  01:23-01:28

  but I think her boyfriend is in there waiting for me with a gun.

  01:29-01:31

  I'm like, where do I come in?

  01:32-01:34

  He goes, look, I don't need you to do anything.

  01:36-01:38

  I just need you to be a witness, OK?

  01:38-01:42

  I just need you to go with me and be a witness in case this guy does anything.

  01:43-01:47

  That way you're there and you can tell the police what happened.

  01:47-01:51

  And I said, Tim, you got the wrong guy.

  01:51-01:56

  I said, if you think there's a legitimate problem, you need to call the police.

  01:57-02:03

  But that's a story of a man who called on the wrong guy.

  02:03-02:05

  I was not the guy for that job.

  02:05-02:11

  And today, we're going to be looking at a leader who called on the right guy.

  02:12-02:16

  And the title of the message is, "You Have to Step Up." You have to step up.

  02:16-02:19

  Look at verses 1 through 3 here in-- where are we at?

  02:19-02:20

  Judges chapter 4.

  02:21-02:28

  It says, "And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died." We talked about him last week.

  02:28-02:34

  "And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan who reigned in Hazor.

  02:34-02:43

  The commander of his army was Sisera who lived in Herosheth Hagoyim." Anybody here today from Herosheth Hagoyim?

  02:44-02:45

  Couple of you?

  02:45-02:46

  Welcome to Harvest today.

  02:47-02:49

  "Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help.

  02:50-03:03

  For he," this is Sisera, "for he had 900 chariots of iron, and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years." Okay, we talked last week about the cycle that Israel goes through.

  03:03-03:18

  You know, sin, God brings another nation in, and Israel cries out, "Please, please God help us," and God raises up a judge who saves the day, and then Israel falls back into idolatry, and we see that that cycle starts again.

  03:18-03:20

  At this time, we're looking at 20 years.

  03:21-03:31

  For 20 years, these northern Israel tribes, they're oppressed, they're outmanned, and they're outgunned, and we're going to see that God chose not a warrior, He chose a woman.

  03:34-03:42

  Another very unlikely hero in the book of Judges, this woman was a prophetess and a judge.

  03:43-03:45

  Look at verses 4-9 with me, please.

  03:45-03:56

  It says, "Now Deborah, a prophetess," that means she spoke revelation from God, "the wife of Lippidoth was judging Israel at that time.

  03:56-04:06

  She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel, and the hill country of Ephraim and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.

  04:07-04:42

  She sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam from Kadesh Naphtali, said to him, "Has not the Lord the God of Israel commanded you, 'Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking ten thousand people from Naphtali and the people of Zebulun, and I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand?'" Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, I will go.

  04:42-05:01

  But if you will not go with me, I will not go." And she said, "I will surely go with you, nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." You know, I used to think that she was talking about herself, and we're going to see here in a second she was not talking about herself.

  05:02-05:38

  It says, "Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh, and Barak called out Zebulun Neftali to Kadesh, and 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him." You can read verses 12 through 16. We're going to jump over those. Spoiler alert. God won the battle through Barak and his forces. But I want to jump to verse 17. Okay, so Barak, his forces win just like God predicted, just like God caused to happen. It says, "But Sisera, this was the bad guy general, but Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.

  05:39-05:43

  There was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite.

  05:44-05:48

  And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me.

  05:48-05:54

  Do not be afraid." So he turned aside to her into the tent and she covered him with a rug.

  05:54-06:07

  Okay, so she saw him fleeing and at this point didn't really know what was going on, so she's like, "Hey, I'll help you out." And he said to her, 'Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.' So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him.

  06:07-06:18

  And he said to her, 'Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, "Is anyone here?" say, "No."'" Well, that tipped her off.

  06:18-06:25

  She's being very hospitable and accommodating, but now all of a sudden she's like, "Wait a second, the battle didn't go so good for you, did it?

  06:25-06:33

  If you're on the run and please hide me kind of thing." So look at verse 21, he's like in the tent under the rug.

  06:33-06:39

  It says, "But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand.

  06:39-06:49

  Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness.

  06:50-07:10

  So he died." Now being a child of the 80s, do you remember those movies in the 80s, like right before the good guy would kill the bad guy. He'd have that really witty, cool line. You know what I'm talking about? How many people know what I'm talking about? And I have to wonder in this passage, did she have a line like that? No, I'm not going to do that again.

  07:12-07:21

  Maybe just one. I imagine she was like, "I guess you didn't realize what was at stake." All right, no more.

  07:22-07:24

  Anyways, so he died.

  07:24-07:43

  Verse 22, "And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jail went out to meet him and said to him, 'Come and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.' So he went into her tent, and there lay Sisera dead with a tent peg in his temple." So, Deborah's prophecy was fulfilled.

  07:43-07:47

  She said that Barak would win by the hand of the Lord.

  07:47-07:48

  Check, that happened.

  07:48-07:53

  She said that the Sisera would be killed by a woman. Check, that happened.

  07:53-07:57

  And Israel was free, and that's what happened.

  07:57-08:08

  So, in our days of spiritual anarchy, whether it's the days of the judges or today, we need leaders. That's what we're going to talk about today.

  08:09-08:13

  When everything's unraveling in the country, we need people to step up.

  08:13-08:20

  We need leaders. We don't need people complaining, which there are plenty of those. We don't need people withdrawing.

  08:21-08:29

  We don't need people feeling like their contribution to society is limited solely to social media memes.

  08:30-08:35

  We need godly, influential, taking initiative leaders.

  08:36-08:37

  We need leaders like Deborah.

  08:38-08:43

  You know, the book of Judges, like we talked about before, it is crazy, the stuff that we see happening.

  08:44-08:47

  But you realize with Deborah, there's not one negative thing said about this woman.

  08:48-08:52

  Absolutely remarkable, especially in the day in which she lived, not one negative thing said about her.

  08:53-08:58

  We need more leaders like her in the workplace, in the home, in the church.

  08:59-09:01

  We need leaders stepping up.

  09:02-09:08

  If you're sitting here today like, "Oh, this message is for leaders, and I'm not really a leader." Well, I'd like to correct you on that.

  09:08-09:17

  whether you're an elder in the church, or a follower of Jesus Christ in general, you're like, "I'm just a pew sitter." No, you're not.

  09:17-09:20

  You are called to lead people to Jesus Christ.

  09:20-09:21

  You're called to make disciples.

  09:22-09:24

  That requires some leadership.

  09:24-09:30

  So this message is for everyone, but especially today, in this church, I want to address our elders.

  09:31-09:33

  I want to address our ministry team leaders.

  09:33-09:35

  I want to address our small group leaders.

  09:35-09:43

  I want to address our children's workers, our worship leaders, everyone that has some position of influence or leadership.

  09:43-09:47

  I want you to listen closely because we learn a lot from Deborah here.

  09:47-09:51

  We're going to focus on verses 6-9-ish.

  09:52-09:54

  But how to be a difference-making leader.

  09:54-09:55

  I want you to jot these things down.

  09:55-09:57

  How to be a difference-making leader.

  09:58-10:00

  The first thing is you have to identify the real need.

  10:00-10:02

  You have to identify the real need.

  10:02-10:05

  Deborah was critically realistic about her situation.

  10:05-10:07

  She wasn't promoting fake news.

  10:07-10:08

  He wasn't attacking straw men.

  10:09-10:12

  But leaders can often miss the real problem.

  10:12-10:15

  And I have been so guilty of this in my own life at times.

  10:16-10:18

  But leaders can miss what the real problem is.

  10:19-10:20

  And it's partly the leader's fault.

  10:20-10:24

  And it can be partly the fault of the people that the leaders lead.

  10:24-10:25

  Like, well, how so?

  10:26-10:33

  Because sometimes leaders are leading two different types of people, and neither of which help the leader lead.

  10:34-10:37

  One type of person is the uncritical person.

  10:37-10:38

  The uncritical person.

  10:39-10:41

  The person that's just like, "I love the leader.

  10:41-10:44

  Look, everything you do is amazing.

  10:44-10:51

  You are so handsome and your breath smells like heaven.

  10:51-10:55

  And you are just..." People don't say that to me.

  10:55-10:57

  I'm just telling you things I've heard other people say about other leaders.

  10:58-11:09

  But these are the people that are never willing to have a loving but hard talk to pull that leader aside and say, "Look man, I love you, but I think you're making a wrong decision here.

  11:09-11:12

  I think we really need to think through this.

  11:12-11:12

  I think we need to pray.

  11:13-11:15

  I'm just not sure this is the right decision.

  11:16-11:17

  I want to talk through this with you.

  11:17-11:21

  I want to pray through this with you." But at the other end of the spectrum, we have uncritical people.

  11:22-11:23

  The other end of the spectrum is unloving people.

  11:24-11:25

  The people that just criticize everything.

  11:26-11:27

  "Oh look, another bonehead move.

  11:28-11:32

  Oh look, he doesn't know what he's doing." They criticize every decision.

  11:32-11:34

  They never give the benefit of the doubt.

  11:34-11:41

  They never think that maybe the leader has facts behind the decision that the general population is unaware of.

  11:42-11:45

  And both of those people make leading hard.

  11:45-11:49

  Because if you have nothing but uncritical people, you'll get stagnant, right?

  11:49-11:52

  Because you think everything's great. I don't get to change anything. I'm awesome.

  11:52-11:55

  I'm like, I'm batting a thousand on everything. I just can't miss.

  11:56-11:57

  I can't make a bad decision.

  11:57-12:00

  and you're going to get real stagnant real quick.

  12:01-12:04

  But the unloving people, they'll bring discouragement.

  12:04-12:07

  Makes the leader just walk around like, I can't do anything right, man.

  12:08-12:09

  Doesn't matter how hard I work.

  12:11-12:13

  I just can't seem to make a right decision here.

  12:14-12:16

  And neither one will help the leader lead.

  12:16-12:20

  But Deborah saw the real problem, and she had a goal.

  12:20-12:22

  She knew that she had to ask the question.

  12:22-12:26

  Every leader here needs to ask, what does real change look like?

  12:27-12:30

  What does real change have to look like?

  12:30-12:31

  We're going to talk more about that in a second.

  12:32-12:34

  First of all, you've got to identify the real need.

  12:34-12:35

  Deborah did.

  12:36-12:39

  So therefore, that letter right to number two, you've got to identify the person for the job.

  12:39-12:41

  You've got to identify the person for the job.

  12:42-12:44

  Now, Deb, obviously-- Deb.

  12:45-12:46

  Like I know her.

  12:47-12:47

  We were at the high school together.

  12:48-12:49

  I call her Deb.

  12:49-12:53

  You might know her as Deborah, but she was always just Deb down the street to me.

  12:54-12:59

  Deb knew, or she knew of, Barak, who was obviously this gifted military man, but Deb also knew something else.

  13:00-13:02

  She knew that she had some limitations, right?

  13:02-13:05

  She's like, I'm not the person for this job, but I know who is.

  13:06-13:07

  She knew who to call.

  13:07-13:10

  And she goes, okay, who has got equipped to meet the need?

  13:11-13:14

  And I get to tell you, church, we get a lot of needs right here.

  13:15-13:26

  You know, due to COVID issues and people that have had to move and people that have had to isolate for health reasons and such, Our church has lost nine children's workers.

  13:26-13:29

  And a church our size, that's a huge hit all at once.

  13:29-13:33

  Our hospitality has been working on a skeleton crew a lot of weeks.

  13:34-13:40

  We have elders that have had to step out of action currently just across the board.

  13:40-13:47

  I could keep going on and on, but across the board in our ministries, the pandemic sort of hit us all in different ways.

  13:47-13:49

  And that's one way that it has hit this church.

  13:49-13:54

  And I just wanna encourage the leaders to get praying right now, to say, "Who do I need to call upon?

  13:54-14:04

  Who has God equipped to meet this need?" You know, be like Deborah, to be like, "Okay, I got this need, now who's the person that God has called to meet that need?" Call that person.

  14:05-14:08

  Give that person a personal invite to step up and serve the Lord.

  14:09-14:11

  So identify the need and identify the person.

  14:11-14:23

  But thirdly, and this is what you're gonna see a lot of in the text here, and I wanna spend a couple minutes on this, but not only do you have to identify the need and identify the person, leaders, you know, sometimes you have to motivate that person to action.

  14:23-14:24

  I'm gonna talk about that.

  14:24-14:27

  You know, Barak put a condition on helping.

  14:28-14:29

  Did you see that?

  14:29-14:34

  He was obviously a gifted military man, but he was afraid and he put the condition on.

  14:35-14:41

  She's like, "Hey, hey, God's commanded you, let's step up." And he's like, "If you will go with me, I will go.

  14:41-14:48

  "But if you will not go with me, I will not go." And the people that we try to recruit often have a similar response.

  14:48-14:49

  Like, "Hey, I need you to step up.

  14:49-14:50

  "I need your help.

  14:50-15:17

  you to help me." And we might not say it the way Barak did. Do you know how Christians say no in a context like this? Like, "Hey, I need your help." Do you know how Christians say no? They say, "I'll pray about that. True or false? True or false? Come on. True. I'll pray about that." That's just a really polite, churchy way of saying, "I really don't want to do this, and I'm hoping that if I delay you long enough you'll find somebody else.

  15:17-15:46

  I'll pray about this. I'll pray about this. Well leader, leader like Deborah, it's on you, the leader, to motivate people to help. And I want to share with you just three things that she did for Barak that you need to do with the people that you lead. Okay? This is Biblical Motivation 101. And the first part, letter A, is you've got to confront with God's command. That's Biblical Motivation 101, confront with God's command. That was That's the first thing that Deborah said to him.

  15:46-15:50

  "Has not the Lord commanded you?" It has to start here.

  15:50-15:52

  Like, "Hey, hey, this isn't a pet project.

  15:52-16:01

  This isn't some funky, fresh program that I came up with and I want you to head it up." It's like, "Hey, hey, this is something that God has commanded.

  16:01-16:10

  So there's really no question on if we should do it." In the Harvest Bible Chapel, every ministry that we have at our church has the same goal.

  16:11-16:11

  Did you know that?

  16:12-16:14

  Every single ministry has the same goal, it's to make disciples.

  16:15-16:18

  We believe a disciple of Jesus Christ does three things.

  16:18-16:25

  A disciple worships Christ, a disciple walks with Christ, and a disciple works for Christ.

  16:25-16:33

  So everything we do as a church, we have to ask ourselves, does this have the end game of making disciples?

  16:34-16:37

  And if that's not the clear goal, we're not doing it.

  16:37-16:44

  We have to say, okay, if we're called to make disciples, every ministry we need to say, Here's how this ministry fulfills the command to make disciples.

  16:45-16:48

  And you have to notice the difference in the way you recruit.

  16:49-16:50

  You know, like our AV ministry.

  16:51-16:54

  You say, "Hey, do you want to help with AV?" That's one way to ask.

  16:54-16:55

  Here's another way to ask.

  16:56-17:01

  You know, our services are streamed and our podcasts are downloaded all over the world.

  17:01-17:09

  This ministry makes disciples by broadcasting God's Word, not just to our church, but all over the world.

  17:09-17:14

  Would you like to help make disciples by being part of a ministry that affects so many people?

  17:15-17:15

  That's a command.

  17:16-17:17

  Make disciples.

  17:17-17:20

  Or, want to volunteer to work with kids?

  17:21-17:21

  No.

  17:22-17:23

  Every church struggles with that.

  17:23-17:25

  You want to volunteer to work with kids?

  17:26-17:29

  And I think the fear is, well, if I get back in kids ministry, I'm never getting out.

  17:30-17:32

  And that's true for a couple people.

  17:33-17:33

  No.

  17:34-17:38

  At our church, we have rotating teams so that nobody's back there every week.

  17:39-17:41

  Again, we lost a lot of people. It's getting tough.

  17:42-17:44

  We don't want anybody back there every week.

  17:44-17:48

  But instead of saying, "Hey, would you like to volunteer to work with kids?" How about this?

  17:49-18:05

  How about, "Our church has been blessed with so many children, and we get the privilege of helping parents disciple their children so parents can have a distraction-free environment so they can be discipled themselves." See, it's about the mission, right?

  18:05-18:08

  When you put it that way, it's about the mission.

  18:09-18:10

  It's not like who wants to babysit.

  18:10-18:12

  Nobody wants to babysit.

  18:12-18:13

  Who wants to make disciples?

  18:14-18:19

  The answer is everybody who follows Jesus Christ better be on that agenda, right?

  18:20-18:25

  This month we have a Johnny and Friends luncheon on August 28th.

  18:25-18:27

  We could say, hey, come and have lunch with us.

  18:27-18:28

  Like, well, what are you having?

  18:29-18:29

  How about this?

  18:29-18:33

  We have an opportunity as a church and to help other churches.

  18:33-18:51

  we have an opportunity to learn how to love and make disciples of people with special needs and their families. I don't know about you, but that really fires me up to think, how can we best love this group of people in our culture that feel like they're detached?

  18:52-18:55

  So you've got to, like Deborah first of all, you've got to confront with God's command.

  18:55-19:05

  You see, it's not a matter of should we make disciples. Like, what do you think, guys, We make disciples, you're like, "Well, let me pray about that." We're commanded to do it.

  19:05-19:06

  So confront with God's command.

  19:06-19:07

  That's the first thing Deborah did.

  19:08-19:11

  Second thing she did for Barak was she strengthened with God's promise.

  19:12-19:13

  Strengthened with God's promise.

  19:14-19:17

  Deborah reminded Barak that the Lord promised to win the victory.

  19:18-19:18

  And I love that.

  19:19-19:24

  That Deb didn't go to him like, "Hey, we have this big military campaign.

  19:24-19:25

  We need you to...

  19:26-19:27

  Good luck, man.

  19:28-20:05

  everything works out and you know keep in touch and I guess we'll just give it a try we'll just see how it goes that wasn't it at all she goes hey victory has already been promised so go and you know church that's the message that we need reminded and I would suggest to you it's way more than victory has been promised for us church victory has been accomplished you realize that it's not Let's engage in ministry and battle the enemy and put on the armor of God and hope we don't have casualties.

  20:05-20:08

  Victory has already been accomplished through Jesus Christ.

  20:08-20:12

  When He died on the cross, victory has been accomplished for eternity.

  20:14-20:36

  Last month, as many of you know, the pastor who trained me in everything in ministry, Pastor Bob Huber, he went to be with the Lord on July 4th, I was able to visit with him a couple of days before, and we were talking, and you know, just about at that time not knowing time frame or how much longer or what they're going to do for treatment.

  20:36-20:47

  We were sort of having that conversation, you know, and he just took a deep breath and he said, "Jeff, no matter what happens, I win." And he certainly did.

  20:48-20:55

  But I've got to tell you, that's one of my favorite things about serving Jesus Christ, you're winning the second you start serving.

  20:55-20:58

  Because sin and Satan were defeated at the cross.

  20:58-21:02

  The gospel is victorious whether it's accepted or rejected.

  21:03-21:07

  He who is within you is greater than he who is in the world.

  21:08-21:13

  And the worst thing that anyone can do to you is kill you and send you straight to heaven.

  21:13-21:15

  So strengthen with God's promise.

  21:16-21:19

  Like hey, hey, hey, look, victory's already been won.

  21:20-21:24

  What God's calling you to do is just show up and watch Him win.

  21:24-21:28

  And that's what we're calling you to do in ministry at the church.

  21:28-21:29

  Like look, show up.

  21:30-21:35

  Show up and watch God do what God does and you will be blown away.

  21:36-21:38

  How to be a difference making leader.

  21:38-21:42

  We're talking about Biblical Motivation 101, letter C. Encourage with your presence.

  21:43-21:44

  Remember Barak put his condition on.

  21:44-21:54

  She's like, "Well, you know, if you'll go with me, I will go, but if you'll not go with me, I will not go." And verse 9, "And she said, 'I will surely go with you.

  21:55-21:56

  Encourage with your presence.

  21:56-22:02

  And like Deborah, tell the people that you recruit and motivate, like, 'Hey, I'll be with you.

  22:02-22:03

  We'll do this together.

  22:04-22:07

  We'll do this together.'" Now, let's just be honest here.

  22:07-22:09

  Barak should not have needed this.

  22:09-22:10

  He shouldn't have.

  22:11-22:14

  And he absolutely should not have put conditions on helping, right?

  22:15-22:17

  Putting conditions on serving the Lord is a bad idea.

  22:18-22:21

  So yes, he was clearly in the wrong, but you have to see, what did Deb do?

  22:23-22:27

  She knew he was afraid, so she threw him a bone. She's like, "Okay, alright.

  22:27-22:39

  I will go with you." The question was, back up a second, if he was such a gifted military man, why was he afraid, right? Why did he need Deb to be with him?

  22:40-22:41

  I don't know, maybe he lacked faith.

  22:42-22:45

  Maybe he was just scared of the Canaanites.

  22:45-22:52

  Maybe, maybe he knew that Israel would rally around him if they knew Deborah was with him.

  22:52-22:53

  I don't know.

  22:54-23:00

  But one thing I do know for sure from this passage, it's a huge problem for Barak, can't be for us too.

  23:01-23:03

  Barak trusted Deborah more than he trusted God.

  23:04-23:04

  That's a problem.

  23:06-23:08

  He trusted Deborah more than he trusted God.

  23:09-23:09

  Did you catch that?

  23:10-23:28

  She's like, "Hey, God Almighty, the ruler of heaven and earth, the sovereign, transcended, majestic King of Kings has promised you the victory." And he's like, "Will you go with me?" Like, "What do you need me for?" He trusted Deborah more than he trusted God.

  23:28-23:30

  And we can fall into the same trap, church.

  23:30-23:40

  Honestly, God calls us to step out and do something, and we can look to people, and We can look to bank accounts, and we can look to our resources first.

  23:41-23:50

  "Well, if this is going to happen, who do I need to call to fund this?" Or, "Who do I know that's going to be able to..." And we start to, instead of seeking the Lord, we seek other people.

  23:51-23:54

  And yes, God uses people, not discounting that at all.

  23:54-24:07

  But it becomes a question of, "Where's your trust, really?" "Where's your trust, really, Christian?" "Is your trust in Jesus Christ totally, fully, completely?" Because you don't take Deborah to the cross with you. You know that.

  24:08-24:17

  When you come to Jesus Christ, Deborah's not with you, your grandma's not with you, your mom's not with you. You come to the cross yourself.

  24:18-24:25

  And the call for you to trust God, His provision through Jesus Christ, that's a decision that you have to make.

  24:26-24:29

  But that trust, that has to come from you. You have to trust.

  24:30-24:32

  Trust in Jesus Christ more than you trust in Deborah.

  24:34-24:38

  But leaders, nevertheless, sometimes people don't step up, right?

  24:38-24:39

  We know that.

  24:39-24:40

  Sometimes people don't.

  24:40-24:42

  Sometimes people are afraid.

  24:43-24:50

  "Well, they asked me to help out in this ministry and I don't really know what I'm doing." For some people it's just disobedience, like, "Nah, you know what?

  24:50-24:53

  I like to sleep in on Sunday." And it's just disobedience.

  24:53-24:55

  And for some people it's just apathy.

  24:55-24:57

  Like, "Yeah, yeah, I see that they...

  24:57-25:01

  Yeah, they have that big need there, but that's not really my problem." It's just apathy. I don't really care.

  25:04-25:08

  Sometimes we have to walk with people to encourage them to become stronger in their faith.

  25:09-25:10

  I think that's what Deborah did.

  25:11-25:17

  She could have just sent him out the door and said, "You don't need me, pal. You have the Lord." But she's like, "You know what? He's not there yet.

  25:18-25:21

  I'll help him get there." Leaders, sometimes you have to do that.

  25:22-25:24

  Sometimes you have to do that.

  25:24-25:28

  We are all a work in progress and some of us are further down the road than others.

  25:31-25:35

  And then finally, number four, develop and execute a clear plan.

  25:36-25:40

  That's what Deb did. She had a specific plan that was from the Lord.

  25:41-25:55

  We're going to get 10,000 people from Neftali and Zebulun, and God says, "I'm going to draw Sisera out to the river." And you can read in chapter 5 the song of praise that resulted from the victory, and it gives us some more details about what the Lord did, which is incredible.

  25:56-25:57

  Incredible. Incredible.

  25:58-26:03

  You know, we talked about Ehud had this handicap that turned into his advantage.

  26:04-26:14

  Well, what happened in this story is the Canaanites had the chariots, but when they got to the river, God sent a storm, because the riverbed was dry and the mud got all their chariots stuck.

  26:15-26:22

  So we go from Ehud having the handicap that turned into an advantage, to the Canaanites that had the advantage of the chariots that turned into a handicap.

  26:23-26:26

  That's how God works. He's sovereign.

  26:26-26:29

  That was the plan. Anyone can see a need.

  26:30-26:34

  But it's quite another thing to seek the Lord's plan to meet the need.

  26:35-26:39

  And leaders, I just want to encourage you here, people do not get behind ambiguity.

  26:40-26:41

  They just don't.

  26:43-26:44

  People don't get behind ambiguity.

  26:45-26:47

  Like, "Hey, I have this plan. We're going to do this ministry.

  26:47-26:53

  We're going to reach families with special needs." Like, "Well, how are we going to do that?" I don't know. But do you want to help me?

  26:55-27:01

  Um, no. You don't even know what you're doing. How are you going to tell me how to help?

  27:01-27:06

  People don't get behind ambiguity, but people will get behind a clear plan, right?

  27:06-27:08

  Okay, Barak, here's the plan. You're going to go to these tribes.

  27:09-27:11

  You're going to get these many people. You're going to go to this place.

  27:11-27:14

  And that's where God is going to win your battle.

  27:14-27:17

  So the mission that Jesus gave us, it hasn't changed.

  27:18-27:26

  But in our day of wickedness, our day of pandemic, it's just become more obvious how badly it's needed.

  27:27-27:37

  And as I've said, as we've lost people due to moving or isolating, the laborers in the field have become fewer while our needs have become greater.

  27:38-27:41

  I just want to challenge you today, hey, you know, you have to step up.

  27:42-27:44

  Leaders, step up.

  27:44-27:54

  Those of you who are born again, but haven't been actively serving Christ, step up! It's time to make a difference.

  27:55-27:56

  It's time to lead like Deborah.

  27:57-27:58

  I'd like you to bow your heads with me, please.

  28:01-28:12

  And while the worship team comes up, you know, this is something specifically that Jesus told us to pray, that the Lord of the harvest would raise up workers for the field, as we close our time in the Word.

  28:12-28:13

  I just want to do that.

  28:14-28:24

  Can we unite in that prayer to say, "God, please fulfill Your mission by raising up Your people." Would you pray that with me, please?

  28:25-28:32

  Father in heaven, as we come together today, we see another amazing story in Your Word about the way You showed up.

  28:32-28:33

  God, You use people.

  28:34-28:37

  God, I thank You we have a lot of people in this church that are like Deborah.

  28:38-28:39

  They take initiative and they have a plan.

  28:40-28:45

  But God, we have a lot of people that are like Barak, that are called, but are afraid.

  28:47-28:49

  Father, we just want to ask you now, please.

  28:50-28:54

  We're asking, Father, because this is what Jesus told us to pray.

  28:55-28:59

  We're asking that you, the Lord of the harvest, would raise up workers for the field.

  29:01-29:07

  That God, you would find us faithful to help encourage and equip and strengthen.

  29:08-29:11

  But God, ultimately, that has to come from You.

  29:12-29:20

  That heart change, that heart to serve, that drive to step out in faith, Father, that has to come from You.

  29:21-29:35

  So we're asking, Father, that You would invigorate us with a fresh enthusiasm, with a fresh urgency for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the mission of making disciples.

  29:36-29:43

  God, I thank you ahead of time because you have never failed to provide for this church anything that we've needed to serve you.

  29:44-29:46

  I thank you for the way you're going to provide this.

  29:46-29:47

  Thank you, God.

  29:48-29:51

  Thank you, Father. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Judges 4:4-9, 17-22 (or all of chapter 4)

1. What was your big “takeaway” from this passage / message?
   

2. Why do you think Deborah was called to be a judge? Many people cite this story to validate women as pastors. Do you believe that is valid? Why or why not?
   

3. Why are people often afraid to step up and serve God? How can we motivate them to, in the way that Deborah motivated Barak?
   

Breakout
Pray for one another.

God Uses Limitations.

Introduction:

How to Conquer Dominating Sins (Judges 3:12-30):

1. Go after the Biggest sin first. (Judges 3:15-23).

   Romans 8:13 - ...if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

2. Recruit Others to help you. (Judges 3:27).
3. Believe Victory has already been won. (Judges 3:28)
4. Don't stop Fighting . (Judges 3:29)

   Matthew 3:8 - Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

5. Make no Excuses . (Judges 3:15-23)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:43-00:49

  Open up your Bibles with me, please, to the book of Judges in your Old Testaments and in chapter 3.

  00:50-00:53

  We'll be picking up in about verse 12.

  00:56-01:05

  We started this series last week looking at a chapter of Israel's life when she was only partially obedient.

  01:07-01:11

  And that led to a cycle that you see throughout the book of Judges.

  01:12-01:14

  Over and over and over.

  01:16-01:17

  Israel turns to idols.

  01:19-01:23

  So God sends an enemy nation to conquer Israel.

  01:24-01:26

  Well, Israel cries out, "God, we're sorry!

  01:28-01:33

  Please do something about this!" So God raises up a judge.

  01:34-01:36

  The judge saves Israel.

  01:37-01:38

  Peace in the land.

  01:40-01:42

  And Israel turns to idols.

  01:43-01:44

  Rinse and repeat.

  01:45-02:00

  Now, when we think "judges," when we hear that word, I think a lot of us might immediately think of like the person in the black robe administering justice in a court, right?

  02:00-02:02

  Some of you are thinking of Judge Judy.

  02:03-02:07

  A judge was not that type of judge.

  02:07-02:10

  In the book of Judges, a judge was a military hero.

  02:11-02:16

  It's somebody that became a leader because of a crisis.

  02:17-02:30

  And judges did heroic feats, often with much violence and improvised weapons to swoop in and save the day.

  02:30-02:35

  Judges were actually kind of like superheroes.

  02:37-02:43

  Today we're looking at the second judge in Israel.

  02:43-02:45

  Let's pick up in v. 12.

  02:47-02:53

  It says, "And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

  02:53-03:03

  And the Lord strengthened Eglon I'm thinking of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

  03:05-03:07

  Stop right there and notice something.

  03:07-03:08

  You can't miss this.

  03:09-03:18

  The Lord was the one who brought hardship to Israel to turn Israel back to Him.

  03:18-03:20

  And did you see how God chose to do it?

  03:20-03:23

  He strengthened a wicked leader.

  03:25-03:33

  He appointed a horrible person to be leader over Israel.

  03:34-03:38

  And I would just ask you, do you think God still does that today?

  03:40-03:48

  When we refuse to turn from our sin, that God says, "Ok." And He strengthens a godless person.

  03:51-03:52

  Picking up v. 13.

  03:55-04:04

  "He," this is talking about Eglon, king of Moab, "he gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites and went and defeated Israel.

  04:04-04:06

  And they took possession of the city of Palms.

  04:07-04:24

  And the people of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, eighteen years." So this king Eglon of Moab, he linked up with two other enemy nations, the Ammonites, the Amalekites, and he took the city of Palms, which is probably Jericho.

  04:27-04:30

  Verse 15, "Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

  04:32-04:41

  And the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gerah, a Benjaminite, a left-handed man.

  04:43-04:59

  "The people of Israel sent tribute by him," by Ehud, "to Eglon, the king of Moab." Okay, so the people cried out to God, and God raised up this man, this Ehud, and he was sent to pay tribute.

  04:59-05:02

  That was basically the tax to the enemy king.

  05:04-05:14

  Look at verse 16, it says, "Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes." Okay, here's where the story gets really interesting.

  05:16-05:25

  So Ehud had this 18-inch long - that was a cubit - an 18-inch long sword that it says he concealed it on his right side.

  05:25-05:27

  Like, well, what's the significance of that?

  05:27-05:31

  Well, he concealed it where they wouldn't have checked.

  05:33-05:35

  Keep in mind, they didn't have metal detectors.

  05:38-05:46

  But because Ehud was left-handed, he was able to conceal it where they weren't expecting.

  05:48-05:50

  Look at v. 17.

  05:50-05:59

  It says, "And Ehud presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab." Now, Eglon was a very fat man.

  06:02-06:05

  I don't think the Bible's just fat-shaming here.

  06:05-06:10

  I think it's just telling us this is how it is, alright?

  06:11-06:17

  Some of us have some more pounds on us than we need, myself included, but Eglon was a very fat man.

  06:19-06:20

  How fat was he?

  06:22-06:26

  When Eglon was in school, he sat beside everybody.

  06:30-06:33

  Now the story gets really strange.

  06:33-06:34

  Look at v. 18.

  06:35-06:41

  and when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute.

  06:42-06:57

  But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." And he commanded, "Silence!" And all his attendants went out from his presence.

  07:00-07:02

  Dumb, okay?

  07:03-07:13

  You have a guy from the nation that you conquered, say, "Hey, I want to tell you something private." And you're like, "Okay, everybody leave.

  07:13-07:18

  I'm sure it's going to be something nice." It's just dumb. Right?

  07:19-07:20

  Look at v. 20.

  07:21-07:27

  It says, "And Ehud came to Him as He was sitting alone in His cool roof chamber.

  07:28-07:32

  And Ehud said, I have a message from God for you.

  07:33-07:34

  "And he arose from his seat.

  07:35-07:41

  And he had reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.

  07:41-07:47

  And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade.

  07:48-08:02

  For he did not pull the sword out of his belly, and the dung came out." I'm just going to stop here for a second, because I'm a product of the 80s.

  08:04-08:07

  And do you remember those action movies in the 80s?

  08:07-08:12

  Right before the bad guy was killed by the hero.

  08:13-08:14

  You know what I'm talking about?

  08:14-08:15

  The hero gave that line.

  08:15-08:16

  You know what I'm talking about?

  08:16-08:17

  Are you with me?

  08:17-08:22

  He gave that really cool line right before you finish off the bad guy.

  08:22-08:23

  You know what I'm talking about?

  08:25-08:26

  Come on, don't leave me up here.

  08:27-08:29

  "I don't watch movies, Pastor Jeff.

  08:29-08:32

  I read Scripture and fast all day." Come on.

  08:33-08:34

  Do you know what I'm talking about?

  08:35-08:36

  Thank you.

  08:37-08:50

  But I had to wonder as I read this if Ehud would have given one of those lines, this would have been the perfect chance because he's like, "Hey, I've got a message for you from God."

  08:51-08:51

  (blows raspberry)

  08:53-08:54

  Do you get the point?

  08:58-09:02

  Or maybe it was this one, it was, hey, I got a message for you from God.

  09:02-09:03

  Pulls the sword out.

  09:04-09:04

  (blows raspberry)

  09:06-09:10

  Egon, did you ever get that feeling in your gut?

  09:11-09:13

  Okay, that one didn't work either.

  09:13-09:14

  All right, so let's try this one.

  09:15-09:18

  So, hey, I got a secret message for you from God.

  09:18-09:23

  And he pulls the sword out and Because I'm sure that's how it sounded going through all that fat.

  09:26-09:29

  And he said, "What's the matter, your highness?

  09:31-09:37

  Don't have the stomach for this?" It was a lot funnier in my head.

  09:40-09:43

  At this point in the message I was going to say, "What about you?

  09:43-09:47

  Can you think of a great line to insert here?" and then I thought, no, I know these people.

  09:47-09:49

  Don't offer that up.

  09:50-09:52

  In fact, don't email it to me either.

  09:53-09:55

  Because I'm sure you have some doozies.

  09:58-09:59

  But yeah, that happened.

  09:59-10:00

  Let's look at verse 23.

  10:01-10:08

  It says, "Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.

  10:10-10:22

  And when he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, surely, he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.

  10:24-10:28

  And they waited until they were embarrassed.

  10:29-10:43

  But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their Lord dead on the floor." If this is your first time here, I certainly hope it's not your last.

  10:45-10:47

  I was thinking about that this week.

  10:47-10:53

  If we have visitors or guests this week, this is a strange sermon to be walking into.

  10:54-10:55

  What did you guys talk about?

  10:56-11:00

  Some king got the crap stabbed out of him and locked in a bathroom stall.

  11:01-11:02

  That's in the Bible?

  11:02-11:04

  Yeah, it's in the Bible.

  11:04-11:08

  And you see what happened here was the servants come.

  11:08-11:17

  So Ehad locks dead Eglon in the cool chamber, essentially it's like the bathroom stall, and he locks and he leaves.

  11:17-11:34

  So the servants come back and they caught the smell of the dung, using the biblical word, and they saw that the doors were locked, so they put two and two together, and they're like, well obviously he's in there going to the bathroom.

  11:35-11:38

  And it says they waited until they were embarrassed.

  11:38-11:40

  I mean, how do you think that conversation went?

  11:40-11:47

  The servants are all just kind of standing around, like, it's been like 45 minutes, why don't you knock and see if he's okay?

  11:47-11:51

  Like, no, you don't disturb the king while he's about his royal business.

  11:51-11:54

  You knock, I'm not knocking, let's just wait.

  11:54-11:56

  And they waited so long, they were kind of embarrassed.

  11:56-12:02

  Like, this is, we've been standing here forever, and the king is still in there, and we still, get the scene?

  12:02-12:03

  You're like, well, okay.

  12:05-12:08

  Why is that detail in there? Right?

  12:09-12:13

  Why did God feel it necessary that we have this detail?

  12:14-12:15

  Here's why.

  12:17-12:21

  It gave Ehud time to escape. You see?

  12:22-12:25

  That's the reason this detail's in here.

  12:25-12:34

  It's showing God's providence that the servants came and they smelled, and they assumed, and they waited until...

  12:34-12:40

  And during all that time of them just kind of waiting around, it gave Ehud all the time in the world to get out of there.

  12:41-12:51

  It's just God showing us sometimes He works in very strange ways to us.

  12:53-12:54

  Look at v. 26.

  12:56-13:02

  "Ehud escaped." Well, they delayed and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Sierra.

  13:04-13:07

  "When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim.

  13:07-13:12

  Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader.

  13:12-13:24

  And he said to them, 'Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand.' So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over.

  13:25-13:30

  And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men.

  13:30-13:48

  Not a man escaped." "The Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest for 80 years." That is a wild story.

  13:50-13:59

  And as we read and study and preach God's Word, we have to acknowledge it's in there for a reason, right?

  14:01-14:09

  I mean, when God gives us these things in His Word, there's some edification point for us, right?

  14:09-14:19

  God's not just like, "Hey, I want to tell you a really hilarious story one time about this really fat guy that got stabbed." There's a reason that it's in there.

  14:22-14:26

  And I guess it's my job to help you see what it's teaching.

  14:30-14:32

  Well, here's the thing.

  14:35-14:45

  We saw clear back at the beginning of this passage that this whole account was the result of sin.

  14:46-14:49

  It was all the result of sin.

  14:49-14:52

  Israel did evil what was in the eyes of the Lord.

  14:55-14:59

  And because it was sin, it had to be dealt with on that level.

  14:59-15:03

  You have to understand, this story isn't about nation versus nation.

  15:03-15:04

  That's not what this story is about.

  15:05-15:13

  This story is about Almighty God delivering His people from sin and the consequences of their sin.

  15:13-15:15

  That's what this story is about.

  15:15-15:26

  Therefore, when sin conquers us, which we have to fight to conquer it.

  15:29-15:33

  The way Ehud was raised up to fight and conquer.

  15:34-15:48

  So on your outline, "How to Conquer Dominating Sins." I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but how many of you in here would say right now I'm in a season in my life where it seems like sins are dominating me.

  15:49-15:51

  My life isn't really right now.

  15:51-15:53

  It's not a pattern of righteousness.

  15:54-15:58

  And it's not a pattern of really seeking the Lord as I should.

  15:58-16:04

  Really right now my life is dominated by sin, and God does not want you living there.

  16:05-16:06

  So how do I get out of there?

  16:07-16:17

  Well, there's five principles we see right here from Ehud that I want to give to you if you're in that place right now.

  16:17-16:19

  Number one, go after the biggest sin first.

  16:21-16:23

  Go after the biggest sin first.

  16:23-16:25

  Notice, Ehud went straight to the top.

  16:25-16:27

  He went right to the source of the problem.

  16:27-16:31

  He wasn't like, okay, Moabites, I'm gonna pick them off one at a time, work my way to the top.

  16:32-16:33

  Ehud's like, here's my plan.

  16:33-16:35

  I'm going after the fat guy first.

  16:35-16:36

  I'm going straight to the top.

  16:36-16:40

  I'm gonna take him out, and he's the source of the problem.

  16:42-16:48

  You know, it's true, spiritually, if you feel like your life is a mess, You have a lot of areas spinning out of control.

  16:49-16:52

  I would encourage you to identify the biggest problem and go after that one first.

  16:55-17:07

  The sin that seems to be causing you the most problem, you need to go after that sin and you need to pull out your sword and you need to stab that one right in the gut and you need to let the...

  17:10-17:12

  Like, okay, okay, okay, Pastor Jeff.

  17:12-17:20

  Why all the really gross details about the bodily stuff?

  17:23-17:29

  And I know we kind of laughed and had some fun with it, but this is where it gets serious.

  17:30-17:33

  Why all these really disgusting, gross details?

  17:35-17:41

  And I think it's the Lord telling us and showing us Sin is never pretty.

  17:42-17:49

  And dealing with sin often requires a measure of ruthlessness.

  17:51-17:52

  And sometimes it just gets ugly.

  17:57-18:00

  Is that a teaching in the New Testament?

  18:00-18:01

  You better believe it is.

  18:01-18:09

  Romans 8.13 says, "If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." Notice the wording here.

  18:09-18:14

  What are you supposed to do with the deeds of the body or the sinful deeds of your flesh?

  18:14-18:15

  What are you supposed to do?

  18:15-18:17

  Not coddle them.

  18:17-18:19

  Not ask them nicely to leave.

  18:20-18:21

  Not tolerate them.

  18:23-18:25

  The Bible says you need to kill that stuff.

  18:27-18:28

  Put it to death.

  18:28-18:42

  And you're going to find that if you seek the Lord's help for repentance in regards to the biggest sin struggle in your life, It gets so much easier to take on the others.

  18:44-18:46

  It's like Ehud going right after Eglon.

  18:47-18:48

  Start at the top.

  18:49-18:49

  Start there.

  18:52-18:55

  You take that one out, you're gonna find taking the other ones out a lot easier.

  18:56-18:59

  Number two, recruit others to help you.

  19:02-19:06

  Ehud knew he wasn't going to be able to destroy all of the Moabites himself, right?

  19:08-19:08

  Right?

  19:09-19:13

  This is a large group of people and they have this alliance and there's all this...

  19:13-19:18

  He knew he wasn't going to do it all himself, so we saw in the story, he sounded the trumpet.

  19:20-19:26

  And you too, born-again believer in Jesus Christ, I'm speaking to you, you are called to be a part of a body.

  19:28-19:34

  Being a Christian, apart from being part of a church, is completely foreign to the New Testament.

  19:34-19:35

  It just is.

  19:36-19:36

  I don't see that.

  19:39-19:41

  You are called to be a part of the body.

  19:41-19:47

  And when I say be part of the body, I don't just mean attending church, not your once a week check-in.

  19:48-19:52

  What I mean is your primary relationships should be found in the church.

  19:55-19:56

  Small group ministry.

  19:57-20:00

  Accountability with other believers in the church.

  20:00-20:03

  The church carrying each other's burdens.

  20:03-20:05

  None of us are meant to do this on our own.

  20:05-20:05

  None of us.

  20:06-20:08

  Because none of us can do it on our own.

  20:10-20:12

  There's no shame in asking for help.

  20:12-20:14

  There's only defeat in refusing to ask for help.

  20:16-20:17

  So recruit others to help you.

  20:18-20:21

  How to conquer dominating sins thirdly, believe victory has already been won.

  20:23-20:29

  Now yeah, this is a story about Ehud using his cleverness with the whole hidden sword thing.

  20:31-20:32

  But he knew.

  20:34-20:36

  Maybe the battle was the Lord's from the very beginning.

  20:37-20:39

  He knew that He was raised up for this.

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  And by all accounts, we see in the story, Ehud went forth in the confidence that the Lord had already given him the victory.

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  You see that?

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  There was no wavering or hesitation.

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  He's like, hey, God's got a job for me to do and I am doing it.

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  The victory had already been won.

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  And church, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, Sin was defeated.

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  Once and for all.

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  And I've got to tell you, when you're battling sin, you're fighting an enemy that's already lost.

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  He just didn't get the memo yet.

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  The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ lives within you, and He continues to give you the victory.

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  You're a new creation in Jesus Christ.

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  And you have every resource you need Because you have Him.

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  And church, do you believe that?

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  And I have to ask if we truly believe it because many Christians resolve themselves to defeat.

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  They have this besetting sin in their life and they just kind of throw their arms up and say, "Well, I guess I'm never going to have victory over this." And if that's your attitude, I've got to ask you, are you saying that you don't think Jesus supplies the power to conquer that?

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  Or are you unwilling to allow Him to reign?

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  Because it's one or the other.

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  But it has to start with believing that victory has already been won.

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  You have to believe that.

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  Sin and Satan and death were destroyed at the cross of Jesus Christ.

  22:20-22:22

  They have no power or dominion over you.

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  And you've got to believe that if you're going to have victory over sin.

  22:30-22:33

  "I've conquered dominating sins." Number four, don't stop fighting.

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  You notice in this story today, Ehud didn't throw himself a parade after stabbing Eglon.

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  Like, "Woohoo! Kill the gang! Let's party!" No, he's like, "No, no, no." That was step one.

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  And church, one battle doesn't win the war.

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  Christians, repentance is not a one-time thing.

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  Did you know that?

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  Some people think, "I repented when I came to Jesus." Awesome.

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  But it's not just a one-time thing.

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  Biblically, repentance is an everyday thing.

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  Matthew 3:8 says, "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." It's a daily thing.

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  It's a lifestyle.

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  continually turning from sin as long as I live in this sinful flesh.

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  I've got to keep turning from sin.

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  Because coming to Jesus Christ is not the end of my battle with sin.

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  It's the beginning of spiritual warfare.

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  A war, as we've discussed, it's already been won.

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  So I want to tell you, if you're struggling with sin, do not stop fighting.

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  Like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, I had a really bad day yesterday." Oh, did you?

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  Well, yesterday's over, and the fight continues today.

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  So get back in there, in the victory of Jesus Christ, and in the power of His Holy Spirit, and fight!

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  It's not over!

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  It's not over!

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  Don't let a setback get you out of the game.

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  Keep fighting.

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  How to conquer dominating sins, number five.

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  Make no excuses.

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  Do you know probably the most important detail about this story, aside from the Lord being sovereign over the whole thing?

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  Yes, we get that. We understand that.

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  Besides that, the most important detail of the story, do you see what it was?

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  It was that Ehud was left-handed.

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  How many of you here are left-handed weirdos?

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  I'm just kidding about weirdos, kind of.

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  Keep them up, keep them up, because we want to make sure.

  24:54-24:55

  Brooke, write these people down.

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  Sarah, really? Really?

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  All your life?

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  Gosh, you think you know somebody.

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  I'm teasing, obviously.

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  You know, I'm sure our left-handed friends would tell you, but sometimes being left-handed can be a nuisance or inconvenient, right?

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  Because much of the world is crafted for right-handed people, because we're great.

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  But in Ehud's day, in Ehud's day, being left-handed was considered a defect.

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  You're like, "Really?" "Yeah." "Really?" Well, actually, even a generation ago, being left-handed was often considered a defect.

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  When I was at my old church, there was this lady, she was an atheist, a proud atheist, who would come to my office just to fight with me.

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  We had good times.

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  But she, one of her big hangups was she told me she went to Catholic school growing up and she was left handed.

  26:18-26:20

  And she told me this story so many times.

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  She said she was left handed and when she'd go to write, the nuns would come along with their ruler or piece of wood or whatever and crack her on the wrist really hard.

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  And say, "No, you have to write right handed, not left handed." She said they always made me feel like I was a freak for writing left-handed.

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  I know it might sound silly to us, but that was such a thing to her.

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  That was seriously traumatizing.

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  This is how they treated me.

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  This is who I am, and they treated me like I was defected.

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  That's how it was in Ehud's day.

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  Oh, you're left-handed, huh? I'm sorry.

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  Sorry to hear that.

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  And you can study the history of that.

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  This is so many examples of left-handedness being such a bad thing, right?

  27:13-27:15

  I want to give you one more example, though.

  27:15-27:17

  You know the word "sinister"?

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  Sinister, that means wicked or evil.

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  Sinister.

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  You know where that word comes from?

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  It's a Latin word that means left-handed.

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  I kid you not.

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  So all you people that raised your hand a couple minutes ago, sinister.

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  Well, Ehud could have tried to bow out.

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  Like, you know what, yes, yes, yes, we got Moab, and we got Eglon.

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  And I wish I could do something, but I got this defect.

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  And really not much-- I can't really face the enemy, because I have this handicap.

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  And really what you see is he had used his defect as a weapon instead of an excuse.

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  Right?

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  And I would say for us too, when it's time to go to battle, let's bag the excuses.

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  I can't defeat this sin.

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  I'm just unable and you don't know the stuff that I've had to endure.

  28:25-28:26

  But you know what, let's bag the excuses.

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  It's time to go to battle with sin.

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  Make no excuses.

  28:36-28:39

  Right now I would ask if the worship team would come forward.

  28:40-28:42

  I'd ask if our elders would come forward.

  28:42-28:44

  We're going to gather around the Lord's table.

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  And I'm going to give you instructions for that in a minute.

  28:51-28:55

  But you know, this whole story that we looked at today, you know what it really boils down to.

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  If you were going to sum up the story in a sentence, Ehad's story boils down to this.

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  Once upon a time, a left-handed man used his left-handedness to kill the enemy.

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  And you know, so many of us are defeated by things in our lives that are no more significant than being left-handed.

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  And it's a great source of encouragement to me.

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  When you turn to God's Word, you know, there are so many examples in Scripture of defective people that God used to change the world.

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  Right?

  29:41-29:42

  Do you remember Moses?

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  He's like, "I've got this speech thing going on, God, you're going to have to call somebody else." I was like, "No, I'm calling you." Defective. Changed the world.

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  People like David.

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  We talked about him last week in Bible school.

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  Here's the little kid bringing the lunch.

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  And youngest of the brothers, the shepherd kid.

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  Rocked the giant to sleep.

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  And then you turn in your New Testament, so many other examples, I turn in the New Testament to Paul, who in 2 Corinthians 12 talked about this thorn in the flesh that constantly made him feel weak.

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  As we come to the Lord's table, I want to remind you of a couple of things.

  30:36-30:38

  One is that God uses limitations.

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  So often in Scripture, God chooses people He chooses methods that I probably wouldn't.

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  And He does it so that no flesh can glory in His presence.

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  So if you're sitting here today and you're like, "You know what, Pastor Jeff, sometimes I feel a little handicapped.

  30:59-31:01

  Sometimes I feel a little limited.

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  Sometimes I feel like I don't have what it takes." I've got great news for you.

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  Your limitations don't disqualify you.

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  Actually, it's your limitations that qualify you.

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  And we come to the Lord's table again so that we might take our eyes off of ourselves.

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  Because this brings us back to the reality that it doesn't matter what we think we have gone through for us.

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  It doesn't matter what we think is going against us, because coming to the Lord's table is our reminder that nothing in us is sufficient, but everything in Jesus Christ is.

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  2 Corinthians 3:4-5 as such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.

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  Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us.

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  He says, but our sufficiency is from God.

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  I want you to bow your heads with me please.

  32:30-32:32

  The worship team is going to play quietly.

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  And I want to lead us in a prayer.

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  and then we're going to the Lord's table together.

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  Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word.

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  And Father, to our minds and to our experiences, this account that we read today on the surface just seems like a very strange story to read in the Bible, but there it is.

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  Because God, Your Word is real.

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  And Your Word certainly isn't painting a portrait these people as being these squeaky clean, living on easy street, detached from earth kind of people.

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  These are people who had to learn to trust you, had to learn to do battle with the enemy, and yes, sometimes it got ugly.

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  Father, as we gather around Your table today, let this be our reminder that sin is already defeated once and for all.

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  Death has lost its sting, and Satan is on borrowed time.

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  Let us gather around Your table, Father, because it takes our eyes off of ourselves and puts them on Jesus Christ.

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  He won the victory.

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  He supplies the power.

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  He is coming again.

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  And He is making all things new.

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  Father, we thank You and we praise You.

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  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Judges 3:12-30

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Read Judges 3:16-25. Why do you think the Lord provided so many graphic details in this account?
   

3. Explain how going after the most dominant sin in your life can help you attack other sins, too. (Judges 3:15-25)

Breakout
Have you ever felt that you had some limitation that would keep the Lord from using you? What was / is it? How does the story of Ehud speak to that?

Pray for one another.