Feb. 18      Living by Faith   Jud. 6:12-24

By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

A Sunday School teacher saw one of her little boys drawing furiously with a set of crayons. "What are you doing, Johnny?" she asked. "I'm drawing a picture of God," said Johnny. "But Johnny," said the teacher, "nobody knows what God looks like."

Replied Johnny: "Well, they will by the time I'm through with THIS!" 

I wonder what would the picture look like that we would draw of the only true living God?  What do you mean you have never seen the Lord?  Then why are you here today to worship a God that you have never seen?  Gideon saw the angel of the Lord.   Although we have never seen God, it is because of faith that you are here.  Then the Lord says to us today, “Go on.”

The purpose of this sermon is to illustrate faith in God and how our faith will affect our lives

Scripture Text:  Judges. 6:12 (KJS) And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD [is] with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where [be] all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in my father's house.  16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. 17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. 18 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. 19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought [it] out unto him under the oak, and presented [it].  20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay [them] upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 21 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, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. 22 And when Gideon perceived that he [was] an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. 23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace [be] unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. {Jehovahshalom: that is, The LORD send peace}

I.  The challenge from the Lord is to live by faith. God wants us to walk with Him in this life and the life to come, but to do that we have to have something called faith. Will we live by faith?  Will we die by faith?  Without faith it is impossible to please the Lord.  Does your faith affect you life? 

1.What is Faith?  Faith believes in the unseen and acts on that belief. 

Heb. 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Follow God’s will for your life even though you have never seen God with your eyes.  Believe that He is and He will do what He has said.  He has said that He will save you, but do you have faith?  Gideon’s faith put him face to face with the angel of God.

 “Imagine a ship filled with people crossing the Atlantic. In the middle of the ocean there is an explosion. The ship is severely damaged and slowly sinking. Most are dead, and the rest are rushing for the lifeboats. Now suppose one man doesn't know about the lifeboat, so he does not get aboard. He doesn't have knowledge, so he is not saved. Suppose another man knows about the lifeboat and believes it will save his life, but he is grief-stricken over seeing his wife killed, so he chooses not to get aboard and dies with his wife. He has knowledge and mental assent, but he is not saved. Others believe the lifeboat will save them, and they get into the boat. They are saved by faith that is they have knowledge, mental assent, and trust. However, it is not their faith that saves them--no matter how much they have. It is the boat. Saving faith trusts Christ, and Christ saves.”   Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, M. Cocoris, Moody, 1984, p. 77

2.  How much faith is necessary?  You have to have enough faith to move you into action. Faith is an action word. James says that faith without works is dead.  What makes the difference is what you put your faith in.   Would it better to have a great faith or a great object of faith?  The great object of our faith is the only true living God.  This only true living God of which we describe is none other than Jesus Christ.  He is the only One who is risen from the dead and He is the only One who will act in your best interest, because He loves you and me. 

        “The story is told of a good woman known for her great calmness in the midst of many trials and for her simple faith.  Another woman heard of her and said, "I must go and see that woman, and learn the secret of her strong and happy life."  She went, and speaking to her asked:  "Are you the woman with the great faith?" "No," she replied, "I am not the woman with the great faith; but I am the woman with the little faith in the great God." <Stones with Fair Colors>  Gary Bowell  p.156

God selected Gideon to deliver his people from the oppression of the Midianites.  God called Gideon to go and do His work in setting the captives free.  God is choosing you today to be His Gideon.  God will cause the big problems to be small.  The Midianites will be as one man.  You will be victorious with the Lord.  Not because you have great faith, but because you have a great God.  He will not lead you where He won’t keep you.  Gideon was able to deliver the people through the power of God.

II.  Our response is to know the Lord through Faith.

Gideon’s response to the presence of the Lord who had invaded his life would be representative of our own. 

1.     He was a man of faith.  He believed in God and offered a sacrifice to the Lord.  God called him a mighty warrior.  He was a man who believed yet he lacked all he needed to go on and deliver the people as God commanded.  Are you a person of faith?  How much do you have?  What is the object of your faith?  Are you ready to go on in that faith?

2.     He made excuses about his inadequacies.  The human response is to immediately make excuses for our reluctance, but the Lord won’t settle for that.  He continued to challenge Gideon to have faith and deliver the people from the Midianites.  He has chosen you Gideon.  He has chosen you whoever you are to respond by faith and to be who he has called you to be.  Will you make excuses? 

3.     He asked for a sign that it was actually God who had spoken to him.  He had doubts. Is it really the Lord who is speaking to you today?  How do you know?  Why would anyone else but God challenge you to serve and follow God?  He wants you and he has given us a sign of his reality.   Gideon asked for sign.  Then he asked for another sign.  When will Gideon finally get the picture or when will Gideon finally have the faith.  Get on the boat.  You may get left behind.  If he would go on then by his faith God has changed his life.  Does your faith have an effect on your life?  In Judges 6:36-40 Gideon asked for two more signs of God’s promise.  He asks that the dew be on the wool and fleece and that the dew be everywhere but on the fleece.  God gave him his request.

4.     He offered a sacrifice and worshiped the Lord.  Begin by worshiping Him.  He gave the 3 T’s (time, talent, and treasure) to the Lord.  He demonstrated his faith to the Lord although it may be small.  Faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed will be enough.  We begin in our journey of faith by first of all discovering the reality of the only true living God.  We sometimes call this our faith journey, but if we have faith it is a journey through life in a relationship with the Lord of heaven and earth.  As our faith takes us into a relationship with Him, He desires for us to know Him personally and serve Him relentlessly.  Thus Gideon is challenged to go on, and so are we. 

5.     He was challenged by God to go on in his Faith.  Does your God challenge you to move up and out in greater steps of faith?  Gideon had faith enough to offer sacrifices in worship to the Lord, but did he have enough faith to take a chance to step up and lead the people to victory?   God gave the sign of the fire from the rock. The miraculous fire came from the rock and burned up the offering to the Lord.  Why didn’t he just eat the food?  Why did the flame come up from the rock and consume the offering?  Why would God need to eat the offering?  Offerings to God in those days were burnt offerings.  The smoke and the ash of the burning offering would become a praise and thank you to the Lord who gave you what you had.  Then the Lord would receive the benefit from the faith of the one who offered the gift upon the fire of sacrifice.  The smell of this barbecue would be a sweet smell in the nose of the Lord.   God gave him a sign.  Here is your sign, but did you see it or did you miss it?  Will you go on?

   Many of us need to be more like the little girl whom the farmer found lost in his meadow.  The farmer said to her, "Do not cry; I'll take you home."  The little child snuggled up to him, and with a smile, said,  "I knew you would; I was waiting for you."  "Waiting for me?" said the man. "What made you think I was coming?"  "I was praying you would."  she said.  "Praying?  When I first heard you, you were saying A B C D E F G.  What was that for?" She looked up again and said, "I'm just a little girl.  I was praying all the letters of the alphabet and letting God put them together the way He wanted to.  He knows I was lost, and He knows how to put them together better than I do." What a difference if we would only let God put the letters of our lives together. <Knight's Illustrations>  p. 186

To have the peace that God gave to Gideon we must believe and go on as the Lord directs.  Will you have that peace that passes all understanding?  Gideon did.