FBCPS
Sermons, teachings, and podcasts from First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
FBCPS
When Life is Relentless | Judges 6-8
Life hits hard sometimes. Wave after wave crashes in—work pressure that never lets up, family needs that drain you dry, health concerns with no end in sight, financial storms that keep brewing, or temptations that seem to know exactly when you're vulnerable.
What do we do when life feels this relentless? Through Gideon's remarkable journey from hiding in a winepress to leading 300 men against an army of 135,000, we discover something profound about God's heart for the overwhelmed. He doesn't seek out the confident, capable warriors—He creates warriors out of the fearful and inadequate.
The story reveals five typical responses when life overwhelms: working harder, retreating, emotional breakdown, complaining, or depending on God. Only the last option leads to genuine victory. What makes this message so powerful is seeing how God addressed Gideon not as the fearful man he was but as the "mighty warrior" God knew he could become.
Most striking is how God intentionally reduced Gideon's army from 32,000 to just 300 men—creating impossible odds of 450 enemies to every 1 Israelite. Why? Because God wanted to demonstrate unmistakably that victory would come through divine strength, not human capability. Your inadequacy isn't a problem for God—it's His canvas.
The cautionary ending shows Gideon's spiritual decline after success, revealing that we need God just as desperately in our victories as in our struggles—perhaps even more so. Whether facing relentless sin, fear, idols, battles or success, the answer remains consistent: pursue, believe, worship, follow and submit to Jesus with a relentlessness that exceeds whatever challenges you face.
Are you hiding in a winepress of fear today? God sees you as a mighty warrior. Your battles belong to Him, and His love for you is more relentless than anything life throws your way. Join our community as we learn to depend on God completely when life won't quit.
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Well, good morning and put your hands together. If you're excited to be in church this morning, or if you're glad you came to church this morning, I'm happy you came to church. It is so good to see all of your smiling faces. If you're brand new here, I just want you to know that it's an honor to have you here. You could be anywhere, but God brought you here and we just honor that in your life. Also, we want you to know that we're just all about Jesus here, not about ourselves. We're all about him and we are one church. Everybody say one church, one church in two services in two locations. We've got a service in our sanctuary at 930 and down here in our CLC at 11. And so it's kind of a multi-service setup. But we're also not just about multi-services. We're about multi-generations getting together, worshiping Jesus, multi-ethnicity getting together and worship Jesus, and we're just so thankful for everything that Jesus is doing. Just, we hear this a lot, but even specifically over the last week, we heard some first-time guests say that they came to First Baptist Church, powder Springs, and they said it was one of the most welcoming experiences that they had ever had in their life before coming to a church. So, first Baptist, I just want to thank you for being a loving church. I want to thank you for being a welcoming church in all the ways that God is using you right to reach this community for Jesus, and I'm so thankful for all that he is doing.
Speaker 1:This morning, I want to talk to you about when life is relentless. When your life is relentless, maybe your life today or maybe you're in a season to where you feel like that life just won't quit, your life just won't stop. It just keeps coming. Maybe you feel like things that are happening in your life are more than you can handle. It's like wave on wave on wave that is constantly coming in your life. Some examples of that might be maybe it's work pressure, maybe it's work and career to where? Maybe you just feel like you can't get caught up. Maybe it just keeps coming at you. Maybe your boss just keeps giving, putting everything on your plate that he or she should be doing. Can I get an amen? And that just keeps falling to you. Maybe it's family needs. Maybe you just you're the person in the family that everybody comes to right and your family's needy, and so your phone keeps ringing and you keep getting text messages. Can you come over? Can you fix this? Can you help with that? And you're thinking can you give me a break?
Speaker 1:Number three mental and emotional health, or maybe even physical health. Maybe there are just some real struggles. We go through these seasons in our life and maybe you feel like that it's just relentless, that you feel like you can't get over the mountain, you can't get over it and these things just keep happening and you're wondering is this what I have to live with for the rest of my life? Maybe it's financial struggles and not because of any decision you made, but just some unfortunate circumstances that have happened in your life and you're just wondering am I ever going to get out of this financial struggle that's happening? Maybe it's spiritual warfare and temptation. Maybe you just feel like you're at an area, a time in your life that Satan just really seems to have your number and he's just sought you out, and temptation maybe just feels more alluring than ever. Or maybe you just feel down and discouraged and depressed. I want you to know when life feels relentless.
Speaker 1:There are typically five different ways that you can respond. One is you can work harder and you can say I'm just gonna dig deeper, I'm just gonna push through, I'm just gonna work harder. I can handle this myself. Or number two could be retreat. I just need a vacation, right, or man? I need to find a new hobby or I quit. I I just need a vacation, right, or man, I need to find a new hobby or I quit. I turn my phone off and it's on silent. Nobody can bother me. Or number three is just a good old-fashioned emotional breakdown. Can I get an amen, right, and you just cry it out. Number four, another option, is you can just complain. You can complain, you can just find your best friend and you can just vent and you can get a punching bag and you can just go off and you can just get out all of your emotion. Or number five you can depend on God. And that's what we believe.
Speaker 1:We believe the scripture says that when life is relentless, that we are called to live in dependence Everyone say dependence, that we are called to depend on God. We're in our series here, relentless, through the book of Judges and it's all about where rebellion meets redemption. And we get to see these cycles over and over and over again in other people's lives. And it's so healthy to see these cycles because they happen in ours. Let's pray, heavenly Father. God, I ask in Jesus' name, lord, that you would speak to every single heart in this room, every single life. God, would you still our thoughts, god, would you calm our minds? And, lord, may we listen to what you have for us here in this moment from your everlasting word. In Jesus' name and all God's people said when life is relentless, we're going to look at the life of Gideon, his whole life, judges 6, 7, and 8.
Speaker 1:Turn with me to Judges, chapter 6, or you will see it on your screens. Number one when your sin is relentless, Everyone your sin. When your sin is relentless, everyone say sin when your sin is relentless. Check this out. It says in Judges, chapter six, verse one says the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven, for seven years. What we see here is in Judges. It is this book that shows us how the people of God not people who didn't know God, people who did know God how they fell into sin over and over and over again. It is a reminder for us that sin is relentlessly coming after us. The Bible says in 1 Peter, chapter 5, that the devil is like a roaring, a prowling lion seeking whom he may devour. In other words, sin is always after you. But aren't you thankful that Jesus is more relentless for you than sin? Can I get an amen?
Speaker 1:Proverbs 24, verse 16. It won't be on the screen, but write this down. Proverbs 24, 16 says this though a righteous person falls seven times, seven is the number of completion. It's a number of continualness. Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin. What is the writer of Proverbs saying? He is saying that the similarity, the commonality between the righteous and the wicked is we all sin. There are people here today that maybe you are doubting your salvation because of your sin. Salvation does not mean that God has changed you into perfection. It means that he has changed your direction from following sin to following after him. So the commonality between the righteous and the unrighteous is sin. But what is different? The difference is the Bible says the righteous man gets back up. The Bible says the difference is is that the saved person here's me lives in repentance. Living in repentance does not mean to live in perfection. It means that when you're in sin, god convicts you, god speaks to you, people call you out, they hold you accountable and you turn directions and you live your life for Jesus again. And that's what we see here happening in the story that they continually fall into sin, like you and like I do.
Speaker 1:Verse 10, in the hand of Midian, another country, another nation of another people overpowered Israel. And that's what happens when I sin. That's what happens when you sin is that sin overpowers us. Often we think that we can live in sin because we have control over our sin. We have power over our sin. You and I, we do not have control. We do not have power over sin. Only Jesus does. When we live in sin, sin has control and power over us.
Speaker 1:It says that the people of Israel were so overpowered that they made for themselves dens and mountains and caves and strongholds to hide from the Israelites. Why? Because that's what sin wants in your life. Sin wants to isolate you. Sin wants to isolate you. Sin wants you to live in shame. Sin wants me to live in guilt. Sin wants us to live in loneliness and a lack of community. That's why it's so important to be in community with other believers. That's why it's so important to be in a group, to be in a Bible study, to be in a Sunday school, so that we are in community with one another.
Speaker 1:He goes on to say and Israel was brought very low. Why Do you realize it's not on the screen at this point but Midian was this country that, when they came and overpowered Israel, that Midian started stealing. Country that, when they came and overpowered Israel, that Midian started stealing Israel's food, started stealing Israel's crop. Because that's what sin loves to do, hear me. Sin loves to steal our spiritual fruitfulness in Jesus Christ. We cannot grow in Jesus and live in sin simultaneously. Can I get an amen? We can't do that. It's impossible to be happening at the same time. So when Israel was brought very low, can I just submit to you when life puts you on your knees, stay there in prayer. When life puts you down, stay and pray.
Speaker 1:And Israel was brought very low because of Midian and the people of Israel. What did they do when they were brought low? They cried out for help to the Lord, saying God, we need help. God, we're overpowered. God, for us it'd be. God, I'm in addiction. God, I can't get out of this myself. I just keep getting deeper God. I can't get myself out of this hole In verse eight.
Speaker 1:So what did the Lord do? The Lord sent a prophet. This is the only time that this happened throughout all 12 judges in the book of Judges, that God sent a prophet instead of a judge at first. What is God saying? God is saying he only needs to send one judge, and that one judge, who is our true savior, who is our true deliverer, is Jesus.
Speaker 1:And often what happens in my life when I get into sin and I just my sinfulness just wants me to get out of sin so that I can just live in freedom for myself again, that is not God's plan for my life To not live in freedom. God's plan for my life is to live in dependence. And so what we see here God sends a prophet. Why? Because often we don't just need God to get us out of our trouble. We need God to teach us from his word how not to get into trouble. Often we don't. We need God to teach us from his word how not to get into trouble. Often we don't need just God to wave a magic wand, we need God's word in our life.
Speaker 1:It is as if God is saying let me show you how you got there, so that you don't get into it again. He says I send a prophet to the people of Israel. And the prophet said to the people thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. In other words, god is saying let me remind you who I am, let me remind you how much I love you. Let me remind you that I created you. Let me remind you that I created you. Let me remind you that I sent my son to die for you. Let me remind you that he rose from the dead. Let me remind you that I've called you to salvation. Let me remind you that I've forgiven you, that I've redeemed you. Look at who I am and look at all of these things that I have done for you.
Speaker 1:And he's saying every time that you fall into sin, you are choosing sins over me. And God goes on to say and I said to you I am the Lord, your God, but you have not obeyed my voice. Which is exactly why James, the half-brother of Jesus, told us in James, chapter one, that we are not just called to be a hearer of the word. Our call in life is not just to go to church. The height of our spiritual life is not just to come and listen to a sermon. The question is are we obeying the voice? Are we obeying the word of God? Are we applying the word of God into our life so that we're not just a hearer but we're also a doer?
Speaker 1:If you've got sin in your life that is plaguing you, that is dominating you, that you feel like is addicting you, the best thing that you can possibly do is to get into God's word. Use Google, use AI, whatever it is you need to do and to find some verses that deal specifically with your sin and memorize them for yourself word for word. Psalm 119, 11 says I have hidden God's word in my heart that I might not sin against him. Go on YouTube and look up sermons specific to the sin that you're struggling with. Go on YouVersion app and look up Bible studies specific to the sin that you might be struggling with. Find an accountability group here in our church, and if you can't find one, we'll make one for you. If we can't make one, then you can lead it yourself and you can be a part of a group with other people that might be struggling with that.
Speaker 1:Because what do we do when our sin is relentless? We pursue Jesus all the more relentlessly. When our sin is relentless, we pursue Jesus all the more relentlessly. Well, number two, when your fear is relentless. Everyone say fear. We all struggle with fear. You ever notice how the Bible is full of people who struggle with fear? The Bible is full of people who struggle with doubt. Isn't it interesting that the Bible doesn't have one person besides Jesus, who's perfect? The Bible is full of all of these imperfect people, because the more in touch you are with your weakness and your fear, the more you connect with the word of God, who is full of all of these people with fear.
Speaker 1:It says in verse 11, now the angel of the Lord. Just by the way, I love to tell you this whenever this shows up in the Bible, when the Bible says an angel of the Lord, it's just an angel. When the Bible says the angel of the Lord, it is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, before his virgin birth, coming onto the scene in the Old Testament, disguised, and they don't know who he is. But Jesus is writing himself into their story, just like Jesus is writing himself into your story, just like Jesus is writing himself into your story. Can I get an amen?
Speaker 1:The angel of the Lord came and he sat. Jesus came and he sat under the terebinth at Ophrah not Oprah, but Ophrah which belonged to Joash the Abyssalite, while his son, gideon, was beating out wheat in the wine press to hide it from the Midianites. Now, this is very interesting Again. All of Israel's scared, all of Israel's in hiding, all of their food's getting stolen. So typically you would beat out wheat on the top of a hill so that the wind can drive the chaff away. No, he is down in the bottom of a valley of a winepress in hiding. He is a man of great fear, he's a sissy, he's a pansy, he's a wimp, he's a wiener schnitzel. Okay, like Gideon is no warrior, he's no braveheart. Verse 12,. And the angel of the Lord, jesus, appeared to him and said to Gideon the Lord is with you, oh, mighty man of valor. I just love this. The Lord is with you, oh mighty man of valor.
Speaker 1:It sounds like that either Jesus is giving him a nickname, like we give people a nickname today. You ever met somebody who's really big? They're really tall, they like to eat a lot? Right, they're just a really big guy. You ask him their name, you're like oh, people call me Tiny, right? That's what happens with nicknames, right? It's kind of you tell them the opposite, you know, and so is it that Jesus is just calling him a nickname. Is Jesus being sarcastic? Oh, you big, brave boy, you. Or is Jesus speaking to him about what Jesus is going to do in his life? The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him the Lord is with you. Oh, mighty man of valor, he didn't call Gideon for what he was doing. He was calling Gideon for what he was going to use Gideon to do. And Gideon said please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all of this happened to us and why did all of it happen to Israel? Why were they in all that trouble? Gideon's blaming it on God, but it wasn't God's fault. God didn't leave Israel. Israel left God.
Speaker 1:Often in our life we go through trouble and heartache and hardship and trial, and it's not because God left us. It's because that we left him. It's interesting that God calls him almighty man of valor, because you can often tell the voice of Satan or the voice of God in your life. Satan will start with your sin and he will drive you into discouragement. God will start with your sin, but he will lift you up in encouragement.
Speaker 1:When we are feeling guilty because of our sin, the lies of the enemy would label us guilty. But yet our identity in Christ, god says but you're not guilty, you're forgiven. When the enemy says you're unwanted, our identity in Christ is not just that you're wanted, but that you're chosen. When the lie of the enemy says that you're trapped in your sin, your identity in Christ is you are free in order to not sin. When the lies of the enemy says that you're unlovable, it's not just that you're lovable, but that you are loved by God. Our identity in Christ is, and for people that have struggled in their life maybe with fatherlessness, then you can know that you are a child of God and God himself is your father. Put your hands together for the identity in Christ that Jesus gives you in every believer.
Speaker 1:So the Lord turned to Gideon and he said go in this might of yours. God knew that it wasn't any type of might or power in Gideon. It was the might, it was the power, it was the courage that God was giving to Gideon. I heard a pastor say this week God doesn't call the brave, he makes brave the called. He doesn't call the brave, he makes the brave called. Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian.
Speaker 1:Do I not send you? That is a big calling, but I believe this is the same thing that God is telling many of us here today, and I don't know what it is for you. Only you know. But God's got a calling on your life that is bigger than you and you can't do it and you don't have the courage, and you don't have the might, and you don't have the power, and you don't have the ability, and you don't have the might, and you don't have the power and you don't have the ability. But here's what God is saying, here's what I'm calling you to do, and I am the one sending you, and that's all you need to know. So what do we do? We come up with excuses. That's exactly what Gideon did. Gideon said please, lord, how can I save Israel? In other words, I don't know how to do what you're telling me to do.
Speaker 1:You ever felt like that? Gideon says behold, my clan is the weakest in all of Manasseh. In other words, we tell God, god, do you know the family that I came from? Do you realize we put the fun in dysfunctional? Do you realize what kind of family that we are in our house? Do you realize just the brokenness that I come from? And God, I don't come from a strong, spiritual family.
Speaker 1:And Gideon says and God, with all that, I'm the least and all my fathers, I'm the runt. God, I've got nothing to offer. God loves to choose the weak to show off his strength. And God said all they needed to say I will be with you and that's all you need to hear. Whatever it is that God's calling you to do, whoever it is that God is calling you to minister to, to witness to, to invite to be a ministry in their life, whatever it is that God is calling you to accomplish in your life, that God is with you and that's all that you need, because God's presence in your life is all that we could ever ask for. He says, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man In verse 17,. He goes on to say and he said to him if I now Gideon says, if I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that is you who speak with me.
Speaker 1:You remember in the gospels that Jesus loved to say you know, a perverse, a crooked generation. They're always seeking a sign, because the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots they would always be like Jesus show us a sign who you really are. And he's saying look, if you're just looking for a sign to see who I am, then you're not gonna believe the sign, because then if all you saw was a sign, then the sign is greater than me and he says you're looking at me, I am the sign. Jesus said let me give you a sign. Jesus said the sign that you need is the sign of Jonah. And what was the sign of Jonah? That Jonah would be in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights. And Jesus said that's what I'm talking about. I am going to be in the belly of the earth, I am going to die, I'm gonna be crucified, I'm gonna suffer, I'm gonna be buried for three days and three nights and on the third day I am going to rise from the dead. And that's the only sign that you need that I am the resurrected Lord in Jesus Christ. Put your hands together for Jesus. He is your sign, he's your Savior. The sign has already happened, but this is before that.
Speaker 1:So Gideon says show me a sign. And God does it. There's a meal that God consumes that Gideon, like, throws on the grill. And then Gideon says well, that's nice, well, anybody could do that, god. So how about I put a fleece out at night and in the morning, if I get up and the fleece is wet and the ground is dry, then God I'll know that it's you Gets up the next morning, goes out and checks the fleece. The fleece is wet, the ground is dry. And Gideon says God, that's really nice, but anybody could do that. I mean, that could happen at any time. So let's try the opposite.
Speaker 1:Third sign God, when I come out tomorrow morning, may the ground be wet and the fleece be dry. And sure enough, gideon comes out, the ground is wet, the fleece is dry. And Gideon knows that the God of the universe is calling him. Just like you know, the God of the universe is calling you to do what he's called you to do. Because what do we do when our fear is relentless, when life is relentless and it causes fear within us? We just believe Jesus relentlessly. We get in the word, we remain in the church, we do the ministry that God's called us to do. We play worship music all throughout our week and we worship God and we listen to God so that we can believe Jesus, because fear is an enemy and the only weapon against fear is faith, and we need to believe Jesus relentlessly. Can I get an amen? Number three when your idols are relentless? Watch this in Gideon's life when your idols are relentless, verse 25,.
Speaker 1:That night the Lord said to him take your father's bull and the second bull, seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has and cut down the Asherah that is beside it. So here's what we see that Gideon's dad has got some idols. The idol of Baal we talked about over the last couple of weeks is the God small g. The idol of Baal we talked about over the last couple of weeks is the God small g, the idol of money. Asherah is the God small g, the idol of sexual immorality. The reason that Israel served and worshiped both idols was because they believed if you were crazy enough to worship both, then you would have everything you could ever want. And isn't it interesting that God did not say I want you to go out through all of Israel. I want, gideon, I want you to go out through all of the world and I want you to tear down every idol. No, he said, I want you to go to your house. When God wants to do a work through you, he must first do a work in you.
Speaker 1:What God loves to do is to expose the idols in our lives. Isn't it interesting that he doesn't just say sin, he says idols. Often we think I don't have any idols. This little idol worship in the Bible has got nothing to do about me. Who would fall down and worship a little statue? Well, first of all, these weren't little statues. Baal was this massive stone monument in Gideon's dad's yard which is on this huge platform. Asherah was probably a 30-foot pillar that they would worship Asherah. But behind every idol was a demon, just like behind every sin is the devil. And what they would do is they would not just quote commit sin, they would worship sin. Because what God is showing us through idols in the Old Testament is that sin is not just something on the naughty list. When I sin against God, I am saying God, I am choosing not to worship you in this area of my life. I am going to worship myself. I am going to worship my sin. And I also think it's interesting that he said go to your father's house, and if I could just get real and personal for a second.
Speaker 1:One of the greatest strongholds that Satan loves to use in our lives is what happened in our childhood the hurt, the pain, the trauma, whatever it was. And if we don't deal with that, satan will continue to use it in your life to hold you down. And what Jesus is saying to you? 1 Peter, chapter 5,. Jesus says cast all of your cares, your anxieties, your burdens, your pain, your trauma. Cast it all onto me, because I am the one who cares for you. You can give Jesus your past so that you can enjoy your present and your future with him. Can I get an amen?
Speaker 1:God is saying deal with what has happened in your life. In verse 26, he goes on to say and build an altar to the Lord. So in other words, he's not just saying go and get rid of your sin and then go live however you want to. That's religion. Go and deal with your idol and then you can live however you want to. That's morality, that's legalism. No, the purpose of tearing down the idols is to build an altar is to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Build an altar in your life. God is not just calling us to deal with our sin. God is calling us to deal with our sin, to deepen our devotion in Jesus and build an altar to the Lord, your God, on the top of the stronghold here, with the stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull, offer it as a burnt offering, with the wood on the Asherah that you shall cut down.
Speaker 1:So Gideon took 10 men of his servants. You don't have to do it alone. That's why we have groups together, that's why we meet together in Bible studies, so that we can pray for one another, we can encourage one another, you can hear how other people are struggling just like you, and you don't have to feel alone and isolated anymore. He took 10 men of his service and he did as the Lord told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, gideon, that scaredy cat, he did it by night, but he did it, but he did it.
Speaker 1:Here's what I want to show you. I believe that idol worship is still as true today as it ever was, even if we have a little pillar, a little statue, a little platform or not. The idol of Asherah in the Bible was the way that they would worship Asherah was through the sin of sexual immorality. Molech was that God, that false God of the Bible. The way they would worship that false God was through child sacrifice. We might call it abortion today. Gad, the false God. Gad, that idol, he was the God of luck, because when you don't believe in anything, you just think things are going to work out for you in the end. The God, small Jesus, that idol was known. If you wanted to, you wanted more power in your life over other people. Aphrodite was people that would worship beauty. Nebo was the God that would call them to worship him through education. In other words, these were all of the things that people were pursuing instead of God through idol worship.
Speaker 1:So what do we do? How do we attack our idols? When your idols are relentless, I encourage you to worship Jesus all the more relentlessly. Don't just destroy idols. We seek Jesus, we pursue Jesus and we worship him relentlessly. You could never understand the power that Jesus is doing in your life when you come to church and when you worship him together, like when you open your mouth when you raise your hands, when you pour out your heart in worship. In fact, if you're someone who's expressive in worship, I want to challenge you, I want to call you. If you think that one of your spiritual gifts is you just love to be free in worship, I would encourage you to come and sit down on some of these front rows every single Sunday morning so that you can be an encouragement for other people to feel free in worship too. Can I get an amen? We need to destroy our idols relentlessly by worshiping Jesus relentlessly.
Speaker 1:Number four when your battle is relentless. Everyone say battle when your battle is relentless. Check this out. This is the climax of the story. But the spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon. Can I remind you today if you've given your life to Jesus, if you believe that he is your Lord, your savior, you believe that he died on the, your Savior, you believe that he died on the cross and he rose from the dead. He has not just forgiven you of sin, he has clothed you with his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells you and so you get to experience the power of God, not just around you but within you. The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon. He sounded the trumpet and the Abyssalites were called out to follow him, and he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh and they too were called to follow him. In other words, when you are going through battles in your life, battles in your life, god is going to bring more of his people around you to fight with you and to fight for you.
Speaker 1:But that doesn't mean that you can just sit on the couch, that you can just sit at home and just wait for people to knock on the door to come in so that they can get on their knees before you and start praying for you, because that's weird, that's not gonna happen. In other words, you need to put yourself in the place where God's people are. You need to be honest and transparent what's happening in your life and watch what God's people will do for you. This is a loving church. You get a part of a group. You get in a small group in a Bible study and don't dominate the class, but you can share at times what is happening in your life and watch how the people will pray for you and will love you and will support you and will check on you and will be there for you. And it's so interesting here the Lord just flips the script.
Speaker 1:And the Lord said to Gideon in Judges 7-2,. He said now the people with you are too many. It's like well, god, which is it? You know, lord, have you taken your meds today Like I didn't have enough and now I've got too many? And God, what is going on? What are you trying to do? It's actually two different things. There are times in our lives I would say some of the hardest times in my life, the hardest times in your life where God takes, removes someone from our life. And what God is saying is God sometimes removes people from us that we thought we needed for God to show us that he is all we truly need. He says the Lord said to Gideon the people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, or Israel is gonna brag over me and saying man, we did this all on ourselves and we saved ourselves. So therefore, proclaim in the ears of the people saying whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.
Speaker 1:Then 22,000 of the people returned and 10,000 remained. In other words, there were 32,000 men out of nowhere that came and started following Gideon. And so God says ah, we gotta dwindle this down a little bit, man, because I don't want them to think they did it. I need to show everybody that I'm the one that wins the battle in their life. So we see that 22,000 people went home. It went from 32,000 right there to about 10,000. And just because he said whoever is scared, whoever's trembling, y'all can go. You never wanna go to fight with somebody who's shaking in their knees. You know what I'm saying and that's what God's doing.
Speaker 1:Verse seven the Lord said to Gideon with 300, with the 300 men who lapped, I will save you and give Midianites into your hand and let all the others go uh, every man to his home. Here's what just happened. So now, out of the 10,000 men that were left, god said now tell all the men to go and get a drink of water out of this watering hole. 10,000 men go down. Apparently, half of the men got down on their chest, on their face, face down in the water, and just started drinking the water, just their mouth in the water. But there were other men that got on their knee and cupped the water up with their hand and kept their eyes up and they were looking around and God is saying I want you to keep the ones who stay on their knees. God is saying I want you to keep the ones who kneel down and surrender. God is saying I want you to keep the ones who are keeping their eyes open.
Speaker 1:And, men, we are called here in this room to be spiritual leaders and we're called to be watchers for our family. The Bible says that we need to watch as men, and we need to stand firm. We don't need to be head down in the sense that we are not paying attention. But if we are called to protect our family, if we're called to shepherd our family, if we're called to be the spiritual leaders in our family, then our heads need to be on a swivel and we always need to be aware of what Satan's trying to do in our family. Can I get an amen? God said those are the men that I want you to keep, those are the men I want you to go to battle with.
Speaker 1:That same night, the Lord said to Gideon so I want you to get up and I want you to go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. And it says and he delivered the 300 men, or Gideon, put the 300 men into three different companies. Now here's what's interesting. He put trumpets into one hand of the men and an empty jar in the other hand of the men and put a torch inside the empty jar and he said to them look at me and do likewise. And do likewise. You know, in our life we always need to have somebody that we are looking at, that are following Jesus and we need to watch them. When we say I need to do what they're doing because they're following Jesus, and we need to remember that people are watching us and that people need to be able to look at us and see I need to look at them and I need to do likewise. So Gideon and his hundred men of his company who were with him came to the outskirts of the Midianite camp. So here they are. By the way, how many Midianites were there? Stay with me. 135,000 to 300 Israelites. 450 Midianites to every one Israelite. It was impossible odds.
Speaker 1:So they came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch. When was the middle watch? This is important 3 am, typically three watches of the night. If it's the middle watch, the first watch is coming in and they're going to bed, they're exhausted. The second watch, the middle watch, now they're getting up out of a sleep, they're groggy, they're coming out to the battlefield and the third watch is still sleeping in their beds, which means this is a time when everybody is tired, nobody is watching, nobody is alert, nobody is awake.
Speaker 1:And when they had just set the watch and they blew, if you can imagine, you got some that are going to bed, you got some that are waking up, you got some that are going to bed, you got some that are waking up, you got some that are going to sleep, and there are 300 men who are surrounding this camp and they all start blowing their trumpets. Could you imagine someone waking you up in your room in the dead of night with a trumpet? That is who you kick out of your house right there. So it says that they blew the trumpets, they smashed the jars. Could you imagine it would sound like bombs going off, 300 jars dropping, smashing around the camp. And then you wake up to see what in the world is going on. You've heard the trumpets, you heard the jars and it looks like your camp is on fire because you are surrounded by torches.
Speaker 1:But notice what Israel does not have. They don't have any swords, they have no way to fight, it says in verse 20,. Then the three companies blew their trumpets, they broke the jars. They held in their hands the torches and in their right hands the trumpets to blow and they cried out no sword, but they cried out a sword for the Lord and a sword for Gideon. Why? Because it is the word of God that is the sword of the spirit in your life. What wins the battle in your life? Not your might, not your power, not your wisdom, not your way, but the word of God wins the war in your life and every man of Israel. This is beautiful.
Speaker 1:They just stood there around the camp and all the Midianite armies ran. They cried out like middle school girls who had seen a mouse and they fled. And when the Israelites blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every Midianite man's sword against his comrade, the Midianites. They wake up, scared out of their minds. They hear the bombs, they hear the trumpets, they see the fire, they grab their swords, they start running around and just stabbing each other in the pitch black at night. You can't make this stuff up. And the army fled. In other words, when your battle is relentless. Follow Jesus relentlessly. What is Jesus telling you today? You can't win your battle. You can't choose your victory over your war. It's not in you. You weren't created to have that type of capability. But when your success is relentless, it is actually a very sad ending of the story. It's such a raw reminder. Sad ending of the story. It's such a raw reminder.
Speaker 1:Gideon became a very bitter man. This is what success happens to people. What success does Gideon? It says that once he experienced God calling him out of the wine press, god calling people to him, only taking 300 men to battle, defeating the entire army of the Midianites. You can read Judges, chapter eight for yourself. Gideon became because of his success. He experienced prayerlessness, independence. You could read it for yourself. Like he didn't need anybody around him, he was irritated to anger. You could just tell that he was very bitter. He was very angry. He became very violent. He became very greedy. He started asking people for all of their money. He started to struggle in sexuality and he was very self-centered.
Speaker 1:There's something that happens in our life when we experience success whether it is career success, whether it is fame or popularity, whether it is financial success that we don't pursue God like we did before our success, because we don't feel like we need him. There is something about when we're in adversity that we pursue God, unlike we do when we are in prosperity. There's something about that we pursue God when we are in our weakness, but we don't when we are in our strength. There's something about when we pursue God in our suffering but we don't in our success, and I need you to hear me say today that is not the gospel. The gospel is that, whatever it is that you are experiencing life, even if it is success, wherever you're going through, whatever you're going through, you continue to submit to Jesus relentlessly.
Speaker 1:Whether your life is not going well, or maybe it is going well, what do you do, jesus? I submit to you. Jesus' life is not my own. This battle is not my own. Jesus, I desperately need you. Whether I see it or not, jesus, you are all that I have, and Jesus, you are all that I ultimately need in my life. So, as a reminder to put it all together, you can even take a picture of this if you need to.
Speaker 1:When your sin is relentless, I want to encourage you to pursue Jesus relentlessly. When your fear is relentless, I want to encourage you to believe Jesus relentlessly when your idols are relentless. I want to encourage you to worship Jesus relentlessly when your battle is relentless. I want to encourage you to follow Jesus relentlessly when your battle is relentless. I want to encourage you to follow Jesus relentlessly when your success is relentless. Submit to Jesus relentlessly. Gideon is a reminder to us that only Jesus is the true judge, deliverer and savior in our lives. No one else, not ourselves, in everything that we do. When your life is relentless, you live in dependence. I'm going to ask you all to bow your heads and close your eyes. Every head bowed, every eye closed.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're here this morning and you just need to tell Jesus right now. Just have a real conversation with him, to truly cry out to him, as the word has told us this morning, and just say Jesus, you know, my life is relentless right now. I believe you can tell him right now. I believe that you are relentless for me and so I choose to live relentlessly for you. And maybe you don't feel like you can pray that prayer because you don't have a relationship with him yet. Maybe today is the day that you need to give your life to him. Maybe today is the day that you need to say I'm going to trust on the Lord Jesus Christ and I am going to be saved. Today's the day that he is going to forgive you of all your sin. Today's the day that you transfer your membership the Bible says from hell and you get to have a home in heaven forever and ever and ever.
Speaker 1:And right now I'm not here to just pray this and you just repeat after me. It's not even a prayer that saves you. The Bible says it is your faith that saves you. Your prayer is your articulation of your faith. And you can just communicate your faith to God right now and you can just simply, in your own words, from your own heart, you can say God, I believe in you and God, I need you.
Speaker 1:Right here, right now, you can pray and say God, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I ask you to forgive me of all my sin. And you can tell him God, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, he's alive and he's real and I wanna live for Jesus and not my sin. And the Bible promises that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. So call on him right now. Jesus, be my Lord, be my God, be my savior. And Jesus, we believe that we thank you for that. We pray that all in Jesus' name and all God's people said put your hands together for anybody that prayed that prayer that put their faith in Jesus Christ, made him the Lord of their life. Jesus' name and all God's people said put your hands together for anybody that prayed that prayer that put their faith in Jesus Christ, made him the Lord of their life.
Speaker 1:We just want to say welcome to the family and I want you to know here right now that God is. I believe he is working in this room. I believe he is working in your heart and that God is doing incredible things in our church. We're so thankful for every single story that we hear and I just I wanna pray for you one more time. Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that, as we are about to stand and we're gonna worship you here in just a few minutes, god, that we would just pour it all out. But, god, I say a special prayer over every believer here in this room, as sin is relentless for them, jesus, I pray that you would continue just to make it so real and evident that you are relentless after them, god, I pray that you would continue just to put your spirit on display in them so that they can live empowered and relentlessly for you. God, fill us up. We pray and we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.