Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.
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All right, well, good morning.
If you've got your Bibles with you, go ahead and open up to Judges chapter 7 as we continue
on in our study of Gideon.
As you turn there, I want to remind you guys, hopefully you're able to either get the email
from the church, or to see the videos that we posted on social media concerning our phase
two, as we look to continue to regather in all aspects of our ministry.
But we know that we've got people who are online, who are watching with us, that maybe you don't
have the opportunity to see that, or maybe even some of you hear.
So as you turn there, there's a lot of details for this phase two, but I want to kind of hit
some of the high points as we start off our message this morning.
First, I know this will be a relief to a lot of you.
We're not going to be requiring online registration, all right?
And so if that's something that you've been faithful in doing, you don't have to worry about
that as we move forward.
So we'll be eliminating online registration.
Now, if you're attending the 11 o'clock service, this doesn't affect you, or maybe it could,
but we will be going to two service times to continue with that.
But instead of meeting at 9 and 11, we're going to meet at 9, 30 and 11, okay?
So instead of 9 and 11, 9, 30 and 11.
And this is for one of the main reasons for that adjustment is we're going to be bringing
back our kids' ministry on Sunday mornings.
And our kids' ministry, though, because of what we're needing to do to clean the building,
to get it prepared for our Hispanics, who will start worship at 1, 30.
And we will need to have that time in between.
So kids' ministry will be at 9, 30 only, all right?
So if you've got kids and you want to bring them at the 11, but you want them to be a part
of the kids' ministry on Sunday morning, now that's a nursery through fifth grade, we're
only going to be able to provide that at this time during the 9, 30 service.
So you can make that adjustment.
Now, we will still continue to provide everything online.
We're going to continue to have everything here.
So if parents, if you're more comfortable with bringing your kids into the worship auditorium
for adult worship during this time, that's fine.
We want you to be able to worship in the way that you feel the most comfortable.
But we will have kids' ministry at the 9, 30 service only.
And then for both worship services, we're going to do something a little bit different here
in the auditorium, all right?
And we've been listening to people, talking to people, we're seeing where everyone's at.
And what we're hearing is that for those that are, they're choosing to wear a mask during
this time, wherever they go and whatever they do, they'd feel more comfortable in a section
within the auditorium that is for those who are wearing masks.
And so what we're going to do is we're going to have a section of the auditorium.
And in order to sit there for you and your family, you've got to have a mask on, right?
We're not going to force people who are wearing masks to sit there.
But if that is something that you would like to be a part of, we will have that available
for you as well.
And so we're excited as we continue to move into this direction.
We're excited about our kids' ministry being able to start back.
I'll say this, and I know for some of you, it may be different.
I love having the kids in here.
I love having noise.
I was a youth pastor for years.
It's just what I'm used to.
But I know for a lot of you parents, you're like, I'm about to die over here, all right?
So we're doing that.
But the important piece for us with kids' ministry is this.
We get to pick back up and continue on in the discipleship process in the lives of our kids.
And I don't know if you guys know this, but we have an absolutely wonderful children's
ministry team, both staff and volunteers, who pray and who prepare and who explain the
gospel week in and week out to these kids.
I'm talking like not only for our elementary age kids or students, but all the way even
down to the babies.
The people that work in our nursery, they pray over these kids.
They have Christian music playing in there.
I mean, all the way through.
So we're excited to be able to bring that back.
So if you've got any questions, please let us know, and we'd like to answer those for you.
Well, as we look at Judges chapter 7, as we talk about Gideon this morning, I want us
to think about this word as a word that we're going to talk about throughout the message
this morning, and it's the word confidence.
We're going to talk about what it means as believers to be confident.
Now, there are two words oftentimes that come in clash when you think of this word, and it's
the word confidence that comes in conflict with the word arrogance.
Oftentimes, even within our lives, we take arrogance and we cast it on to confidence.
We see someone who is confident, and we assume that they're being arrogant.
We see someone who's arrogant, and they try to excuse it away by just saying that they
are confident.
But what we're going to see in the life of the believer, that there is definitely a difference
between arrogance and confidence.
All right?
So, an arrogant person, a sense of arrogance, says this, look at what I can do, look at what
I've done, and know that I am capable of doing this.
That is the telltale sign of someone who struggles with arrogance.
They are always the subject of their story.
They're the driving point of the narrative.
They're saying, look at me, look at what I've done, look at what I've accomplished, look
at what I'm capable of doing, right?
They, for lack of a better term, become their own idol in their life of what they're able
to portray of themselves.
And that, by definition, when you put yourself at that point, is arrogance.
And so, there's a difference between arrogance and confidence.
And I specifically, because we're believers, we're having a message, we're looking at God's
word, there's a difference in worldly confidence and godly confidence.
Because godly confidence for a Christian, in all things, in your walk of life, with where
you are, with what you're working toward, with what you're doing, says this, look at what
God can do.
Look at what God has done.
And I think most important for us as believers, as we tell about the hope of the gospel, is
look at what God is capable of doing.
Please know that God can do this.
And you see the difference in the two.
Arrogance, a life of arrogance says, look at me and look at what I've done.
But a life geared toward godly confidence says, no, no, no, look at who God is and look at what
God has done.
And in the life of Gideon in chapter 7, we're going to see this building momentum of moving
forward, not of arrogance, not of confidence in himself, but godly confidence in God.
When we found Gideon in Gideon chapter 6, do you remember where we found him?
He was hiding.
He was the picture of a weak, insecure, fearful man hiding in a hole in a cave somewhere, taking
the little bit of food that he had and hiding it because out of fear that the oppressors
were going to come and take it from him.
And that's where we find him.
And look where we find him in Judges 7 verse 1.
Then Jeroboam, that is Gideon, and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped
beside the spring of Harod.
And the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of Mori in the valley.
And so before in chapter 6, we see him hiding in a cave somewhere, trying to store some food,
and then we open up into chapter 7, and he's leading an army of people to head toward the
oppressors.
Do you see the move that has been happening in his life?
And what we see last week and what we continue in seeing this week is the attitude which Gideon
possesses is not one of arrogance, but is one of faithful confidence.
That this is what begins to exude from his life.
Now, there was a section of the story last week that we kind of skipped over.
I want to look back at that.
So if you've got your Bibles open, just look back at Judges 6 verse 32.
God's Word says,
Therefore on that day, and this day was the day that Gideon had torn down the altars,
Gideon was called Jeroboam.
That is to say, let Baal contend against him because he broke down his altar.
You see, in chapter 6, we're opened up that this is Gideon and he's hiding.
But we open up chapter 7, and this is Jeroboam, and he's leading the forces against the evil
army that oppresses them.
And what we see from this is faithful confidence.
Because Gideon, as he's walked through all that he walked through, with overcoming his
fears and his struggles, and let me tell you, he had them in chapter 6.
Gideon didn't hear from God in chapter 6 and think, I got this.
In fact, he was still afraid because when God called him to tear down the altars, it
said that out of fear, he did it.
He obeyed God, but he did it during the night so that he couldn't be found out.
But what happens is, out of Gideon's faithfulness, out of his confidence in God, he begins to
be seen as someone different.
That his identity begins to be connected to something different in his life.
And he's no longer little fearful Gideon hiding in the corner, but he's confident.
He's faithful.
Jeroboam, who is confident in God's call in his life and is made evident in his obedience
to God.
You see, when we talk about confidence, when we talk about godly confidence, when we talk
about you and I who say with our lives, with our words, that we are confident in God, confidence
in God, and we're going to see this in the story, will always require faith.
Confidence in God is not just a simple statement that we can make, it's not just a mindset that
we can have, but when you and I say that we have confidence in God, confidence in God is
always going to require us to have faith.
And here's what I mean by faith.
You ask someone what faith is, they talk about what they believe.
You ask someone what faith is, they talk about what they do.
And the truth is, both of those are partial definitions of faith.
That faith is when what you believe and what you do combine.
And in that is when we see men and women of faith.
So for Gideon, as his confidence, not in himself, but as his confidence in God begins to grow, what
we're going to see is faith in what he believes, faith in what he does.
And we see this begin to mark his life.
And so for you and I, when we say, oh, I'm confident in God, but where does your faith lie?
Where have you truly placed your faith in?
What does that look like in what you believe and know and understand about God?
Remember, that's what Gideon was doing with the fleeces.
What does it do with what you believe and what you understand?
But what does it also believe in what you do?
It's the full journey of faith in the life of an individual.
So this is where we find Gideon.
So let's keep reading on in chapter 2.
It says,
Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
And the Lord said to Gideon,
The people are still too many.
Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there.
And any one of whom I say to you, this one shall go with you, shall go with you.
And any one of whom I say to you, this one shall not go with you, shall not go.
So he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon,
Everyone who laps water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set him by himself.
Likewise, everyone who kneels down to drink.
And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men.
But all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.
And the Lord said to Gideon,
With 300 men whom lapped, I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand,
and let all the others go every man to his home.
So the people took provisions in their hands and their trumpets,
and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man, to his tent, but retained the 300 men.
And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
So here's what God does.
God speaks to Gideon.
And he says, Gideon, I don't want, when the victory happens,
I don't want the men, I don't want the soldiers,
I don't want the nation to look back and say,
Yes, look at what we have done.
So I'm going to reduce your army size.
And what we're going to see, what God is going to do in the life of Gideon,
and what God desires to do in the life of people who seek to follow him,
is God is going to bring confidence from us.
God, as we are faithful to him, as God is faithful to us,
God's going to birth us,
God's going to give us a positioning of confidence in him.
But it's oftentimes going to come from weakness.
And it's what God says.
God takes Gideon and he reduces the size of the army.
Now, the first time he does it, he reduces it from 32,000 to 10,000 based off of those who are afraid.
He says, look, if you're afraid, go home.
Now, I read a lot of people this week and listened to some people,
and most commentators who talked about this said, well, that makes sense.
Because what a general doesn't want in the battle is when you send the soldiers running down the hill toward the enemies,
you don't want someone who's afraid because what they'll do is they'll turn around and run the other way,
and in doing so, they'll create confusion.
So, you're probably better off that most of them left because they would have left anyways.
Okay, so that makes sense.
So, Gideon goes from 32,000 to 10,000.
But God says, no, no, no, no, no.
That number, that's still too many.
Now, put yourself in Gideon's shoes.
I've got 10,000 men who are ready.
They're not afraid.
They're willing to charge into battle.
And God, you tell me that that's too many.
We're already overnumbered.
And so, God says, no, no, no.
We're going to separate these even more.
And of all things, we're not going to do it because of skill.
We're not going to do it out of maybe even the size of the soldiers or the intellect or the experience.
Hey, Gideon, we're going to separate by how they drink water.
Now, everyone that I read, everyone that I listened to, could not explain the logic behind this.
There is no part of this that makes sense when you begin to understand how do I want to go into battle
and what group do I want to go with.
And so, some drink water.
The Bible says they lap it up like a dog, 300 of them.
And the rest don't.
And God looks at Gideon and he says, hey, those 300 who drank like dogs, there you guys go into battle.
Now, Gideon goes from 32,000 to 300.
And this is where God takes him.
Because God wants his confidence grow.
Because God, remember, it's not our arrogance that brought us in.
It's not our own skill that brought us in.
It's not our own courage that brought us in.
But if an army of 300 is going to win, that the confidence is going to be found in God, in God alone.
And so, God's going to grow this confidence through weakness.
The writer of Hebrews, in referring back to this, says in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 32,
And what more shall I say?
For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, of Jephthah, of David, and Samuel, and the prophets.
Verse 33, look at these three words.
Who, through faith, their belief and their action of what God would do, and of who God was, and what God was going to bring about.
Look what was done.
They conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword.
And get this, were made strong out of weakness.
Became mighty in war.
Put foreign armies to flight.
That when this begins to happen, what we see from the weakness is God building the strength.
Not strength in our own selves, but strength in God.
And I don't know about you guys, but in my life, where I find that I need the most,
is not to look at my achievements, and my strengths, and what I've done, and grow in my confidence there.
But what God takes, and works, and moves, and does in my life, is brings me to the point of weakness,
so that He can be glorified in that, and that we can see Him working and moving.
Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 12, 7 through 10.
And he says,
To keep me from becoming conceited, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations.
A thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
Three times, Paul says, I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
But look at what God says to him in verse 9.
But he said to me,
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
God says, look, for my grace to be seen, for my grace to be experienced, for you to grow in my grace,
you have to struggle with this.
And so when I look at that in my life, when you look at this in your life,
and the weaknesses, and the battles, and the suffering, and the struggles that you face,
and you're so desperately pleading for God to get rid of them in your life,
and God's saying, no, no, no, no, you're missing it.
You're missing it.
I'm leaving them in there, not to punish you, but I'm leaving them there so that you'll cling to me.
That my power, God says, made perfect in weakness.
So in that, what do people see?
They see God.
It's what God is desiring in the life of Gideon.
Remember, God says at the very beginning of this passage,
I don't want them to look and say, we did this.
I want them to look, and in the weakness, and in the smallness of the army,
say, no, no, no, no, no, no.
God did this.
And so, look at Paul's perspective as we continue on in 2 Corinthians.
Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness,
so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecution, and calamities.
For when I am weak, Paul says, then I am strong.
Paul says that it is from the weaknesses and the suffering and the struggles of my life.
It's from the oppression and the suffering that is brought on.
That in that, when the world looks at me and they think that it makes me weak,
would I know that in this is what makes me strong?
Because it causes me to do something.
It causes me to lean in and to trust in Him and Him alone.
I was listening to the study on Right Now Media with J.D. Greer that we're doing this week as we go through this passage.
And J.D. Greer, he quotes another person.
He doesn't share his name.
But it helps me in the response for how you and I, how we view and respond to our weaknesses.
And here's what J.D. Greer said.
He said, you can't know that He, being God, is all that you need until He is all that you have.
I want you to think back to those moments and periods and times where what consumed you was your weaknesses and your struggles.
There was five dollars in the checking account.
There was no friends who were around you to support you.
Your patterns of sin and struggle and destruction were building more and more in your life.
It felt like everything that you touched, everything that was a part of you, was failing and falling around you.
And you were at the center of that.
And how did you respond?
And what got you today?
For so many people, what they've seen and what they've clung to in that moment is acknowledging that in that, all they have is God and God alone.
And that's how God builds our strength and our weaknesses.
God, I can't trust myself anymore.
God, there's no one else around me.
God, the resources and everything that I've worked so hard to obtain, they're gone.
And God looks at you and says, exactly.
All you can do now is depend on me.
So for so many of us in these seasons of life, we felt like we walked in ready to conquer.
32,000 around us.
This is what we can do.
And God says, but wait a minute.
But I need to bring you back down so that you're not trusting in you, but instead you're trusting in me.
Now put yourself in Gideon's shoes.
Gideon, a man of faith.
Gideon, a man of obedience.
Gideon, a man of belief.
And in this, he begins to be consumed with this is what we're going to do.
He places his troops on the camp of where they need to go.
He does everything that God has commanded him to do.
But I can't help but speculate.
I can't help but imagine that in the deep, dark corner of his brain, he's going, oh, I don't know about this.
Right?
Have you ever stepped out in faith, but in the back of your mind kind of thought that?
Like, God, you're going to have to get this because there's no way that I can do this.
And I think that's where we find Gideon in verse 9.
And again, God speaks to him.
It says,
That same night the Lord said to him,
Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.
But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Piri, your servant.
And you shall hear what they say.
And afterward your hand shall be strengthened to go against the camp.
Then he went down with Piri, his servant, to the outpost of the armed men who were in camp.
And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley like locusts in abundance.
And their camels were without number as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.
When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade.
And he said,
Behold, I dreamed a dream.
And behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down.
So that tent laid flat.
So Gideon in his concern, Gideon in his self-doubt with what's going on,
God in his graciousness comes to him and says,
Hey, buddy, get up and go.
Take your servant that's there with you and head down to the enemy's camp.
And so on his way there, Gideon goes.
He's got his buddy that's walking alongside him.
And as they get closer to the camp, he begins to see what the camp looks like for the very first time.
And it says that there's so many soldiers, the Bible compares them to locusts.
Now, I don't know if you've ever seen locusts in a massive amount that come through,
but they can come through and black out the sun and completely eliminate a crop field.
They can completely wipe it out.
So when Gideon says that these soldiers are like locusts,
it's talking about the number that they have and the destruction that they can bring.
And when he talks about the camels that will lead into the charge,
he said there were so many camels, it was like the sand on the beach.
And so I can imagine being in Gideon's shoes.
God, I want to be confident.
I want to be confident in you.
I want to trust what you've said.
But as I approach, Lord, the reality of the situation is becoming too much for me.
And then he hears two of the soldiers begin to talk.
And it talks about a cake of barley bread tumbled into a camp in a tent and struck it down.
Let me use some South Carolina vernacular if I can, okay?
It's like you went camping in your camper, and you're staying out there in your camper,
and a biscuit comes rolling down the path, right?
And you see a biscuit rolling towards you, and all of a sudden the biscuit takes out your camper.
Now, that seems like a foolish story, right?
Because that could never happen.
If a biscuit can take out your camper, get a different camper, all right?
But that's what it says.
That's what God's Word says.
That it was like a piece of bread that came in and it turned over the tent.
He says, I don't know what this means.
The other guy says, I do.
I do.
That bread, it's Gideon, and it's men.
And we think they're weak, and we think they're small, and we think they can't do anything.
But they're going to completely destroy us.
And look what God does for Gideon.
God in his grace, God in his mercy, God in his faithfulness, God in his kindness gives Gideon something special.
And it's the same thing that God gives you and I.
He gives Gideon assurance.
And what you and I can do is we can begin to have confidence from assurance, the assurance of God.
Now, God uses a couple different manners here to give Gideon assurance.
He uses his servant who is willing to go along with him.
He uses the other soldiers as they speak to this dream that they have.
He uses situations that are in here as he walks forward and begins to have this experience that I'm sure he could have shared with many others.
But most importantly, the way that God gave Gideon assurance and the most powerful way that he gives you and I assurance is through his very words.
God said to him.
Scripture says the Lord said to him.
And God does the same thing for us.
When you open up your Bible and you begin to read it, I want you to begin by saying,
And the Lord said.
Because every word in this was said by God.
If we are going to be men and women of faith, we need to understand that every single word that appears on these pages were spoken by the Holy God himself.
And that just as he spoke the world and you and I into existence, he spoke this word, which is living as well.
And so from his word, what you and I can gain is assurance as we face the days and times ahead.
What you and I can gain from his word is that you and I can have faith and confidence in him.
I want to share with you this morning a handful of passages that in my life resonate and remind me of the goodness of God and the assurance that I can have in him and in him alone.
Did you know that God tells us that we can trust and that we can believe every single thing that he has ever said?
That we can trust it all.
That God is of his word and that God sees it all through.
Second Corinthians 1.20 says,
For all the promises of God find their yes in him.
That is why it is through him that we utter our amen to God for his glory.
Because church, if he said it, he meant it and he'll see it through.
Do you know that God promises that when you and I seek him and the kingdom of God,
when we seek a life of obedience and faith for him,
that he will be with us and fulfill everything he says?
Matthew 6.33,
But seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness,
and all these things will be added to you.
Jesus says this during the midst of preaching on the Sermon of the Mount,
when he talks about what it means to be blessed and what it means to be loved and what it means to be faithful.
That in this, it's not promising all the wealth and health of the world,
but what it is promising within there that what we can cling to is a relationship,
a growing relationship with God that produces from that the fruits of the spirit that Jesus promises us.
Scripture tells us that not if we do a bunch of religious works,
that not if we work hard toward these things,
but that if you and I, if we believe and we place our faith in Christ,
then we will be a child of God.
John 1.12,
But to all who did receive him,
who believed in his name,
I love this verse,
he gave the right to become children of God.
Last week we talked about the mess of life.
Maybe my favorite verse in all of Scripture,
that when you and I,
that when we begin to get stuck down in the mess of everything that's going on,
the stuff that others have created for us,
and let's be honest,
the mess that nine times out of ten,
you and I have created.
And we begin to sit there,
and we begin to have the thoughts from Satan that God could never use this,
that God could never use me,
that God's leaving me right where I'm at,
and punishing me for this.
And how many times have we said this?
And nothing good can come out of this.
And God says in Romans 8.28,
And we know that for those who love God,
all things work together for good,
for those who are called according to his purpose.
The word all means all.
All things.
For we know that those who love God,
all things work together for good.
God's word gives us assurance
that when we rely on him,
he gives us strength.
Philippians 4.13 says,
I can do all things through him
who what?
Strengthens me.
He gives us the means and the ability
to overcome all things
as we are in him in this world.
Church, this verse isn't about doing well
on a test or winning a football game, okay?
It's about as we step out of this place
into this world that wants to defeat
and to crush us,
that we are capable of living
in the strength that God gives us.
And I love this.
No matter where, spiritually speaking,
you find yourself,
on the mountaintop or in the valley,
whether you feel frustrated or beat up
or a victor right now,
that you and I,
we can have assurance from God's word
that when we cry out to him,
he hears us.
And not only does he hear us,
but he gives us something.
He gives us mercy and grace.
Hebrews 4.16,
let us then with confidence
draw near to the throne of grace
that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help
in the time of need.
Just a sampling
of the assurance
that God gives us.
But you're right,
but I don't feel assured.
I don't feel that this is where I am.
I feel like God's not listening to me.
I don't feel like I'm a child of God.
This is where I find myself.
And as we look at the life of Gideon,
what we see is that assurance
requires what?
Faith.
In order for Gideon
to get the assurance of God,
he had to get out of his tent
and go to the enemy's camp.
That's what he had to do.
Gideon couldn't stay back
and say,
nah, God,
in my comfort,
give me this.
In my comfort,
this is what I deserve.
God says,
nah,
if you need this from me,
it's not sitting on the sideline.
It's putting your faith
into action.
So go, Gideon.
And Gideon goes.
We would have called him a fool.
Why are you ever doing that?
Because God is good.
And God's going to show me.
So we're preparing
for the battle to begin.
I think that Gideon comes back
with a little bit of swagger,
not on himself,
but for God,
of what God's going to do.
He's seen and he's heard.
He knows that there's fear there.
And he looks
and he's got 300 men.
And so as he prepares them
to go into battle,
he gives them their tools
of what they're going to need.
Now,
I've never been a,
I've never been
to any branch of the military.
I've never been in battle.
But I can imagine
there are things
that you want
when you go into battle
and there are things
you're like,
nah,
I don't really need that.
Right?
And so Gideon's 300 men,
they begin to head into battle.
And what he does
is he divides the 300
into three different groups.
And then he hands
every individual
in each one of those groups
a trumpet,
a jar,
and a torch.
No swords,
no spears,
no knives,
not even a rock.
Right?
Take your musical instrument,
your mason jar,
right,
and a flashlight
and head that way.
And we see
in this
God
gains
the victory.
Here's what begins
to happen.
As these groups
are broken off
and think of them
like facing
in battalions,
they get around
and they surround
where the Midianites
camp were.
And on Gideon's command,
300 men
blow their trumpet.
Well,
it wouldn't have been
if everyone was there,
it wouldn't have been
all the soldiers
with trumpets.
It would have only been
a select percentage
of the soldiers
that had trumpets.
And so they begin
to hear,
oh,
that sounds like
a lot of trumpets.
Like if I'm just
ballparking,
that sounds like
between 299
and 301 trumpets,
right?
This isn't going
to be good.
And then
they see the torches.
And again,
just as everybody
wouldn't have had
a trumpet,
not everybody
would have had
a torch.
Oh my goodness.
There's now,
that looks like
at least 300
torches
that are out
there,
right?
We hear
the 300 trumpets.
We see
the 300 torches.
What is going
to happen
to us?
And then
they take
their jars
and they
slam
the jars
down on the rocks.
And as it
begins to echo
off of the valley,
it doesn't
sound like
a jar breaking.
What it
sounds like
is thousands
upon thousands
of soldiers
bringing
their sword
out of their
sheath.
And the
Midianites
are terrified.
And they
begin to run
back to camp
those who
are on watch.
And everybody
who's in the
fortress,
they see what's
happening and
now all of a
sudden they see
people running
toward them.
And what do
they do?
They begin to
attack themselves.
And look at
Judges 7
verse 21.
Every man
stood in his
place around
the camp
and all
the army
ran.
They cried
out and
fled.
Gideon's
army does
nothing
and gains
the victory.
See,
here's what
God was
doing.
God said,
no,
not 32,000,
10.
Not 10,300.
Oh,
and just to
make sure that
you understand
this,
I'm not even
going to make
the 300 do
anything because
I'm going to
do it all.
I'm going to
do it all.
I'm going to
do it with
what seems
useless and
worthless.
I'm going to
do it with
trumpets and
with jars and
torches and
watch what
God's going to
do.
And here's the
point of this
battle, the
point of our
lives, the
reason why you
and I can
have confidence
confidence is
because the
confidence is
in God's
victory.
The confidence
is in what
God would
do.
You see,
there could
have been
that one
guy, right?
If there's
300, there's
going to be
that one that
says, hey,
look at what
I did, right?
Look at what we
were able to
accomplish.
I killed at
least 10
million of
them myself.
And God
says, no,
buddy, I'm
going to
leave you on
the sidelines
as this is
what I do.
confidence in
God's victory
time and
time again.
Church, I
want to
close with
this.
I feel like
for so many
of us, where
we find
ourselves in
our life time
and time
again is
going, God,
man, I
had 32,000,
but you
took it
away.
And God,
now I got
300.
And what am I
going to do
with this?
And God's
saying, no,
no, no.
I just
need you.
I need you
to trust
in me.
Because it's
not what's
going to
happen in
the battle.
It's knowing
that the war
has already
been won.
Knowing that
whatever we
face doesn't
take away
from anything
of the assurance
of what God
has set
before us.
That where
you and I
find ourselves
when we
are found
in him
is that
we are
in the
victory
where we
find
ourselves.
Let me ask
you this
this morning.
Where do
you find
yourself?
Spiritually
speaking,
where's your
confidence?
Do you
think and
do you
know or
do you
find yourself
this morning
that you're
like the
enemy in
the camp
standing in
the wake
and in
the presence
of what
God's
going to
do?
Standing in
the wake
of the
destruction
that's
going to
come
because
you're
in
the
wrong
camp?
Let me tell
you the
hope that
we have
and the
reminder
that we
have
is in
the
victory
that
God
made
through
Christ.
That
Jesus
came and
lived the
perfect
life
and
got on
the
cross
where
he
died
the
perfect
death
and was
buried
and three
days
later
rose
again
and the
victory
was won
for us
and that
you too
can leave
that camp
and be
a part
of God's
army
the children
of God
not through
anything that
you can
do
but through
the grace
and mercy
of God.
Do you
find yourself
like Gideon
hiding in
a hole
in chapter
six
hiding
some food
because you
don't have
the confidence
that's there
and today
as a follower
of Christ
would you
say God
this is
where I
find myself
my job
is like
this
my marriage
is like
this
my family
life
is like
this
Lord
and I'm
just
sitting
here
spiritually
speaking
hiding
away
hiding
away
hiding
away
and God
said no
no
I
just
want
you
to
trust
in
me
but God
it's
going to be
painful
I know
but God
it's
going to be
suffering
I know
but I'm
magnified
and made
known
in your
weakness
not in
your
strength
so walk
through
this
I will
not leave
you
or forsake
you
or do
you find
yourself
praise God
like Gideon
right here
in chapter
seven
all right
God
I'll send
22,000
of them
away
God
I'll
go down
to just
the 300
God
you want
me to
walk
toward
that
camp
God
I'm
gonna
walk
toward
that
camp
God
you
want
me
to
take
them
and
just
do
trumpets
and
torches
and
jars
God
I'm
gonna
do
it
not
because
of
what
we're
capable
of
but
God
because
of
what
you're
capable
of
that
you
praise
God
this
morning
let's
glorify
him
with
it
God
I
come
you
this
morning
I
thank
you
for
who
you
are
Lord
and
for
what
you've
done
Lord
I
thank
you
for
faith
given
to
us
by
you
Lord
I
thank
you
that
from
our
faith
we
can
have
confidence
that comes
from
weakness
that
Lord
you
take
the
weakest
parts
of
our
lives
and
you
use
them
for
your
name
and
for
your
glory
God
I
thank
you
that
in
your
kindness
and
your
grace
Lord
you
give
us
assurance
from
your
word
that
if
we'll
just
believe
what
you
said
Lord
as
you
said
to
Gideon
and
he
heard
Lord
you
say
through
us
through
scripture
Lord
and
it
is
on
us
for
our
faith
to
take
and
apply
and
trust
that
in
our
life
because
Lord
of
knowing
and
having
the
confidence
that
you
and
you
alone
is
where
the
victory
lies
and
so
the
world
may
win
these
little
fights
we
may
even
feel
like
we've
lost
the
battles
but
the
war
has
been
won
by
you
and
by
you
alone
and
so
God
just
give
us
great
confidence
in
you
make
us
men
and
women
and
children
of
faith
who
walk
in
what
not
what
we
fully
understand
but
what
we
trust
in
you
and
in
you
alone
for
your
name
and
for
your
glory
God
as
we're
in
this
place
as
we're
gathered
in
homes
just
speak
to
our
hearts
it's
in
Jesus
name
we
pray
Amen
thanks
again
for
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the
Willow Ridge
Church
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