Glorifying God By Winning Battles God s Way CD No. -also G-26 Time: 2/ 20/ 2011 Sun. 11am travisleemartin@hotmail.com Text: Judges 7: 1-25 - www.coolspringsbaptistchurch.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction: We find in Judges chapter seven where a battle was fixing to take place between Gideon and his army, 32,000 men, with the Midianites and the Amalekites that had 135,000 soldiers. Even though the odds were against Gideon s army, God did not want them to glory in their victory. Listen to V.2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are two many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt them selves against me, saying Mine own hand hath saved me. The Lord did not want them to vaunt or boast or brag about what they did; He was to get all the credit and Glory. In V.2 the Lord talks about him giving the Midianites in their hands. However, unless their army was dwindled down to the point that only the supernatural had to take pace for them to win the battle; they might take all the credit instead of giving it to God. If there is one thing that the Lord wants from His people, it is to exalt Him and give Him all the credit and Glory for every thing that is accomplished in our lives. God s people should GLORIFY God for every thing that is accomplished in the secular ream of life, as well as what is accomplished in our spiritual lives. THE BIBLE CAMMANDS US TO GLORIFY GOD AND GIVE HIM ALL THE GLORY IN THIS WALK OF LIFE. 1 Chronicles 16: 28,29 Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of people, give unto the Lord glory and strength- give unto the Lord glory and strength- give unto the Lord the GLORY due his name. 1 Corinthians 6:20 Glorifying God in your body, and in your spirit which are God s- The Lord loves to receive Praise & Glory from his people. The Lord knew the POTENTIAL of the Israelites letting pride take over and vaunt them, so God was going to dwindle the already small army down to even a smaller army so that they Page 1
couldn t brag about what they done, but give God all the credit and glory. Let us notice three things from our text: I. The Soldiers That God Gets For The Battle A. The Fearful Admitting Soldiers V. 3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart from early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remaineth ten thousand. Twenty two thousand soldiers admitted that they were fearful and left the camp the next morning, which left ten thousand soldiers. You see, God frequently cuts down on our resources in order that we might depend entirely on Him and give Him the Glory. No Christian soldier can be a quality soldier for the Lord who is intimidated by the Devil and his crowd They have got to have courage and won t mind charging the Devil and his crowd straight on in the might & wisdom of God. Fear is contagious, it focuses on the problem, not upon the God who is greater than the problems, Fear and Faith can t live together very long in the same heart. Either fear will conquer Faith and we will quit, or Faith will conquer Fear and we ll triumph. John Wesley said on one occasion- Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but sin and love nothing but God, and I will shake the gates of hell. The Fearful Admitting Soldiers B. The Fearless Alert Soldiers After The Test Of Dread Came The Test Of Drinking. This test was for those who were careless and lacked caution, who gave themselves too freely and un-guardingly to the fulfilling of the appetites of the flesh. God was literally purifying the army with a drinking test. Page 2
Now, all you have left for this test were the fearless soldiers. You always need fearless soldiers to win battles, but you also need alert and cautious soldiers. V.5 7 we have the drinking test. Read then Illustrate So, every one that lappeth the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, God told Gideon to set them aside. This group was more alert by the way that they drink their water. They had a more observing view of the enemy that might be slipping upon them. Every one that bowed down on their knees to drink was ruled out. They were not being alert and were only thinking of their self and their need, not the enemy who could be approaching them. Only ALERT Christians can be successful soldiers for the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5:1 But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you, 6 Therefore let us not be asleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. If we are going to be good soldiers for Christ, we don t need to get our minds polluted so we can t think straight, and we need to have our spiritual vision and discernment sharp to be able to detect our enemy, the devil. The Fearful Admitting Soldiers The Fearless Alert Soldiers C. The Final Amount Of Soldiers They started with 32,000 and 22 thousand left who were fearful. Then they took a drinking test for alertness with 10 thousand and lost 9,700, which resulted with 300 soldiers who were fearless and alert ready for the battle. God cut the army down from 32,000 to 300 men who were fearless and keen and alert. God removed the quantity soldiers for quality soldiers. Question: Did you know that God is interested in quality more than quantity? Page 3
Most churches are more interested in quantity (numbers) more than they are with quality members.( those who try to live right ) Instead of eliminating or reducing to get quality, they are engineering or planning to get quaintly. (or numbers) God is more concerned with having a pure church. Eph. 5:27 That he might present to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be Holy and without blemish. The Soldiers That God Gets For The Battle II. The Strategy That God Gives For The Battle A. The Encouragement Strategy From The Spying Verses 8-14 Read God caused a Midianite soldier to dream a dream and then tell it to a fellow soldier. V.13 middle of verse- Behold I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. Then God caused a Midianite soldier to interpret the dream in V.14- And his fellow answered and said This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered into your hand the host of Median. This dream and the interpretation of this dream didn t come from eating ramps; it came about because God knew that Gideon needed encouraging because the odds were now 400 to 1. God wanted Gideon to know every thing was going to be all right regardless of the incredible odds. Aren t you glad that God does want to encourage his servants? In fact, God is described as the God of all comfort. Page 4
V.15 tells us that he was so encouraged that he instantly worshiped God and returned back to camp. The Encouragement Strategy From The Spying B. The Equipment Strategy For The Soldiers V. 15-18 tells us about the equipment and the strategy. The equipment was empty pitchers or clay vessels and lamps within the pitchers. They were also to hold a trumpet in the other hand. The men were divided up into three companies, 100 per company. The 3 companies of men, 100 apiece surrounded the camp of the Midianites. They all got above the camp so the Midianites would be able to see the lights when they broke the vessels and exposed the lights. After breaking the vessels and exposing the light and blowing the trumpet, then they were to shout,[ V.18c ] The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. Since this was an unusual strategy to defeat 135,000 Midianites according to chapter eight, how did Gideon come up with this unusual strategy? Even though we don t hear God speaking to him in our text about this strategy, the strategy had to come from the Lord. The Lord gave Gideon the wisdom for the equipment and the battle plan. Since we are in many battles as a child of God and at times the odds of us losing the battle may seem bleak, where do we get the wisdom we need to fight our battles so we can win and God gets all the glory? ANSWER: James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally. Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto Page 5
me and I will show you great and mighty things which you know not. Let Us Think About The Symbolism Of The Equipment That They Were Going To Use. They were all to blow a trumpet in unison, then they were to break the clay vessels after the light was removed from under the vessel, then they were to wave the lights, then they were all to holler in unison, the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. NO. 1 The BREAKING Of The Pitcher We all are vessels of God and we are to be clean vessels if we are to have an impact on this old world. 2 Tim.2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessels unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master s use. Etc.. Our text speaks of the vessels being broken. Did you know that God only uses broken vessels, those that are humble and that has got pride out of their lives. You see, you cannot be too small for God to use, but you can become too big. If you want the credit for what God is doing, God will not use you. Isaiah 42: 8 I am the Lord that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another. Sometimes, God has to break his vessels before he can use them. Etc. he did with Peter - Jonah No. 2 - The BEAMING Of The Light After the pitcher was broken, the light began to shine. After God breaks us, then our light will began to shine. Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. 16- Let Your light so shine before men, that they may see your Good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven. This world is in moral darkness and we are to lead them out of darkness by letting our light shine and living the lives that we are suppose to live as Christians. Page 6
No. 3 The BLOWING of The Trumpet The trumpet in 7:10 speaks of the word of God. Do you recall what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1:8 For from you sounded out( trumpeted out) the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia. Did you notice that Gideon alone was not to blow trumpet? You see, every believer has a part in this ministry. Question, are you blowing the trumpet of God s word? Are you getting the word of God out to this lost world? No. 4 The BOASTEROUS voices of the soldiers. By them hollering, the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon, they were identifying whose side they were on. Christian friend, don t ever be ashamed of letting this world know who s side you are on. By the way, we are on the winning side. I know because I have read the last chapter in the last book of the Bible! The Soldiers That God Gets For The Battle The Strategy That God Gives For The Battle III. The Success That Glorifies God From The Battle A. The Reenactment Of The Scene 1. The Starting Of The Engagement Etc. on using their unusual equipment in unison- ( blowing the trumpet, removing the light from under the vessel, then waving the light, then hollering the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon, and they were done all of this in unison).. [demonstrate] 2. The Shock Of The Enemy V.22 REVEALS THAT THEY WERE SO CONFUSED and SHOCKED THAT THEY were running in the camp in darkness----turned on one another---what didn t slaughter each other fled with the Israelites after them. B. The Result Of The Success God gets the glory Page 7
When the battle was all over, God got all the credit because 300 men defeated 135,000 men with broken pitchers or vessels and lights and a trumpet and shouting soldiers without firing a shot. God did the miraculous with 300 fearless, alert soldiers who were willing to fight the battle God s way so God could get all the credit and glory. Conclusion: Glorifying God By Winning Battles God s Way 1. Main lesson, when God does anything for us whether it is in the secular real of life or the spiritual realm of life we need to give God all the credit and Glory. 2. God can do more with quality soldiers than He can with quantity. He s coming back after a pure church. 3. God can only use us when we trust Him, and when we trust Him, we will not let fear cripple us in the battle of the Lord. 4. God also proves that He can only use alert soldiers in the battle of the Lord. 5. God has a way of encouraging us along the way as He did with Gideon; He will let us know that we are on the winning side. 6. We are to seek God for wisdom when there is some kind of battle going on in our lives. ( His wisdom can be found though prayer James 1: 5 ) 7. When we use His wisdom to fight our battles and we have won, we have to say To God Be The Glory. Page 8