Beware of Spiritual Amnesia, Part 5

Thank you for joining pastor and author, Dr. Michael Youssef, for Leading the Way, a worldwide listener-supported media ministry headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, where Dr. Youssef serves as pastor of the Church of the Apostles, a growing evangelical church impacting the world. Today, a biblical example of a man of faith who did not finish well. You'll get to know Gideon, and you'll learn from his journey. Do remember that Leading the Way is a listener-supported outreach, meaning that your generosity allows ministry to happen and to grow. The details are at ltw.org.

More later. Right now, though, here is Dr. Michael Youssef with a message from his challenging series called Beware of Spiritual Amnesia. You know, throughout this series of messages, beware of spiritual amnesia that we've been going through. I have been reminding you again and again and again through the book of Judges about the importance of praying for the next generation, about the importance of modeling godliness and righteousness for the next generation, about the importance of equipping the next generation for the battle. And the book of Judges shows us again and again how the failure by one generation to do that would spill disaster upon the next. That apathy and carelessness on the part of one generation can severely hamper the spiritual growth of the next. Someone said that only one in a hundred pass the test of success.

Let me repeat that. One in a hundred pass the test of success. And today we find Gideon to be among the 99 and not the one. He flunked the success test.

He had passed many other tests, but he flunked the success test. The contrast between the man that we met in the book of Judges chapter 6 and that we meet today in Judges chapter 8 is very alarming to say the least. The contrast between the man in Judges 6 and Judges 8 is a stark contrast. In Judges chapter 8 you see a man who started well but finished badly. A man who started right but ended wrong. A man who started with humility and ended up in pride. A man who started by seeking God's glory ended by seeking his own glory. A man who started by being weak only strengthened by the power of God. A man who began to believe his own press releases. But even after his success Gideon did many things right but he failed in the end. And this wrong ending of his life caused the misleading and the failure and the despondency and the backsliding of an entire nation.

I'm going to show it to you from the word of God. Right after their defeating of the Midianites, which we saw in the last message, Gideon gets criticized severely by the Ephraimites. Now remember this, Gideon is from the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh and Ephraim were brothers. They were the sons of Joseph and they became part of the tribes of Israel by the sovereign choice of God.

So they were his brothers. Although Gideon made sure that he gave them an opportunity to participate in the battle in order to get part of the credit, yet they were so angry with him that they criticized him so severely. Why? Because they wanted all of the credit, not just part of the credit. They criticized him severely. Look at verse 1 it says, they criticized him sharply.

Why? Oh, they wanted to be in on the decision. They wanted to be in on the choice of the 300. They wanted to be in, in the process. They wanted to be included in the very decision making process. They were not consulted and that really hurt their feelings.

God bless them. Never mind this business of this as being God's plan. Never mind about the fact that God is the one who gave it to them and God is the one who confirmed it. Never mind about this being the design of God. Never mind about he sought God on his knees. Never mind about this being a divine strategy. Never mind about him just being obedient to what God told him to do. Never mind about God's directions.

Never mind about God speaking to him and confirming his word to him. Our opinion must be taken into account. What is this business of calling us after the battle has already been won? What's this business of just getting us into the end of it? What's this business of calling us just to come up for a mop up operation and cleaning up operation?

What is this business? Often people when they are critical and have a critical spirit they often mask the real reason for their criticism. Somebody said years ago there is always a personal reason behind people's criticism. Always something personal. They mask it behind some spiritual cover.

They might mask it. People are saying or somebody I heard somewhere and remember Miriam and Aaron? Miriam and Aaron were the Moses and brother and sister.

You remember them? Well they were furious at Moses' leadership. They didn't like his style. They didn't like the fact that he's hogging all the headlines. They didn't like the fact that he's getting all the credit. They didn't like the fact of getting all the attention out of envy. They got really mad at their brother.

In spite of the fact that one of them was a high priest and the other one was a music leader. And so the wouldn't come out in the open and say well we don't like your leadership style. We don't like what you're doing. We don't like the fact that you're hogging all the headlines.

No. You know what they said? Well we just don't like the fact that you married an Ethiopian. Which stirred up prejudice in the heart of everybody around. That wasn't the real reason. That wasn't the real reason. It was red herring. It was a cover up. Duet Talmage once said, without exception the people who have the greatest number of faults are they themselves the most merciless in their criticism of others.

M.I. DeHaan once said, he said, it is dead giveaway when you meet a person who's always criticizing and finding fault with others. 99 times out of 100 they are trying to detract attention from their own sin by pointing their finger to others. But sometimes we as parents come across as very critical. Particularly with our teenagers. In fact I was absolutely mesmerized about the research that was done recently that says that on the average parents communicate with their teenage children 14 minutes a day. On the average 14 minutes. 12 minutes of those the communication is negative.

One minute neutral and one minute is positive. The few things that I try to do is number one not to belittle their character. I tried not to force them to do areas where they are have no aptitude. I tried not to ignore their accomplishments. I tried not to call them names. I tried not to use psychasm and not withhold praise when it is due. There's some people praise their kids no matter what.

No give it to them only when it's due because kids understand. Gideon back to Gideon. He was blistered by his brothers. I mean they are ripped him up one side and down the other and yet Gideon responded to their criticism with grace. He responded to their criticism with wisdom. He could have used his popularity that just achieved from this big victory to really suck it to the Ephraimites to really put them in their place but he didn't.

Proverbs 15 one said a gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger. Gideon understood that he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit than he who takes the city. So Gideon swallowed his pride and praised the Ephraimites. He praised them for their part.

He praised them for what they have done and he said what you have done is even greater than what I have done and yet Gideon punished those who were guilty of treason. So he passed the criticism test. Secondly you find Gideon in verses 22 to 27 that he passes the personal popularity test. He passed the criticism test.

He passed the personal popularity test. Look with me at those verses 22 to 27. They immediately after victory they want to make him king. They said rule over us. Be our king.

Not only that but make it hereditary so your children and grandchildren rule over us. After all he proved himself right? They needed a king. They wanted a king.

His success has proved him to be qualified him to be a king. Ah but Gideon knew that this has been their Achilles heels all along. He knew that this is a sin of his nation that brought them down again and again and again namely that every time God delivers them every time God gives them victory they give the credit to somebody because Gideon could not forget that it was God who delivered them. It was God who was their savior. It was that God is their king. God was their provider. God was their blesser. God was their rulers and in verse 23 he said I will not rule over you.

The Lord shall rule over you. He understood that he was not voted for by the crowd, that he was not selected by a committee, that he was not selected by a board. He was not even chosen by his own tribe but he was called by the Holy Spirit of God and therefore he would not disobey God and become a king.

Hear me right on this one. To place anyone in God's place is a disaster. Every Jew understood that the reason God in his design of the tabernacle put the mercy seat there as a visual reminder for them that God sitting on his throne ruling over his people. Every Jew understood that Yahweh is their king.

That mercy seat represented God's throne and Gideon knew that. He understood that to set up a rival throne would mean dethroning of Yahweh altogether. He knew that it is bad enough that they pushed Yahweh to the peripheries of their culture. It was bad enough that they pushed God and marginalized him in their society.

It was bad enough that they moved Yahweh out of his central place in life but to dethrone him altogether that would have meant the end of Israel as a Jewish nation. Although Gideon passed the criticism test, although he passed the personal popularity test and yet he flunked when it came to idolatry. I'm sure if you looked at this text and you said, well, how can an ephod be an idol? It is a garment that is to be worn according to Exodus 28. God is the one who told them about this. How can that be idol?

Listen to me. This was a garment that should be only worn by the high priest. The names of the tribes of Israel are written on that garment.

There were two stones, the Urim and the Thummim, by which they discern the will of God and the divine plan of God. Not only that, but this is to be worn only by the high priest of Israel. Not only that, it is to be worn only by the high priest once a year.

But not only that, it is to be worn by the high priest once a year in Shiloh, in the Tabernacle. Because that's the symbol of where God is and where God rules. But Gideon wanted to control God's revelation. He wanted to have direct guidance from God so he can literally control the people that way. When you look around and you see some churches in turmoil, I promise you, you're going to discover that because there are people there who do not recognize God's anointing, do not recognize God's favor at a certain person at a certain time, and they try to run these churches on a humanistic, secular mindset, and that's why they never get God's blessings.

I can see it from his perspective, and I can see how he succumbed to this. The high priest, well, he's in Shiloh, not in my hometown, and he really is not very effective at all, so I can be a better substitute than he is. And if I'm going to be the substitute high priest, I'm going to need God's divine wisdom. It got to his head because God guided him, that means God cannot do it without him.

That's a mistake we all make. So he told all the people, you know, you got some of the spoils, give me a golden ring, give me a golden ring. And they were glad to give it to him, and they said, pile the gold, and he makes this magnificent golden ephod. Verse 27 is the saddest part in all of Gideon's story. It's the saddest part.

Here's what it says. And all of Israel played the halat with it, namely the ephod, there. There are some people who just love to come and tell you what God wants you to do. Have you ever been there? Have you ever come there and said, I have a word from the Lord for you?

I often scratch my head and say, wait a minute, I spent two hours with the Lord this morning in prayer. He never told me that. Why didn't he tell me that? Listen to me. When people come to you uninvited and tell you the Lord wants you to do this, here's what they're basically doing. They want you to do what they want you to do, but they want to blame the Lord for it.

I mean, what? Are you going to fight with the Lord? Poor old Gideon, he started right and he ended wrong. His own success ensnared him into a big ego. Somebody said ego stands for edging God out.

Be careful of it. I have seen through the years, I've seen young men, young people get attracted to the trappings of ministry and once they get into it and they discover the responsibilities and discover the challenges and discover the temptations and the problems, they opt out. That is why we have one out of four full time ministers believing at a given time.

Why? Because they have failed to discern God's anointing for their life and stay in that area of anointing. I've seen it even in business men where God has given them a certain anointing in a certain profession whether it be real estate or insurance or whatever it is and then they get into other areas and they lose their shirt.

Stay in the area of your anointing. That's where the blessing is. I was talking to a man back in 1999 who left the pastoral work and I said, why did you leave the pastoral? He said, you know, I just realized after a few years that sheep do bite. And I couldn't take it.

No, I don't think that's it. You see, because when God gives you the anointing, he gives you the grace to endure all of the challenges and all of the difficulties and all of the temptations. Don't ever get out of your anointing unless God tells you so in a very clear way.

Don't try to take somebody else's anointing into your life. Remember David, when they put on Saul's armor on him, he couldn't move. He couldn't move. He couldn't walk.

Why? He said, I cannot fight the battle with Saul's armor. I have to fight it. I fight the battle with God's armor that he has given me, which was not much. But that's how God gets the credit. Now whether you're a doctor or an engineer or an office worker or a CEO or an architect or a homemaker, be sure to stay in the area of your anointing. Remember I was preaching on Deborah not so long ago? This great woman of God, one of the greatest women in the Old Testament. And I mentioned, I told you the reason she is one of the greatest women in the Old Testament is because she resisted the temptation of taking Barak's anointing.

She stayed in the area of her anointing and tried not to eclipse Barak. Gideon had a private agenda all along. It was not to be king. It was not to be a military ruler. But he wanted to be the high priest. And that was his downfall.

And the whole nation suffered as a result. God said, the high priest comes from the tribe of the Levites, not Manasseh, not Ephraim, not Dan, not any of the others, the Levites. But he wanted to grab for himself that which is not his. Be careful of grabbing that which is not yours.

Because you want to get God's blessing. I couldn't help during the week as I was about to conclude this message and I couldn't help but contrast Abraham with Gideon after victory. After victory Abraham refused to take any of the spoils but Gideon did.

After victory Abraham made sure that all the others got their share of the spoils. Gideon did not. After victory Abraham refused to accept the gift from the king of Sodom. He said, I don't want it to be out rumored that you made me rich.

Only God will make me rich when he wants to. And then he turned around and took 10% of all of his net worth and he gave it to Melchizedek which is the symbol and the type of Christ. Gideon did not. All that Abraham said and all that he did after victory is that he wanted God to get all of the glory. Gideon wanted to keep it to himself and that is why he ended badly.

That's why he ended badly. Let me encourage you to encourage one another to stay in the area of your anointing. To stay with the partner that God gave you. To stay in the job that God has provided for you. To stay in the place where God has called you to be.

Because if you think the grass is greener on the other side you will be sorry and you'll weep bitter tears. We need to stay in the area of our anointing not only so that we may finish well but for the blessing of the next generation. You're listening to Dr. Michael Youssef on this episode of Leading the Way Audio. The number to call 866-626-4356.

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Well that's just about it for today. Thank you for being with us and remember that you're invited back next time right here when Dr. Michael Youssef continues his series called Beware of Spiritual Amnesia. Pointed warnings about the spiritual battles raging in today's world. That's right here on Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect with us via television, YouTube, Facebook, and all of our social networks.