WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:47.140 --> 00:00:50.920 Again, we have way too much fun around here during the week. 00:00:51.220 --> 00:00:52.620 Thank you guys for being here with us. 00:00:52.620 --> 00:00:56.060 For all of you who are here with us, you probably had to get in your boat to get here. 00:00:56.100 --> 00:01:00.920 This morning, but glad that you made it, and are grateful for everybody who joined us online 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:01.560 as well. 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:06.600 If you've got your Bibles, going up to Judges chapter 6 is where we're going to be this morning. 00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:11.060 As you turn there, I want to go ahead and tell you this week will look a little different 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:12.480 actually over the next three weeks. 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:16.700 As we've been going through Judges, we've either looked at like one judge, or one week 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:19.100 even looked at three judges in the course of one message. 00:01:19.100 --> 00:01:24.840 But for Gideon, we are going to examine his life and what God does through his time as 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:27.180 a judge over the next three weeks. 00:01:27.740 --> 00:01:34.020 Now, again, in Judges chapter 6, we find Israel where we have found Israel from the beginning, 00:01:34.180 --> 00:01:34.380 right? 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:40.940 So we start off, and Scripture tells us that, again, Israel was doing what was evil in the 00:01:40.940 --> 00:01:41.940 eyes of the Lord. 00:01:42.080 --> 00:01:47.420 And so just to kind of a recap, that reminder for all of us is that what they've done is 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:52.700 they've not forgotten God, but they've forgotten about the application of understanding the character 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.420 and the nature and the faithfulness of God. 00:01:55.720 --> 00:01:58.820 And so once again, they turn to idolatry. 00:01:59.240 --> 00:02:06.800 And so what God does is God once again turns them over to a group of people that God, telling 00:02:06.800 --> 00:02:09.020 you the story, that God will redeem them from. 00:02:09.020 --> 00:02:15.900 And so that's where we find God's people as we're working through the book of Judges. 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:22.540 Now, with the Midianites, this oppression is going to be not only different, but this oppression 00:02:22.540 --> 00:02:29.240 is going to be more severe than anything that God's people have seen in the generations that 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:30.880 come before this time. 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:37.920 The Midianites don't necessarily care about occupying them and taking them politically, right? 00:02:37.920 --> 00:02:43.520 And instead, what they really want to do is they want to control the Israelites through 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:44.600 the economy. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:46.240 So here's what would happen. 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:52.400 They would come in, in their oppression, and they would take their crops after the growing 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:52.920 season. 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:57.740 When the livestock, when it would be time to slaughter them so that they could have the 00:02:57.740 --> 00:03:00.140 meat, they would come in and they would take the livestock. 00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:04.080 When they would have their goods that they would produce, they would come in and they would 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:05.780 take all of those as well. 00:03:05.780 --> 00:03:10.540 And in fact, in verse four of chapter six, it said that after the Midianites would come 00:03:10.540 --> 00:03:18.800 in and kind of raid God's people, it says that there was nothing living left for them. 00:03:19.100 --> 00:03:21.000 So you're feeling this oppression. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:22.940 It affects your economy. 00:03:23.100 --> 00:03:27.860 And then when it's all said and done, you have absolutely nothing. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:29.380 So here's what I want you to imagine, right? 00:03:29.760 --> 00:03:34.980 So imagine you're living in the midst of the Great Depression, but in the Great Depression, 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:36.160 you're being occupied. 00:03:36.940 --> 00:03:43.060 And so you manage through your hard work to save up and to gather some scraps of food. 00:03:43.380 --> 00:03:45.860 It may be old, but at least it's something. 00:03:46.040 --> 00:03:51.060 And so you're sitting there with this little bit that you have, that you've worked hard for. 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:56.520 And then all of a sudden, if that isn't bad enough, the people who oppress you, they come 00:03:56.520 --> 00:03:59.680 into your home and they take it all. 00:04:00.540 --> 00:04:02.160 You see, it's not that they were taking some. 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:04.240 It's not that they were enslaving them. 00:04:04.440 --> 00:04:10.000 They were taking every bit of sustenance, of hope, of life that they have. 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:15.740 And so where we find in Judges six is it says that God's people, and this is important, 00:04:16.280 --> 00:04:19.200 in their poverty, cry out to God. 00:04:19.760 --> 00:04:26.560 So that feeling in their stomach as they begin to go through malnutrition, as they literally 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:34.900 begin to starve, the reality of the situation where they find themselves, they begin now to 00:04:34.900 --> 00:04:35.760 cry out to God. 00:04:36.420 --> 00:04:38.440 It's not because of the people who were enslaved. 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:46.120 It's not because of what we fear might happen, but it's where they physically find themselves. 00:04:46.900 --> 00:04:50.180 They begin to cry out to God. 00:04:51.180 --> 00:04:52.260 And so what is God going to do? 00:04:52.340 --> 00:04:53.580 Let's look starting at verse seven. 00:04:54.700 --> 00:04:59.600 This is when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on the account of the Midianites. 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:02.860 And the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. 00:05:03.280 --> 00:05:09.960 And he said to them, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I led you up from Egypt and brought 00:05:09.960 --> 00:05:11.520 you out of the house of slavery. 00:05:11.520 --> 00:05:17.760 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you and 00:05:17.760 --> 00:05:21.360 drove them out before you and gave you their land. 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:24.660 And I said to you, I am the Lord, your God. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:32.720 You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but you have not obeyed 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:33.520 my voice. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:35.680 So God's doing something a little different. 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:43.340 Before God sends a judge, before God is going to send Gideon, God sends a prophet and he sends 00:05:43.340 --> 00:05:49.840 a prophet with a message, a message of reminding them not only of what God did for their ancestors 00:05:49.840 --> 00:05:57.860 of long ago in Egypt, but what God has done in generation after generation after generation. 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:05.460 And then he calls the people, the reason why you are where you are is because you haven't 00:06:05.460 --> 00:06:06.240 obeyed. 00:06:06.440 --> 00:06:11.460 And the reason why you haven't obeyed is because you've never truly repented. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:18.260 That God's people have always got themselves into these situations, into the reality of why 00:06:18.260 --> 00:06:20.420 they are where they are. 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:24.720 And in that they begin to regret where they find themselves. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:27.780 And so they cry out to the Lord. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:33.620 And what I want us to think about, what I want us to look within this is understand the 00:06:33.620 --> 00:06:38.200 difference when we talk about regretting or repenting. 00:06:39.420 --> 00:06:41.760 Regretting or repenting. 00:06:42.260 --> 00:06:45.640 You see, God's people, they know where they are. 00:06:46.200 --> 00:06:53.440 They're reminded every single day that because of their consequences, because of what's happened, 00:06:53.440 --> 00:06:56.300 now they find themselves in a condition. 00:06:56.900 --> 00:06:59.120 And their condition is physical poverty. 00:06:59.460 --> 00:07:01.120 Their condition is hungry. 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:09.360 And so now they look at that and the assessment of it calls them to cry out to God to do something 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.300 different because of what we've done. 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:16.940 But it's out of regret, not out of repent. 00:07:17.940 --> 00:07:22.880 You see, when you and I, when we do something wrong, we feel sorry. 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:23.860 Right? 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:32.420 If you're just thinking about being a normal functioning human being on this planet, there's a common 00:07:32.420 --> 00:07:38.760 trait that jumps from culture to culture, generation to generation, where when people do things 00:07:38.760 --> 00:07:41.860 wrong, generally speaking, they feel sorry. 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:47.980 But not only that, when you do things wrong and then you've got to live in the negative consequences 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:49.380 of it, right? 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:51.500 That creates, sorry. 00:07:52.060 --> 00:07:56.660 I'm sorry that I did that because of now of where I find myself. 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:02.580 This is streaming online and my parents and family watched this. 00:08:03.520 --> 00:08:08.120 One of the most common conversations that I had growing up with my parents was this. 00:08:08.760 --> 00:08:09.980 They would ask me a question. 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:18.140 And the question was, are you sorry you did it or are you sorry you got caught? 00:08:19.220 --> 00:08:22.900 Now, mom, I was sorry that I got caught. 00:08:23.140 --> 00:08:28.060 Like that's, as a depravity-filled 13-year-old, that's where I was, right? 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:31.900 I was sorry I got caught because I did it three weeks ago. 00:08:32.020 --> 00:08:36.520 And from three weeks ago to the moment that I got caught, I had gotten away with it. 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:42.400 But now I'm sorry, not because I did it, because I got caught. 00:08:42.500 --> 00:08:45.240 And now that I'm caught, there's going to be consequences for my actions. 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.160 And this is where God's people find themselves. 00:08:49.380 --> 00:08:54.900 They're not sorry that they turn to idolatry because of what it takes them away from the 00:08:54.900 --> 00:09:02.040 Lord, but they're sorry that they did idolatry, which has led to them now in poverty. 00:09:02.760 --> 00:09:05.300 We begin to see the difference. 00:09:06.040 --> 00:09:08.980 The Bible tells us that there are two kinds of sorrow. 00:09:09.780 --> 00:09:15.400 There's worldly sorrow or regretting, and there's godly sorrow or repentance. 00:09:16.260 --> 00:09:20.640 When Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, he says this about the difference of the two. 00:09:20.900 --> 00:09:25.680 He said, godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. 00:09:25.980 --> 00:09:30.020 But worldly sorrow brings death, right? 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:32.400 So Paul describes these two. 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:40.020 He says, what worldly sorrow brings you and I, it's that I've done this and I've got caught, 00:09:40.140 --> 00:09:42.720 and I don't want to live in the consequences of it. 00:09:42.820 --> 00:09:44.180 I don't want to learn from it. 00:09:44.300 --> 00:09:45.600 I don't want to grow from it. 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:47.060 I just want it taken away. 00:09:47.900 --> 00:09:51.260 So God, I'm not sorry that I did this because it affects your heart. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:57.380 God, I'm sorry that I did this because now I live in the reality of the decisions that I make. 00:09:58.160 --> 00:10:00.560 And Paul tells us that that leads to death. 00:10:00.640 --> 00:10:00.860 Why? 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.540 Because if there's not growth, there's death. 00:10:05.400 --> 00:10:08.640 But he talks, he said, but there's a godly sorrow. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:18.000 And when godly sorrow happens, you and I begin to walk through a process of transformation that happens, 00:10:18.160 --> 00:10:20.460 and it only happens in the life of a believer. 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:26.020 Because when we begin to go through godly sorrow, what we go through is repentance. 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.580 Right now, repentance is a word talked about often in the church. 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:34.420 Repentance is a word that I use, that we use, that we challenge each other with. 00:10:34.420 --> 00:10:42.800 But very few of us often commit ourselves of walking through and truly being repentant for what we've done. 00:10:43.280 --> 00:10:45.120 So here's what it means to repent. 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.680 Number one, to repent means that you see what you've done. 00:10:49.640 --> 00:10:49.720 Right? 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.200 You see, you and I, we recognize what we've done. 00:10:53.380 --> 00:10:56.100 Now for believers, there's a beautiful thing that God gives us. 00:10:56.160 --> 00:10:57.300 He gives us his Holy Spirit. 00:10:57.900 --> 00:11:03.100 And his Holy Spirit lives in us to bring to our mind what we've done. 00:11:03.100 --> 00:11:06.660 So in that moment where it's the action that you did that you got away with, 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:10.860 or the words that you said are even more dangerous for us, right? 00:11:10.920 --> 00:11:14.280 Because this is what's hidden in secret, the thoughts that we have. 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:16.840 And we begin to wrestle with that. 00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:19.480 Man, why did I do that? 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:22.820 Man, why did I say those words? 00:11:24.420 --> 00:11:25.960 God, why did I think that? 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:29.260 That's the process of repentance. 00:11:30.060 --> 00:11:34.440 Of God and his grace and his kindness bringing to our mind what we've done. 00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:37.380 But repentance continues on with that. 00:11:38.140 --> 00:11:38.300 Right? 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:42.120 That not only do we know what we've done, but we acknowledge who we've done it against. 00:11:43.060 --> 00:11:47.620 Scripture in the Psalms, David tells us that in his sin with Bathsheba, right? 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:50.260 That caused her husband to lose his life. 00:11:51.160 --> 00:11:52.920 That caused him to attack her. 00:11:53.900 --> 00:11:57.280 That he had sinned against God and God alone. 00:11:58.280 --> 00:12:03.760 True repentance causes us to realize, and we're going to talk about how our sin affects others in just a second, 00:12:04.180 --> 00:12:11.500 but to understand that the person who we've offended the most is the holy God who has never sinned. 00:12:12.060 --> 00:12:15.000 So I begin to understand and see what I've done. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:27.140 I begin to understand and acknowledge that it is against God and God alone, but that also in repentance, in every part that I begin to acknowledge that it negatively affects those around me. 00:12:27.800 --> 00:12:36.620 That my sin is never isolated, whether it's the words that I say, the things that I do, or the thoughts that I think, whether it is actions, right? 00:12:36.640 --> 00:12:37.880 Because we do this for each other. 00:12:38.140 --> 00:12:41.340 Like we condone each other's sinful actions from time to time. 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:52.260 We agree with each other's sinful words, or we justify our own sinful thoughts, that it still negatively affects each other, primarily in the body of Christ. 00:12:52.740 --> 00:13:06.680 So my sin is never isolated from you, that my sin affects others, so that I see my sin within me, that I know what this is, that repentance causes me to acknowledge that it's from God, 00:13:06.760 --> 00:13:14.260 that my sin affects other people, but that in that as well, repentance requires that I begin to move into a different path. 00:13:15.520 --> 00:13:22.640 Then repentance requires for me to understand that I need to turn, which is actually what repentance means. 00:13:22.740 --> 00:13:25.340 The word literally means to turn around. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.620 Yesterday we were driving to North Augusta to see my grandmother and to see my dad who had had surgery, 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:37.100 and as we were riding there, we got in the truck and we're headed there, we've been on the road about 35 minutes. 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:43.020 It takes about 45 minutes to get to my grandmother's house, and my son Grayson is sitting in the back seat, 00:13:43.020 --> 00:13:48.420 and he asked the question, right, that every kid asks, anytime you're going to be in the car for longer than three minutes, right? 00:13:48.540 --> 00:13:49.780 How much farther? 00:13:50.340 --> 00:13:53.340 And I told him, I was like, oh, we got another hour and a half, right? 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:55.740 Well, he knows, right, it's 45 minutes. 00:13:56.180 --> 00:14:01.380 And he says, no, dad, we don't have an hour and a half, because I know it doesn't take that long. 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:05.600 And so just messing with him, right, because I'm a dad and we want to torture our kids a little bit, 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:09.420 I said to him, oh, but when we got on the interstate, I went the wrong way. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.780 And in order to go the right way, once I realized it, I had to turn around. 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:19.020 And he looked at me, didn't find my dad joke funny. 00:14:19.880 --> 00:14:22.080 And he said, no, dad, seriously, like, stop joking. 00:14:22.180 --> 00:14:22.880 When are we going to be there? 00:14:22.940 --> 00:14:24.760 I was like, we'll be there in 10 minutes, right? 00:14:25.160 --> 00:14:26.040 But think about it. 00:14:26.540 --> 00:14:29.000 If we had gone the wrong direction, 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:37.540 if I had gotten on I-20 and started heading toward Florence instead of heading toward Augusta, right? 00:14:37.880 --> 00:14:38.980 What would have happened? 00:14:39.140 --> 00:14:42.420 What would I have had to do in order to correct the situation? 00:14:42.420 --> 00:14:49.420 Not keep going to Florence, but to turn around and go the other direction. 00:14:50.180 --> 00:14:56.060 So many of us, when we repent, we begin to head into a different path. 00:14:56.400 --> 00:14:58.100 We begin to go that way. 00:14:58.460 --> 00:15:02.140 We acknowledge, we recognize that it's God that we've sinned against. 00:15:02.420 --> 00:15:04.200 We know that sin is there. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:09.720 We know that it affects other people, but we want to keep doing that and heading down the same path. 00:15:10.560 --> 00:15:17.080 So you and I find ourselves so many times in Judges 6-1 that we continue to do evil in the eyes of the Lord 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:19.660 because we say we're sorry, but we never really repented. 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:22.260 And we haven't turned from that. 00:15:23.020 --> 00:15:28.280 The Bible tells us what Paul's talking through, that salvation, the message, and what's being given to them 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:33.020 is that not only does godly sorrow bring repentance, but it brings salvation, and this is key. 00:15:33.780 --> 00:15:37.880 If you're wanting to understand what a relationship with Jesus Christ, where that begins, 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:39.600 it begins with repentance. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:43.660 It begins in acknowledging that you're a sinner who desperately needs a Savior 00:15:43.660 --> 00:15:49.620 and that we can get into the details that it's Jesus who died on the cross to save you 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:52.120 and what a life surrendered to him looks like. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:57.120 But the very beginning of salvation, you and I have to have come to an agreement that you need to be saved 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.100 and you need to be saved because you're a sinner, right? 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:04.660 And so Paul says that when there's repentance that happens, there's salvation that comes from that. 00:16:04.800 --> 00:16:06.320 But what about all of us who are already saved? 00:16:06.380 --> 00:16:07.460 What does that mean for us? 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:12.160 Well, not only does it mean that we continue to have our relationship with Christ, 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:15.680 but right, things that aren't growing or dying, right? 00:16:16.100 --> 00:16:21.680 And so when we repent, what we're actually doing is not omitting where we're going to die because of this, 00:16:21.780 --> 00:16:24.100 but we experience growth as a result of it. 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:25.620 And so we have repentance. 00:16:25.800 --> 00:16:29.480 We have godly sorrow that leads to repentance, that leads to salvation. 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:33.220 And then the beautiful part that oftentimes gets jumped over in this, 00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:40.720 that it's salvation that leads to no regret, that I am no longer guilty of this. 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:45.060 So in all of those things that we're revealed to in the Holy Spirit that we've done, 00:16:45.160 --> 00:16:48.920 as we see that it's against God, as we know how it affects other people, 00:16:49.060 --> 00:16:52.840 that we are given salvation, that we can walk with our head held high, 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:55.180 not because we're proud of the things that we've done, 00:16:55.400 --> 00:16:58.140 but because we understand that Jesus fully paid for all of them. 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:01.500 And that's the hope that we begin to have. 00:17:01.660 --> 00:17:02.880 And that's the message. 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:05.460 That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:09.260 And so God begins to put a plan in place. 00:17:10.280 --> 00:17:15.020 God sends a prophet to call the people to repentance. 00:17:15.860 --> 00:17:17.980 But the people still haven't repented. 00:17:19.040 --> 00:17:21.060 They're still living in their reality. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:25.840 We'll see in just a moment where they're still angry when their idols are taken away. 00:17:26.620 --> 00:17:29.420 And so God's going to call Gideon. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:32.460 And so let's look at verse 11 of chapter 6. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:18:01.500 And so what God is going to do in this is he's going to call his judge Gideon to appoint him to redeem, 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:05.840 to set the people free, even though they haven't repented yet. 00:18:06.520 --> 00:18:09.300 And what you and I begin to understand in this, 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:15.300 what we're going to see throughout this chapter is understanding the nature of God's grace. 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:23.160 This is the perfect picture of what God is doing and what God did in our lives. 00:18:23.540 --> 00:18:32.120 This is how God works, even in sending Jesus to die for our sins before we've even committed the sins. 00:18:33.260 --> 00:18:33.960 You know, it's amazing. 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.960 God didn't wait for Israel to repent before he sent Gideon, 00:18:40.760 --> 00:18:47.820 just as God didn't wait for you and I to repent before he sent us Jesus. 00:18:48.540 --> 00:18:53.960 God doesn't wait for repentance before he begins to save us. 00:18:55.020 --> 00:18:57.400 Romans 5, 8 says this, 00:18:57.540 --> 00:19:03.940 that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:05.520 Think about that. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.260 While our condition is still broken, 00:19:08.840 --> 00:19:11.620 while our condition is still as an enemy of God, 00:19:11.760 --> 00:19:16.020 what God does is he sends Christ to die for us. 00:19:16.020 --> 00:19:18.260 And so as we read this, 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:22.640 God's not waiting for Israel to get it all figured out. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:28.200 God isn't waiting for you and I to figure it out before he stops moving. 00:19:28.560 --> 00:19:31.860 And church, this is how we begin to understand God's grace 00:19:31.860 --> 00:19:36.320 and how it helps us understand the love that God has for us. 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:41.400 God's pursuit of you and of me did not begin when we got it all right. 00:19:42.460 --> 00:19:45.020 But as we rebelled, as they rebelled, 00:19:45.300 --> 00:19:49.000 God displays his love time and time again. 00:19:50.020 --> 00:19:52.500 And so God's going to call this man named Gideon. 00:19:53.300 --> 00:19:54.420 Verse 12, it says, 00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:58.740 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, 00:19:59.380 --> 00:20:03.240 The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor. 00:20:03.760 --> 00:20:05.220 And Gideon said to him, 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:09.320 Please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:13.400 then why then has all this happened to us? 00:20:13.840 --> 00:20:18.740 And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, 00:20:19.020 --> 00:20:22.300 saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:27.320 But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hands of Midian. 00:20:27.860 --> 00:20:31.280 And the Lord turned to him and said, 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:35.960 Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. 00:20:36.380 --> 00:20:38.080 Do not I send you. 00:20:38.740 --> 00:20:39.960 And he said to him, 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:43.420 Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:47.140 Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:50.240 and I am the least in my father's house. 00:20:50.380 --> 00:20:52.260 And the Lord said to him, 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:53.940 But I will be with you, 00:20:54.260 --> 00:20:58.380 and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. 00:20:58.780 --> 00:21:01.960 So when we met Gideon in verse 11, 00:21:02.560 --> 00:21:06.180 it says that he was putting wheat into the winepress. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:07.780 Here's what Gideon is doing. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:08.880 He's hiding food. 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:12.920 He knows that the Midianites are on the way. 00:21:13.600 --> 00:21:16.780 He knows if word gets out that they have something, 00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:18.840 that they're going to come to him, 00:21:19.060 --> 00:21:20.920 and they're going to take what's there, 00:21:21.040 --> 00:21:22.620 and they're going to rob it from him. 00:21:23.340 --> 00:21:26.180 So as a person who is living in their oppression, 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:28.660 he's getting together what he can get, 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:33.740 and he's hiding the base level of food of what he needs to survive. 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:36.560 And he has hit rock bottom. 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:40.560 This week, as I was sending my notes to get them put on the screen, 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:45.500 I was kind of kicking around this point in an eloquent way of trying to say 00:21:45.500 --> 00:21:47.740 what I feel like is going on in this. 00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:51.380 But I just had to kind of go back to the words that are common to me, 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:53.440 the words that we use. 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:57.100 And so hopefully you'll extend me some grace that I'm not more eloquent than this. 00:21:57.620 --> 00:22:01.140 But what we're going to find right here is God moving in the mess. 00:22:01.860 --> 00:22:02.160 All right? 00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:05.520 God moving in the mess. 00:22:06.040 --> 00:22:09.760 And I want you to think about your life in the rock bottom, 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:11.940 in where you find yourself. 00:22:12.120 --> 00:22:15.040 I know for us, when we're going through the battles, 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:16.960 when we're going through the consequences, 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:19.720 when we're going through the difficulties of life, 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:23.160 we find ourselves figuratively speaking like Gideon, right? 00:22:23.360 --> 00:22:25.120 Taking the wheat and trying to hide it. 00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:28.040 And in that, we find ourselves in the mess. 00:22:28.540 --> 00:22:29.800 And if we're not careful, 00:22:30.060 --> 00:22:35.360 we can completely miss how God is moving in those situations. 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.080 So the Bible tells us that the angel of the Lord, 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.100 which by the way, we don't have time this morning, okay? 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:42.580 But this is Jesus. 00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:44.820 This is Jesus. 00:22:46.120 --> 00:22:49.840 Later on, Gideon's going to say that this is the sovereign God who's before him. 00:22:49.840 --> 00:22:52.760 And in every single time in Scripture that we see, 00:22:53.020 --> 00:22:56.920 when God manifests himself in physical form to reveal to people, 00:22:57.040 --> 00:22:58.160 it's done through the Son. 00:22:59.520 --> 00:23:00.260 So don't miss this. 00:23:00.300 --> 00:23:01.460 We see Jesus standing here. 00:23:02.300 --> 00:23:05.140 And he comes to him, and he says this. 00:23:05.840 --> 00:23:08.640 Hey, buddy, I know it's difficult, right? 00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:09.680 Now, these are Bo's words, right? 00:23:09.840 --> 00:23:12.720 This is South Carolina translation, all right? 00:23:13.660 --> 00:23:14.960 I know it's difficult. 00:23:15.840 --> 00:23:18.880 I know what you're going through, but God's with you. 00:23:20.600 --> 00:23:24.140 And Gideon says, no, he's not. 00:23:25.320 --> 00:23:26.240 No, he's not. 00:23:27.360 --> 00:23:35.820 And I don't know about you, but in the times of life where I find myself grabbing handfuls of wheat 00:23:35.820 --> 00:23:43.800 and trying to hide them in the wine press, where my heart begins to feel for God is God. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:45.540 You're not here. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:48.100 And Gideon says, no, no, no, no. 00:23:49.100 --> 00:23:53.340 If he was with us, I've heard about all the things that he's done. 00:23:54.020 --> 00:23:59.140 If he was with me, then I wouldn't find myself where I am. 00:24:00.220 --> 00:24:04.320 You see, for Gideon, he sees that his life is a wreck. 00:24:05.420 --> 00:24:06.740 Gideon doesn't see hope. 00:24:07.700 --> 00:24:09.460 Gideon doesn't see any way out. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:12.660 But God doesn't say, I will be with you. 00:24:13.620 --> 00:24:14.920 God says, I am with you. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:19.620 And I think for so many of us, when we find ourselves in the mess, 00:24:20.120 --> 00:24:23.040 when we find ourselves in our pattern of brokenness, 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:24.920 when we find ourselves in sin, 00:24:25.100 --> 00:24:27.480 when we find ourselves, through the figuratively speaking, 00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:32.060 wandering through the season of life, of the mess of life, of where we find ourselves, 00:24:32.060 --> 00:24:37.140 it's easy for us to think that God's not with us, but God is with us. 00:24:37.300 --> 00:24:40.980 And not only does God say, I'm with you, but God does this. 00:24:41.280 --> 00:24:43.400 God says, I'm sending you. 00:24:43.900 --> 00:24:45.060 I'm sending you. 00:24:45.300 --> 00:24:47.480 Now, Gideon struggles with this as well. 00:24:47.980 --> 00:24:51.020 Because Gideon is not the savior. 00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:53.500 Gideon is not the warrior. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.200 Gideon is not what anyone would look at, right? 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:58.700 And we've seen this happen through judges already. 00:24:58.700 --> 00:25:02.360 And people go, oh yeah, let's get Gideon and send him. 00:25:02.780 --> 00:25:04.860 All right, let's talk about Gideon, where he's come from. 00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:07.920 Gideon's the least powerful person in his family. 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:11.200 His family is a part of a clan. 00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:15.540 His family is considered the weakest family in the clan. 00:25:16.260 --> 00:25:19.560 His clan is the weakest in their tribe. 00:25:20.060 --> 00:25:24.900 And if that's not the worst of all the tribes of Israel, his tribe is considered the weakest, right? 00:25:25.060 --> 00:25:37.600 So the weakest member of a family, of the weakest member of the clan, of the weakest member of the tribe, of the weakest member of the nation is going to be the person that God is going to send. 00:25:38.280 --> 00:25:39.540 But that's what God does. 00:25:40.320 --> 00:25:41.680 And this is crazy, right? 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:46.940 And so Gideon says, I need to know that this is from God. 00:25:47.040 --> 00:25:49.420 And this is when Gideon begins to find out what's going on. 00:25:49.460 --> 00:25:51.300 So he goes home and he gets a young goat. 00:25:51.860 --> 00:25:54.520 He goes home and he gets some unleavened cakes. 00:25:54.620 --> 00:25:56.500 Now remember, it's a man down to nothing. 00:25:57.300 --> 00:26:01.200 And he brings it before the angel of the Lord. 00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:04.620 And immediately, it's burnt up. 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:12.220 And in that moment, Gideon knows that he's been in the presence of God. 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:20.700 And so since he's been in the presence of God, he knows, he feels like, oh, I'm going to die because you don't live through this. 00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:24.340 But God says, no, I'm going to spare you. 00:26:25.460 --> 00:26:27.280 And so Gideon, this is important, church. 00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:32.260 Gideon builds an altar, an altar of dedication to what has happened. 00:26:32.660 --> 00:26:36.620 And he names the altar there, the Lord is peace. 00:26:37.340 --> 00:26:44.860 So Gideon, in his steps of faith, of acknowledging that it's the sovereign God right before him, that burnt up the offering of which he gives. 00:26:45.100 --> 00:26:50.180 He builds an altar, and now God, as he builds one, God's going to call him to tear some altars down. 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:52.580 Let's look at verse 25 through 28. 00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:53.860 It says, 00:27:07.340 --> 00:27:28.240 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:35.740 But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. 00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:44.180 And when the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down. 00:27:44.340 --> 00:27:48.560 And the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:52.360 And so Gideon goes, he hears what God has called him to do. 00:27:52.500 --> 00:27:55.360 He goes to his dad's house, he gets a bull to tear it down. 00:27:55.580 --> 00:28:00.960 He then takes what's been torn down, and he builds up a pile of firewood. 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:10.520 He then takes the young bull, and he sacrifices it and does a burnt offering for the Lord right then and there as he's tearing down the idols that are there. 00:28:11.020 --> 00:28:19.660 And what God is doing in the life of Gideon, which God is going to do through the nations through this, is crushing idols and changing hearts. 00:28:20.760 --> 00:28:28.620 Before God will defeat what is around them, God needs to defeat what is in them, right? 00:28:28.620 --> 00:28:37.020 Before God is going to set his people free from what is surrounded them, God is going to defeat what is in them. 00:28:37.520 --> 00:28:43.320 He sent Gideon not to go to the Midianites and tear down their altars. 00:28:43.320 --> 00:28:51.860 He sent Gideon to his dad's house to tear down his very own dad's idol. 00:28:52.600 --> 00:28:54.760 And it's where it begins. 00:28:55.560 --> 00:29:04.140 You know, I think about so many of us, and we want God to defeat the result of our idolatry. 00:29:04.740 --> 00:29:09.620 But we're unwilling to defeat our own idols, ourself. 00:29:10.260 --> 00:29:11.640 We're unwilling. 00:29:11.860 --> 00:29:18.680 We want God to defeat the visible problems of our sin, but we don't want to do anything with our own heart. 00:29:18.800 --> 00:29:20.300 It brings us right back to this. 00:29:20.600 --> 00:29:27.220 So our issue with idolatry is we find ourselves in a financial burden time and time again. 00:29:27.580 --> 00:29:31.160 And we say, God, we want to experience financial freedom. 00:29:31.820 --> 00:29:42.280 While we continue to use our money in foolish ways, we say to God, God, I need freedom from the consequences of the relationships of where I find myself. 00:29:42.280 --> 00:29:49.260 But yet we within our own hearts aren't willing to look at, to treat, and to love people differently than we have before. 00:29:49.540 --> 00:29:58.220 And so God says, no, no, no, no, if I'm going to set you free from what's affecting you, if I'm going to set you free from the poverty that has hit you and that has crippled you, 00:29:58.220 --> 00:30:02.220 you have to begin to acknowledge where this comes from. 00:30:03.100 --> 00:30:10.920 And so just like Gideon, you and I must be willing to identify and remove our idols so we can walk in the freedom of God. 00:30:11.500 --> 00:30:12.620 And so Gideon does it. 00:30:13.040 --> 00:30:14.400 He tears it all down. 00:30:14.780 --> 00:30:16.180 He tears down the altars. 00:30:16.800 --> 00:30:18.140 And his people hear about it. 00:30:18.560 --> 00:30:19.900 And they find out that it was him. 00:30:19.980 --> 00:30:21.180 They go to his dad, Joash. 00:30:21.560 --> 00:30:25.380 And they say, send out your son so that we can kill him. 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:26.100 Right? 00:30:27.060 --> 00:30:29.260 And through the work of God, Joash refuses. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:32.060 So Gideon's still struggling, though. 00:30:32.560 --> 00:30:32.840 Right? 00:30:32.840 --> 00:30:37.200 Even though he's seeing God's faithfulness, he's struggling with what this looks like. 00:30:37.580 --> 00:30:39.460 And God's going to have another call for him. 00:30:39.520 --> 00:30:41.060 Look at verse 36. 00:30:42.500 --> 00:30:44.360 And then God said to Gideon, 00:30:45.700 --> 00:30:48.520 If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. 00:30:49.100 --> 00:30:52.040 Behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. 00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:57.000 If there is dew on the fleece alone and it is dry on all the ground, 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:01.200 then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:02.840 In verse 38, 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:03.640 And it was so. 00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:07.660 When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, 00:31:07.700 --> 00:31:10.860 he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl of water. 00:31:11.500 --> 00:31:12.860 Then Gideon said to God, 00:31:12.860 --> 00:31:15.120 Let not your anger burn against me. 00:31:15.360 --> 00:31:17.460 Let me speak just once more. 00:31:17.940 --> 00:31:20.740 Please let me test just once more with the fleece. 00:31:21.080 --> 00:31:26.060 Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew. 00:31:26.440 --> 00:31:34.040 And God did so that night, and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. 00:31:34.220 --> 00:31:35.000 So here's what's happening. 00:31:35.140 --> 00:31:35.940 Gideon's struggling. 00:31:36.580 --> 00:31:37.800 Gideon's wrestling with, 00:31:38.120 --> 00:31:42.900 God, is this you, and is this you calling me to do what you've called me to do? 00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:44.960 Am I understanding you clearly? 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:48.280 And so Gideon comes before the Lord, and he says, 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:49.460 God, here's what I'm going to do. 00:31:49.620 --> 00:31:53.200 I'm going to take this material, and I'm going to lay it in the threshing room floor, 00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:56.820 and in the morning, let there only be dew. 00:31:57.120 --> 00:32:02.800 Let the fleece, let the wool only be wet, and then let everything around it be dry. 00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:05.320 And God, in his faithfulness, he does that. 00:32:05.800 --> 00:32:08.380 So it says that Gideon was able to pick up the fleece that morning, 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:12.860 and wring it out, and fill up a bowl of water with all the water that was in it. 00:32:12.860 --> 00:32:16.040 But Gideon, that wasn't enough for him. 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:19.900 So he comes and says, God, I'm sorry, but I need one more thing from you. 00:32:20.540 --> 00:32:23.400 And so in order to see this, let me see the opposite happen. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:27.780 So that night, he lays another piece of wool down, and he says, 00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:33.080 God, let the floor around it be soaked, but let the fleece be dry. 00:32:34.120 --> 00:32:36.820 And the next morning, that's what happens. 00:32:37.840 --> 00:32:39.720 But here's a hard part for us. 00:32:40.620 --> 00:32:43.420 Does that mean that you and I should do the same thing? 00:32:44.300 --> 00:32:47.180 Does that mean that you and I should test God? 00:32:47.260 --> 00:32:48.760 Is that what Gideon is doing? 00:32:49.360 --> 00:32:52.380 And Jesus says that we're not going to put the Lord God to test. 00:32:52.600 --> 00:32:54.620 So what is happening here? 00:32:55.320 --> 00:32:58.480 What's happening is Gideon is seeking God. 00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:01.080 Gideon isn't testing God. 00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:02.700 He's seeking God. 00:33:02.940 --> 00:33:06.620 He's trying to understand and know God. 00:33:07.160 --> 00:33:08.860 Let's look at the context of where he's at. 00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:11.360 Gideon doesn't have a church to go to. 00:33:12.180 --> 00:33:14.800 He doesn't have a worship service to be a part of. 00:33:15.180 --> 00:33:17.680 He doesn't have a Bible that he could pick up and read. 00:33:18.060 --> 00:33:21.820 He doesn't have a small group where he can come together and talk about these things. 00:33:22.040 --> 00:33:26.460 So in all of this, of what's happening with Gideon, he's not testing God. 00:33:26.600 --> 00:33:33.260 He's saying to God, Lord, help me understand who you are. 00:33:33.900 --> 00:33:38.700 Because what we understand and what we begin to know is that for you and for I, 00:33:39.040 --> 00:33:44.060 the depth of the obedience is going to be so tied into our depth of faith. 00:33:44.700 --> 00:33:51.180 The faith of seeking and understanding and knowing God at a different level. 00:33:52.080 --> 00:33:56.300 You see, Gideon knows that God is going to call him to do difficult things. 00:33:56.800 --> 00:33:59.480 That God is going to call him to live in boldness. 00:33:59.760 --> 00:34:07.180 And if he's going to do that, it's going to come from a faith in God that seeks the Lord in all things. 00:34:08.120 --> 00:34:16.400 And so Gideon is just saying, Lord, in this grow my faith so that I know you more. 00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:23.240 I want to close with a story that's found in Scripture that I hope helps us see what it means 00:34:23.240 --> 00:34:28.060 to desire a depth of relationship and to see our faith grow. 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:31.000 The story is found in Mark chapter 9. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:36.620 And there's passages of Scripture, you know, that sometimes jump out to you where you identify things. 00:34:36.700 --> 00:34:39.800 And this passage of Scripture is very clear at the very beginning. 00:34:40.020 --> 00:34:41.160 And it's talking about a dad. 00:34:41.660 --> 00:34:46.820 And every time I read anything in Scripture about parents, but primarily about dads, 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:48.980 like my heart is drawn to those stories. 00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:53.840 And in Mark chapter 9 tells the story of a dad who is desperately seeking out Jesus. 00:34:54.500 --> 00:34:58.100 And he's heard about all of the healings that Jesus is doing. 00:34:58.100 --> 00:35:03.960 And it's not that this man himself needs to be healed, but he's got a son. 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:06.500 And the son needs to be healed. 00:35:07.180 --> 00:35:09.180 And he's heard what Jesus has done. 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:11.940 And he's heard what Jesus is capable of doing. 00:35:12.100 --> 00:35:20.020 And so the Bible tells us that he gets his son and he carries his son and he brings him to Jesus for Jesus to healing. 00:35:20.940 --> 00:35:28.580 And this level of healing of what's taking place is a depth of tragedy that you and I don't know that we can fully understand. 00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:34.020 It says that this child of his, his son, was possessed by a demon. 00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:39.800 And what had manifest as a part of this demon possession was that he was mute. 00:35:40.740 --> 00:35:44.220 So he couldn't speak to tell him what's going on. 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:51.020 He couldn't communicate his troubles and the battles and the difficulties that he was facing. 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:58.060 Scripture begins to describe that he, that he looked like he was having a seizure-like tendencies, right? 00:35:58.620 --> 00:35:59.960 He would throw himself down. 00:36:00.060 --> 00:36:01.480 He wasn't able to be controlled. 00:36:01.660 --> 00:36:03.280 And this is where he would find himself. 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:06.240 So those two alone, I mean, imagine being a parent. 00:36:06.560 --> 00:36:09.480 Your, your, your child doesn't speak to tell you what they're going through. 00:36:09.600 --> 00:36:12.480 You begin to see all the destruction that is in their life. 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:20.660 But then also, as a result of this demon possession, the boy continually tries to kill himself. 00:36:21.780 --> 00:36:23.840 He tries to kill himself through throwing himself in fires. 00:36:24.760 --> 00:36:28.020 He tries to kill himself by drowning himself. 00:36:28.820 --> 00:36:37.080 And the dad says, we don't know how old his son is now, but this has been taking place since he was a small boy. 00:36:38.500 --> 00:36:41.740 And like, just imagine the weight of the moment. 00:36:42.720 --> 00:36:50.560 And the dad has heard of what Jesus has been doing, about how he can heal, about by, simply by his touch, right? 00:36:50.740 --> 00:36:59.080 Leprosy clears, simply by taking some dirt and rubbing into the eyes of individuals, people, the blind have been able to see. 00:36:59.380 --> 00:37:05.900 He's heard that by his words that people can spring up and begin to walk who have never walked before. 00:37:06.160 --> 00:37:12.640 And so this dad, at all points of desperation, believes that Jesus can do something powerful. 00:37:12.860 --> 00:37:14.800 But this is what Jesus needs to do. 00:37:15.020 --> 00:37:18.240 And so he scoops up his boy and he goes running to Jesus. 00:37:19.560 --> 00:37:22.140 He says, Jesus, this is where we are. 00:37:23.580 --> 00:37:25.500 Please heal him. 00:37:26.840 --> 00:37:34.080 And Jesus says, all things are possible for those who believe. 00:37:35.420 --> 00:37:36.600 Now, who's it back on? 00:37:37.880 --> 00:37:38.660 The dad. 00:37:40.360 --> 00:37:41.560 It's back on the dad. 00:37:42.680 --> 00:37:44.700 Now, maybe this is me in the situation. 00:37:44.860 --> 00:37:47.120 I'm thinking, man, Jesus, just touch him. 00:37:48.540 --> 00:37:48.680 Right? 00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:50.380 Jesus, just get some dirt. 00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:51.320 Like, I heard about that. 00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:53.140 Jesus, get some water. 00:37:53.200 --> 00:37:54.000 Jesus, just say it. 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:56.020 You do this, Jesus. 00:37:57.460 --> 00:38:00.620 But Jesus says, all things are possible for those who believe. 00:38:01.980 --> 00:38:03.720 And then the father makes a statement. 00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:06.340 And it's a statement that I believe. 00:38:06.420 --> 00:38:07.940 It's the statement that Gideon's making. 00:38:08.820 --> 00:38:15.880 And the statement that I believe that so many of us have to position within our lives if we are willing to grow in faith. 00:38:16.200 --> 00:38:17.480 Did that man have faith? 00:38:17.720 --> 00:38:18.080 Yes. 00:38:19.300 --> 00:38:20.440 He brought him to Jesus. 00:38:21.740 --> 00:38:24.000 And his statement in that was this. 00:38:24.900 --> 00:38:26.180 Jesus, I believe. 00:38:27.700 --> 00:38:31.000 Help my unbelief. 00:38:32.220 --> 00:38:39.460 You see, the confession of what happens in the moment of growth of where we are is for those who believe and for us to understand. 00:38:39.460 --> 00:38:43.920 God, it's not simply that I just believe in you, but I want to grow in a depth of you. 00:38:44.180 --> 00:38:50.700 So even where my belief is failing, even where my belief is weak, God, grow me in that. 00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:54.100 Whether it's a fleece or my boy, God, grow me. 00:38:54.220 --> 00:38:56.400 And I'm grown by knowing more of who you are. 00:38:58.300 --> 00:39:07.800 And so Jesus comes up and he says that he's healed and the boy goes completely limp. 00:39:08.600 --> 00:39:12.200 And it says that everyone who was around thought that he was dead. 00:39:13.980 --> 00:39:17.800 And Jesus reached his hand down and he grabbed him. 00:39:18.580 --> 00:39:21.820 And immediately the boy rose to life. 00:39:21.880 --> 00:39:32.880 You see, the belief of the father was manifest in the statement of God, I need more of you. 00:39:33.580 --> 00:39:34.500 That's it. 00:39:35.280 --> 00:39:36.140 That's Gideon. 00:39:37.140 --> 00:39:45.680 Church, as we're here, as we come before the Lord, may we come so, not that, God, that I've got enough of you. 00:39:46.520 --> 00:39:50.100 Not that, God, I'm okay with how things are right now. 00:39:50.760 --> 00:39:57.160 But Jesus, I desperately, desperately need more of you. 00:39:58.120 --> 00:40:04.200 You see, for Gideon to be obedient, he's got to know God at a depth that he had never seen before. 00:40:05.120 --> 00:40:12.840 And I pray for you, whether that's your child, whether that's your fleece, whether that's whatever part of your life that you're going in right now, 00:40:13.420 --> 00:40:18.440 is a desperate cry to know him more. 00:40:19.040 --> 00:40:20.020 Would you pray with me? 00:40:20.760 --> 00:40:34.760 God, we come to you, praising you and thanking you for who you are, for what you've done, for what you're doing, and for what you will do. 00:40:36.140 --> 00:40:49.500 God, I pray right now that where this story began for us is hearing from a prophet who called a group of people to move past their regret and to move into repentance. 00:40:50.760 --> 00:41:04.940 And, Lord, I feel for us, for each one of us in here, where that's where we have to begin to assess ourselves, that verse one rings true in our life, where we've done evil in the eyes of the Lord. 00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:21.960 And so, God, bring us to acknowledging a godly sorrow within us, or that brings us to salvation, some of us for the first time, or that brings us to salvation in the growing of the depth of a relationship with you. 00:41:23.240 --> 00:41:32.080 Lord, so that we can live our life free from the burden of sin, of shame, of guilt, of regret. 00:41:32.700 --> 00:41:36.840 God, because of your goodness of what you've done and who you are. 00:41:37.240 --> 00:41:52.820 Lord, so many of us, maybe literally, Lord, we find ourselves in a very similar situation of Gideon, where we find ourselves at the pit of struggling, of not being as sure of what we're to do. 00:41:55.080 --> 00:42:03.660 Maybe so many of us find ourselves like the dad, who are just broken because of what's going on around us. 00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:26.280 And, Lord, what we need right now, what we need above all things, is a willingness, is a desire, is a depth of knowing you, of a growth in faith that happens through you and in you alone. 00:42:29.420 --> 00:42:33.800 Lord, work and move in how only you can. 00:42:35.140 --> 00:42:36.240 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:42:37.020 --> 00:42:37.380 Amen. 00:42:37.380 --> 00:42:37.520 Amen. 00:42:52.600 --> 00:42:55.780 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church Weekly Podcast. 00:42:56.300 --> 00:42:58.600 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:42:59.040 --> 00:43:11.220 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.