Beware of Spiritual Amnesia, Part 4

There are times when life circumstances are so overwhelming that taking a leap of faith is the only option. And a real-life example of this is Gideon. Up next on Leading the Way, Dr. Yousef opens to the book of Judges, looking at when Gideon was left with only his faith when faced with an approaching army of 135,000. Gideon stepped up, but can you?

Here's Dr. Michael Yousef to strengthen your faith through God's Word. Once I knew a young man who could never please his father. No matter what he did, he could not please him.

Always received criticism. If he cut the grass, his father would point to the few blades of grass that were left and not the entire lawn that was beautifully cut. If he cleans the garage, no matter how long he spent in cleaning the garage, no matter how much effort he puts into it, no matter what he has done, the father found something to complain about.

When he brings home a card from, school reporting card, and he would have five A's and one B+. His father would spend all of his time talking and harping about that B+, ignoring the five A's. As a result, of course, this boy grew up to be a man and he thought of himself as a perpetual failure. Naturally, of course, this mindset stayed with him even after he became a Christian. He felt that he could never please the Lord. This young man began to see God like his father, that he could never please him. Nothing he can do to please God. So naturally, where people who have that kind of temperament, what they do, they go from spiritual high to spiritual lows.

They go from height to burning and crashing. And so, when he is down and discouraged and falls into temptation and becomes disobedient as he down in those low times of his life, he would say, after all, the Bible said, it is impossible to please God. Of course, he misquoted the Bible completely. It is misquoting Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6.

Here's what Hebrews 11, 6 said. Without faith, can you say without faith? Without faith.

Those are the two very important words. It is impossible to please God. And I thought about this and I wondered how many people are into religion. How many religious people who spend their life trying to please God, but they feel they can never please him enough? I wonder how many who are laboring under a sense of failure because they feel that they cannot satisfy God. Well, listen to what John said, 1 John 5, 4. For whoever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory.

Here's the secret of it. This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. It is out of gratitude to God that we give of ourselves to him. Not to buy his favor, but is our way of expressing thanks.

I want you to hear me right, please. Because the longer I live the realize that Christians, and I'm talking about the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, can fall into two camps. I found there are those who live victoriously and those who live a defeated life. And the secret of victory, according to John, is a total trust in God. A complete confidence in his word. An overpowering, unwavering belief in his promises. An unshakable obedience to his instructions. That's the difference. Two things I need to tell you about faith.

Two things. First, there is no power in faith. The only power comes from the object of faith. And if the object of your faith is the Lord Jesus Christ and his glory alone, then you are a powerful Christian.

Then you are a victorious Christian. Your faith is dynamic. Your faith is powerful. And your faith will move mountains if the object of your faith is the Lord Jesus. You see, there is no power in faith, but the power is where the object of your faith. Secondly, I want to tell you that faith has nothing to do with feelings. It has nothing to do with how you feel. I want to tell you truthfully, as God my witness, listen, if faith is dependent on what I see and what I hear and what I feel, I would be in bed this morning, I wouldn't have been here. Literally.

Why would I get out of bed? But faith says God said it, I believe it and that settles it. And today in the book of Judges chapter 7, we see Gideon's budding faith. Last time we saw him as doubtful, as a doubting man, as a distrusting man, feeling insecure and feeling full of doubt. But now in this chapter, you see the faith is about to bud like a flower. He's about to trust the Lord.

He's about to take him at his word. He's about to believe that the Lord says the Lord will do. And God says, okay, Gideon, I'm going to test your faith.

I'm going to test your faith. In chapter 6, Gideon kept saying to God, show me, show me God, show me this, show me this. And God will show him again and again and again. And God was so gracious. God was so patient and he kept on showing him. Now Gideon finally gets to trust in the word of God and in the promise of God.

And God says, okay, now it's your turn. Gideon, show me. Now you show me that your faith is real. Now you show me if you can really practice what you believe. Now I want you to show me whether you really trust me. Now you can show me how is God testing Gideon's faith.

Well, you know, the poor guy was worried sick. There's only got 30,000 odd people and he's facing about nearly 140,000 enemies. And God says you got too many.

You talk about testing of your faith. Lord, what do you mean I have too many? Lord, I don't understand why you want to drastically downsize my army. I don't understand this. God tells you why.

You don't have to take it from me. It's in verse 3. God tells him why actually.

He says, lest Israel claim glory for itself against me saying, oh, my hand saved me. Now beloved, we live in a culture that is impressed with numbers. We live in a culture that is living on percentages and statistics. But faith is the victory, not statistics.

Did you get that? The problem is that so many Christians are living by the statistics too. They're not living by God's mathematics.

They're living by the world's mathematics. And Gideon's 32,000 with too many for God. He said, I can't use all these people.

Send them home. Lord, they got nearly 140,000 and they got camels. And by the way, it's the first time camels ever been introduced in warfare in history. The foot soldier is no match to somebody on a camel so high up. And he looks at their weapons, looks at their machinery and say, Lord, they have nuclear weapons. God says, it makes no difference to me if they have a million man army.

It makes no difference to me. Let me ask you this. What does God test our faith? What does he test our faith in him? What does he test our faith in his promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us? What does he test us?

Two reasons. He wants to show us if our faith is real or manufactured. He wants to show us if our faith is just in words or it's in action.

Words or deed. Secondly, he tests our faith so that he can strengthen our faith in order that we might fulfill his purpose in our life. Did you know that God tests our faith so that he can prove himself to you?

Did you know that? Gideon's 32,000 were too many. God couldn't use them. He said, I only want 300. Wait a minute, Lord, 300? 300? I may have flunked statistics in college, but I can even figure this one myself. This is less than 1% of what Gideon needed.

I can even figure this one out. This is one to 400. What kind of odds are these? Only God can work with these kinds of odds. Did you know that? Only God loves those kinds of odds.

One to 400. Oh, but you see, less is more when God is in it. Can you say that with me? Less is more when God is in it. Faith is the victory and not the number. Please put yourself in his shoes. You put yourself in his shoes and this man, I mean, he got fire, he got double fleas. He's just about to trust and God says, okay, you got too many.

400 to one. God could have clicked his fingers and decimated the Midianites, right? Really, the Midianites were not God's problem. In fact, God was using the Midianites in order to chastise his own children. So the Midianites were not the problem. He could have done it without any.

Not 300, not three, not one. He could have done it all by himself. But God longs for his people to learn to trust in him. God longs for his people to place complete trust in his promises. God longs for his people to humble themselves before him and know that he is God and he will keep his promises no matter what. Beloved, listen to me. God's problem was the lack of faith of his people. That was his problem. And the same is in your life.

The same in my life. Our lack of faith is the problem that God has with us. God can click his fingers and get all your prayers answered.

He can meet all of your needs. He can click his fingers and all of your problems will be over. Do you believe that? Do you believe that he could do that? But it is your faith that he wants to strengthen. It is your faith that he deeply is interested in. It is your faith that he longs for you to manifest. It is your faith that he wants to test. It is your faith that he loves and longs to see grow to the point of saying with Job, though he slays me, yet I will trust him. Doubt sees the obstacle, but faith sees the way.

Doubt sees the darkest night, but faith soars on high. Doubt questions who believe and faith says I. I know that everything in our culture trains us to grow up to be in control. You've got to be in control. You are the captain of your ship. You grow up with it. And that is why moms and dads, we need to teach our children faith. We all like to be in control.

I mean some of course more than others, but listen to me. The greatest joy that we can have, the greatest power that is enduring is the power of a surrendered faith to the living God. And that is why Paul could say his strength is made perfect in my weakness, therefore I boast in my weakness so that his strength will work in me. Listen, God is at his greatest when we are at our least.

If you can explain it, God did not do it. Gideon whittled them down from 32,000 by obeying the word of God. God said whittle them down.

But you know that also what God said to Gideon here about whittling him down to 300 and the way he told him to do it, it's the same as he told Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 20 and verse 8. Here's what God said to Moses when he got into the battlefield, when he got into the problem. He said, what man is there who is fearful and faint hearted, let him return to his house lest the hearts of his brothers faint like his heart.

Send the cowards home. That's what he's saying to him. There is no greater power than the faith filled individual, than the faith filled small group of people, than the faith filled minority. There is no greater power in the world than the faith filled small number who are committed. Like the Bible, God always used the small numbers who were committed to him, who had full faith in him, not the masses. When the spies went in, 12 of them. Just remember, it is the promised land that God already promised them and the spies go in.

And two, tiny minority, bring a minority report. Said we can take them on by the power of God. And the other 10 were trembling in their boots and said, no, no, no, we can't do it. They're big, they're giants. I don't know what giants in your life that is scaring you. Listen to me, God is bigger than all of your problems right now.

He just wants you to trust him. He wanted to develop your faith. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. See, it was not the 300 who defeated the 139,000.

No, no, no, no. It was God who took on the powerful Midianite army. It was God who took on the well armed Midianites. It was God who took on that mighty plunderers. According to Deuteronomy 32, 30, all that Gideon really needed is 27. That's all he needed.

Not 300, 27. He said, how come? Well, let me show you. This is God's formula for those who are faith filled believers. All right, here it is. It's in the Bible.

I'm not making it up. He said one could chase a thousand and two would chase 10,000 to flight. All he needed is 27. Look at verse seven. God gives him yet another promise.

Isn't that amazing? By the 300 men, I'll save you. Gideon's victory was in obeying of God's strategy. That's really the secret of his victory. He obeyed not his strategy, but God's strategy. Gideon's victory was in trusting of God's promises. Gideon's victory was in following God's directions, not his own.

How did he do it? Was superior military equipment? Hardly, unless you caught a jar, a torch, and a shofar. Very weird weapons.

They really are when you can think of it. Odd weapons for a war that's going to be fought with an enemy that outnumbers you 400 to one. But here's the fact. You see, God already assured Gideon three times by fire, by wet fleece, by a dry fleece, but obviously God knew that he needed another encouragement. So God graciously gives him a fourth one. Verse nine. He said, I will deliver the Midianites into your hand.

My beloved Christian friend, listen to me. Our battle has already been won on the cross. Our victory is already been won. Now they had to fight, but the battle is already won.

And the same with us. Paul said, our fight is not against flesh and blood and therefore we don't need 10 million to fight 10 million. We don't need 10 to fight 10.

No, no, no. It's not against flesh and blood, but it's against the principalities and the power. It's a spiritual battle and that battle has already been won on the cross.

The enemy has been defeated and the way you and I experienced victory today is by obeying our victorious general. And yet God gives Gideon a fifth encouragement. It's a form of a dream by one of the men.

I won't get into it, but the barley bread is really the food of the poor. And in a sense God is saying with the poorest of all, I'm going to give you the victory. And the moment Gideon hears the dream, he drops to his knees and worships God. He was so overwhelmed with the graciousness of God. He was so overwhelmed with the mercy of God and how patient he has been with him and how promise after promise after promise, he fall on his knees and he begins to worship him.

He goes on his face in submission. Beloved listen to me, this is important. Some of you have a hard time worshiping and I want to tell you today that worship is only the outward expression of an inward submission. And if you have a hard time worshiping the living God, examine yourself.

Is there something inside of you that is refusing to bow to the will of God? Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is the victory. And God renewed Gideon's faith.

Look at verses 15 to 25. He gave him wisdom to prepare the army. He gave him courage to lead the army. He gave him an opportunity to even enlarge the army. But it was God who sent the terror in the camp of the Midianite and got them defeated.

I want to tell you this story as I conclude. Back on Easter Sunday, you have to remember it's Easter Sunday. It's a very important date. Easter Sunday on 1799 where Bonaparte's army had seized and surrounded the Austrian town of Fieldkirk. And the people of the town were living in terror just from the sheer size of the French army that is besieging them. And the people of the town were living not just in terror but they really forcing the leaders to surrender.

And so as the town leaders have met together, took counsel of their fear, they decided it is better to surrender and wave the white flag than being destroyed. But then the bishop of the church suggested that they wait 24 hours. Just wait for one day. He said, remember, this is the day of the resurrection of our divine king. We must celebrate at least one moment of triumph and then we can surrender tomorrow. Let's just ring the bells of Easter.

And so they did. They did it actually with a great deal of trepidation because they thought the French would really take revenge against them for doing that. But sure enough as the sun rose over the mountains, the church bells began to ring and soon the air was filled with the triumphant sound of resurrection victory. The French soldiers being hedonistic did not even know what day that was.

They did not know it was Easter. And so they were puzzled at the sound of the ringing of the bell and Bonaparte soldiers called a hasty meeting and they decided that the only reason the town's people could possibly celebrate and ring the bells like this was the arrival of the Austrian troops in the dark of night. And so even before the bells stopped ringing, the French forces began to retreat. My beloved, I want to tell you the battle is already won. Victory is already yours.

It belongs to you. Your victory is part and parcel of your salvation. It's not just that when you come to Christ to receive him as Savior, then you have to keep no, no, no, it's all part and parcel. All you need to do is exercise faith and celebrate the victory. Thank you for taking the time today to listen to leading the way with Dr. Michael Yusef. Need to dig deeper and consider where you stand in your faith? Maybe you'd find it beneficial to talk with a leading the way pastor or counselor.

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