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Lansing SDA Church

Wes Peppers

Gideon- Faith Is the Victory

Well, I wanted to share a message this morning about Gideon and thought it would be certainly appropriate to do that.

So that's what our message is going to be about.

I found some striking parallels with Gideon between God's people in the last days.

And you'd be amazed how Judges chapter 6, 7, and 8 actually really parallel Revelation chapter 14.

I'm quite sure I will not exhaust that this morning, but I want to bring out some similarities and also some practical thoughts from those chapters.

So let's just begin with a word of prayer.

I'm just going to kneel, invite you to bow your heads with me, and we'll ask the Lord's blessing to be with us.

Father in heaven, we thank you to be gathered together this Sabbath, your holy day, The day that you instituted from eternity past, the day that you gave humanity a creation, the day that you reiterated at Mount Sinai, the day that you emphasized throughout the Gospels, the day that gives us freedom from the world and from the things that oppress us in the world and no man can own another on this day but we come together as free men and women in Christ to worship Jesus and you Father and so today we ask that as we open the word together, as we look at what you have to speak to us this morning, we pray your spirit would guide and direct our thoughts.

You go and turn to your Bibles to Judges chapter 6.

Judges chapter 6 and talks about the story of Gideon.

And I'm going to bring something out here before I forget, some of the props that were used and because I don't want to forget to use them during my sermon so we'll use some of those today.

Judges chapter 6 and as I mentioned before Don't you appreciate the backdrops that were painted?

And I don't want to embarrass her or give glory to her, but Stephanie Miller in our church blessed us with her talents, amen?

And we all have talents to use for the Lord, don't we?

We have something to give, even if it's just our prayers.

That's what we need more than anything today.

And as I mentioned that this story really parallels with Revelation 14 and we're going to pull that out.

So I'm going to give you a number of points this morning.

We're going to start in Judges chapter 6 and verse 1.

The Bible says the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.

So the Lord delivered them into the hands of Midian for how many years?

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel.

Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains." And so God's people were forced into hiding.

That sound like a similar scenario that's going to happen at the end of time?

But I want you to notice that we're going to drop down.

We don't have time to go through verse by verse all 3 chapters.

The Bible says, so Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel did what?

So there was this great oppression that God's people were experiencing.

Are we experiencing great oppression in the world today, yes or no?

We have more oppression in this world than I think that we've ever had.

People always talk about the negativity, about the dark ages and the oppression under Roman rule, but we have even greater oppression, I believe, today under the hands of wicked governments and so forth.

So God's people were under this oppression, and I wanted to say that sometimes trials and oppressions can really happen for 2 reasons, okay?

1 reason can happen, might happen because we are doing things wrongly.

Oppression can come when we make wrong choices, when we make bad choices, and we get ourselves into a place where the Lord removes His hand of protection and we find ourselves drowning in the muck of our own consequences.

How many of you have ever had that experience happen to you before?

So sometimes the trials and the problems are because of our own backsliding, because of our own unwillingness to listen to the counsel of God.

And that's where the children of Israel found themselves.

Now, The other reason trials may come is because maybe we're doing things right.

Sometimes trials come because we're doing things wrong.

And that was the case of the children of Israel here.

And God delivered them into the hand of the Midianites.

But sometimes, like Job, we may be doing things right, and Satan comes to test us before the Lord.

Because his eyes are looking to and fro upon the earth, wanting to know if there's a people on the earth who are going to serve him, not just in blessing, but also in what?

So when we fall into trial, what do you think we ought to do?

We ought to search our hearts through deep, earnest prayer.

And you know, we live in a society that's so eager to get out of the problem that we look for human solutions out of our way, of our problem.

And it could be that God wants us to bear that problem, not because we've done something wrong, but because we're doing something right, and He can trust us to vindicate His character, and through that, He builds our character.

That's what the children of Israel found themselves in, in peril.

Revelation chapter 14, verse 1, the Bible says that, well we'll just flip there real quick, I'm just going to flip back and forth.

Revelation 14 and verse 1, the Bible says, I looked and behold the Lamb standing on Mount Zion and with Him 144, 000 having His Father's name written on their watts.

The people of God in the last days have the seal of God written in their foreheads because they have come under His banner.

And no matter what good or evil falls them, they have chosen Him supremely in their lives.

How many of you are thankful for that today?

They've come under His protection because they've come under His banner.

And just because you're under the protection of God doesn't mean you may not suffer for His name's sake.

Point number 2, go to Judges chapter 6 verse 12.

The Bible says, no I'm sorry, back up to verse 6.

And the Bible says that the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

They had been doing this wickedness for years.

And the moment that they were willing to confess their sins to the Lord and turn away from the things that gotten them into that position, the moment they cried out to the Lord, what did God do?

Sometimes the Lord doesn't immediately deliver us from the circumstance, but He delivers us from the unrest and the chaos that goes on in our hearts and our minds.

In other words, He brings peace when we're willing to turn to Him with all the heart.

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Gideon- Faith Is the Victory

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