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preaching and in Jesus Christ's name we pray amen. Men in Judges chapter number six were introduced to the biblical character Gideon who is one of the most famous of the judges that appears in the book of Judges his story takes up several chapters he's mentioned in the New Testament and this great man of God is used to deliver Israel from the Midianites so the beginning of the chapter here sets the stage with the children of Israel doing evil in the side of the Lord and therefore they're delivered into the hand of the Midianites in order to punish them and God does this over and over again in the book of Judges there's this cycle where the children of Israel do evil on the side of the Lord and then God allows the surrounding nations to take over or to enslave them or to oppress them in some way and then when things are going bad for them then all of a sudden they get right with God they cry out to the Lord and then God delivers them but they don't typically just get right with God on their own God uses some man or even woman in the case of Deborah to sort of call them to repentance or show them the error of their ways and get them back to worshiping the Lord because it's always a prerequisite for God to deliver them that they first get right with God as we're gonna see in this passage so the judge has basically a dual function he's there both to get the people right with God and call them to repentance spiritually and he's also there in order to you know be used by God to give the physical deliverance where he typically leads the troops into battle he's an actual warrior as well and so Gideon is going to also fulfill both of these roles in the story here so it starts out by saying in verse number one there the children of Israel did evil in the side of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains and caves and strongholds and the Bible describes this army of Midian as just coming up with an innumerable multitude they're just like grasshoppers upon the face of the earth eating up everything and the children of Israel as we see are reduced to hiding and dens and caves and and they are just completely on the run well it said and it says in verse number six that Israel was greatly impoverished that means they're put in a state of poverty because of the Midianites and the children of Israel cried now just because in verse number six that they're crying unto the Lord doesn't necessarily mean that they've gotten right with God because as we're gonna see they're still idolatry and worship of a false God in the land it says in verse number seven it came to pass when the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of the Midianites that the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel which said unto them thus saith the Lord God of Israel I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all that oppressed you and drave them out from before you and gave you their land and I said unto you I'm the Lord your God fear not the gods of the Amorites and whose land you dwell but you've not obeyed my voice this is a very negative message that's the end of the prophets speech they're praying for deliverance Oh God come help us and then he sends them a prophet to say well no here's the problem you're worshipping other gods you've not harken unto my voice I'm the Lord your God I'm the one that brought you out of Egypt I've given you Commandments you're supposed to be obeying me you're not doing it and it's just a very negative message but still obviously God wants the people to come back to him so he's gonna raise up a deliverer that's going to help the people to get right with God so it says in verse number 11 there came an angel of the Lord and sat under an oak which was an ofra that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites so as we said before you know they're hiding in caves they're hiding in dens and so Gideon also is a little bit in hiding he's trying to hide some wheat from the Midianites so that his family can have food verse 12 and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him the Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valor this is a very key statement that we're gonna come back to the Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valor it's the first thing that is said to Gideon and Gideon said unto him oh my lord if the Lord be with us why then is all this befallen us and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of saying did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt but now the Lord had forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites now there's a lot in verse 13 want to make sure that we understand what he's saying here Gideon is a man who believes in the Lord he trusts in the Lord he's not one of these that is out worshiping false gods and believing something else he's not doubting God here who's actually doubting are the children of Israel and he's doubting himself and his family but he doesn't doubt God he says well if the Lord's with us then where are all his miracles and the fact that he's not seeing the power of God the fact that he's not seeing the miracles of God doesn't lead him to think that God isn't real or that the miracles didn't really happen but rather it just leads him to believe that God has forsaken Israel he's saying look God has forsaken us that's why all this is happening to us what do you mean the Lord is with thee look what God's doing to us now notice how the conversation changed from what the angel said to what Gideon said and this is why it's good to have a King James Bible because you can see the difference between the singular and the plural because the angel comes to him and says to him the Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valor that's singular Lord is with you and then notice his answer oh my lord if the Lord be with us but here's the thing God never said the Lord's with us God said the Lord's with thee okay and so then he switches it instead of from himself where God said you're a mighty man of valor God's with you personally singular thee he says well if God's with us why is all this befallen us God has forsaken us here's the thing they're both right okay because the angel is saying the Lord's with you which is true and then he's saying God has forsaken us that's true because the children of Israel have turned away from God and that is why God has given them over to their enemies at this time but the difference is that the angel is talking about one person Gideon's talking about the whole nation and Gideon's right verse 14 and the Lord looked upon him and said go in this thy might again the singular and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites have not I sent thee okay so it's it's again emphasizing him personally so then he switches to saying you know oh my lord in verse 15 wherewith shall I save Israel behold my family is poor and and I'm the least in my father's house and so what we see here is a pattern that's common among great men in the Bible great leaders that God raises up is that they're often reluctant to be a leader because they are humble men God looks at him as being a mighty man of valor but he doesn't really see himself that way he's little in his own sight and so he's very humble about his own background his own abilities and that's a good attribute to be humble but often in life sometimes our best attribute can end up being our downfall if we take it too far okay so being humble is a great attribute but if humbleness is taken too far taken outside the bounds of Scripture to where we just get to where we just seeing ourselves as just a complete loser and nobody well then we may end up just not doing anything for God because we end up having too low of a view of ourselves and so here is a humble man God loves to use a humble man because then he can get all the glory and so God chooses this humble man who has great potential and he says to him go in this I might because of the fact he's trying to bolster him because he knows that being a humble man he might be so meek that he just thinks well you know I don't know if I can do this I'm not powerful enough to this because he doesn't see himself as great which is good but at the same time we need to not let that go too far because otherwise he might just think oh well you know I'm just nobody so God can't use me and so when we read this chapter that's pretty much what the entire chapter is about is God is constantly trying to build his confidence and let him know yes I have chosen you I've called you you can do this I can use you he's building his confidence and showing him and all the way through the end of this chapter he's still doubting himself you know are you you know I just want to make sure God that you're really with me that you're really sending me okay and so here's the way it works people that are too prideful God has to take them down a notch and the Bible says whosoever exalted themselves shall be abased but then the Bible says that whosoever humbled themselves shall be exalted okay God doesn't want us to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think but also we don't want to just get too low of a view of ourselves to where it becomes paralyzing and crippling and we just feel like oh I can't really do anything I'm not really important I don't really matter and so forth so want to find the balance between those two ideas we want to humble ourselves and then we want to let the Lord lift us up and exalt us in due time and I think that this is really an important passage because he says go in this thy might and there are so many people today that try to discount the importance of the human being now I get where they're coming from because they want to glorify the Lord and of course all glory goes to the Lord and we want to glorify the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and we don't want to give glory unto man and we want to make sure we understand that without Jesus Christ we can do nothing and so forth and that we have to have the Holy Spirit's power in order to accomplish any spiritual work for God but the problem is that people take that good doctrine and they take it too far they take it overboard to where it's just like people don't matter the human instrument doesn't matter the man doesn't matter the preacher doesn't matter the soul winner doesn't matter the Christian doesn't matter you know it's all God God does everything he does it all he gets all the glory we're dirt we're trash we're scum we're nobody that's not what the Bible teaches okay so want to make sure that in our zeal to glorify God which is a good goal to have we want to make sure that we don't go overboard and just completely discount the human element of God's plan because God uses people God uses people to do his work and we don't want to just completely just throw that out the window and you'll hear people do this all the time especially those that are Calvinist will have this attitude that we're nobody we can do nothing no Jesus said without me you can do nothing but you know with him we can do something see oh you know we're just dirt we're dust whereas yeah without Christ but you know what with Christ we're more than conquerors through him that loved us he has made us kings and priests unto God and his father hey that sounds pretty important being a king being a priest we're ambassadors for Christ that sounds pretty important and so God has given us an important position in his plan and we matter we matter to him we matter to his plan and I've heard so many sermons that said well you know if you don't do it someone else will do it you're expendable we're all expendable we could all be replaced and so forth and obviously there's some truth to that but the problem with saying that is that I strongly believe that if we don't show up and do the work of God that God's work is not gonna get done in certain areas like like for example what if there's a town that has a Baptist Church in that town and that church doesn't do any evangelism then guess what the people in that town are not gonna hear a clear presentation of the gospel and you can't just sit there and say oh that church is expendable they'll be replaced they don't matter no because many towns are like that and if the church doesn't evangelize the town doesn't get evangelized and people go to hell that would have gotten saved if somebody would have preached the gospel to them because the Bible says if our gospel be hid it's hidden to them that are lost and whom the God of this world had blinded the minds of those that believe not okay the Bible teaches us that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God how so they hear without a preacher and we've got to go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in and get people safe and if we evangelize we are making a difference we're not just going out and going through the motions and if and if I don't show up for soul winning someone else will not necessarily if I don't do the work that God has called me to do then that work won't get done if you don't do the work that God has called you to do then that work won't get done that's what the Bible actually teaches that's why in Jeremiah said I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me that I should not show he said I found none I stopped for a man but I found none would things have turned out differently if he had found that man of course okay so I don't believe in this predetermined fatalistic view that well whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen anyway and we don't matter and we're just pawns or puppets in God's plan that is not true that is a false doctrine is not what the Bible teaches the Bible teaches that human beings have free will and that we in many cases decide our fate we could choose life or we can choose death and if we hide the gospel under a bushel it's hid to them that are lost and they're the ones who lose they don't end up hearing the gospel as they should and so here's what I love about this phrase go in this thy might is that God is saying take your might and use it to do something great for me go in this thy might you're a mighty man of valor Gideon go in this thy might you know this guy I heard a guy say the other day he was he was actually preaching against yours truly and all of my friends and he said he accused us of just constantly in all of our sermons yelling the entire time and just we're just we're just constantly screaming just every single sermon the whole time and it's just and this is what he said it's because we were trying to do it in our in our own strength and this guy said nowhere in the Bible does it say go do it in your strength and I'm just immediately I'm just me like well yeah it does say that in Judges chapter 6 go in this thy might it literally says go in this your strength it literally says those words now obviously as we read the rest of the passage we see that the Spirit of the Lord is gonna have to come upon Gideon in order for him to do this great work for God we're not discounting the work of God we're not discounting the fact that without the Lord Gideon could and would do nothing if God had not shown up and called Gideon he'd still just be hiding out and threshing wheat and thinking that he couldn't do it okay he can't do anything without the Lord's calling without the Spirit of the Lord upon him but the reality is that we are supposed to take our ability our might our strength and then yield that over the Lord and see what he can do with it right bring that to the table and let God use us you see we all have something to bring to the table we all have talents and abilities that are unique to us that we bring to the table and we can either use those abilities to serve the Lord or we can use them to just serve this world or to serve ourselves and so that ability could be maybe a musical talent that someone has and they could either use that to glorify God through songs and hymns and spiritual songs or they could use that just out in the world to just make money and be famous and and sing worldly music that would please the masses we all have abilities some people can draw well some people can speak well some people are very intelligent good at math science English whatever foreign languages whatever and those things could either be used for God or they could be used for this world and so there's nothing wrong with going in this thy might and taking your strength and then relying on God to do something with it you know so to sit there and say well we don't want we don't want to preach with power we don't want to an eloquent preacher because then he's doing it his own strength well no because if there's an eloquent guy and I'm not saying that I'm eloquent because I'm certainly not but let's say there's an eloquent guy like Apollos in the book of Acts for example the Bible says that he was an eloquent speaker if you can take a guy like an Apollos who's an eloquent speaker and then get the Spirit of God on him then God's gonna use that guy greatly in his own might okay now God can also take the weak things of this world and he often does take the poor speaker and the stammering tongue and also use him for his honor and glory but the foolishness of saying well this guy is speaking well or he's yelling loudly so he's using physical power therefore he must not be using spiritual power how about both you know how about somebody gets up and does everything they can in their own strength and then the Spirit of God yields the increase I mean think about I've heard this saying you know pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you and you know what that's a good saying because we shouldn't just pray like it depends on God and then sit back and see what God does no we need to bring our strength into the equation whatever our strength is whether it's a physical strength whether it's a speaking ability musical talent you know the ability to do art we all have different abilities maybe I didn't name your ability but everybody has things that they're good at some people just have incredible people skills hey go in that might go in that might of your people skills go in that might of your ability and take it to the table and let God do something with it through the power of his spirit but it's not like okay Apollos you're a great speaker but now that you're gonna preach the Bible you know we need you to just be a monotone speaker because that way you can rely on the Holy Spirit you know God doesn't want us to handicap ourselves and tie one arm behind our back just so that we can show that it's God's spirit that's doing it okay he's saying go in this thy might Gideon and and so we want to make sure that we don't take a good doctrine about being humble and giving God the glory and then taking it so far overboard to the point of ridiculousness where we see anyone who has any kind of talent or ability and oh they're just doing it in their own strength you know God says he doesn't call many that are mighty or many that are wise and many that are noble but guess what he does call some that are wise and some that are mighty and some that are noble so we don't want to just make the mistake of saying oh anybody who is doing something in a powerful way well you know that's just not the Spirit of God maybe could be both you know one time I heard someone criticize a pastor this is a long time ago but they said well every time I see that pastor he looks tired because he's just he's working so hard he's burning the candle at both ends he's he's probably doing some sleepless nights just working around the clock and so that just tells me that he's doing it in his own strength now that's a slander right there because if the guy is working hard and burning the candle at both ends you know that doesn't mean that he's not relying on God to take his labor and do something with it but it's this kind of hyper spiritual arrogant holier-than-thou attitude of just oh it's all God it's all God does everything you know and it's the same people that say well you don't get anyone saved we don't get anyone say well that's funny the Apostle Paul would disagree because the Apostle Paul said I've become all things to all men that by all means I might save some if by any means I might provoke to emulation then that are of my flesh and might save some of them the Apostle Paul said you know how knows thou O wife whether thou shalt save thy husband or how knows our husband whether thou shalt save thy wife Jude said save them with fear pulling them out of the fire no no we don't do anything it's just it's all God look without God we can do nothing but with God we can move mountains but God doesn't move mountains without us either okay because he uses a man when he seeks for a man and finds none it doesn't get done that's what the Bible actually teaches okay so God uses us he said as long as I'm in the world I'm the light of the world but after he left this world he said you know you're the light of the world as my father sent me so send I you we are important as Christians we are essential components toward God's plan and when we don't show up then God's kingdom suffers the work of God suffers when we show up and participate in our place God's work goes forward in a mighty way wouldn't you love to see God's work go forward in a more mighty way than it is right now I mean wouldn't you like to see more soul winning going on in America wouldn't you like to see more missionaries going out and doing great things well is that just up to God like God's just up in heaven just holding back his blessings no God is ready willing and able to open the windows in heaven and pour out a blessing that we won't even have room to receive it okay but we are the ones that are the hindrance okay and so it's not God's ability that's that's limited it's the fact that God's people are not stepping up to the plate and if we step up to the plate we bring our might then God can do something great and maybe you're not mighty maybe you're weak well you know what show up and just give God that little bit that you have like the widow who threw in the two mites or the little boy who brought the five loaves and two fishes and God can take the little that you give him and multiply it and use it greatly but the end of the day you have to show up the little boy had to show up he had to bring the five loaves and two fishes to Jesus Jesus could have produced food out of thin air but he didn't he doesn't right that's not how he operates what does he do he takes what someone gives him and then he multiplies it you know the Bible tells us that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart mind soul and our strength right and so we want to bring our strength and love the Lord with our strength whatever your strength is I'm not saying it's necessarily a physical strength in this case Gideon is a mighty man of valor so his strengths are in battle in a sense you know strength and valor is is something with a martial connotation of going into battle and so he tells him go in this thy might he's taking the emphasis off of the group because obviously Israel has gone astray and worship false gods but God is looking at Gideon and saying here's a guy that I can use he believes in my miracles he believes in my power he loves me he's humble because God's not gonna use the prideful and arrogant so he's humble and so here's a guy that got to use so so God is bolstering him and and reinforcing him with confidence and so he says in verse number 15 he said unto him oh my lord wherewith shall I save Israel behold my family's poor in Manasseh and I'm the least in my father's house and the Lord said unto him surely I will be with thee and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man and he said unto him if now I have found grace in thy sight then show me a sign that thou talkest with me now again Gideon is not looking for a sign that God is real he's not saying show me a sign that you're real he's basically looking for a sign that he's talking to him you know he said show me a sign that you're talking to me you know this is an angel of the Lord but he's skeptical that this is truly coming from the Lord because usually in the Bible an angel of the Lord is simply in the form of just a human being it's just a man that walks up to him and talks to him and so God is speaking through his messenger his angel and so he wants to make sure that this is real because he's a humble guy and he's kind of a reluctant leader and he doesn't really believe that God is necessarily choosing him because he doesn't feel up to the challenge and a lot of us could feel that way sometimes too like you know I don't I don't feel like I could win souls to Christ or I don't feel like I could preach or I don't feel like I can reach so-and-so with the gospel and so we you know we want to realize that through the Lord we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and so he says you know show me a sign that thou talkest with me depart not hence I pray thee until I come unto thee and bring forth my present and set up forth and so of course he brings this meat offering of the Lord he brings food and then verse 21 the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes and there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight so the angel performs a miracle to authenticate who he is and when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord Gideon said alas Oh Lord God for because I've seen an angel of the Lord face-to-face so he's a little bit scared to have seen this angel face-to-face who does this miracle and then disappears out of his sight and so the Lord reassures him in verse 23 peace be unto thee fear not thou shall not die then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord and called it Jehovah Shalom unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the a by his rights and so of course you don't have to know much Hebrew to know what Shalom means right if anybody knows one word in Hebrew that's simply what it is it means peace so he's talking about the fact that the Lord is at peace with him because what did the Lord say to him peace be unto thee fear not thou shalt not die now look at verse 25 it says it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him take thy father's young bullock even the second bullock of seven years old and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath and cut down the grove that is by it and so we see here that there's Baal worship in the land of Israel this is the problem right this is why they can't just cry the Lord and be delivered Gideon is being raised up to deliver them but he's not just gonna deliver them whether they're right with God or not that's not how God works okay so when it comes to a nation God's blessing is only upon a nation when they are doing right by the Lord okay we're not talking about personal salvation here by grace through faith what we're talking about is God's blessing upon a nation you know for example we could pick some of the most wicked nations in this world today and yet there are people in those nations that are saved Christians that are living for God and so we would look at that nation and say that nation is not blessed by God that nation is under the curse of God you know you named the wicked nation right North Korea or something right or even something along the lines of you know Turkey or Saudi Arabia or any of these Muslim countries that you want to name those aren't under the blessing of God because they have a false God okay they're not being blessed by God but yet an individual person within that nation could be saved simply by just believing on Jesus Christ just by faith alone through grace alone and then also there could be people in that nation that are not only saved but they're also serving God and and living for God and being a good Christian in the midst of that crooked and perverse nation where they dwell whatever that nation is and in many ways the United States has become wicked and yet we as Christians can be godly and be blessed and so forth now when it comes to salvation salvation is by grace through faith not of works thus any man should boast but when it comes to being blessed by God it's not enough to just believe in Christ in order to be blessed by God we're to keep his commandments if we want to get the blessings it's sort of like my children they don't have to do any work to be born into my family they're born into my family through the efforts of mainly my wife but you know I put a little effort into that too okay but that's how they're brought into the family but once they're in the family there's nothing that they could ever do to stop being our son or daughter they'll always be our son or daughter that can never change but if they want to get the blessings they have to obey their parents right and if they disobey the parents they're gonna get a spanking okay if they obey their parents they're gonna get a blessing but does that have anything to do with whether or not they're a son or daughter no so it's the same thing with salvation you know we are sons or daughters of God by virtue of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ but the but it's not enough to just be a child of God in order to receive all the blessings of God because we need to keep his commandments just like if my kids want to receive all the blessings you know they may not get dessert if they were being naughty they don't get the dessert that's a blessing that they don't get but it's not like well you're not my son anymore but it might be no dessert for you right that would be reasonable or whatever the discipline and so it's the same thing with God is that you know nations don't have a soul that goes to heaven or hell as a whole nation right individuals have souls that go to heaven or hell and that's determined by faith in Christ but as a nation there's also just is the nation following the Lord or is the nation honoring God is the nation wicked in the sight of God and so famously George Washington said nations can't be judged in the next world they can only be judged in this world and that makes perfect sense because nations are a thing of here and now and so in order for God to bless the nation they have to be right with God now here's what's so funny about that is that today this totally goes out the window when we talk about the nation of Israel because the nation of Israel is one of the most wicked nations on this planet now I can get up and say Saudi Arabia is wicked Iraq is wicked Iran is wicked but a lot of Christians a lot of conservatives a lot of Republican types they would get offended when you say that Israel is one of the most godless wicked evil countries on this earth and they reject the Lord Jesus Christ just as much as the Muslims do in fact they reject them a little more because at least the Muslims claim that Jesus was some kind of a prophet now they don't believe he's the Son of God so they're damned the Jews don't even believe that he was a good person the Jews completely reject the Lord Jesus Christ as a liar and a fraud Jesus Christ is the Messiah Jesus Christ the Son of God the Israelis of today reject the Lord Jesus Christ as a nation and obviously there are a very small minority in Israel that are saved just like in every country there are people who are saved there are a lot less in Israel than in other places but there are always people that are saved and those individuals are blessed by God those individuals are the people of God those individuals are God's elect they're there they get all the blessings and so forth but as a nation Israel's a wicked nation you know they promote sodomy they have the the only gay pride parade in the whole Middle East Tel Aviv has been named one of the most favorite cities for queers in the world to visit on vacation anywhere so it's a super wicked nation and yet today people will say well you know they're worshiping the same God as we are but wait a minute in the book of Judges here we see that the children of Israel even in Gideon's own household even amongst his father's household they are worshiping Baal now Baal is not the God of the Bible now here's the thing about that the word Baal simply means Lord okay if you actually study the original language you'll know that Baal it means husband or Lord or master you know that that you know that in itself has a message there okay but anyway that's for another time but anyway master Lord husband this is what this word means in Hebrew even in modern Hebrew it's the same thing okay and so this word is talking about the Lord but is it the same Lord that Abraham Isaac and Jacob are worshiping no this is a false God of the Canaanites who they call Lord okay but it's not the right Lord it's the wrong Lord and so people could talk about God or the Lord and not necessarily be talking about the same God or the same Lord that we are okay even the Muslims would say there's one God and talk about one God but is the God of Islam the God of the Bible absolutely not okay and and how do I know that the children of Israel today the Israelites over there the Israelis if you will how do I know that they are not worshiping the God of the Bible because here in this passage wouldn't you agree that they have another God right here that Joash has another God the Gideon's dad Joash has another God how do I know that they have a different God because the Bible says whosoever denyeth the Son the same hath not the Father but he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also so if you don't have the Son you don't have the Father if you don't have Jesus you have a different God it's not like well they believe in God the Father they just don't Jesus they do not believe in God the Father they have a different God and that God is Satan which is why they're called in Revelation 2 & 3 the synagogue of Satan and let me tell you something if I were a born-again Christian if I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ the last thing I would do is wear a funny hat on my head that is not something that is ever taught in the Bible but that is only part of a religion that hates and rejects the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible says to abstain from all appearance of evil okay and just like I would not walk into an independent Baptist Church with a shirt on that said AC DC highway to hell right I mean would that be appropriate attire to walk into a Baptist Church highway to hell hail Satan well you know what I would also not walk into a Baptist Church with a yarmulke on because that is basically saying hail Satan because that is a satanic religion and you didn't get that from the Bible sir you got it from the devil do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God okay well then quit walking around looking like a Jew okay this is not a Jewish synagogue we don't worship Satan here we worship the Lord Jesus Christ we worship Jesus okay that is not a symbol of Christianity that's a symbol of the Antichrist you're wearing a hat that says I follow the Antichrist religion you have something to say to me hey why don't you cover your whole head then would you like a baseball cap because Fidel here stand up Fidel stand up Fidel this man has his head covered and you know what if I look at this man I don't think that he's a Jew that hates Jesus I don't think he rejects the Messiah I don't believe that he rejects that Jesus the Son of God you know right I like your hat so that is the symbol of bail that you're wearing on your head right now okay so hey go ahead come in here wearing that no problem come in here wearing a hail Satan t-shirt but you might get called out for it because it's wicked all right beloved let's move on the Bible says in verse number 25 it came to pass that the same night the Lord said in him take thy father's young bullock even the second bullock of seven years old and throw the yarmulke off your head that your father has on his head and cut off the tassels hanging from his clothes so he doesn't look like a Jew that hates Jesus and worships a different God okay sorry that's not what it says it says throw down the altar of bail that thy father hath and cut down the grove that is by it and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock in the ordered place and take the second bullock and offer to burn sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down and so you see that first before you can offer a sacrifice unto the Lord you got a first throw down the altar of bail you can't have the altar of bail and then just add the Lord's altar to it you can't say well I'm a Hindu but I'm also gonna believe I'm the Lord Jesus Christ I'm Jewish and I'm gonna follow all the traditions of the synagogue of Satan but I'm also just gonna add Jesus to that I'm gonna be a messianic Jew now why don't you just be messianic period and I have another word for that Christian okay or you know you can't sit there say well I'm a Buddhist Christian I'm a Muslim Christian no you got to throw down the altar of bail so that you can build the altar of the Lord and worship the Lord exclusively and you can say well I'm just gonna worship the Lord on the altar of bail you know I'm just gonna wear the yarmulke but I'm gonna be praying to Jesus but no God doesn't want to be worshipped on the altar of bail he wants to be worshipped on the altar of the Lord which is a totally different altar the Bible says in verse number 27 then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had said at him and so it was because he feared his father's household and the men of the city that he could not do it by day that he did it by night and so notice what it says here it's interesting he doesn't necessarily fear his father but he fears the men of his father's household and he fears the rest of the town okay so possibly he knows that his dad is maybe gonna back him up on this but it's interesting that his dad has tolerated this altar of bail and you know is he the builder of this altar is he the one who brought in bail worship we don't really know the Bible doesn't tell us but at least he's tolerating the altar of bail he has it on his property Gideon maybe knows that his dad may back him up but he definitely fears his father's servants in the town and we're gonna see in a moment why because he had good reason to fear them and so it says in verse 28 when the men of the city arose early in the morning behold the altar of bail was cast down and the Grove was cut down that was by it and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built and they said unto one another who had done this thing and when they inquired and asked they said Gideon the son of Joash had done this thing then the men of the city said unto Joash bring out thy son that he may die because he had cast down the altar of bail and because he hath cut down the Grove that was by it and Joash said unto all that stood against him will you plead for bail will you save him he that will plead for him let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning if he be a god let him plead for himself because one hath cast down his altar therefore on that day he called him Jerabail saying let bail plead against him because he had thrown down his altar now here's what I love about this particular part of the story is that oftentimes when one person stands up for what's right and takes a stand for the Lord they can actually turn around a whole situation that looks completely impossible because if you look at this Joash has the idol in his property it's it's known as his you know idol and the whole town and all of his servants they're all into bail all of them but because Gideon throws down the altar of bail all of a sudden his dad switches sides and says anybody who's for bail let them be put to death that's a pretty bold statement right to just switch it from oh you threw down the altar of bail you're gonna be put to death to no no anybody who's for bail gets put to death and this situation gets completely turned around to where bail is on the run instead of the worship of the Lord being on the run now bails on the run and that's often what it takes is just for one person to stand up and do what's right and take a stand for the Lord and other people will sometimes come out of the closet as it were as a bible-believing Christian you know because you know is it possible that Gideon's dad just turned on a dime because he loves Gideon so much you know I feel like there's a little bit of foreshadowing that Gideon already kind of feels like his dad's gonna be on his side it's possible that maybe Gideon's dad is just this watered-down guy that just kind of allows the bail worship to go on and he has the bail image there and everything like that but that he's not really necessarily into it so he's kind of just a watered-down do-nothing guy but maybe he's not really into bail everybody around him is definitely into bail but when Gideon actually throws down the altar now his dad switches sides and by his dad speaking up he's able to turn around the whole situation and of course his dad's logic is is sound because he says well you know why do you guys feel like you have to defend bail if Gideon came in and destroyed the altar why can't bail avenge himself is it maybe because he's not a real God is it maybe because he doesn't exist so he doesn't have any power he doesn't have the ability to do anything because he's not real and so therefore if you want to plead for bail you're gonna be put to death you know I've seen this in real life before where you'll be in a group of people and you'll have kind of one loudmouth liberal or atheist or whatever just kind of controlling the conversation and everybody's real quiet and then one person speaks up for the Lord and then everybody else like yeah me too yeah actually I agree with you and and and actually you can turn around that dynamic sometimes but we need some Christians that would actually take a stand for what's right speak up for the Lord speak up for Christ and not hide their faith under a bushel because even just something as simple as often just saying I'm a Christian I believe the Bible can open the floodgates of other people saying me too you know if you're let's say you're in the public school system or you're at work or something you know when you say I'm a Christian I believe in Christ you know often half the class or half the company will say I'm a Christian too you know I believe in Christ too whereas you wouldn't have known it before you wouldn't have known this about Joe as his dad but yet you know he comes out and either he changed right here just to defend his son or maybe all along he wasn't really that into bail we don't know that detail but we know that one guy stood up and made a short speech and turned the whole thing around and so the truth is powerful you know somebody gets up and speaks a little truth a lot of times it can it can flip the script there and change the narrative and so that's what I love about that part of the story and so he said in verse number 31 will you plead for bail will you save him he that will plead for him let him be put to death whilst it is yet mourning if he be a God let him plead for himself because one hath cast down his altar therefore on that day he called him and the he here is his dad so his dad is giving him a new nickname Jerubail saying let bail plead against him because he had thrown down his altar so he gives him this name which which is actually kind of a cool name because it kind of ends up meaning you know this is the guy who is at enmity with bail you know this guy's this guy's an enemy of bail in a sense and so that's a pretty powerful name to have because you know you definitely want to be bail's enemy and and the Word of God even in chapter 7 verse 1 picks up on this name and says then Jerubail who is Gideon and so it actually calls him that and so forth so let's keep going here it says in verse number 33 then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East were gathered together and went over and pitched in the valley of Jezreel but the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet and Abiezer was gathered after him and he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh who also was gathered after him and he sent messengers unto Asher and unto Zebulun and unto Naphtali and they came to meet him and then starting verse 36 Gideon wants to give God one more test so the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him he sounds a trumpet and the people are rallied obviously these things really happened but they're also symbolic they're also an allegory and so what happened is he throws down the altar of Baal this symbolizes the fact that in order for God to bless Israel they have to have the correct God they have to get rid of the Baal worship they have to throw out that false religion okay so that's what symbolized there but then also the Spirit of Lord coming upon him and him sounding the trumpet God often likens preaching and prophesying to the sounding of a trumpet you know in 1st Corinthians 14 we have that Association as well as in the Old Testament where Isaiah is told to cry aloud spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions in the house of Jacob their sins and so that trumpet being sounded is the preaching of God's Word through the power of the Holy Spirit to rally the people to come back to God so there's a physical battle to fight against the Midianites but the bigger more important battle is the spiritual battle for the minds and hearts and souls of the nation that they would reject Baal and worship the God of the Bible the Father the Son the Holy Ghost the Trinity the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God and if you don't have that you got the wrong God it's that simple so the Bible says and so we see that now so then in verses 36 or 40 just kind of wrap up the chapter again Gideon is doubting himself because look at verse 36 and Gideon said unto God if thou wilt save Israel by my hand as thou has said again not doubting God's power according to Hebrews 11 Gideon was a great man of faith he's doubting himself you know are you gonna do it by my hand really me I don't know if I'm up to this if you're gonna do it by my hand and then he does this challenge where he puts the the the fleece of wool on the floor and he says if the do be on the fleece only verse 37 and it be dry upon all the earth beside then shall I know that that will save Israel by mine hand as thou has said so he puts out the fleece so I kind of just picture this as like a little rug or a doormat or something you know a little woolen deal that's how I looked in the flannel graph when I was growing up but you know I put out a little woolen fleece and he puts it out and basically the next morning it's wet and the ground all around it is dry but then he gets to thinking you know what if somebody just put some water on this because you know it's just it's just this little thing so I could just dump a little water on it that's not really a big enough mirror I kind of made a mistake when I asked for this so he says okay God don't get mad at me but just one more time let's try this again I mean you think you know you'd be happy with one miracle but it's like no I'm gonna need we need a third miracle here you know cuz he already got the angel who made the food go up in flames so then he tells him you know I want everywhere else to be wet and just the fleece to be dry and then of course God performs that and that gives him some confidence and then in chapter 7 we get into the actual action of the famous story of Gideon that most of us are familiar with but the great thing about chapter 6 is that it gives us a little background on the man and what it's gonna take to save Israel what it's gonna take to deliver the people his character what's he like he's humble right he's not arrogant puffed up full of himself thinking like oh I'm so great I can do these great things and and he's not hell-bent on leadership he I think Gideon would have been glad for someone else to step in and do this and he would have just loved to be one of the rank-and-file guys just running into battle after some other leader people that are just hell-bent on they have to be a pastor they have to be in charge they have to be front and center are typically bad people because you know that they're in it for the wrong reasons personal glory as opposed to just well I'm stepping in and doing what needs to be done and the downside of that humility and meekness that's often found in great leaders of the Bible like Moses is that they're reluctant remember how God had to try to talk Moses into he says oh God send someone else I'm a bad speaker I'm not good at this Pharaoh's not gonna listen to me that's good that he's humble but if we let that go overboard then we don't end up doing anything for God we end up just staying in the backside of the desert and never delivering God's people so be humble be meek but understand that through Christ you are a warrior through Christ you're a king and a priest through Christ you can do all things and you're more than a conqueror make sure he gets all the glory make sure you're relying on him but realize you know what I do have something to bring to the table and if you're sitting there thinking well I don't have anything to bring to the table you're wrong you have something to bring to the table maybe it's not the same as me maybe it's not physical strength speaking ability or artistic talent or musical I don't know what it is maybe you're not a people person but every one of us has something to bring to the table so yes we need to rely on God to make something out of our five loaves and two fishes but we need to realize that we have five loaves and two fishes we need to bring it to Jesus and be ready to go in our strength whatever that strength is and to love the Lord Lord thank you so much for showing us how a valiant man of might could be used to do great things for you Lord I pray that every man woman boy and girl here would realize that you can use them to and that you could turn things around and turn a town from bail worshippers into worshippers of the Lord and Lord I pray that you would use us and help us to yield our talents and abilities and strengths over to you and in Jesus name we pray amen