The Bold and the Fearful
Notes
Transcript
*Adapted from the “courageous” sermon series
Introduction
24 million children are living without their biological fathers. Where are these men?
What could be more important, garnish more attention, and warrant more time than leading, protecting, and investing in your family?
Why are 24 million kids living without their dads?
Because millions of dads don’t know how to be men.
Judges 6:7-10
Israel, because of disobedience and lack of courage, had been delivered into the hands of the Midianites.
God had given them the land, and told them not to fear the other God’s.
They did fear, and it lead to disobedience, by not claiming the gift that God had given.
Likewise, many men, out of fear, have not claimed their families, which are a God given gift.
Why have men abandoned their homes?
For several reasons:
Men have abandoned their homes because they have abandoned God (Judges 6:10).
When we fail to recognize the God of the universe for who He is and what He has done, we are on a road that leads to failure.
God proves His power and His worth time and again.
When we fail to recall the greatness of God in the past and fail to recognize His lordship in the present, we sin.
When Israel abandoned the worship of God and turned their hearts toward other gods, they abandoned their purpose as His people and forfeited their rights according to the covenant.
The Midianite persecution was not an accident or a coincidence; it was the hand of God.
The Midianite persecution was the hand of God
The Midianite persecution was the hand of God
Judges 6:1-2
Judges 6:1-2
Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.
God’s people were handed over to humiliation at the hands of the surrounding nations because of sin and unfaithfulness to God.
When we abandon God, consequences are widespread and it affects everything about our lives.
Men have abandoned their homes because they are afraid
Men have abandoned their homes because they are afraid
Judges 6:11
Judges 6:11
Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.
When we abandon God, oppression mounts and we respond in fear.
Gideon was threshing wheat by hand rather than using cattle. This indicates the small amount of wheat he actually had.
And rather than doing it on a floor built for threshing, he was in a wine vat out of view for fear of being caught.
Gideon was living his life in fear.
Our fear has allowed the world to come in and capture our homes and our families.
Our children are being kidnapped by sin and brainwashed by popular culture (which, along with government agendas, drives school curricula [evolution, equality of all faiths, acceptance of homosexuality, sex education, etc.])
All while we shrink in fear of what might happen to us if we fight back.
Many of us would rather our kids look like the world and fly under the radar than stand up for Christ.
And they won't stand up or Christ if we don't set the example.
Men have abandoned their homes because they are weak
Men have abandoned their homes because they are weak
Judges 6:15
Judges 6:15
So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
Our only excuse for lackadaisical Christianity is weakness; whether we mask it behind pride or behind humility and fear, the response is still weakness.
And weakness comes from ignoring strength.
Gideon certainly was not strong on his own merit.
God’s response to Gideon's excuse:
The Lord is our strength
The Lord is our strength
Judges 6:16
Judges 6:16
And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
God often chooses and calls people who are weak to fulfill His purposes because in our weakness, He is made strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10
2 Corinthians 12:10
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
When we hide behind weakness, it is a slap in the face to the God of the universe.
Why? because weakness isn’t about recognizing our limitations. It’s ultimately about ignoring the power of God that is available to us.
When God calls, He equips.
When God calls, He provides.
When we answer His call, He sustains us toward victory.
Many men today have abandoned their God-ordained responsibility to fight for their families because they not given God first place in their lives.
Even some Christian men who call Jesus Lord have forgotten God in the face of a hostile world.
We are not to fear the World
We are not to fear the World
2 Timothy 1:7
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
God wants to answer our excuses with strength and to replace our fear with boldness.
God wants warriors and His power transforms us from weak to strong.
Rather than abandoning us, God chooses to transform and strengthen us.
Gideon wondered about the wondrous signs his ancestors experienced.
Judges 6:13
Judges 6:13
Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
What did Gideon learn?
We are the living sacrifice
We are the living sacrifice
Romans 12:1-2
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.
Like the fire at the altar of sacrifice,
God is a consuming fire
God is a consuming fire
Hebrews 12:29
Hebrews 12:29
For our God is a consuming fire.
God consumes and uses us, not the other way around.
For men to step up and be courageous, it means being consumed by God.
For Christians to step up and be mighty warriors in the army of God, it takes laying our lives on the altar and being completely consumed by God.
Application:
Is your life consumed by progress or by being used by God?
Is your life consumed with yourself or by your desire to serve others?
Is your life consumed by career or by being centered on family?
God often uses that which is weaker to accomplish His purpose.
He made a stuttering man His mouthpiece (Moses) and a shepherd boy a mighty king (David).
He made a simple virgin (Mary) the mother of His Son, and an enemy of God (Paul) the champion of the church.
God gets glory when the weak become weaker only to surprise the world with His might and strength.
God whittled Gideon’s army down to nearly nothing.
God removed any chance the people could assume credit for victory.
He shrank the army so He could gain the glory for redeeming His people.
God does the same in our lives.
For God to transform us from weaklings into warriors on His behalf, He often breaks us first.
It seems counterproductive and often doesn’t make sense. But it is the heart of God and the heart of people.
We like to see the underdog come out on top.
Gideon wanted fighters, but God wanted faith.
Gideon had 32,000 men on his side.
It would have been easy to ride the adrenaline of trashing Baal’s altar after assembling a mighty army and begin to develop pride as a response.
For us to be warriors, we have to rely on God and God alone.
Breaking us down is God’s method of making sure we rely on His strength and not our own.
Only when we are completely broken and consumed, are we are useful to God.
The Gideon story continues with a successful victory over the Midianite camps with just 300 men.
By the power of God, Gideon and his army were victorious.
The Lord ordered the events and used Gideon’s small army to accomplish His purpose.
Are we allowing ourselves to be used by God?
Remember, 24 million children in this country are living without their fathers.
How many men render themselves useless when it comes to family responsibility?
Yet what might happen if those same men were to tighten their grip on truth and assume courageous leadership in their homes?
What might happen in our communities and nation if even some men strengthened their resolve?
Families would glorify God not because of our efforts, but because He provides the power and victory.”
Application:
“God wants to use you to accomplish His purpose.
As long as Christ tarries and we wait for His return, we are the hands and feet of God, the body of Christ, the church.
We are the bride of Christ, and we wait for the bridegroom to come.
“Our readiness is related to our relationships. The more ready and willing, the better the relationship.
How we live out our call as fathers, mothers, faithful followers, ministers, evangelists, teachers, and disciples can be weak or strong.
We can be wimps, or we can be warriors
We can be bold or we can be fearful.
How will you respond to the war for your family?
How will you respond to the war for your family?
Joshua 24:15
Joshua 24:15
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”