(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Well it's great to be here and I just wanted to say thank you so much to Pastor Shelley for all the hospitality and I've just had a great time just being here hanging out with all you guys and we had a great time doing the mighty man's competitions. Those that can't do ref, right? So that was me. But I still live vicariously through all you guys so I had a great time doing that and then of course the volleyball. My team seemed to not be on the winning sides of everything very much but I still had a great time and I hope you guys have all had a good time and tonight I'm gonna be preaching a sermon called what makes a man mighty in God's eyes. What makes a man mighty in God's eyes. Let's focus in on Judges chapter 6 verse number 12 the Bible says and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him the Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valor. So here we have the Lord calling Gideon a mighty man of valor. So you know he didn't say hey I'm a mighty man of valor God picked me God came to him and said thou mighty man of valor. So that's what I want to preach about tonight and obviously I mean just listening to the Bible reading there's some things I missed but I already have like seven points and probably like three hours worth of notes and I know you guys are all just ready for bed but maybe the Spirit of Lord the Lord will come upon you tonight and allow your eyes to stay open as I preach this sermon. I'm definitely not gonna try to break Pastor Shelley's new IFB record of last night but you know it might be a little bit long of a sermon but you know I was I was gonna preach about David's mighty men and a lot of people preach about that when it comes to talking about mighty men and you know those are great that's great subject matter but I went to the first appearance of someone being called a mighty man of valor and it was Gideon and I thought well this is impressive so you know I just kind of had this question like what are the characteristics that made God call him a mighty man of valor because just on the surface level you don't really see it maybe but if you kind of dig into the details a little bit you can kind of see why God called him a mighty man of valor now of course at the end of the chapter says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon so I don't have this as one of my points but I do want to say that is that a mighty man of God is spirit-filled so but we'll let's move on with the sermon turn to 2nd Chronicles chapter 16 verse 9 but keep your finger in Judges chapter 6 because that's where we're gonna mainly be we're gonna be all over the Bible tonight all right but we will always come back to Judges chapter number 6 so what is mighty well mighty is possessing great and impressive power and strength especially on account of size so sometimes you know a little guy with a lot of power you know well it's very impressive but I mean anybody that is you know has great power strength is impressive now that's maybe on a physical level but today I'm not trying to get you to get carnal and be a mighty man physically and even though we have a lot of mighty men in here that are physically gifted and in the Bible it talks about all these different guys that are you know mighty men and and and because there are great warriors and things like that but did you notice that it never says hey Gideon you know I know that you're really tough and you're great with a sword and you've conquered all these people and done all these battles it never says that it never even talks about that but you know what Gideon was willing to do what God wanted him to do a man of so valor means great courage in the face of danger especially battle so he was a God calls him thou mighty man of valor he didn't say that about himself so second Chronicles chapter 16 verse 9 the Bible says and this is obviously this is talking about Asa in context here but I just love this verse because it just shows me that God is still willing to work with men even now in 2022 he's still looking for people that he wants to bless and show his power through look at verse 9 it says for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong and the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him and this is here thou hast done foolishly he's talking to Asa here but God is still doing this today he's still looking to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong and the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward him now obviously nobody's perfect all right but when it's talking about perfect it's talking about you know you're obviously putting forth your best effort to do the will of the Lord and to you know nobody's sinless in this camp here but you know God wants us to try our very best to be perfect and to keep God's commandments and do those things so but God will work through anybody that's willing to just be you know humble and and you know that he can show himself strong because because Asa he fought he fought a battle and and depended on the Lord before for a wave for something way bigger and then here you know he's at the end of his you know I don't know if it's at the end of his life but it's you know he's he's in a similar situation but less people to fight and he's kind of just wimping out here and then he ends up persecuting the man of God but that's not part of my sermon so let me move on point number one is a mighty man of God is a hard worker a mighty man of God is a hard worker now and and that might seem carnal but you know God calls us to be a hard worker spiritually too doesn't he look at Judges 6 verse number 11 it says there came an angel of the Lord and sat under an oak which was an ofra and that pertained unto Joash the Abiezerite and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites now you know on surface level it doesn't seem like you know he's hiding what he's doing or whatever but the point is is you know you know what are we talking about we're talking about how what makes a man got mighty in God's eyes well the fact that he's a hard worker so what's he doing what is Gideon doing when the angel of the Lord comes to him he's threshed wheat by the winepress he's working so when God comes to him he's working and he's working hard farm work is hard work all right and God expects us as men to be hard workers and there's a lot there's other times in the Bible when God will come upon someone and he catches them working don't you like it when your boss catches you working you know you're at work and you're just like oh yeah and then all sudden your boss is behind you like oh hey boss how's it going you're just like yeah I mean but what you don't want is for your boss to sit you got your feet kicked up on the desk and you're just like you know you're on Facebook or something on your computer or you're just kind of sitting there leaning against a truck or something you know nobody wants to be called Stanley at work you know what Stanley is Stanley's the guys always just standing around doing nothing you know that guy you don't want to get the nickname of pockets you know the person's always standing around their hands in their pockets so you want to be caught working and and here you have Gideon is caught working which is a great thing right now so God doesn't generally call the slothful to do great things for him why because he knows that they're not gonna do it you know why does he have all these proverbs about not being slothful you know he cuz he's and so he's not gonna say hey don't be slothful by the way I'm gonna pick this slothful guy to do this great mighty work for me he picks Gideon because Gideon is already working Gideon is a hard worker already now let's look at Genesis chapter 29 Genesis chapter number 29 we'll see I'm just gonna show you a couple examples of men that were hard workers in the Bible let's see Jacob Genesis chapter 29 verse 7 Jacob was a hard worker he worked you know he lost sleep you know he was cheated out of his wages but still worked hard anyway you know he's a great example of someone who had a bad boss a really bad boss and father-in-law at the same time but he still worked hard and did his job and in the end God blessed him tremendously for it so you might not reap the rewards of working hard right away maybe your boss doesn't treat you right even though you're working hard but you know what still keep working hard because ultimately you're not working for yourself you're not working for him ultimately you're working for the Lord right so Genesis 29 7 says and he said lo it is yet high day neither is it excuse me it is yet high day neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together water you the sheep and go feed them and he said we cannot until all the flocks be gathered together until they roll the stone from the wells mouth then we water the sheep so notice it says till they roll the stone away right so this is what's going on here is you know Jacob saying hey let's roll the stone away and feed these you know these are not feed but water these sheep but they're saying we can't do it till they roll the stone away it says and while he yet spake with him Rachel came with her father sheep and she kept them and it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the wells mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother so what do you see him doing well he's rolling a stone that says took multiple you know it's they that's multiple people to roll this stone away from the wells mouth Jacob just does it by himself so apparently he's very strong he's a very hard worker you know what's he doing he's working he's he's watering these sheep and so you know and and Jacob has all these other different times where he does mighty acts like when he wrestled with the angel of the Lord who I believe is Lord Jesus Christ by the way and he was what did he do he said I'm not gonna let you go and tell you give me a blessing so you can't say that work doesn't have any spiritual aspect to it you know he wanted he was doing something physical so he could get something spiritual and that's what a mighty man of God will do look at first Kings chapter 19 verse 19 first Kings chapter 19 verse 19 the Bible says in first Kings 1919 it says let you turn over there real quick first Kings 1919 says so he departed vents and found Elisha the son of Shaphat who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him and he with the 12th so not only is he he's not just pulling the you know he's not just holding on to the plow he's plowing with these oxen so he's an extremely hard worker and it says Elijah passed by him and then cast his mantle upon him so here's another time where you see the you know a guy that's gonna get chosen to supersede Elijah when he goes up with the chariots of fire right but what's he doing when he comes upon him he's working so hard that he's actually working with the cattle so you know if you want to be a mighty man of God in God's eyes well you're gonna do hard work it's not just hard work physically for your own benefit or for your family's benefit which is also a spiritual thing because you don't want to be a loser that can't provide for his own house right you want to be a hard worker and hey if you don't have enough money work harder work more so Proverbs chapter 13 let's look over at Proverbs actually I'll have you turn to Proverbs chapter 10 verse 4 I'm going to read Proverbs 13 verse 4 it says the soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat so it's not talking about him being fat personally it's talking about his soul being fat so someone that's a hard worker you know when you're working hard for the Lord he's gonna bless you when you're working hard for your family because that's what you're supposed to do God's gonna bless you so you're gonna get all these blessings from working hard and that's gonna make you in God's eyes a man a mighty man because isn't that one the first thing we see happening is Gideon working hard right Proverbs chapter 10 verse 4 says he becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand this is talking about a slacker he's gonna be poor because you know what he just doesn't want to go to work he you know he doesn't want to get the skills that it takes to make more money he deals with a slack hand but the hand of the diligent maketh rich and obviously we're not supposed to desire to be rich but you know what you know there's a lot of different things that we can be rich with we can be rich with blessings from God you know if you're gonna work hard for the Lord he's gonna make you rich you know we're the richest people on the planet George Soros got nothing on us you know all these all these devils that are billionaires around the world that are you know trying to destroy our planet you know saying that they're gonna try to save our planet but they're trying you know to destroy our planet and they're and they're wicked and obviously they get a lot of their money from the devil himself but you know we should be diligent and work hard obviously but you know if you notice that there's a lot of people out there that people who call rich but they're rich because they work hard some people just are rich because they work hard that's what the Bible says that you'll be if you're diligent if your hand is diligent it's gonna make you rich so and obviously there's different degrees of rich all right not you're not gonna be like the prince of Arabia where you have all these you know billions of dollars worth of oil money or something but you know if you because he didn't work for that he just inherited that you know it's called old money you ever heard that term old money these people that live in these palaces up in the hills or whatever a lot of those people they that just gets handed to them you know they're born into that family or whatever but you know we got to work hard we got to be diligent that means that you know you're gonna get the job done Proverbs 12 verse 24 Proverbs 12 verse 24 the Bible says the hand of the diligent shall bear rule but the slothful shall be under tribute so that man that is diligent a person that's a hard worker they're the ones gonna bear rule I mean people say you know in this room I don't know who wants to become a pastor someday but hey if you're not working hard you're not gonna bear rule you know I mean pastor Shelley he I'll tell you what he's gonna notice people that work harder people that don't you know you can fake it like oh you know you grab a broom when he comes in the room or whatever oh hey pastor Kelly how's it going but he knows you know he's not stupid he knows who works hard and who doesn't and do you think he's gonna ordain someone that doesn't work hard he's not I mean are you no see that's what I thought my reader no but turn to Proverbs chapter 29 22 verse 29 Proverbs 22 verse 29 that was a clear no all right just know see us out a man diligent in his business he shall stand before Kings he shall not stand before mean men that means like average men or you know men that are not you know like Kings I mean and so obviously you know there's a spiritual application to this too you know we're not all gonna stand before some king of the world right now but we're gonna stand before the ultimate king of the world aren't we we're gonna stand before you know we're all kings and prophets and priests unto the Lord and you know he he wants us to work hard so you know we're gonna rule and reign with Christ someday you know what party again are you gonna rule the janitors closet or are you gonna you know what you want to work hard and get your rewards now because you know rewards are rewards but the least the the most lawful Christian is not going to get rewarded as the most diligent Christian right so now I'm just gonna read Ecclesiastes 9 10 it says whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there's no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest so hey what is the Bible saying well saying do whatever you can find to do whatever your job is to do do it with thy might don't you know if you want to be a mighty man hey when you're working do it with thy might you know the might your physical strength or your brain power or whatever it is that you're doing you need to work hard so why was Paul the greatest of the Apostles I mean a lot of people would debate that or whatever I know we're not supposed to compare ourselves and all that stuff but Paul writes a lot of Scripture and it's very obvious after about half you know little after maybe a third of the way through the book of Acts that Paul is like the main focal point of the story yeah right why is he the main focal point of the story because he's doing the most works and so turn to first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 10 is it possible for you to be the the greatest worker in your church or the greatest worker in the United States it is Paul was the greatest Christian worker in the world at one time I mean literally in the world first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 10 at least of the Apostles you know that's what the Bible says but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which is bestowed upon me was not in vain but I labored more abundantly than they all so this is scripture so it must be true right he labored more abundantly than they all so was Paul the hardest worker so yes he was and he was a mighty man of God was he not it says yet not I but the grace of God which was with me so you know you can be the hardest worker there is but if your work is just for yourself or to show off in front of other people or things like that it's it's gonna you know be a little bit more vain right but if you're taking the grace of God with you as you're doing the works that you're doing you know God's got to be part of the equation folks we're not doing things to be seen of men we're not supposed to be doing things you know just to have other people say oh look at how many people he goes save this week or whatever you know usually the biggest boasters about so many and end up being bad people anyway yeah but I got 30 saved today sure you did partner maybe if you're in the Philippines you know or whatever but let's look down at verse 58 in the same chapter there so and this is the steadfast verse right therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord see how it's saying the work of the Lord because you know working for the Lord is actual work it's hard work it says for as much as you as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord God wants you to be a hard worker and you know what if you're a hard worker you're on your way to being a mighty man of God so be diligent with the tasks that you're given hey you know if you get a job to do in the church be faithful to it be on time dress the part whatever it is that you're supposed to do do it how the pastor wants you to do it do it how the church has designed it to be done and don't just take on a make it take on a life of its own you know work within the parameters of what you're supposed to do you know and work for your family because it's hard enough being a one-income family men you're gonna have to work harder so there really isn't a lot of time for dilly dally and playing video games and stuff like that right there really isn't I mean you could probably get a little bit of leisure time in but it seems like every time I try to plan some leisure time I end up having to work so I'm just like whatever I won't plan it anymore if it happens it just happens right it's like Calvinism or something but turn to Galatians chapter 6 verse 9 Galatians chapter 6 verse number 9 and this is probably my longest point here so where we at here oh man it's gonna be it is gonna be a three-hour sermon the first person to fall asleep is thrown out of church now yeah you fall out dead I don't know if I could save you so but anyway Galatians chapter 6 verse 9 says and let us not be weary in well-doing you know weary can be like you know you're just you're having it you don't want to do it but it could also be that you're just tired like you are right now because y'all worked really hard today playing but you know you're still tired nonetheless but says let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not so keep working that's the that's the whole point you know don't get weary with doing things you know sometimes you do nice things for people and they spit in your face or you find out later they were bad and you help their family because they were the dead was a deadbeat which is another you know tell tell sign of someone that might be bad you know a lot of times they just don't want to support their family which is really weird so but anyway turn to Philippians chapter 3 verse 14 so we don't want to faint in doing our work and obviously sometimes you know realize that you're in a you're in a race you're in a race you know against time time is against you at all times because you know we have a finite existence on this planet in the bodies that we're in right now so obviously we're gonna get a glorified body that lasts forever but these bodies get tired these bodies get weary and so just know your limits to you know don't just burn yourself out and then drop out of church don't be the Roman candle Christian you know obviously you know and this is true in church that 10% of the people do 90% of the work I've found that to be true or 100% of the work or 20% whatever there's there's some percentages here that are differing but but a lot of times the people always want to volunteer because nobody else is let other people volunteer for stuff you can't do everything you know you can't do everything and you don't want to get to the point where you're just like saying yes so much that you say no to God later on and just drop out of church right Philippians chapter 3 verse 14 says I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus so we're supposed to but you know even though I'm saying pace yourself but you're still supposed to be pressing toward that mark mark what is the mark well we had marks that we're you know I say we as if I was one of them but you know whatever smart like on what was it the the goal to goal you had to touch the pole right you ran to the next mark you touch that mark you ran back that was what you're doing you're pressing you're trying to get there as quickly as you can slow down just enough to touch the pole and then run back and touch it and get the best time well we're also trying to press toward marks in our lives what's the mark to finish well to actually finish to finish the race that's been set before us see we are in a race and you know and the days are evil don't waste time doing stupid things that that mean nothing you know press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus that's this is the Apostle Paul he's saying hey I press toward the mark so he's someone to follow he said follow me as I follow Christ didn't he so what he's saying here is right what's the prize well the prize is you know that you finish and that you get rewards at that finish line what it you know the end Brandon you know he's gonna get the top reward or whatever there's three people there pastor show you're gonna give yourself a reward he's probably not so maybe the fourth person might get one or something I don't know pastors never get it we you know we get enough blessings it right so but you know someone is gonna get prizes for winning those those competitions today you guys plank well I was really impressed I just want to say that you plank last night in your chairs and then you plank here I don't know did anybody get like a time of how long everybody went without anybody dropping out it was a while it felt like a half hour no felt like a few minutes though but maybe I'm wrong but you guys did great but you know we're you know men get hyped up to do physical things and have fun like that there's nothing wrong with that but let's get hyped up and press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus it's a high calling there's no higher calling than to do the work of the Lord no higher calling all these people that are out just busy you know living vanity lives just you know talking you know you listen to sometimes to unbelievers talk and just like man I'm so glad I'm just out of that so glad I'm out of that rat race and out of that gossip circle and just a meaningless life you know say what you want about Christianity but I love being a Christian I love going to church I love reading the Bible I love listening to preaching I love singing the hymns what they're doing is meaningless and vain Colossians I'll read Colossians chapter 3 verse 23 go ahead and turn to 2nd Timothy 2 15 Colossians 3 23 says and whatsoever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men so that's what I was talking about earlier whatever we do it whatsoever means whatever you do right so do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men you might work for a man you might be under this man when he's sending you out but ultimately who's this man working for he's working for the Lord he's leading your church and but you ultimately work for God so act like that act like what you're doing I mean if the Lord Jesus was with us and he asked me to do something would you jump up and run and do it you sure would you wouldn't be like okay Jesus whenever I get a chance let me finish my video game real quick Jesus nobody nobody would do that if he was here but he you know he is here with us he's here amongst us right now part of our service so listen guys if you want to be a mighty man of God work hard that's what Gideon was doing that's what Gideon was doing when the Lord appeared to him point number two tonight a mighty man of God hears and answers God's call hears and answers God's calls flip back to our text in Judges chapter 6 verse 13 Judges chapter 6 verse number 13 the Bible says 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 saying did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt but now the Lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites so here he is trying to like basically prove who God is and there's nothing wrong with proving things right the Bible says prove all things hold fast to that which is good the Bible says you know you know when David was supposed to put on Saul's armor he said I have not proven them right so you know we have to prove things and there's nothing wrong with him like you know he hasn't seen these miracles he's heard people talk about them but he hasn't seen these miracles and so he's just you know proving him Jacob proved God and said God if you do all these things then I'll give you the first of my increase and all that stuff right so there's nothing wrong with proving God so I don't I wouldn't take that as like some kind of lack of faith he just wants to know hey is this legit or not because it's not like God just appears to everybody all the time or something this is like there's these are rare occasions and you know obviously he's not gonna appear to us because he's in heaven he's left us here to do the work right so judges 614 says and the Lord looked upon him the Lord looked upon him and said go in this thy might and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites have not I sent thee thanks a really interesting verse and so the title of my sermon was what it was I better say it right here what makes a man mighty in God's eyes what makes a man mighty in God's eyes and you have you know God here he says and the Lord looked upon him so he looked upon him and God looks upon us and he's gonna determine well hey is this guy gonna be mighty for me or not and so that's this is what he's doing with with Gideon is that he is you know looking upon him and he says go in this thy might he's already called him a mighty man he said you're a mighty man of valor you know God already sees the end from the beginning right but we don't see that we're seeing it for the first time it's like well why is he calling a mighty man it's because of the of how he responds to God it's and then it's what he does after he's responded to God so he's answering this call and it might seem like a strange way for him to be answering it but he is answering this call now you'll remember in 1st Samuel how Samuel's actual call actually called to you know be a prophet of God if you want to go ahead and turn over there to 1st Samuel chapter 3 give you something to do while you're sitting there being tired you mighty men of God now remember this you know God uses imperfect people God's gonna God uses imperfect people he used Gideon was Gideon perfect at the end I mean Gideon's covered through three chapters and judges and in the end he marries all these wives then he has all these sons and then he has one son that's I think he's the wife of a concubine or a whore or something I can't remember which one it was but anyway that one son kills all the rest of the sons so I mean he made some mistakes and but but nobody's perfect in the Bible every single man in the Bible is gonna have some kind of mistake with it within him and nobody's perfect even Samuel his sons ended up being you know wicked judges he tried to put them as judges and they were bad right so look at 1st Samuel chapter 3 verse 4 the Bible says that the Lord called Samuel and he answered here am I and he ran unto Eli and said here am I for thou callest me and he said I called not lie down again and he went and lay down and the Lord called yet again Samuel and Samuel rose and went to Eli and said here am I for thou didst call me and he answered I called not my son lie down again now Samuel did not yet know the Lord neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him and the Lord called Samuel again the third time and he arose and went to Eli and said here am I for thou didst call me and Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child now what's really interesting about this is that Samuel is ready to answer the call already of the person that already is his boss every time he's called and he thinks it's Eli he thinks it's his you know basically adopted dad he's like here am I for thou didst call me why would God call Samuel well he was already answering the calls and doing the duties that he was supposed to be doing as the high priest you know he was training to be this priest or whatever and Eli of course is the judge and but he's already answering the call so don't you think God's already gonna he's gonna call someone that already is gonna answer the call so it says in verse number nine therefore Eli said unto Samuel go lie down and it shall be if he call thee that thou shalt say speak Lord for thy servant heareth so Samuel went and lay down in his place and the Lord came and stood and called as at other times Samuel Samuel then Samuel answered speak for thy servant heareth so Samuel was a man that answered the call of God and you know I know a lot of preachers will get up and say hey you know if you get God calling you in the middle of the night or I'm not saying that that's gonna happen okay that's not gonna happen more than likely it's not gonna happen like this but this this shows us though the heart of a person that's willing to hear the call of God the call of God on your life what is the call of God on your life well being a mighty man is one of those things if you're a man and everybody in this room is then God has called you to be a mighty man of God and he's called us what to reach the lost to go and seek and save that which is lost he's called us to worship him and to learn the Bible and to baptize people and all these different things there is a great calling on our life you know but I have you listen to the call have you respond to that call and I'm not saying an audible call in the middle of the night okay I'm talking about the call in the Bible you know because the Bible is where we get all of our knowledge and our wisdom and and all that stuff from have you have you responded to what the Bible says and answered that call now I know that probably everybody in here it's a soul winner or go soul winning at some point in time but you know there's other things that God has us do too that's the main thing obviously I'm gonna read a verse for you go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter 28 Matthew chapter 22 verse 14 says for many are called but few are chosen many are called but fewer chosen God is calling for the world to be saved isn't he you know he's not you know he's not just calling certain people he's calling everybody he wants everybody to come to the dance he wants everybody to come to heaven he wants everybody to be saved but not everybody answers that call do they so and then once you have answered the call then you are chosen he's chosen you to do something to answer his call you know he's called you to salvation but then after salvation he's called us unto works okay Matthew chapter 20 verse 19 says go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you and lo I'm with you always even on to the end of the world amen so God has a holy calling for us all doesn't he now not everybody in here can baptize not everybody in here is gonna be a pastor but you know what you can still partake in this call to reach the world with the gospel to bring them to church to have them baptized to go out in the mission fields and reach that white harvest that's ready to be reaped and it's a great and high calling of God that we have to press toward what is the Lord speaking to you about is he speaking to you about doing something again I'm not gonna have an altar call or something like that but you know in your heart when you read the Bible that sometimes they read it you're like man I'd really like I know it sounds like God wants me to do that but I don't know if I could really do that listen start working towards those goals right now you don't want to be an old man then say okay I'm gonna be a pastor like me you know I will I'm not that old but 42 is when I began began to be a pastor so you know I my regrets I wish I would have done it sooner so that I could do more so that's that's you know God's called us to do more let's do more do more while you're young while you're spry while you're able to do the triple-decker apartment complexes in 106 degrees with full humidity because when you get 90 you're not gonna be able to do that anymore the the very rare bird that can actually continue to go so many when they're really old you know when you're old things start to break down on you you know hip start to go I mean even Jacob was halt on his hip for the rest of his life for that wrestling match that he had with the Lord right so he was you know we get aches and pains we get slipped discs and all this other stuff hey serve the Lord while you're young and in your prime and you're able to just do it to your maximum capacity but I'm not letting old people off the hook either there's still stuff you can do for the Lord too you can still answer the call you know maybe you can't do the triple-decker apartments but can you pray for someone that is going I mean we can you know we like to say hey are you know we're gonna so until the day we die but how many 90 year old people are in here is there anybody how many 80 year olds are in here 90 I mean 76 I mean you don't see a lot okay there we go I hit the jackpot so but listen my point is and I've made this point before but my point is we do have a shelf life folks we have a shelf life and so while you can do it do it now don't say well I'm gonna wait until I've made my fortune I'm gonna wait until I've done this or achieve this goal hey start working for the Lord now start answering his call turn to Colossians or first excuse me 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 24 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 24 pastor Shelley made this point about like none of us being able to you know make it in the NFL in this room we couldn't we probably get smoked on races even even like the biggest lineman in the NFL can usually outrun most of the people in this room probably all of them I don't know I mean not every lineman of course there's some big some big guys in there but you know most of the time those guys are picked because they're fast because they're strong because they're big because they're mean and they hit hard right except for the punters all right and the kickers the kickers try to get tough sometimes or like from the Austrian rules but they they're not really as tough as they think they are but anyway so you know God has called us and you know we sang that song not you know not to the strong is the battle not to the swift is the race that is true he's not gonna call the swiftest and it might be the swiftest in your brain he's not gonna call the you know Albert Einstein is roasting in hell today you know I mean do you think that you know he's so he's counted as so smart but you know what he died and went to hell there's a lot of people that say that they're smart and they say that they're wise but those are the people that God resists you know people that are just puffed up and prideful he can't handle he can't stand it so look at 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 24 says but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men if God put it to a vote to the human race how he was going to save all mankind do you think anybody would have came up with the plan that God came up with no that's the foolishness of God that is way more powerful than the wisdom of man or the strength of man no man could do it only the man Christ Jesus who is God manifest in the flesh could actually do those things could actually you know pastor Shelley was talking about the will you know and how we do things against our will everything he did was for the will of the father the father sent him to do his will and to to do what he was called to do and even though Christ showed that he was like he didn't wasn't really excited about going you know through that next day he asked if it could be removed from him and he said you know it's not gonna happen there was only one way but God's plan was wiser than man it's stronger than anything that man could come up with look at verse 26 for you see your calling brethren how that not many wise after the flesh not many mighty so it's talking about mighty after the flesh not many noble or called but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise these ultra wise people that think that they're so smart that you know Jordan Peterson or whatever his name is and these guys the Ben Shapiro's everybody's just enamored by how smart they are but how smart are they if they're gonna die and go to hell I mean they're not wise are they so God has chosen the foolish things of the world to kind of found those people the wise the support the wise and flesh the brain power people and look that doesn't mean no Christians are smart or no Christians are physically gifted I mean look at Brandon I mean he was he's physically gifted so you know he but but he says he hasn't called many of those people so most people are just average people that you know can actually they can put their pride aside oh you'll be really beautiful women they like to look at themselves in the mirror a lot that's pride you know why they cut what they call that thing in their room where they put their makeup on or whatever it's a vanity it's a vanity there's what there's women that like they'll walk and they look at themselves all the way through the reflections in every window they walk past they're on Facebook with different glamour shots you know I'm saying like it's weird but you know we don't want to get vain either guys and you know we might you know some of you you know you did great physically today but God has not called many mighty so in comparison to the mighty men that are you know out there in the NFL and the NBA and stuff I'm I'm like an average size in the NBA I'm like not midget like pastor Shelley would be but but there's still a lot of guys that are way taller than me I mean they're I was telling somebody in here that my cousin's seven foot tall I said you know what I call him sir but anyway I'm six foot eight I'm probably shrinking I might be six seven now I'm just still too proud to go down on that notch I'm just kidding but God has not called he God had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty so we want to be mighty spiritually obviously sometimes that means that we need to use our might physically to accomplish those goals because going so many and when it's really hot outside or really cold outside or raining like it is at our place all the time you know we go through several months where it's just not fun and then if it gets a hundred degrees up there you know we're just like well when are we gonna go so any Lord you got to go all the time just stop whining about it you know just go use your might to go and you know bring your wife with you or make sure that your wife is going on a regular basis make sure bring your kids you know obviously if it's like 106 you know you're gonna leave the stroller open no no no thing to cover their faces you know be be sensible about it but you know we should take our kids to we take our kid you know we took our kids our kids are still so wanting today so it can be done look what it says in verse 28 and the base things of the of the world and the things which are despised hath God chosen like preaching yay and things which are not to bring to not the things that are that no flesh see that no flesh that means Michael Jordan LeBron James Russell Wilson the traitor and the world's best MMA guys what are you who's some other guys that are like really good sports guys right now Tom Brady he's old and who else well Stephen Curry yeah he's really good you know but like if he was picking the best of the flesh you know the best and smartest minds none of us would be saved no offense but it's just true we're not get the most gifted physical talents on the world we're not the probably the smartest men in the world today brain brain wise but you know he doesn't want flesh to what glory in his presence glory in his presence so he picks the average people the people that are actually willing to what take heed to that call to answer that call so and if you want to be a mighty man of God you need to answer God's call and continue to answer it you know every time the bell rings you're on it every time you know at noon on Saturdays or whatever in Oklahoma City hey just ignore that bell and keep going soloing right it's not the lunch bell it might be the lunch bell for you guys but anyway point number three a mighty man of God displays humility a mighty man of God displays humility let's look back at judges chapter 6 verse number 15 judges chapter 6 verse number 15 the Bible says and he said unto him oh my lord wherewith shall I save Israel behold my family is poor in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house sounds like Gideon was humble too wasn't he he didn't say you know we're in Manasseh whoo-hoo you know we well you know we're half-tribe Joseph what now you know I'm the least of my father's house he says see how he has a low he puts himself in condescends to you know a lower estate than most people would a lot of people in this world would be like oh yeah we're Manasseh what yeah God picked me because I'm from Manasseh and I'm the best at my father's house most men wouldn't say I'm the least in my father's house right so he displays humility he why does God think that Gideon's a mighty man well you know he's a hard worker but he's also displaced humility yeah he also answered the call and said I'm gonna do it first Samuel chapter 15 verse 17 turn to first Samuel 15 verse 17 first Samuel 15 verse 17 says and Samuel said well now was little in thine own sight was thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel and the Lord anointed the king over Israel talking about Saul there was a time when Saul who was head and shoulders above the rest of the people he had reasons physically to be like yeah I'm head and shoulders about everybody but when everybody was looking for Saul he was hiding himself among the stuff he was little in his own he was playing hide-and-seek you know he thought he was still little but they had to go pull him and say here here's your king he's just like he was little in his own sight he was a great man of God and so you know God was was pleased to call him to be the king of Israel and to anoint him the king but you know we don't want to fall out and you know stop being humble and forgetting where we came from because you know all of us are sinful and we all have a sinful past and and some are worse than others but we want to remain little in our own sight and you know when I read about Saul I always think because he's a lot you know I feel like you know I'm not a giant a giant is somebody that's taller than me Goliath was a giant he was 9 foot 9 or whatever I'm just above average well a lot above average I'm like a mid giant I'm like a lower tiered giant or whatever but you know I kind of I know I don't want to ever be where Saul ended up I want to still hold a low and humble you know attitude and I want to live my life in a humble way and I don't want to end up like Saul and we shouldn't want to either we should always remain little in our own sight no matter how much people you know look up to you and things like that and look don't put people on a pedestal you know we're men you know passage only the same last night hey we make mistakes too as pastors we say dumb things sometimes or you know we get all riled up and Mike maybe freak out a little bit of on the sodomites and good maybe people think we go overboard well I think a lot of people go under board so way under board like don't mention it at all they're like Saul hiding in the closet they're scared they don't want to talk about it they'll actually say don't preach Leviticus 13 it's gonna turn people away from God or whatever you know what be an elected official and then become you know then you can pass laws yeah okay that's really gonna work God says that preach the word preach the word in season out of season we're not supposed to just hold back and hide because that's why we're in the state we're in now and maybe it was always gonna get that way but maybe it's always that way because there's a bunch of weak men and not mighty men in the pulpits they're hiding and they're scared of their own shadow they won't even put their stuff out there for people to see because someone just asked me really so recently why do you have to put your stuff on YouTube and it's like I don't have to but you know what Jesus said what you hear in the ear preach from the housetop so we're supposed to preach the Bible we're supposed to get the message out there and you're like well it's the message about the sodomites all the time it's the battle of our time right now folks it is the battle of our time we can't just be afraid of our own shadows and just be weak and and soft soap and all that lily-livered pink tea lemonade skinny jeans whatever being beans I'm just gonna go ahead and say where I stand I like beans without our chili without beans better spaghetti sauce no I'm just joking it's not spaghetti sauce it's good though and you know it makes it like if you had beans or chili with beans and you got y'all spent the night here tonight it'd be a bad night somebody lit a match this place would go up it's probably already enough of that going on right now it's weird when guys get out together by themselves like they just think it's just okay to crack them off all the time you know and maybe it is I don't know but don't do it in front of me I'll punch you no I'm kidding so but look what it says verse judges chapter 6 verse 16 I'm sorry I should have had you turn back over there or keep your I've had to keep your place there so you have no excuse now all right judges 6 16 says 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 so you know Manasseh you know I mean excuse me Gideon is a poor man from Manasseh he's the least in his father's house he admits it he has a low estate or a low self you know he doesn't think of himself as some high and mighty guy and God is using him for that reason you know because he's not God's not interested in using people who are puffed up and prideful he's not interested in saving people like that the devil fell because of his pride God hates pride he had he hates the pride people to the sons of Belial turn to Philippians chapter 2 verse 3 this is like one of my favorite portions of Scripture and I've preached it many many times but I love this because it just shows the state of mind of Jesus it shows the state of mind of God it shows us a pattern for us to work in our lives in and it shows you know just how humble Jesus really was it says in verse 3 let nothing be done through strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves so number one just start you know I mean esteeming other people better than yourselves who does that on a regular basis you know but that's something that God did God did Jesus Christ did it says look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others let's think about others Jesus thought about others was he here for himself or was he here for others he was here for others wasn't he let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men he could have been anything he could have been the king of the world the richest man in the world the most handsome man in the world the strongest man in the world the mightiest fighter in the world couldn't he but he says he made himself of no reputation that's humble the king of Kings and Lord of Lords humbled himself and became of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant he's a worker he's just a you know a worker working for somebody else he took upon himself the form of a servant he was the servant of God and he was made in the likeness of men a creation that he made he came in the form of man and he's God that's pretty humble and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross see a servant is obedient he came in the form of a servant and what his servants do they're they're obedient you obey and he was obedient unto the death even the death of the cross wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that the name of Jesus of the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father see because of his humbleness because of his loneliness he was exalted and see God will exalt us also if we are humble we shouldn't be seeking to exalt ourselves but you exalt yourself by being humble okay he he wants to you know bless our lives and everything but a lot of times our pride gets in our way I'm gonna move on to the next point but I just want to say this if you want to be a mighty man of God you got to be humble and you know what Gideon was humble point number four a mighty man of God honors God sacrificially a mighty man of God honors God sacrificially let's look back at judges chapter 6 verse 18 so you know as a servant of God we are also to honor God with sacrifices right in judges 6 18 here's a picture of what Gideon here's what Gideon does depart not hence I pray thee until I come unto thee and bring forth my present and set it before thee and he said I will Terry until they'll come again and Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes and an ephah of flour the fresh he put in a basket and he put the broth in a pot and brought it out under unto him under the oak and presented it so here we see you know this man Gideon he's like talking to the angel of the Lord wait here I got a present for you I want to give you something and obviously you know he's given us out of the kindness of his heart and he's giving sacrificially isn't he because remember what he said he said my family is a poor family and I'm the least of my brethren right he's the least so this poor man you know the member the Midianites were taking away all their substance taking away all their food why is he threshing behind the wine press because he doesn't want them to see the food that he's preparing and making and putting through the process and then they would come and steal it from him okay that's why he was hiding it so he could do this and then he takes something where he has not much to give and still gives it anyway and see God wants us to give sacrificially to him too and I think that's one of the reasons why God thinks that Gideon is a mighty man because he's a man that honors God sacrificially so it takes about a hundred to three hundred fifty dollars to buy a goat this is what he offered a kid right so and it's a baby goat that he offers so the average the average price today is that much I'm not sure if that's an accurate price I just kind of looked up some stuff on the internet or whatever I didn't spend that much time on it but hundred to three hundred bucks and obviously there's certain goats that are bred to have the best milk and all this other stuff those are a lot more expensive but I mean just say this as an average non GMO fed goat all right about 300 bucks if it's a female 100 if it's a male so $65 is the cost of organic flour today for 50 pounds that's about the size of an ether at least that's what I found on the internet you know the Internet's always right but I'm just saying so say it's say it's a hundred and sixty five dollars you know for him that's a great sacrifice because the guy's poor and you know if you you know just just to say this if you're not tithing even if you're poor then you're not being spiritual and I don't want you to take this the wrong way because I don't want this to be like a sermon about tithing but tithing is something that we should do and you know I'm sure that everybody here gives sacrificially but I'm sure that there might be somebody that's like struggles with it like struggles with the faith of tithing because tithing doesn't make sense mathematically when you add up all your bills and then you put the tithe on top of it a lot of times that doesn't pan out but I'll tell you what God promises to take care of us he promises that he's going to you know he says to prove him let's look at Malachi chapter 3 verse number 8 and I would say this that if you're not tithing it shows a lack of faith it shows a lack of faith in God because and really this is I mean false prophets will give a lot of money to church false pro you know so and again I don't want to make this all about money but it is important to understand and hey even if you don't have a lot of money that doesn't matter you know if the tithe is less for you if you make less money but it might feel like you're you're hurting more because you're not making as much money but you know what you should still give anyway and you know what God's going to take care of you it's a promise in the Bible if you believe all the rest of the Bible but then you get to Malachi 3 and you're like I don't know if that's what it's really saying let's read it let's read what it says will a man rob God yet you have robbed me but you say wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings so God is saying that you know if you hold back the tithes and offerings you're doing what you're robbing God you're stealing from him it says you're cursed with a curse so if you're not tithing what are you you're cursed you're part of your life is cursed because of that all right and it says you have for you have robbed me even this whole nation bringing all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now here with sayeth the Lord of hosts prove me now here with sayeth the Lord of hosts if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it promise it's a promise of God isn't it and it is a command of God to tithe you know and people go well not the New Testament doesn't say that it also doesn't say you know I mean there's a lot of things that the New Testament doesn't say but you know if it's already backed up in the Old Testament it's still good for us today unless it's been changed in the New Testament I mean we a lot of people already know that I'll go to says in verse 11 and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field sayeth the Lord of hosts so God's gonna rebuke the devourer it says and all nations shall call you blessed for you shall be a delights and land sayeth the Lord of hosts so God does want us to give sacrificially of our the monetary funds that come in whatever that is and I'm not saying you know every blade of grass you know every ten blades of grass you got to bring one or you know you can do it with money all right that's usually how things operate nobody here probably you know has crops they're cutting down and have to you know bundle up a certain amount the best green and you know take it this look quit being weird about it just give to the Lord okay now look sacrifice isn't just money so you know the Bible says that we're supposed to be a living sacrifice right there we're supposed to be holy acceptable we're supposed to make our life a living sacrifice so you know we don't have to give sacrifices on altars anymore but you know will you sacrifice your time will you sacrifice your talents will you sacrifice and give unto the Lord that which is just and right and you should if you want to be a mighty man of God you know if you say well I'm good in all these areas except for I just I just don't have the faith to tithe look I'm not trying to batter you and beat you up with this but there should come a time in your Christian life where you're just like I'm gonna trust God with my finances I'm gonna trust God with my finances that I'm not gonna worry about it anymore and look you'll have such a peace of mind with that I mean I'll say that there in early on in my Christianity I did struggle with this concept not the concept but I was afraid and that's that's where we don't want to be we don't want to be afraid to give unto the Lord because he promised to take care of us he promised to bless us so why you know if you believe everything else in the Bible why would you not believe that because you know sometimes that little Jew comes out of you the you know you get that little that that unspiritual Jew wants to hold back the price and look God's gonna curse you for that so that's what the Bible says right so let's let's let's live as a sacrifice to God let's give of our time and our talents and all those things but also let's give of our finances because you know what you're already you're just giving back what God's already given you you're you know and just just trust me on this go home if you're not tithing or whatever and just say you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you to prove yourself because he already he said he would so why not just prove them put them to the test you know you always hear those preachers that'll say well you know what I finally decided to start tithing and I was like it doesn't make sense but I'm gonna give it anyway and then like I got a check in the mail like a week later or something that does happen it's happened to me before who who's ever had that happen to him before some kind of way it came in now I know who's not tithing so I'm just kidding I'm only kidding all right gotcha no I'm just joking all right let's go back into our text in judges chapter 6 point number 5 is a mighty man of God heaps his works upon the foundation of Jesus Christ who is the rock I know that's a mouthful but I had to get an H in there somewhere so anyway judges chapter 6 verse 20 so you're gonna put you know we need to build our foundation our works upon Jesus Christ it says in judges 6 20 it says in the angel of God said unto him take the flesh and the unleavened cakes and lay them upon this rock and pour out the broth and he did so and of course you know that the rock represents Christ right and 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 a fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes and the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight so here you have you know this the angel Lord he puts the staff forth cooks everything up fire rises up out of the rock and consumes the flesh and unleavened cakes so like I said we need to build our works upon the foundation of the rock which is the Lord Jesus Christ if we're building upon other things or doing other works that aren't being laid on that foundation they're they're worthless they're gonna get burned up all right so look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19 Ephesians 2 verse 19 Ephesians 2 verse 19 the Bible says and therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone so we know that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone he is the rock and the foundation is also built upon the apostles and the prophets and you know it says in verse 21 in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto and holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are building together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit so we are building upon what's already been set before us Jesus Christ the cornerstone the apostles and the prophets and we're building works upon something that's already been done before us work you know it's it's an old paths type situation there because you know if we're not building our works upon Christ and the apostles then we're just building on on stupidity and ridiculousness and vanity because there's a lot of people out there that they say that they're they believe in the rock and they believe that Jesus is the foundation and all that but they're they think that their work saved them so automatically they're just not building on the right foundation the foundation over here is Jesus is the rock you know we can trust in the fact that he's done all the works for us the apostles came the prophets came and they built upon that and he says hey build upon what's already been done for you Jesus Christ saved us because of what he did not because of what we do and so anybody is building on the wrong foundation you know first of all they're not gonna make it to heaven because we're not saved of works turn to Hebrews chapter 12 but you notice that the fire rose up out of that rock and consumed you know so God was pleased with the sacrifice that Gideon brought wasn't he he was pleased with it because he put that upon the rock he put that sacrifice upon the rock now look at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 28 says where for we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire we have to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear and you know what our God is a consuming fire he's gonna burn up the set you know he's gonna he's gonna make it known what our works really are when we go before the judgment seat of Christ some things are gonna be burnt up some people's works are they're just gonna get by by the skin of their teeth basically they're gonna be saved and that's it they're not gonna have any other works to build upon it now look at 1st Corinthians chapter 3 verse 9 1st Corinthians 3 9 the Bible talks about this here in 1st Corinthians 3 so we're co-laborers with God we are his workmen that are working the fields we're working the vineyard but we are co-laborers with God it says in verse 9 for we're laborers together with God your God's husbandry your God's building according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon but let every man take heed how he buildeth there upon for the other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Jesus Christ so basically exactly what I just explained now if any man build up this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because what what how's it revealed by fire see the fire rose up from the rock and consumed the sacrifice our God is a consuming fire he's gonna reveal whether our works are right or not it says because it's revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is if you're not putting it upon the rock the right foundation and the Apostles and the prophets then you're building it on something wrong and he and if you think that those you know just handing out a door hanger is just is getting it done it's not getting it done it's not gonna get it done your garden ministry where you're handing people watermelons and saying Jesus loves you or something that's not gonna cut it folks we have to build on it the way he wants us to build on you know we don't want to build it like some whack Jenga you know we want to build it upon you know a solid foundation you know what that fire shall try or man's work of what sort it is if any man's work abide he shall build there upon he shall receive a reward if any man's work shall be burned burned he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved what does it say yet so as by a fire the Lord is a consuming fire make make sure that you're the works you're doing are the right works they're built on the right foundation and that you know when the fire goes to burn it up burn it all up that your stuff is still going to be there because you don't want to just be you know willy-nilly doing works that aren't really legit there's a lot of you know ministries out there that are just whack they don't have the right works they don't have the right foundation and you know it might see you know the Mormons do they do works they do you know they'll unload your u-haul when you pull into town they'll do lots of nice things for you they'll bring you cookies and kool-aid or whatever they'll pray that you get the burning in your bosom and all this you know they'll do works but it's not upon the right foundation they're doing it to be saved not because they are saved it's a big difference look at judges back at judges 6 to 22 excuse me it says when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord Gideon said alas O Lord God for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face and the Lord said unto him 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 an ophrah of the Abiezorites so your works better be for Christ they better be on the right foundation or it is vain and you know if it's for yourself then it's the wrong it's the wrong reason isn't it if it's you know the wrong thing it's gonna get burnt up so why just sit there and beat your head against the wall with something that doesn't is meaningless you know you want to do what's right point number six a mighty man of God does as he's commanded to do with haste you know we're supposed to keep God's commandments and so he's commanded to do something here that's very scary and really another part of this is that you know we have to be willing to lay our lives down just like Christ laid his life down for us you know he doesn't expect you know he does expect us to to go through tribulation to go through harassment to go through people encompassing about trying to find a weakness in us trying to just do all these attacks against us at all times but sometimes he calls for us to pick a fight too and here you have you have Jerubel or Gideon here he's picking a fight in 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 sometimes we got to cut down the altar of Baal God's gonna command us to go you know people say well you shouldn't just fight with other people and stuff like that well it sounds to me like God said hey go pick a fight here sometimes we you know we're the army of the Lord do armies battle or not I mean I'm confused by some of these Christians today that just don't think we're ever supposed to be in battles I mean the whole book of the whole Bible is pretty much battles isn't it I mean it's it's just one big battle you know the Lord versus Satan and his minions and his children of Belial so it says verse 26 and build the an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock in the order place and take the second bullock and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down and Gideon took ten men and his servants and did as the Lord had said unto 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 don't judge him for this because he still did what he was told to do all right so I mean they probably would have just killed him if he would have done it by you know during the day but he still did it and God blessed him for it he did exactly what God commanded him to do and he did it quickly he didn't like wait for 90 days and say well you know when's the right time God he just he just did it and maybe it wasn't the most brave way that people would think but we weren't there we don't know exactly what he faced in that situation but he still did what he was commanded to do look at verse 28 and when men of the city arose early in the morning behold the altar of Baal 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 so again God asked him to do this thing he asked he commands him to do this thing why does he think he's a mighty man well because when he says to do something he does it you know a mighty man of God a spiritual mighty man of God is going to keep God's Commandments and you know what he's gonna start a fight when he's told to you know you got a pastor over here that started some fights you know and but people started fights with him you know you need you all need to pray for him because you know he's battling and I know he doesn't like when people preach for him like that and it's whatever but you know what let let another man praise you right this guy's my friend and you know what anybody that starts talking trash on your pastor you should rebuke them sharply and tell them to shut their mouths tell them to walk a mile in his shoes one time you know and so what if he started the fight so it looks like Gideon started a fight here too and get who's Gideon he's a guy threshing wheat behind a wine press and the next thing you know he's leading a mighty army against the Midianites and actually it wasn't really that mighty it was 300 people it was thousands of people and then it got whittled down as God was like you know I want to make sure that everybody knows you know that it was me that did this but obviously God uses men it says as by one man all right so God has always chosen a man to lead his people you know what your man here is Pastor Shelley and you know what sometimes he's gonna get into battles and you know a lot of the times he's getting into battles right now there's gonna come a day though when you'd be like I thank God for the fact that I was at steadfast Baptist Church going through these battles of backing up my pastor you know the 300 men they just did whatever Gideon told him to do break the lamps charge towards them and they're like you think they weren't afraid the Midianites and the Amalekites had a huge army and you know just because he listened to God he obeyed God God wrought a great victory in him he was looking for someone that he could show his power through and you know what God did it and look I'm not saying the pastor Shelley's Gideon but you know what he's going through battles and it's not just one it's multiple battles but back him up and I know that you guys do but don't you know don't let these people these trolls these weirdos these losers you know some androgynous blob you know with her nipples with band-aids on or whatever don't let those people chase you away look they got mad these people wanted to kill Gideon you know what God protected him and didn't allow it to happen God's gonna protect steadfast Baptist Church and you know what who knows what's gonna happen next because you know the the clamps are being put down tighter on preaching like this preaching the Bible just whatever he's preaching you know whether it's 30 days of against pride or whatever it is you know he's God's gonna be with him though because you know what he's preaching the Bible look people aren't doing it there's people that are preaching but they're not preaching the whole counsel of God you know what we're supposed to preach the whole counsel of God and Gideon was not afraid I mean he kind of was he's just afraid to do it during the day but he still did it he wasn't afraid to keep God's commandments and start that fight Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments not my suggestions my commandments first John chapter 5 verse 3 says and this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous when you find yourself being grieved at the commandments of God being preached from the pulpit at steadfast Baptist Church just think about the fact that if you're grieved by a commandment that God has told this man to preach then your heart is not right with God you're not thinking right someone is trying to steer your thinking in another direction and you need to get back on track with what the Bible says like oh it's just so hard though look we're in a battle and battles are hard and sometimes people fall but you know what if you stick with God you're a mighty man of God you follow these things then God's gonna lift you up and you know if you're humble he's gonna lift you up he's gonna get you through these battles and you're gonna be thankful at the end of them because it's not always I mean there's probably always gonna be a battle but it might not be as bad as it is right now you know but maybe it's worse you just don't know and like he was saying last night there's times you might look back go that was a really easy time I was just thinking man that doesn't I mean it doesn't when I hear so I mean I'm sure he doesn't tell you everything because if he did you might be vexed by all the stuff that's happening all the time but you know what he is taking a lot of the brunt of what you know a lot of people are are being shielded by what he's doing in your church because that's usually how it goes down the man of God that's at the church they're gonna get the heat because there's one the ones that are seeing the things that make people mad but it's just the Bible they hate God's Word that's what it is they hate God's Word they hate the commandments of the Lord they hate Leviticus 2013 they hate all these verses they hate Romans chapter 1 they hate those verses and so when we preach them they're gonna be like these you know followers of Baal because that's what they really are they're followers of the devil and they're gonna come against us they're gonna come against your church and you know it's just God but you know what God's gonna smoke them in the end anyway so it doesn't really matter and as long as you're doing it you're right with God you're gonna be fine Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 13 says let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man and you know what I have one more point I'm way under my time right now okay so one last point a mighty man of God lives a victorious Christian life through the power of God from on high I had to get another H in there sorry but anyway let's go back let's go to judges chapter 7 and we'll finish up here judges chapter number 7 mighty man of God lives a victorious life through the power of God from on high see it's not our own power that we're going under Gideon's you know he's like the sword of the Lord and of Gideon it's and Gideon it's not Gideon's sword and God to know we go through God's power and you know he's leading the charge as a leader and he's living to victory he he wins the victory doesn't he and so a mighty man is gonna win the victory and you know we might lose some battles here and there but ultimately every single Christian wins in the end anyway judges 7 verse 15 it says and it was so and Gideon heard the telling of the dream so these he overhears this dream that one of the people one of them have about how this thing came in and destroyed them and all this stuff and Gideon hears that he takes heart right it says that it came it was so that Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof and he worshipped and returned to the host of Israel and said arise for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian and he divided the 300 men into three companies and he put a trumpet in every man's hand with empty pitchers and lamps with the pitchers and he said unto them look on me and do likewise and behold when I come to the outside of the camp it shall be that as I do so shall ye do so he's a great leader here isn't he isn't he saying basically what Paul said follow me as I follow Christ he's saying hey whatever you see me do you do likewise and he took these chosen men that God prepared for him and he and they follow him into battle and they're against an innumerable host says in verse 18 when I blow the trumpet and I that and all that are with me then blow you the trumpets also on every side of the camp and say the sword of the Lord and of Gideon so Gideon is hundred is in the hundred men that were with him came to the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch and they had but newly set the watch and they blew the trumpets and break the pitchers that were in their hands and the three companies blew the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the lamps in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands to blow with all and they cried the sword of the Lord and of Gideon and they stood every man in this place round about the camp and all the hosts ran and cried and fled and you know what that's that's just a picture of how God's gonna give us the victory also you know if we're following all these things that you know basically Gideon had followed and God said hey this is a mighty man thou mighty man of valor just a regular guy just a regular person he wasn't a mighty man was he as far as the world is concerned he wasn't a mighty man he came to a man that was just a regular guy and used him to do this great work and win this great battle you know what and God puts men in our lives to win great battle took for us to follow and us to win great battles too so follow you know if you ever want to be a great leader you have to first be a great follower so be a great follower don't be a pain in the neck don't be a pain in the rear be a good follower of the leadership that you have in your life whether that's your boss at work whether that's your pastor you know obviously at home you're the boss right but you know you want people to follow you too so if you're a good follower maybe your family will be a good follower too because God's gonna bless you in that way but you also have to be a great leader you know you as a man you're supposed to lead we have the you know we like to go yeah we're the leaders or whatever mm-hmm we're the boss but you know what in 2022 women don't have to obey you they don't have to they can just divorce you for whatever reason they want so we really live in a hard time back in the in these times you couldn't just say they couldn't just say no I'm not cooking you dinner tonight it just didn't work like that we live in a completely different world we do and you know sometimes we you know I've seen people's marriages fall apart because you know a man thinks that leading is just barking orders all the time and flexing and just being like I'm the man we'll see how long that lasts you in 2022 and unfortunately you know because women should be obedient to their husbands children should be obedient to their fathers and their mothers but you know we live in a world where you know you can just say hey my dad spanked me or whatever and then they can tell the school or tell somebody and then you're gonna get in trouble for spanking your kid I mean it's just ridiculous but you know what you can still be a great leader you can still have a great family you can still live the victorious Christian life you can still win the battle you can still follow your leadership you know what and God's gonna be pleased with you and he's gonna say you know what that man's a mighty man of God that man is leading where he needs to lead and he's following where he needs to follow Gideon you know again and I brought this up at the beginning and I'm almost done I promise you but Gideon was not picked because of his tremendous fighting skills he wasn't like you know Goliath he was just like I said a regular guy and Gideon was a mighty man of valor why because of his character because of his spirituality because of his willingness because of his humble lifestyle because of his sacrifice and you know because of his willingness to answer the call you know what he finished well he finished well he won the battle and finished the race so to speak and so these are just seven things and you know man I'm not even ten o'clock yet you guys am I not merciful anyway that's all I got for tonight let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you Lord so much for this great lesson in the book of Judges and Lord that we can look and see that it's not our our great mind power it's not our great physical strength or abilities it's Lord it's the it's the way that we follow your lead and the Lord that we follow our leaders and Lord the way that we lead as men Lord I pray that each and every man in this room would Lord just try his best to be perfect a perfect man keeping your Commandments Lord let's pray that Lord each and every house that's that's represented here Lord that you would just bless their house Lord help these men and Lord we're in troubled times and times are gonna get worse well Lord I pray that you just help us to stand strong stand behind the man of God in Jesus name we pray amen