Address—D. Gorgas
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Begin our meeting tonight, this afternoon with 190 three 193.
100 hymn #193.
Jesus, my Savior.
The one.
My Lords here.
After singing words like that, it's only appropriate that we should confess our dependence on the Lord for the time we have together.
Our God and our Father. What a privilege to be.
Gathered together.
As we are these two days for.
Something of refreshment for our souls and encouragement.
We own the darkness of the days, Father. We realize that, perhaps not as we should, but we do realize it.
It's a darkness that can be felt.
In our God we would seek grace to go on in that.
Very time in such a way.
As to give glory and honor.
Into thy beloved Son.
As we open thy word this afternoon, we ask thee to.
For a blessing upon us.
Encourage our heart. Strengthen us.
If there's some discouraged soul that perhaps.
Needs encouragement that the words spoken might be used.
That will help both speaker and hearer to open hearts to what thou dost have to say.
We ask you to our God, in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Let's turn to the 6th chapter of Judges.
The 6th chapter of Judges.
Let's make this introductory remark before I read that.
Years ago.
I was very much helped by reading a little book by Doctor Rozier, Meditations on Judges.
And he makes this remark on the difference between the.
Warfare in Joshua and in Judges.
And perhaps it will be a helpful remark to others.
Warfare in Joshua is to bring the people into the good.
Of what God has for them.
In judges, it's to deliver them from the consequences of their failure.
Perhaps that remark will help someone else, as it did me in reading Doctor Rozier's delightful little book. And if you haven't read that, young people, oh, I just suggest that you avail yourself of it.
Don't print on. Is it still available?
So we should, I should have asked the Mr. books in print over there. John Kaiser. But.
He amazes me and just a side remark that he seems to be like, you know, there's a book called Books and Print that you can get and look up something and there's a walking books in print on Christian things over there. And I appreciate that.
Judges chapter 6 and verse one. And the children and the children of Israel.
Did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian?
Seven years.
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel, and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them.
The dens which are in the mountains and caves and strongholds.
And so it was when Israel had sown that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites and the children of the east, even they came up against them.
And they encamped against them and destroyed the increase of the earth.
Until thou come unto Gaza and left no sustenance for Israel.
Neither sheep nor ox, nor ***.
For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude, for both they and their camels were without number, and they entered into the land to destroy it.
And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites.
And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.
And it came to pass when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites.
That the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them.
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the House of *******.
And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you.
And drave them out from before you and gave you their land.
And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God, fear ye not. Fear not the gods of the Emirates, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed my voice.
I just like to pause there for a few minutes.
Just to paint a little picture.
Midian, as I understand it.
Is a picture of strife.
It's a picture of strife in Scripture.
We find that Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them.
Delivered them notice that into the hand of Midian. Seven years.
Beloved, when strife occurs among the Lord's people.
It sometimes is God's hand upon us.
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For that which we have done, which is evil in his sight.
You're going to notice a little bit here, the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel.
And because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains.
Have you ever thought when strife occurred?
Generally among the Lord's people or in your assembly where you are, have you ever thought I'd just like to go make me a little den and get away from it all and hide?
A little stronghold, a little cave somewhere.
That's not God's answer. That's not what he calls us to do. But we can understand it, and I believe as we.
Look about and we think of different ones who have.
Can I use the expression bailed out on the testimony?
It's because they've just been wearied with the strife, They've been discouraged with the strife.
But it's not God's answer.
There's another answer, and we're going to look at that as we go through this chapter a little bit. The Lord willing.
But don't go into a cave. Don't go into a den somewhere. Don't go into some stronghold.
That you might set up to escape.
From the strife.
I don't like strife.
I don't like it.
And you'll see here as we read that it's an impoverishing thing.
It makes the people of God poor.
And there is no food when there is strife.
And as soon as something is sown.
Here come these Midianites again.
And destroy it.
Verse four says that they destroyed the increase of the earth.
We consume sometimes so much energy on strife among ourselves, beloved that.
There is no increase.
That God delights to give his people God wants to give increase.
He wants to give in decrease. He wants to give food.
He was the blessing, the gospel.
But if we get so occupied with the strife among ourselves, there can be no.
Increase.
That very stripe devours.
And ruins the increase that God has purposed for us.
We're into verse, Five says. They entered into the land to destroy it.
To destroy it.
I don't need to tell you, I don't think that.
A very high privilege was mine in 1954 when the Lord.
Gathered me by grace to his precious name.
It's a wonderful place to be the land.
I'm using it as a type of that.
The land that God has given the territory, you might say that God has given.
It was a wonderful privilege.
And my soul benefited from it.
I don't need to give tribute to the people who God knows who they are and he'll give tribute in the coming day to those.
People who helped me over those days, in those days and fed my soul.
I have mentioned that I will mention this, that the first year I was gathered.
Beloved brother Adrian Roach came over to Brooklyn, where I was gathered.
42 Lords days out of a year giving addresses on.
The course of time from eternity to eternity.
What a benefit to my soul that way.
And as those of you who remember Brother Adrian knew that he could pack into one meeting what some of us get into 10 minutes, I mean into two hours, he could. He just spoke quickly, and he covered things very quickly. That wasn't a feast.
But then comes a long strife.
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I wasn't gathered 2 years before.
A Dutchman rose up and caused problems and almost upset me from the path.
Mr. Christian.
I said, Where have I come? What have I done?
I thank God for men who studied my feet in those days.
Guilford Christensen, Mr. Kohler.
They were help to me to get through that time.
And some of you young people I'm sure have been discouraged with other things which have come up.
Because Satan never rests as soon as there is a sowing.
The Midianites come to try to destroy it.
Verse six says in Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites.
And then it says, The children of Israel cried unto the Lord.
Ah, that's the answer.
To cry to the Lord in those circumstances, to look to him.
To seek from him a remedy, a help, Lord, deliver his help us.
A couple of years ago I was talking to some brothers from an assembly where they were having a problem and they said we're just not equal to it. I said good, good.
Now the Lord can work if you get down and acknowledge that to him that you can't handle it.
That's that's the thing we need to do is to get on our knees, cry to the Lord. Now how does the Lord answer? This is remarkable because.
I think if you read this carefully you will see.
That this is a prophet with an unusual message.
We think of a prophet as one who comes and predicts something.
One who encourages.
But this is the ministry of a prophet where he simply lays out for them.
The.
Sin of which they were guilty because sometimes we don't know it.
We don't realize that. We don't recognize it. We don't understand what's wrong.
And the Lord raises up. By the way, a prophet is one who speaks for another.
In this case, it was speaking for God.
A spokesperson.
We use the word sometimes in Spanish portables.
Somebody who speaks who?
Gives a message on behalf of another. Now listen to this message.
The Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel. Now remember, they had cried unto the Lord because they were impoverished.
And they were discouraged and there was number food.
And they are crying to the Lord for an answer.
The Lord says to him This says the Lord God of Israel, Verse eight, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the House of *******.
That's not.
In itself.
An encouraging word is simply a statement of what God did, isn't it?
God says I did this for you.
I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drive you out from before, drive them out from before you, and gave you their land.
And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God, Fear not the gods of the Amorites.
In whose land you dwell.
Which you have not obeyed my voice.
End of prophetic message.
Isn't there any cheerful aspect to his prophetic message? None at all. God wants that message to lie in their consciences and hearts.
He wants them to be exercised by it.
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He wants them to feel what they had done.
That little expression in Tevers 10 Fear ye not. The gods of the Amorites is one that ought to exercise us. Beloved we we dwell in a land where there are many strange gods.
I'm not talking about images now.
But people deify.
Sports figures, Music figures.
Ambitions.
Success.
God says.
Not.
I'm the Lord your God.
And he says, you haven't obeyed my voice, you haven't obeyed my voice.
When I just ask each one of us to be honest before the Lord here this afternoon, is there some God of the Amorites that we have?
Allowed to capture our affections and our thoughts.
Is there something the Lord is saying to us?
And then the Prophet goes away. Wait, prophet, don't go away? Do you have something to say that would encourage us?
That's all those words they gave me for today and he went away.
Now I want to ask you this.
Do you think after praying to the Lord and crying to him about their condition?
And this prophet comes and delivers this message and he goes away. Do you think that they were greatly encouraged?
Do you think they said, oh, this is just the thing to encourage our heart?
I don't think so.
As I read that.
It exercises me, and I trust it does YouTube, beloved, we have not heard the Lord's voice.
He has benefited us so much.
He has given us so much.
He's come in on our behalf so much.
What have we done? We've not obeyed his voice.
We've been fearing the gods of the Amorites, among whom we dwell.
Now let's read a little more verse 11.
And there came an Angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which is which was in Oprah, that pertained unto Joash the obvious right.
And his son Gideon.
Page turned here. Will continue.
His son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
Here's a young man.
In a home.
Where there was idolatry, believe it or not.
And he's exercised.
He says. I want some wheat and I don't want the Midianites to get that wheat.
And so he threshes it.
To hide it from the Midianites. But he wants it for himself.
Maybe you're here this afternoon and you take that same position as Gideon. I hope you do. I want something for my soul. I don't care what strife has done to impoverish us as a people.
I want something for myself.
Do you know that the Angel of the Lord and I may I say this?
Nothing new. Most commentators will tell you this. That the Angel of the Lord here.
Is the Lord himself.
The Lord himself and what is he doing? He just sits down.
Under an oak and watches Gideon as to what he's doing.
When you take your Bible and you go off into a place and say, Lord, I want something for myself from those scriptures. I need something to go on. I don't want the MIDI unites to get this Lord and you know where he did it.
By the wine press. What does the winepress bring before us? I'd like to suggest that it brings before his self judgment.
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Self judgment. What an ideal place to thresh wheat.
Not physically.
But what a what a place that God can come in and bless this man.
Place of self judgment.
And I want to encourage you that when you take time to get into the presence of the Lord and you want something for yourself and you say, I don't care what strife there is, what problems there are among the Lords people, I need something for myself.
And I'm going to get off by myself and get it. There's one who's watching you.
And he's going to preserve you in that position.
I think it's very touching that the Angel of the Lord was there. Did Gideon know he was there? Not immediately, not immediately.
The Angel seems to be just quietly watching him.
Doesn't that encourage your heart that the Lord is watching you when you take time to get into His presence?
And thresh some wheat.
Now you folks out here in this country understand threshing weeds a lot better than this fellow would ever understand it. I worked on a farm, but it was a dairy farm, and we didn't thresh any wheat.
But may I just say that I believe it was an exercise to get something for himself.
From the word, in spite of the enemy's attack.
Young people I know. It hasn't been easy. I've sat in the middle of some of this conflict and.
I lower my head. I think I've been part of it sometimes too.
That's not an atmosphere in which we can foster growth among the young people, but I'm here this afternoon to try to encourage you to get out there in the winepress and take what you get and thresh it out before the Lord, and be encouraged that the Lord himself notices it.
Quite a few years ago, he was sitting on the veranda of our sister Matilda.
Garcia's house down in Cabrera.
In the Dominican Republic.
And I was out there early in the morning with my Bible, reading something and enjoying the presence of the Lord and communion with him.
And here comes along the street.
Our young sister, Rosa Maria, she's now Rosa Maria, hey Johnny Hayes, wife.
Young girl, I think she was 17/16/17 at the time.
Bible under her arm covering.
In her hand. She didn't know I was sitting there. I said, Oh, Rosa, where are you coming from?
Oh, I've just been down at the beach with some other young people and we've been just getting something from the word for ourselves. I almost cried.
From joy to think of this dear sister taking time early in the morning to go down on the beach there in Cabrera and open up the word and find out something for herself.
Now who was watching her? Well, **** Gorgett's store when she came out the street to come in the house.
There was one down on the beach. I'm sure watching those young people doing that, that's the Lord himself and he cares.
Now look at verse 12. And the Angel of the Lord, I believe again that's the Lord appeared unto him.
Now he reveals himself, He's there. And he said unto them unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor, mighty man of valor, hiding in the winepress.
Threshing a little wheat so that the Midianites don't get it.
He's a mighty man of valor, Yes, the Lord says so. Doesn't he?
Gideon said unto him, O my Lord, if the Lord be with us.
Now I want to notice something here. This is one of those places where singular and plural are interesting.
The Lord had said unto him, The Lord is with whom thee?
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You personally, Gideon?
You lose that if you don't have that, but I don't want to make a big point about that. Is just a helpful thing as you read the word and notice that that he was talking to Gideon individually. The Lord is with thee and Gideon then takes his place with the people of God. He says if the Lord be with us.
He doesn't take his place apart from the people of God if the Lord be with us.
Why is all this befallen us? Why did all this happen to us?
Dear young people, have you ever raised that question? I know this is not an address, particularly to young people, but you're always on my heart.
You're always on my heart.
Some of you participated in what's called the YP Forum, and I oh, I value reading what you write. I love it. I just enjoy it.
And I'm always thankful when I see.
Some just putting out something encouraging for each other. A lot of things have happened over the last years, haven't they?
Don't think it's just the last few years either. I told you that two years after I was gathered.
I almost got my foot pushed off.
By a Dutchman.
No, no, no national offense intended. I'm sure there are Dutch people here. Might take offense at that, but.
I was. I was nearly pushed off.
Why is this all happened to us if the Lord is with us?
And where be all his miracles, which our fathers told us of?
Where are all the things that were so wonderful that I learned as a boy or as a girl?
And I don't see it now.
What's happening? What's happened?
Didn't the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us. Do you ever get that feeling The Lord has forsaken us? He really hasn't, I'll tell you that He hasn't forsaken us.
He hasn't forsaken us.
He's ready to step in and help.
But I believe right now he's looking for individual devotion to him. That's why I picked that him in the beginning. Jesus, my savior, Thou art ours. No, Thou art mine. Thou art mine. Thou art mine.
It's a very individual hymn.
But now the Lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. It's a good thing to recognize.
The hand of the Lord in what happens.
Not be discouraged by it, not be turned aside by it, but to recognize the hand of the Lord in it.
God is speaking to us.
He has been speaking to us.
Verse 14 And the Lord looked upon him. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord looked on him.
The Lord looked on him.
I just enjoy that so much, the Lord just looking at this man and says to him.
Go in this.
Thy might.
Thy might? What had he confessed?
The utter ruin of things. I want to tell you this.
I think.
I don't think I'm alone in this exercise either.
I believe, beloved brethren, that there isn't the recognition on the part of us, all of us, of the utter ruin and failure of that which God has delivered into our hands.
Well, we talk about it as a doctrine.
We talk about it as a doctrine, the ruin of the Church. Have you felt it? Have I felt it? Have you understood? Have I understood how very badly we failed in the carrying out of the truth that God has given to us?
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I'm not talking about people that went out from fellowship with us. I'm talking about ourselves.
Ourselves.
We have failed, but I want to tell you this if you do own that.
The Lord is going to look on you and tell you to go in that strength. What strength?
The strength of the recognition of the utter failure.
That we have in walking in the path that the Lord has called us to.
I could weep sometimes, and I know others have told me they have wept about it.
When I hear expressions that sound as if we're unconscious of that failure.
That we are the people.
Where a broken, ruined testimony.
And if we're testimony to anything, beloved brethren other than the Lord's name itself, where testimony to the ruin of whatever God puts in man's hands.
If you don't like that.
The Lord isn't going to be able to bless you, but if you're willing to take that position.
And with the people of God, identify yourself with that ruin.
Identify yourself with the ruin.
Some years back there was an assembly I like to visit regularly.
But there was a tendency in the reading meetings to say out there in Christendom.
They did this or they did that.
Oh, it used to get me upset.
And I don't think very many times I let it go by without saying we are Christendom.
We're part of it.
We're part of it. The ruin of Christendom is our ruining.
We don't say out there and Christendom, the only way you and I can get out of Christendom, by the way.
Is to deny Christianity. Do we want to do that?
You want to apostatize from the faith? Then you can get out of Christendom. I don't think any of us want to do that. We are part of it. We're part of the ruin. We're part of the shame. And the Lord lets us feel that shame. And if we don't feel it, He may have to deliver us more into the hands of Midian.
Until we feel it and own it to him.
Golden this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianite.
Have you ever longed to save the Lord's people from the strife that they?
Are plagued with.
Have you ever longed to, oh, I wish I could just deliver the Lord's people from that striving that is going on.
Go in the mate of taking your place as part of a ruined testimony.
And the Lord will use you, he says. Have I not sent thee?
Have I not sent thee? You know, I want to say that there's nothing more encouraging to my soul.
In this chapter than that last expression, Have not I sent thee?
Have not I sent thee?
God sent that dear young man.
Verse 15 He said unto him, O my Lord, wherewith?
Shall I save Israel again? There's a humbling there. There's a.
A real recognition that we don't have anything. If you have ambitions and say, well, you know I'm going to deliver the Lord's people.
He's not ready to use you. He can't use you.
But if you take the place of that Gideon takes here, I believe the Lord can.
And will use you.
Wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh.
And I'm the least in my father's house.
From the least one in my father's house.
How does the Lord respond to that?
The Lord said unto him, Surely surely notice that I will be with thee.
Do we want any more than that?
00:40:00
Is there anything we need more than that than for the Lord to say, I'll be with you, I'll be with you.
And if there's a young person or an older one here that is sick of strife.
And humbled by the repetitive failure of the Lord's people.
To maintain that which he has given into our hands and is willing to take his place.
Before God in that way.
The Lord says, Surely I will be with thee.
And thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
Verse 17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, notice that if I have found grace in thy sight, he doesn't show you if I'm better than the others, if I have found grace in thy sight.
Then show me a sign that thou talkest with me.
Depart not hence I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid an unleavened cakes of an Eevee of flour.
The flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and he brought it out unto him under the oak.
And presented it.
The sign that the Lord was with him.
Involved his bringing something to the Lord.
Have you brought something to the Lord? I trust you did this morning. I trust all of us did as we were here.
What? This is individual here, isn't it? It's not the collective side of it. He brought something that he brought out of the house for the Lord.
And he says, Will you wait until I bring it?
What Grace? The Lord says. I'll wait. I'll wait. I'll wait.
Verse 20 And the Angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh.
And the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon the rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
Then the Angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and there rose up fire out of the rock.
My brother Don was speaking about fire yesterday. The scripture came to mind and I'm going to be interested after the meeting to get some light from him on that on this passage, but.
There is no doubt in my mind that that was a direct.
Responds of God to the exercise of Gideon to bring something to the Lord.
Have you thought about that, bringing something to the Lord? Are you always thinking about what the Lord is bringing to you?
There's an exercise here to bring something to the Lord. Oh, can we do that in spite of?
In spite of all the ruin and failure, yes we can.
And he takes his staff and he touches it, and fire comes up out of the rock.
And consume the flesh and the unleavened cakes.
Then the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.
And when Gideon perceived that he was an Angel of the Lord or the Angel of the Lord.
That is the Lord in an angelic presence.
He said, Alas, O Lord God, for because I have seen an Angel of the Lord face to face.
And the Lord now speaks to him directly, not in an angelic form. The Lord said unto him.
Peace be unto thee, Fear not, thou shalt not die.
Are we truly exercised as to what it is to?
Be in the Lord's presence.
That's something that strikes me here is that Gideon has a sense of what it is.
To be in the Lord's presence.
It's a solemn thing.
The attention was called to that verse over there on the wall that I guess comes from the meeting room in in Lawrenceville. I think I remember seeing it there the last time I came with Mr. Grennetti to Lawrenceville. God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the Saints and to be hired in reverence of all them that are about him.
00:45:19
Did you have a sense this morning that we were in the Lord's presence?
There are times when I.
Don't have a sense of that and I.
May lean over and say something to someone that does not need it.
Not necessary. We're in the Lord's presence.
And Gideon says, Alas, I've been in the Lord's presence, I've seen him face to face.
I think it's sweet that the Lord answers him, and says, Peace be unto you, you shall not die.
God isn't looking for you. I caught you. I caught you in that mistake that you made. I caught you in that moment of not recognizing the presence of the Lord.
And I'm going to slay you for that.
What a wrong idea of the Lord that we serve.
That's not his way. His way is peace, isn't it? He had blessing for this young man.
Have you ever been discouraged, young fellow or young girl, because you've done something that you?
You know it wasn't pleasing to the Lord and you say, Oh my, I'm, I'm ruined. I can't be. I'm finished. I can't be used anymore by the Lord.
One of the most encouraging verses to me in the scriptures is the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time.
The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time. Jonah 3/1.
Would you use a man like Jonah again?
Would you use him? Would you use John Mark again? Would you use Simon Peter if you were arranging things?
An utter failure.
But take courage. Peace.
Be to thee.
You won't die. The Lord isn't out. He'd like you to recognize what isn't right and own it before him, but he certainly isn't out to kill you.
There's a nice sense of that in the 13th chapter of Judges, where.
Manoa says that we're in trouble, we're going to die. Finally recognizes they had seen the Lord.
And his wife answers it beautifully. She says. If the Lord intended to kill us, would He have given us all these wonderful things and and spoken to us and given us such promises as He's given us?
Thank God for wives that.
That straighten us out on things sometimes like that. It's wonderful, isn't it? Brother David have wives like that. I appreciate that.
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah.
Shalom.
And to this day it is yet an Oprah of the ABS rights. Maybe some of you young folks are puzzled. Older ones too. By those expressions where it says it is there until this day, and maybe you make a trip to the Holy Land, you can't find it.
You think what happened? Well, remember that this book, as other books in scripture, were edited by and brought into scripture by under inspiration by most of them, by Ezra the Prophet.
And Ezra as his comment, it's still there.
But I want to put that in a spiritual way.
To this day.
We have the testimony Jehovah Shalom, the Lord of Peace.
The Lord of peace, isn't that wonderful?
With all this strife and all the difficulty that he faced.
He builds an altar and he calls it Jehovah Shalom. He knew where peace was.
Well, the times about gone, but I just want to notice one other thing.
Two other things. First of all, there was an there was an idol in his father's.
00:50:06
Property.
And he went out, and with energy he got rid of it.
He got rid of it.
I say this to parents. If we have some idols and our children get at them and get rid of them, don't resent it. Thank the Lord for it.
It touches my heart that when the people were going to get Gideon and Real, they were going to really get him for this. Now that he had destroyed his father comes out and says let Bale plead for himself.
He stands by his son in that respect.
Maybe there's something in your household that isn't according to scripture, your parents household that isn't according to scripture.
Take courage that your faithfulness may encourage your parents. I can testify that on many things.
On many things.
In the years.
Of raising children, and especially since they were raised.
Their exercises have exercised me.
Their exercises have gotten to my conscience and heart.
And I can testify then and say let babe plead if he has something to say.
To stand by your children in their exercises before the Lord.
It's a wonderful thing. It'll encourage them too. Now the last thing I want to notice is over in the.
7th chapter.
Verse 5.
Gideon is preparing to go, and he has a large amount of troops with him.
Is about to meet Midian and deal with them.
So the Lord says I got to test them first. You know, I'm not going to just take all of them because the people are too many, There's too many. God doesn't kneel in numbers in large numbers. Man loves to talk about large numbers. Why we had 50,000 men in the stadium doing this or that and the other thing or whatever.
God isn't impressed with that.
God's victories are won by small numbers that are devoted to Him and faithful to Him.
Verse 5 So he brought down the people under the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that lapeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lapeth him, shalt thou sit by himself. Likewise everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink. Now the difference in how they did it was very important, and I never understood this. For years and years and years I thought that getting down and lapping was to put your head down in the water and and lap it up the way a dog laps in.
But I really believe the Lord helped me to see that it was.
Some who were in such a hurry to get at the battle.
To get out the work that the Lord had given them. To do that they reached their hand down in the water.
And on the way, the others said, let's get down and on their knees and drink.
Now water is important. It's an important thing to have water.
I want to tell you this.
What's important is the battle.
What's important is to be ready to do the Lord's will.
To be at his disposal and these 300 men who simply scooped the water up and lapped it like a dog would lap some water. The Lord says they're the ones I'm going to be yours, said all the others aside.
I'll leave you to think about that as to what application the Lord may bring to your heart and conscience about it.
I'd like to close with hymn #312.
312.
And I'm going to use a tune. And please, umm, I think you know the tune, but sometimes when I start this tune it gets diverted to a different one.
00:55:03
So listen to me through the first line at least, and then join in if you will. You can all join in of course.
Later on, Almighty Lord lead on to victory.
And courage by Thy blessed word, with joy we follow.
We follow Thee, our guide Who did salvation bring?
We fall.
No.
Jehovah Shalom.
Pray gracious God our Father.
We have a lot of confessing to do.
We cried to you, father, because of the.
Strife that has come in, that has impoverished us, and we own it, and we own the verdict of the Prophet that came.
To Israel.
Applies to us. We have not obeyed thy voice. Thou hast given us such privileges.
Now, Father, we thank thee that thou hast raised up an example for us in this.
Man Gideon.
Gideon who?
In his.
Weakness, nevertheless determined to have something for himself.
Father grant that there might be many Gideons in this audience today.
That will stir our hearts that in self judgment we might get something for our souls out of Thy truth.
And walk in it.
That we might take our place with the people of God in the confession of failure.
And that thou will lead us on to victory.
In the very weakness that we confess before thee.
Bless thy word to each one. We pray in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.