WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:01.610 We've been going as a church body. 00:00:01.660 --> 00:00:02.810 We've been going through the Old Testament. 00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:06.050 I would say it's Old Testament survey. 00:00:06.680 --> 00:00:11.100 But when I took Old Testament survey in school, it took a lot longer than what we're going through. 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:13.060 at the pace we're going through. 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:18.050 But we're kind of doing a big overview of the Old Testament to get a big picture of what God's doing in the Old Testament. 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:25.390 I think a lot of times we tend to focus on the New Testament because it's a lot easier to apply to our lives, and we kind of forget about the Old Testament, 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:29.660 and we forget how much good stuff there is in the Old Testament for us. 00:00:30.340 --> 00:00:32.460 but just kind of a review of where we've been. 00:00:33.460 --> 00:00:37.960 we already looked at Moses, Abraham, Joseph, we looked at creation, those things. 00:00:39.020 --> 00:00:40.690 so we're up through Genesis. 00:00:40.780 --> 00:00:41.840 We completed Genesis. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.060 We looked a little bit into Exodus with the life of Moses. 00:00:44.940 --> 00:00:48.220 And today we're going to skip quite a few books and jump into judges. 00:00:49.180 --> 00:00:54.240 So kind of between where we are and where we were, Moses led the people out of Egypt. 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:55.990 He led the nation of Israel out of Egypt. 00:00:56.160 --> 00:00:56.690 They were in slavery. 00:00:57.720 --> 00:01:02.730 They disobeyed God and God said, you're not allowed to go into the Promised Land yet. 00:01:03.180 --> 00:01:04.739 So they had to wander around for 40 years. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:06.730 That generation then died off. 00:01:07.100 --> 00:01:10.440 Joshua took over and then leads the people into the promised land. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:13.430 You also have the Book of Leviticus, which is the book of the law. 00:01:13.620 --> 00:01:20.020 This is where God gave them in great detail the law. 00:01:20.020 --> 00:01:20.890 And this is the book. 00:01:20.900 --> 00:01:23.830 If you are ever questioning how grateful you are for Grace. 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:28.680 read the book of Leviticus and you will be ever grateful. 00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:33.850 There's so many laws and details in there, if this happens, then you need to do this. 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:38.860 And as a result of that, if this happened like it's like the books you used to read as a kid where you choose your ending, you know. 00:01:38.860 --> 00:01:42.260 And to get this ending, turn to page 28 or whatever. 00:01:42.520 --> 00:01:49.640 It's kind of like that, but they all end with either being cut off from the nation and not being allowed to be a part of the nation anymore, or 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:50.890 you were able to return in fellowship. 00:01:51.740 --> 00:01:58.760 But it's a great detail and it's very, very tedious if you think about trying 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:00.500 to keep all of these things that God gave them. 00:02:00.940 --> 00:02:07.610 And so we look at Leviticus and are grateful for Christ and His grace, and putting an end to the need to fulfill the law. 00:02:08.340 --> 00:02:11.660 numbers is the book where God counts the nation of Israel. 00:02:11.660 --> 00:02:12.290 There's a census. 00:02:12.940 --> 00:02:16.400 It's a lot of begats where so and so begat so and so begat so and so. 00:02:16.420 --> 00:02:17.870 And you get a lot of genealogy in there. 00:02:19.160 --> 00:02:21.400 Deuteronomy literally means second law. 00:02:22.380 --> 00:02:29.480 so by the time Deuteronomy is written, the first generation that came out of Egypt that received the law in the book of Leviticus had basically 00:02:29.480 --> 00:02:30.140 died off. 00:02:30.140 --> 00:02:33.060 So Moses kind of as his last farewell tour. 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:38.230 unlike the Rolling Stones, he actually had an end and he did a farewell tour and called it good. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:46.160 and so he does a farewell to her and his kind of farewell tour is these last five sermons which make up the Book of Deuteronomy, which is kind of a retelling 00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:51.440 of the law for this new generation, to kind of remind them of where they came from. 00:02:51.440 --> 00:02:57.020 And then you have the Book of Joshua, which is the conquest of the Promised Land, where they actually go in and take the Promised Land. 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:05.380 Joshua then dies and you're into the book of judges and after Joshua dies, Israel goes into a state of what 00:03:05.440 --> 00:03:12.460 really is the majority of the Old Testament, where they have a period of ups and downs, where they obey God and things are great, 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:15.960 and then they disobey God and something bad happens. 00:03:16.320 --> 00:03:23.540 Typically an opposing army or nation would come in and they would, excuse me, they 00:03:23.540 --> 00:03:25.160 would they would take over the Israelites and enslave them. 00:03:25.260 --> 00:03:27.330 Then the people would repent of their sin and then come back. 00:03:27.880 --> 00:03:29.050 So today we're going to look at judges. 00:03:29.260 --> 00:03:30.200 Just kind of a quick overview. 00:03:31.320 --> 00:03:34.200 It's written somewhere between the 14th and 11th centuries. 00:03:34.200 --> 00:03:36.560 All these events take place in that time frame. 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:39.200 Israel would, like I said, obey, disobey God. 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:41.800 God would send in an army to oppress them or enslave them. 00:03:42.160 --> 00:03:43.440 And then he would call up a judge. 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:44.740 The people would cry out for deliverance. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:46.160 They'd realize the error of their ways. 00:03:46.260 --> 00:03:49.460 God would raise up a judge who would then deliver them from the. 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:52.700 The oppressor. 00:03:52.700 --> 00:03:55.900 it's actually, if you read the Book of Judges, it's an entertaining read. 00:03:55.940 --> 00:03:58.280 There's a lot of stories kind of packed into it. 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:04.420 And if you're if you're an action movie fan or a superhero fan, the book of Judges is good for you. 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:06.180 There's a lot of casualties in it. 00:04:06.300 --> 00:04:07.200 It's a bloody book. 00:04:07.720 --> 00:04:11.680 There's about 260,000 casualties that take place throughout all of the battles. 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:15.300 If you read the book, it's got some really bizarre stories. 00:04:15.320 --> 00:04:20.149 Like I said, if you're into the action movies or anything, Hollywood really doesn't have anything on the Bible. 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:24.080 Ehud, for example, he's in judges chapter three. 00:04:24.140 --> 00:04:24.950 This is one of my favorite stories. 00:04:25.960 --> 00:04:29.960 So the king is Eglon, and he's the one that's suppressing Israel. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.990 And it literally says in chapter three that King Eglon was a very fat man. 00:04:34.960 --> 00:04:42.040 and so Ehud makes an 18 inch sword and straps it to his leg and goes into the king's chamber, and it says that when he stabs the king 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.420 in the stomach, that his stomach swallows the sword. 00:04:44.540 --> 00:04:48.660 And so, like all 18in of the sword, are in the guy, and he escapes. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:50.740 So crazy stuff like that. 00:04:50.780 --> 00:04:52.600 Hollywood, Hollywood can't come up with that kind of stuff. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:53.220 They try. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:05:00.440 But then you have the story of Shamgar, who took an ox goad, which is what you would prod your oxen along as they 00:05:00.440 --> 00:05:00.740 plowed. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:02.550 And he killed 600 people by himself. 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:04.250 It's crazy stuff. 00:05:05.520 --> 00:05:12.580 then you have Jael, who took a tent peg and drove it through the opposing king's head and pinned his head to the ground with a 00:05:12.580 --> 00:05:13.060 tent peg. 00:05:13.440 --> 00:05:16.240 Just crazy, gruesome stuff that you really like. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:17.130 Why is that in the Bible? 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:19.780 I don't know, but it's impressive. 00:05:19.780 --> 00:05:26.890 And it gets your attention because you just got done reading Leviticus and numbers, and you're like, all right, I need something to happen to wake me back up while I read through the Bible. 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:28.940 And then judges comes along and it gets your attention. 00:05:29.640 --> 00:05:32.340 Then you have the stories of Samson, which a lot of us know. 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:34.390 You know, he great man of strength. 00:05:34.580 --> 00:05:36.220 He to get revenge on the Philistines. 00:05:36.340 --> 00:05:43.500 He ties Foxtails together and then lights them on fire and sends them through the fields, running to burn all their crops like just 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:44.240 crazy stuff. 00:05:44.460 --> 00:05:45.410 And that's the book of judges. 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:52.340 But in between some of those stories, in chapter six, we get to Gideon, which is kind of a bizarre story also. 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:57.960 But that's where I really want to focus today, because it gives us a lot that we can apply to our lives today. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:01.740 So if you want to go ahead and grab the Bible in front of you, or you can follow along on the screen. 00:06:02.640 --> 00:06:11.300 We're going to be in judges and we're going to be in chapter six, and we'll start in verse one. 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:17.880 In Judges chapter six one, it says the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian. 00:06:18.260 --> 00:06:21.340 Seven years and the hand of Midian overpowered Israel. 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:28.600 And because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains, and the caves and the strongholds. 00:06:29.260 --> 00:06:36.260 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and Amalekites and the people of the east would come up against them, they would encamp against them and 00:06:36.260 --> 00:06:43.560 devour the produce of the land as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep or ox or donkey, for 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:45.470 they would come up with their livestock and their tents. 00:06:45.940 --> 00:06:47.440 They would come like locusts in number. 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:54.360 Both they and their camels could not be counted, so they laid waste to the land as they came in. 00:06:54.400 --> 00:06:56.240 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. 00:06:56.920 --> 00:06:59.620 And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord. 00:07:00.080 --> 00:07:04.940 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. 00:07:05.320 --> 00:07:11.500 And he said to them, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I led you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of slavery. 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:18.740 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 00:07:19.940 --> 00:07:21.680 And I said to you, I am the Lord your God. 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:25.880 You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose hand in whose land you dwell. 00:07:26.200 --> 00:07:27.660 But you have not obeyed my voice. 00:07:29.200 --> 00:07:36.880 So like the rest of the story of judges, and a lot of the stories you read in the Old Testament, Israel disobeys God, they turn to idols. 00:07:36.960 --> 00:07:38.200 In this particular story, we know. 00:07:38.200 --> 00:07:43.480 They turn to the to the false god of Baal, to Baal, and worshiped Baal and Gideon. 00:07:43.780 --> 00:07:49.580 The people are getting oppressed, and they finally realize after seven years that something needs to happen. 00:07:49.700 --> 00:07:50.740 They realize what they've done. 00:07:50.740 --> 00:07:52.000 They cry out to God for deliverance. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:56.400 God sends a prophet and then raises up Gideon, who will? 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:57.620 Who will then deliver them. 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:02.780 And so we look at this and we talked about it last week. 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:10.280 And throughout that, when you read the Old Testament narratives through the through the Old Testament, it's not necessarily good to directly 00:08:10.280 --> 00:08:13.960 apply what you read in the Old Testament to your life. 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:21.320 For example, if you sinned today, odds are God isn't going to send an overwhelming nation to come and conquer you and 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:26.160 enslave you and oppress you, that's probably not what the consequence that you'll face. 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:29.600 But we can we can glean application from it. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.450 That's why we like to read the New Testament, because it's a lot easier to apply. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:38.179 Like in the book of Ephesians, when Paul tells husbands that we're to love our wives like Jesus loved the church. 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:39.440 That's easy to apply to us today. 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:41.750 It's the same application for us as it was for them. 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:43.530 So we like to read that because it's easier. 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:45.890 But in the Old Testament it can get kind of confusing. 00:08:47.780 --> 00:08:52.470 But to kind of think about it, we have consequences and there are consequences for sin. 00:08:53.140 --> 00:08:55.980 Just like the Israelites had to face consequences, we face consequences. 00:08:57.160 --> 00:08:58.340 Some of them are obvious. 00:08:58.520 --> 00:09:05.560 Like if you if you go and you get drunk, and then you get in a car and drive and you get in an accident, the consequence of your 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:07.280 sin is evident. 00:09:07.280 --> 00:09:08.980 You did what was illegal. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:10.020 You broke the law. 00:09:10.020 --> 00:09:13.050 You got an accident, potentially hurt yourself or someone else. 00:09:13.500 --> 00:09:14.460 And so that's obvious. 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:15.720 Other sins. 00:09:15.760 --> 00:09:18.200 The consequence of those sins might not be as obvious. 00:09:19.540 --> 00:09:23.200 A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the life of Joseph and Lust, and we talked a little bit about lust. 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:25.980 And you think about lust in your head. 00:09:26.660 --> 00:09:32.720 And the consequence of that lust might not be directly evident to you in your life right away. 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:40.480 But if you think about the habit or the sin habit of watching pornography, it doesn't have a direct effect 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:41.030 necessarily. 00:09:41.300 --> 00:09:48.500 But the consequence of that sin is indirectly, you're supporting and encouraging slavery in the sex trade and sex 00:09:48.500 --> 00:09:51.720 slavery, because that's what the industry does. 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:58.980 A lot of the girls that get stuck in that trade have to drug themselves with drugs or alcohol to 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.580 numb the pain and reality of what's happening to them throughout. 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:11.440 And when you watch that, you encourage that the consequence of your sin is the fact that you aren't directly affected necessarily, 00:10:11.540 --> 00:10:12.140 which you are. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:17.780 The last time I preached, I talked a lot about the effects that pornography can have on your mind. 00:10:18.400 --> 00:10:23.440 But the consequence of your sin also affects other people in their enslavement in that particular sin. 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:28.000 So it might be directly obvious, like the drunk person who gets in an accident and kills someone. 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:36.000 It might be not so obvious, like the man addicted to pornography who's encouraging the enslavement of women around the world for 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:36.700 abuse. 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:45.120 And so whether the consequence of sin is obvious physically or not, there is a consequence for sin. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.120 And if you read in the New Testament, in Romans chapter six and verse 23. 00:10:51.920 --> 00:10:54.160 Says the wages of sin is death. 00:10:54.580 --> 00:10:59.760 The consequence of our sin is death, spiritual separation from God. 00:10:59.760 --> 00:11:01.100 Sin has a consequence. 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:08.720 And in first Corinthians chapter six, verses nine through ten, it says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? 00:11:09.160 --> 00:11:16.940 Do not be deceived, neither sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.960 nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 00:11:20.460 --> 00:11:23.560 Sin has a consequence, the consequence of our sin. 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:23.920 Today. 00:11:24.140 --> 00:11:29.600 The consequence of Israel's sin in the Old Testament is separation from God. 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:34.860 Because of sin there is a consequence, and the consequence is you do not get to spend eternity with God. 00:11:37.060 --> 00:11:44.200 Praise God, though those verses, both Romans chapter six and first Corinthians don't end there, because like in judges, there was a consequence for 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:45.740 the sin, but God gave us a way out. 00:11:46.180 --> 00:11:52.340 Romans 623 goes on and says, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:59.920 In first Corinthians 611 goes on, and it says, and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were 00:12:00.020 --> 00:12:04.400 justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the spirit of our God. 00:12:05.520 --> 00:12:11.360 And I really like First Corinthians because we tend to read verses nine and ten and we're like, absolutely, 100% agree. 00:12:11.380 --> 00:12:13.100 Those people don't belong in heaven. 00:12:13.140 --> 00:12:13.560 Those are people. 00:12:14.160 --> 00:12:17.600 Wouldn't be I wouldn't consider those people Christians if their life is marked by those things. 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:20.300 And then we get to verse 11 and it says, and such were some of you. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:21.920 And we're like, okay, hold on, wait a minute, Paul. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:26.550 That was a little, a little bit low that you just grouped us all in with all these other people. 00:12:27.160 --> 00:12:34.180 But verse 11 puts us all, reminds us all that all of us have that consequence of sin, that we all fall short, and we do not deserve to 00:12:34.180 --> 00:12:37.680 inherit the kingdom of God, but we were washed. 00:12:39.300 --> 00:12:43.230 We were sanctified and we were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:12:44.300 --> 00:12:51.140 I think one of the problems that we tend to fall into, one of the ditches we tend to fall into, is we don't want to underestimate God's love. 00:12:52.180 --> 00:12:55.300 So we focus on the fact that God loves us, which is amazing. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:00.000 And the fact that God, God chooses to love me is still blows my mind. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.620 But we tend to forget God's judgment and we underestimate his wrath on sin. 00:13:06.520 --> 00:13:10.060 God, your sin and the consequence of your sin killed God. 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.140 When Jesus died on the cross, Jesus is God. 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:14.600 Your sin killed God. 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:16.060 That's the consequence of sin. 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:18.250 It's not something that we need to take lightly. 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:20.080 It's not something that we need to brush off. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:22.620 Sin is serious and it has a consequence. 00:13:23.280 --> 00:13:26.420 But praise God that there was a solution to the consequence. 00:13:26.760 --> 00:13:31.600 Just like for the Israelites, God would raise a judge to deliver them from their oppressor. 00:13:32.540 --> 00:13:39.580 God came and gave his Son for us, that we can be freed from the oppression and the consequences of our sin and our 00:13:39.640 --> 00:13:40.600 disobedience to him. 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:46.660 Romans five eight says, But God shows his love for us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:51.500 Christ didn't wait for us to realize, okay, we've screwed this up and then come and save us. 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:54.160 Christ died and saved you while you were still a sinner. 00:13:54.200 --> 00:14:00.750 While you didn't deserve it, while you were still enemies with God, God delivered you from the consequences of those sins in your decisions. 00:14:02.520 --> 00:14:09.260 And just like, just like God gave, gives us Christ and saved us from our consequences, he raises up in judges. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:14.300 He raises up Gideon, who comes in and saves the day for the Israelites. 00:14:14.880 --> 00:14:21.880 And if you skip ahead to verses 11 through 12 and judges still in chapter six, it says, the angel of the 00:14:21.880 --> 00:14:29.600 Lord came and sat under the Terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:33.280 his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 00:14:33.760 --> 00:14:37.820 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, the Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor. 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:46.580 The one thing I really like about about Scripture and when you read is a lot of the heroes in the Bible, whether it be Old Testament or 00:14:46.580 --> 00:14:53.260 New Testament, when you read about them and you kind of look at their life, you realize that they really weren't that impressive of people. 00:14:54.040 --> 00:14:58.140 It says here that Gideon was beating out the wheat in the winepress. 00:14:59.280 --> 00:15:02.550 He typically, if you beat out the wheat, you're going to be on the threshing floor where you harvest wheat. 00:15:03.160 --> 00:15:06.170 But he's hiding in the winepress, and it says that he's hiding from the Midianites. 00:15:06.680 --> 00:15:10.780 But then the angel of the Lord comes and says, the Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:11.760 It's like, wait a minute. 00:15:11.800 --> 00:15:14.920 The guy who's hiding is a mighty man of valor. 00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:19.560 Okay, it doesn't really make sense, but it's really it's a theme throughout all of Scripture. 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:28.260 If you if you look at King David, when God, when God chooses King David to lead the nation of Israel, he chooses the guy out in the field playing a harp to 00:15:28.260 --> 00:15:28.800 lead the nation. 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:33.560 He skips over all the brothers who are in the army and who were big in stature. 00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:33.800 They were. 00:15:34.180 --> 00:15:35.360 They looked like kings. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:40.500 And he skips over all them and he says, no, the guy that's out in the field playing with the harp, that's the guy I want to lead the nation. 00:15:40.740 --> 00:15:41.630 He's like, are you sure? 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:47.710 Because you know, he's going to have to like, go into battle and lead them in war and he's going to kill a giant. 00:15:48.180 --> 00:15:50.340 And you want the harp player, you know. 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:50.700 Okay. 00:15:50.780 --> 00:15:51.120 All right. 00:15:51.140 --> 00:15:51.820 You know what you're doing. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:53.580 So okay pick King David. 00:15:54.580 --> 00:16:01.760 But then you look even in the New Testament you look at Peter and it's like, all right, Jesus, you're going to pick your 12 disciples who are going to who are going to carry on your legacy and 00:16:01.760 --> 00:16:03.380 spread the gospel to the world. 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:10.020 Let's go to the synagogues, the temple, and the gates of the city, where all the educated and respected people hung out. 00:16:10.020 --> 00:16:11.210 And Jesus is like, no, no, no. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:16.460 Let's go down to the fishing docks and talk to the fishermen who barely graduated third grade. 00:16:17.140 --> 00:16:18.580 That's the guy I want him. 00:16:19.660 --> 00:16:20.660 Okay, well, we'll get him. 00:16:20.680 --> 00:16:25.630 But you do know that he's going to deny you three times and you're still going to build your church on that guy? 00:16:26.060 --> 00:16:27.120 Yeah, that's the one. 00:16:27.140 --> 00:16:27.720 Okay. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:28.100 All right. 00:16:28.880 --> 00:16:29.620 So we'll pick Peter. 00:16:29.760 --> 00:16:36.210 So we got David who played the harp and at one time broke all ten commandments in one fell swoop. 00:16:37.400 --> 00:16:39.060 and God chooses him to lead the nation. 00:16:39.560 --> 00:16:46.320 And then you have Peter, who wasn't educated, probably smelled because they didn't really have hot water showers back then. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:46.900 And he was a fisherman. 00:16:47.880 --> 00:16:50.900 And he's going to deny Jesus, and Jesus chooses them. 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:58.840 And then you look at Paul the Apostle when we first meet Paul, when we when we read the book of acts, his name is Saul, and he's on his way 00:16:58.840 --> 00:16:59.810 to kill Christians. 00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:06.819 And then by the end of the book of Acts, history tells us that Paul then is beheaded for himself. 00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:08.960 Being a Christian when we first meet. 00:17:09.300 --> 00:17:16.480 When we first meet Paul, he's holding the coats of the men, throwing stones and killing Christians in support of the martyrdom of Christians 00:17:16.520 --> 00:17:17.260 and killing them. 00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:20.900 And then by the end of the book, he himself gives his life for what he was once attacking. 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:22.640 And it's like, that doesn't make sense. 00:17:23.300 --> 00:17:29.100 It's like taking Osama bin laden and then putting him in Congress or the Senate or President or something. 00:17:29.180 --> 00:17:29.550 It just doesn't. 00:17:29.580 --> 00:17:30.470 It's a total transformation. 00:17:30.780 --> 00:17:31.160 It doesn't make sense. 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:38.940 Somebody who is so anti something and then becoming the most prolific writer and preacher of 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:41.120 his generation doesn't make sense. 00:17:41.360 --> 00:17:43.480 Even last week we looked at the life of Moses. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:44.910 Moses had a speech impediment. 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:45.740 He couldn't talk. 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:47.400 He told God, God, why did you choose me? 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:54.440 I can't talk, you want me to go to Pharaoh, who's the king of the most powerful empire in the world and 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:55.020 talk to him? 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:59.630 I can't talk, and God's like, yeah, you're going to go and you're going to talk, and it's going to be fine. 00:18:00.520 --> 00:18:01.840 And it doesn't make sense. 00:18:02.040 --> 00:18:06.800 The people that God chooses to do what he does, but that's who he chooses. 00:18:06.840 --> 00:18:12.700 God doesn't need the most gifted, the most accomplished, the most profound speakers. 00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:14.380 He needs a willing heart. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.880 He needs a servant that's willing to serve. 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:21.760 And that's what he found in King David and Peter and Paul and Moses. 00:18:22.120 --> 00:18:29.200 And here in Gideon, God isn't concerned whether where your status is God isn't concerned with what 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:30.810 abilities you have. 00:18:30.860 --> 00:18:37.960 What he's concerned with is if you're willing to use those abilities for him, however mediocre they may be, he wants your heart to be 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:39.360 willing to serve. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:45.270 If you read Isaiah chapter six, verses one through eight, it's one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture. 00:18:46.060 --> 00:18:53.080 I kind of call it the Christian life in a nutshell, because here we see Isaiah, and it's a perfect picture of 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:56.440 where we as Christians find ourselves. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:03.700 In Isaiah six one through eight, it says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up. 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:06.310 The train of his robe filled the temple. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:07.920 Above him stood the seraphim. 00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:13.360 Each had six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 00:19:14.120 --> 00:19:18.540 And one called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 00:19:18.540 --> 00:19:20.620 The whole earth is full of his glory. 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:25.900 And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called. 00:19:26.260 --> 00:19:27.680 And the house was filled with smoke. 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:34.480 And I said, woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. 00:19:34.820 --> 00:19:37.180 For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 00:19:38.060 --> 00:19:43.460 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:47.280 And he touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips. 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:50.580 Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. 00:19:51.020 --> 00:19:55.440 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? 00:19:55.580 --> 00:19:58.180 Then I said, here am I, send me. 00:20:00.100 --> 00:20:07.140 And so Isaiah sees God in all of his glory, and he realizes the disconnect between him, a sinner 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:08.100 and holy God. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.080 And he cries out, woe is me! 00:20:11.580 --> 00:20:18.760 He realizes the consequences of his sin because he sees God when it says the Lord of hosts, it means that God is a warrior preparing 00:20:18.760 --> 00:20:22.290 to do battle, and he's getting ready to come and do battle against sin. 00:20:22.360 --> 00:20:29.500 Isaiah realizes, I'm a sinner, and this great God that I just saw the glory of is prepared to come and do battle 00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:30.350 against me. 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:31.600 Woe is me. 00:20:31.600 --> 00:20:35.480 I'm a dead man because this God is ready to deal with my sin. 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:37.100 And these are the consequences of my sin. 00:20:37.360 --> 00:20:39.200 And he cries out and God forgives. 00:20:41.740 --> 00:20:47.940 Isaiah it says that the seraphim comes and touches his lips, signifying that he cleanses him and forgives him. 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:52.000 And then God says, who will go for us? 00:20:52.300 --> 00:20:53.070 Whom will I send? 00:20:53.120 --> 00:20:55.440 And Isaiah says, here am I, send me. 00:20:56.460 --> 00:20:58.850 You see, that's really that's what the Christian life is all about. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:03.800 At some point, if you are a Christian, you you've had an experience where you realize that I am a sinner. 00:21:03.860 --> 00:21:08.500 There is a separation between me and the holy, righteous God that I cannot gap. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:16.140 Isaiah doesn't see God in his righteousness as a as a warrior coming to do war against sin and say, God, I know you're getting ready to come and do war against 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:16.490 sin. 00:21:16.820 --> 00:21:18.000 Let me tell you about how good I am. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:20.450 I did this and I did that. 00:21:20.760 --> 00:21:22.140 No, Isaiah says, okay, I'm dead. 00:21:22.540 --> 00:21:23.100 I am a dead man. 00:21:23.580 --> 00:21:23.820 It's over. 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:30.320 And at some point, if you're a Christian, you've had to come to that realization that nothing that you can do is good enough. 00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:34.020 Nothing that you can do can bridge that gap. 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:38.130 And Isaiah comes to that realization, he cries out for forgiveness. 00:21:38.540 --> 00:21:45.810 And if you're a believer today, you've come to that realization and you've cried out for forgiveness, and Christ forgives you, and God forgives you and takes away that sin. 00:21:46.600 --> 00:21:50.180 And then the next logical step, if you're a Christian, is then here am I. 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:50.600 Send me. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:52.820 Okay. 00:21:52.820 --> 00:21:57.120 God, I realized that there is a gap in the consequences of my sin or separation from you. 00:21:57.820 --> 00:21:58.280 Cleanse me. 00:21:58.380 --> 00:21:58.900 Forgive me. 00:21:59.060 --> 00:22:02.550 I accept your sacrifice on the cross that Jesus made. 00:22:03.460 --> 00:22:04.200 Forgive me of my sins. 00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:04.940 Christ. 00:22:04.940 --> 00:22:06.520 God forgives you of your sins. 00:22:06.540 --> 00:22:09.400 And then your response should then be, here am I. 00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:09.950 Send me. 00:22:11.020 --> 00:22:11.480 It's not. 00:22:11.980 --> 00:22:12.940 Thanks for forgiving me. 00:22:13.320 --> 00:22:14.840 I'm going to go back to doing what I was doing. 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:18.160 And then when I need you, I'll come back and we'll talk then. 00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:19.970 But in the meantime, I'm going to be over here. 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:21.220 And then we come back to God. 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:22.860 When something bad happens, we talk to him again. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.740 No, it's God, you've forgiven me. 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:26.900 What can I do for you now? 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:27.780 Where can I serve? 00:22:27.800 --> 00:22:28.500 What can I do? 00:22:30.140 --> 00:22:37.280 The first 11 chapters of Romans, Paul brilliantly explains and 00:22:37.360 --> 00:22:44.420 sets forth the gospel, and he starts with the sin issue and the separation that causes, and the fact that we as 00:22:44.620 --> 00:22:46.440 people can't do anything about it. 00:22:46.540 --> 00:22:50.000 And then he talks about Christ coming in, the sacrifice that is. 00:22:50.020 --> 00:22:52.780 And it's by faith and belief in him that saves us. 00:22:52.860 --> 00:22:55.620 It's not by fulfilling any works of the law or anything like that. 00:22:55.660 --> 00:22:58.040 And then in chapter 12 he starts like this. 00:22:58.180 --> 00:23:05.400 In chapter 12, verse one, he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, 00:23:06.120 --> 00:23:09.000 holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 00:23:11.560 --> 00:23:12.420 He says, therefore. 00:23:12.460 --> 00:23:14.620 So he's laid out the gospel and he shares it with you. 00:23:14.620 --> 00:23:21.640 And he says, in light of this gospel that I just shared with you, in light of the fact that you don't deserve salvation, but God gives it to you anyway because of his 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:22.020 grace. 00:23:22.040 --> 00:23:28.340 In light of all of that, the least that you can do, the only reasonable thing that you can do is give your life back to God. 00:23:29.620 --> 00:23:32.920 It said a lot of times in Christian circles, and it's kind of cliché, but it makes a lot of sense. 00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:35.300 God died for you. 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:37.810 The least you can do is live for him. 00:23:39.260 --> 00:23:40.500 And that's what Paul says. 00:23:40.520 --> 00:23:47.660 And that's what we see in the life of many of the great, great leaders in the Bible is the fact that 00:23:48.080 --> 00:23:52.040 they didn't bring much to the table, but they realized who God was and who they were. 00:23:52.060 --> 00:23:55.400 And in light of that, they wanted to serve him with whatever they could. 00:23:55.940 --> 00:24:03.140 Moses with his speech impediment, Gideon with his fear, David with his inconsistencies, Peter with his with 00:24:03.140 --> 00:24:06.070 his poor education and emotional reaction. 00:24:06.080 --> 00:24:08.280 A lot of times I really like Peter. 00:24:08.280 --> 00:24:13.180 He's probably my favorite of the apostles, if you have to pick one, because I can really relate to him. 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:16.680 He has to learn the same lessons a lot over and over, and he's kind of slow. 00:24:17.720 --> 00:24:18.920 And so I relate to him. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:24.400 And so I like the fact that God can use him to do something, because it gives me hope that maybe I can do something also. 00:24:27.020 --> 00:24:34.160 But Gideon, like the rest of the great leaders in the Bible, realizes that he needs to be willing 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:35.270 to serve, and so he's willing. 00:24:35.840 --> 00:24:42.940 And so if you jump ahead, we're going to jump into chapter seven and verse one, Gideon answering the call of the Lord being willing 00:24:42.940 --> 00:24:43.480 to serve. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:48.980 And, chapter six, we see that the Midianite army has come and they've camped out in chapter eight. 00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:56.020 If you read, you realize that the army that came and camped out to come into Israel and take, take over the land like they had been for the last seven years, coming and 00:24:56.100 --> 00:24:57.350 taking all the crops and livestock. 00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:00.420 It's about 135,000 men in this army. 00:25:00.420 --> 00:25:07.960 It says that the men who drew the sword or warriors, army, aficionados, they were trained warriors 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:09.260 coming to do battle. 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:10.860 And there's about 135 of them. 00:25:10.860 --> 00:25:18.180 We pick it up in judges chapter seven, verse one, and it says that then Gideon and all the people who were with him rose early 00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:20.190 and encamped beside the spring of Herod. 00:25:20.560 --> 00:25:24.180 And the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. 00:25:24.840 --> 00:25:32.120 The Lord said to Gideon, the people, who with you who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast 00:25:32.120 --> 00:25:34.640 over me, saying, my own hand has saved me. 00:25:35.260 --> 00:25:42.480 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:43.040 Gilead. 00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:47.780 Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. 00:25:48.800 --> 00:25:55.740 So if you're doing math here, still doesn't quite make sense what God's doing here. 00:25:55.820 --> 00:25:58.800 So 135,000 enemy army. 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:01.300 We've got 32,000 on our side. 00:26:01.320 --> 00:26:02.500 And God says, no, you've got too many. 00:26:02.820 --> 00:26:04.580 You're going to say that it was because you had so many people. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:08.240 It's like there's still 100,000 more of them. 00:26:08.840 --> 00:26:10.080 And he says, get rid of some of them. 00:26:10.340 --> 00:26:11.900 So get Gideon is like, all right. 00:26:12.040 --> 00:26:13.840 So whoever's afraid, go back home. 00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:17.920 And I'm looking at the odds and I'm saying, okay, 135 32. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:18.500 I'm scared. 00:26:19.020 --> 00:26:19.440 I'm going home. 00:26:20.100 --> 00:26:21.260 So I'm one of the 22,000. 00:26:21.340 --> 00:26:21.780 I'm already out. 00:26:22.100 --> 00:26:23.140 Like I wouldn't have stayed. 00:26:24.600 --> 00:26:27.400 And so 20, 2000 leave. 00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:28.540 We're down to 10,000. 00:26:28.540 --> 00:26:30.140 God says no, it's still too many. 00:26:30.620 --> 00:26:31.890 So he puts a test before him. 00:26:32.360 --> 00:26:35.420 So in verse four it says, the Lord said to Gideon, they're still too many. 00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:42.580 And he says that take them down to the water, and whoever drinks the water a certain way, keep them and whoever doesn't send them 00:26:42.580 --> 00:26:43.100 back home. 00:26:43.560 --> 00:26:47.080 And by doing that, Gideon's army is cut down to 300. 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:53.290 And verse seven it says, and the Lord said to Gideon, with the 300 men, I will save you, and give the Midianites into your hand. 00:26:54.280 --> 00:26:54.440 Okay? 00:26:54.560 --> 00:26:58.240 32,000 taking on 135 would have been really impressive. 00:26:58.940 --> 00:27:00.960 That would be a pretty impressive victory. 00:27:01.700 --> 00:27:02.420 If you've ever studied. 00:27:02.520 --> 00:27:03.520 I love the History Channel. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:07.580 I love it when they do the World War two stuff and things like that. 00:27:08.080 --> 00:27:13.740 And when you think about the numbers, fighting against the numbers 32, against 135 is impressive. 00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:14.880 And God says it's too much. 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:17.720 I'm going to show you how amazing I am. 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:23.460 We're going to cut it down to 300, 300 people against 135,000. 00:27:25.320 --> 00:27:26.660 God says that's the right number for me. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:27.360 That's what I want to do. 00:27:28.760 --> 00:27:30.720 And Gideon says, okay, God. 00:27:31.660 --> 00:27:32.820 it was already really hard. 00:27:33.020 --> 00:27:34.120 You called me to lead these people. 00:27:35.180 --> 00:27:36.870 and now it doesn't even make sense. 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:37.500 And so. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:39.960 So I'll do it. 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:40.780 But. 00:27:40.800 --> 00:27:48.700 Okay, so oftentimes in our lives, though, that's kind of what happens when we follow God is 00:27:48.700 --> 00:27:50.880 it doesn't necessarily make sense. 00:27:51.980 --> 00:27:54.540 But that's what God wants us to do. 00:27:55.700 --> 00:27:57.180 I don't know if I've ever shared with everybody. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:05.580 I don't even know if I've really shared with many of you on one, on one level, how I actually ended up in Utah, but it doesn't make sense. 00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:13.560 I was working a job, making way more money than a 20 year old should make, who had minimal bills, and 00:28:14.080 --> 00:28:19.520 God was like, no, I want you to quit that and focus more on the youth work that you're doing in the church. 00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:25.720 And I'm like, okay, so all right, well, all right, I'll quit, quit that job and get a part time job. 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:32.640 And I start doing that and I go to school, for some Bible training to be able to better equip myself for ministry. 00:28:33.060 --> 00:28:36.030 I had finished two years of classes. 00:28:37.100 --> 00:28:41.600 By the time I finished those two years of classes, I knew that God was asking me. 00:28:41.600 --> 00:28:42.910 It was time for me to move on. 00:28:43.540 --> 00:28:52.760 My dad's a pastor back east, and I'd grown up my whole life under his under his pastoral leadership, and I had been, been 00:28:52.760 --> 00:28:56.440 doing ministry under his leadership for the last four years. 00:28:56.440 --> 00:29:03.500 And I knew it was time for me to move on my first option, and really, the only choice in my head that was going to make sense was 00:29:03.540 --> 00:29:05.460 if I moved to Florida, where my brother lives. 00:29:05.460 --> 00:29:06.260 He lives in South Florida. 00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:10.970 has access to anything that you've ever wanted to do? 00:29:11.060 --> 00:29:13.740 Like, he knows people with fishing boats. 00:29:13.740 --> 00:29:14.910 We can go out in deep sea fish. 00:29:14.940 --> 00:29:20.430 He knows people that have hunting property where we can go shoot pigs and whatever else. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:26.430 He just like, if you like guy things, he has access to it. 00:29:26.460 --> 00:29:31.760 and plus it's South Florida, so it's like 75 in December, and I can wear flip flops all year. 00:29:32.040 --> 00:29:33.200 And I hate wearing shoes and socks. 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:35.740 So Florida was where I was going. 00:29:35.780 --> 00:29:36.840 That was in my head. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:37.260 Okay. 00:29:37.360 --> 00:29:37.560 God. 00:29:37.560 --> 00:29:38.100 You want me to move? 00:29:38.580 --> 00:29:40.140 Obviously you want me to move to Florida. 00:29:40.260 --> 00:29:41.260 So that's where I'm going to go. 00:29:41.660 --> 00:29:43.880 So I started pursuing Florida. 00:29:44.460 --> 00:29:51.600 But Nathaniel Word got to Nathaniel that I was looking to move and he planted the Utah bug in my ear 00:29:52.600 --> 00:29:54.060 quite persistently. 00:29:54.060 --> 00:30:01.100 And he planted and harvested and planted and harvest and he, um and so finally I was like, all right, I'll come out and I'll visit and 00:30:01.100 --> 00:30:02.750 I'll see what this Utah place is all about. 00:30:03.600 --> 00:30:07.140 And so I know I've known Nathaniel for a large chunk of my life. 00:30:07.780 --> 00:30:14.280 He actually was, he did an internship as the youth director when I was in youth group back in West Virginia. 00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:16.680 And I went on a missions trip with him and everything. 00:30:17.120 --> 00:30:18.780 And he was friends with my brother, so I knew him pretty well. 00:30:18.840 --> 00:30:25.860 So I came out to visit him and Stacy and took took a week, came out and visited, and I was like, yeah, okay, 00:30:26.320 --> 00:30:27.770 that might be an option now. 00:30:27.860 --> 00:30:28.040 Okay. 00:30:28.080 --> 00:30:32.320 So Florida is still where I'm going to go, but there's another option if I really wanted to. 00:30:33.220 --> 00:30:37.340 And so about ten months after that visit, I came out with a missions team. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:42.790 And really, that's when I was really impressed with God's direction on my life to come to Utah. 00:30:43.260 --> 00:30:49.270 And that's when I knew at the end of that week, Nathaniel dropped us off at the airport and I shook his hand and said, I'll see you in about a month. 00:30:49.900 --> 00:30:54.090 And just a little bit over a month later, I moved here from Utah. 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:57.230 But when I moved here, this is the part that doesn't make sense. 00:30:57.780 --> 00:30:59.200 The this makes the least sense. 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:06.380 I think when I moved here and looking back at probably not the best idea, but I, I 00:31:06.380 --> 00:31:07.040 moved here. 00:31:07.040 --> 00:31:14.500 When I moved here, I had enough money for my first month's rent in about $600, and that $600 was to drive from Ohio to 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:20.220 Utah and last till I found a job, whenever that might be. 00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:22.800 and it doesn't. 00:31:22.860 --> 00:31:23.860 It's still in my head. 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:25.110 It's like, how did that work? 00:31:25.900 --> 00:31:28.200 Like, really? 00:31:28.830 --> 00:31:33.060 but sometimes what God asks us to do doesn't make sense. 00:31:34.040 --> 00:31:35.150 I don't want I don't want to tell you the story. 00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:42.540 To think that I'm something awesome because I was dumb enough to drive across the country with $600 and hope I could live for an 00:31:42.540 --> 00:31:43.600 unknown period of time. 00:31:44.220 --> 00:31:49.310 Don't follow that example necessarily, especially if you are a father and a husband. 00:31:49.760 --> 00:31:51.990 Please don't put your family through that. 00:31:52.220 --> 00:31:55.800 But it I fought God the whole way here. 00:31:56.100 --> 00:32:03.760 If you've ever driven any resemblance of that trip and you've driven through Iowa and Nebraska and Wyoming, 00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:12.040 there's a lot of time to talk to God, because a lot of those places don't even have cell phone service, which is amazing that 00:32:12.040 --> 00:32:17.020 in 2010, they're still places in America that don't have cell phone service, but they don't have anything. 00:32:18.380 --> 00:32:20.100 And so no cell phone service. 00:32:20.100 --> 00:32:20.800 I'm the only one in the car. 00:32:21.260 --> 00:32:22.180 I'll talk to God about this. 00:32:22.260 --> 00:32:24.950 And I fought him almost the whole way. 00:32:26.180 --> 00:32:26.650 are you sure? 00:32:27.040 --> 00:32:30.880 Is this just a test for, like, you tested Abraham with offering Isaac. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:31.440 And I'm going to get to turn around and go back home sometime. 00:32:33.020 --> 00:32:33.600 because that's what I. 00:32:33.640 --> 00:32:34.280 That's what I wanted. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:38.300 But because it didn't make sense to me, I'm like, okay. 00:32:38.320 --> 00:32:43.970 Oh, and when I drove across the country to save money, I thought it would be a good idea to not go ahead and renew my license plates. 00:32:44.560 --> 00:32:50.240 So I drove all the way from Ohio to here with expired tags on my plates, because I didn't want to spend the money on those so I could spend money on food. 00:32:53.230 --> 00:32:54.700 Again, it just doesn't make sense. 00:32:54.820 --> 00:32:57.550 Not a logical thing to do. 00:32:57.800 --> 00:32:59.620 But like I said, I'm not telling you that. 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:01.250 So you think that I'm something special? 00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:08.760 I'm telling you that because following God might not make sense, but in the long run, it's worth it. 00:33:10.180 --> 00:33:12.940 Because I was willing to not make sense and move. 00:33:13.060 --> 00:33:19.350 Here I met a girl who is way out of my league. 00:33:20.580 --> 00:33:27.400 and, convinced her that I was as good as she could do, and. 00:33:29.010 --> 00:33:30.790 And as a result, we got married. 00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:34.700 I have a daughter now, and, I mean, for what? 00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:35.470 Didn't make sense. 00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:40.540 It's still a lot of times we go through things as a as a family and as a couple and serving God. 00:33:40.580 --> 00:33:41.260 That don't make sense. 00:33:41.380 --> 00:33:46.600 We're not really sure why, but we know that it's worth it because it's what God wants us to do. 00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:53.560 And I'm telling the story to encourage you that if what God's asking you to do doesn't necessarily make sense. 00:33:55.880 --> 00:34:00.060 It's okay because sometimes we can't see what's ahead. 00:34:00.140 --> 00:34:00.640 But God can. 00:34:02.760 --> 00:34:09.880 The omniscient, sovereign God of the universe has a plan, and sometimes his plan doesn't make sense to our finite minds, but to his infinite mind, it makes 00:34:10.139 --> 00:34:10.340 perfect sense. 00:34:13.860 --> 00:34:19.780 Gideon was just a normal guy who was hiding from the Midianites like everybody else in Israel. 00:34:20.340 --> 00:34:22.860 But Hebrews 11 names Gideon among the hall of faith. 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:26.600 Gideon. 00:34:26.739 --> 00:34:28.000 Even he doubted God. 00:34:28.540 --> 00:34:34.469 When God first appears to him and calls him, he says, okay, well, how do I know this is really you? 00:34:34.900 --> 00:34:41.960 And so he comes out and he gives a puts a meal before God on this rock, and God, the angel of the Lord is speaking to him, 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:44.040 touches the rock and it's consumed with fire. 00:34:44.340 --> 00:34:48.020 Then later when God says, okay, I want you to lead the army out against the Midianites. 00:34:48.760 --> 00:34:52.690 Getting like, okay, well, just so I know this is you, I'm going to I'm going to put a test before you. 00:34:52.860 --> 00:34:54.600 And if this is the answer, then I know it's yes. 00:34:54.659 --> 00:34:56.179 And if this happens, then I know it's a no. 00:34:56.560 --> 00:34:57.200 And so God does it. 00:34:57.260 --> 00:34:58.300 And he says, okay, well that was too easy. 00:34:58.480 --> 00:34:59.160 So I'm going to do it again. 00:34:59.180 --> 00:35:00.240 But I want the opposite to happen. 00:35:00.380 --> 00:35:01.850 And then I know that will mean yes and no. 00:35:01.960 --> 00:35:02.500 And so God does it. 00:35:02.620 --> 00:35:06.960 So three times not only is getting hiding, but three times he questions whether this is real. 00:35:08.380 --> 00:35:09.820 But he obeyed. 00:35:11.160 --> 00:35:15.720 He knew the consequences of the sin of Israel was the persecution and the oppression that they were under. 00:35:16.520 --> 00:35:17.680 He turned from his idol. 00:35:18.660 --> 00:35:20.760 He answered the call of God even though it didn't make sense. 00:35:21.160 --> 00:35:25.830 And even though God took his army down to nothing, he still followed and obeyed. 00:35:25.940 --> 00:35:29.240 And Gideon overtook the army of the Midianites. 00:35:29.340 --> 00:35:36.360 And it says, later on, as you read it says that the army got so tired from killing all of them that they needed a break 00:35:36.360 --> 00:35:40.070 because they were chasing and killing the Midianites for so long that they got tired. 00:35:41.500 --> 00:35:46.980 And we see that Gideon, because he did what didn't make sense and was willing to serve. 00:35:48.740 --> 00:35:50.620 God used that to do great things. 00:35:52.180 --> 00:35:57.210 Gideon on his own couldn't defeat that army with all 32,000 of his men. 00:35:58.200 --> 00:36:05.500 Or 10,000, and especially not 300, but because Gideon was willing to use what he had for the service of God. 00:36:05.540 --> 00:36:06.940 God took that and did great things. 00:36:08.700 --> 00:36:09.980 So I don't I don't know where you're at. 00:36:09.980 --> 00:36:11.340 I don't know where each of you are at individually. 00:36:12.280 --> 00:36:18.430 But God doesn't care about what you think you have or what you think you can bring to the table. 00:36:20.060 --> 00:36:23.160 God wants your heart and a willing servant to use whatever you have. 00:36:24.560 --> 00:36:31.680 And if you're willing to give that to him and serve him, he can do great things with whatever you have to offer, even if it's just 00:36:31.680 --> 00:36:35.840 being a friend, even if it's just being friendly to someone. 00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:37.500 God can use that to do great things. 00:36:38.160 --> 00:36:42.860 And when you see visitors come to church, if you welcome them and talk to them and greet them. 00:36:44.680 --> 00:36:45.260 Anybody can do that. 00:36:45.300 --> 00:36:46.600 Anybody can talk to somebody. 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:49.560 God can use that to do great things? 00:36:49.600 --> 00:36:50.480 Well, I don't talk to people. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:51.120 I'm kind of shy. 00:36:51.120 --> 00:36:51.960 I like to keep to myself. 00:36:52.680 --> 00:36:55.430 Okay, well, you can do any number of other things. 00:36:55.820 --> 00:36:58.040 You know, church needs clean sometimes. 00:36:59.220 --> 00:37:00.680 Things need fixed around the church. 00:37:01.720 --> 00:37:05.240 There's something that you can do somewhere with the gifts that you have if you give them to God. 00:37:05.600 --> 00:37:12.680 And one thing that I found in my in my life growing up with my dad as a pastor, seeing a lot of different ministry, one thing I've 00:37:12.700 --> 00:37:13.750 learned is that oftentimes. 00:37:15.820 --> 00:37:22.280 If you don't have the gift to do it, that's what God wants you to do the most, and he's going to help you do that. 00:37:23.800 --> 00:37:24.620 Naturally. 00:37:24.980 --> 00:37:27.340 I don't like to talk to adults. 00:37:27.780 --> 00:37:30.300 You guys intimidate me, right? 00:37:30.660 --> 00:37:33.230 That's why I like to hang out with the youth group and teach them. 00:37:33.580 --> 00:37:36.010 Because we're on the same wavelength, we're on the same level. 00:37:36.640 --> 00:37:40.620 And I still like to play video games and fart noises still make me laugh. 00:37:41.200 --> 00:37:42.600 So I like to talk to them. 00:37:42.620 --> 00:37:49.080 But you guys are you guys are more mature and so you intimidate me and but I love God's Word and I love studying it. 00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:55.760 And God uses uses that even though I would rather talk to the teenagers, he can use it. 00:37:55.780 --> 00:38:02.960 And I'm praying that every time I have the opportunity to share, I just pray that in whatever incoherent rambling that I have, 00:38:03.220 --> 00:38:05.180 that God would use it somewhere to help someone. 00:38:07.040 --> 00:38:10.320 And God is asking you to do the same thing, whether you like to do it or not. 00:38:10.780 --> 00:38:13.440 God's asking you if you're willing to serve him.