The Book of Judges #9

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:06.400 Upon his word. Lord is I read your word tonight. I pray, 2 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:10.160 God, that you would speak to our hearts. I pray, God, 3 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:14.160 that your word would take root in us and that, Lord, as you 4 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:19.760 promised, that no word of yours shall return void. And so, Lord, 5 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:24.440 we look to your word tonight. We look to you, Holy Spirit, 6 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:30.239 to reveal your truth to us that we may know it in our innermost 7 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:37.039 beings and may walk according to your laws. Bless your word to your people, 8 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:42.759 for I pray in Christ name. Amen. I have a longer text 9 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:51.280 this evening, coming from the book of judges, Chapter Six. I think 10 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:57.759 this is a pretty familiar story to us, but, as the cases with 11 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:02.240 many familiar stories that I find is I go back and read them and realize 12 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:06.439 there's things about that familiar story had forgotten, and so I will read the 13 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:10.599 first twenty four verses of chapter six, reminding you that what I read now 14 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.719 is God's holy word. The people of Israel did what was evil in the 15 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:18.840 sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian. 16 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:23.280 Seven years in the hand of Midian overpowered Israel and because of Midian, 17 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:27.680 the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and 18 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:33.439 the caves and the strongholds. For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the MIDIANITES 19 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:37.599 and the AMALEKITES and the people of the East would come up against them. 20 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:41.159 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land as far as 21 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:46.840 Gaza and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or hawks or donkey, 22 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:51.000 for they would come up with their livestock in their tents. They would come 23 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:55.319 like locusts in number both they and their camels could not be counted. So 24 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:59.359 they laid waste to land as they came in, and Israel was brought very 25 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:02.200 low because of median and the people of Israel cried out for help to the 26 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:07.640 Lord. When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of 27 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:10.680 the Median Nights, the Lord sent a Prophet to the people of Israel and 28 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:15.199 he said to them, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 29 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:19.360 I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the House of Bondage, 30 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:23.000 and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand 31 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:27.120 of all who oppressed you, and I drove them out before you and gave 32 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:30.120 you their land. And I said to you, I am the Lord, 33 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:34.800 your God, and you shall not fear the gods of the Amorrights in whose 34 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:40.000 lad you dwell. But you have not obeyed my voice. Now the angel 35 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:45.479 of the Lord came and sat under the terrabant at Oprah, which belonged to 36 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:50.240 josh the Abesr, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine 37 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.719 press to hide it from the median nights. And the angel of the Lord 38 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:55.800 appeared to him and said to him, the Lord is with you, Al 39 00:02:55.879 --> 00:03:00.199 Mighty Man of Valor, and Gideon said to him, please, sir, 40 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:04.319 if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us, 41 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:08.199 and where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, 42 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:13.120 saying did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord 43 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.080 has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian? And the Lord 44 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:21.639 turned to him and said go in this Mite of yours and save Israel from 45 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:24.479 the hand of Midian. Do not I send you? And he said to 46 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:30.039 him, please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my 47 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:34.879 clan is the weakest in Manessa and I am the least in my father's house, 48 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:38.400 and the Lord said to him, but I will be with you and 49 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:43.560 you shall strike the median nights as one man. And he said to him, 50 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:46.280 if now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a 51 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:51.759 sign that it is you who speaks with me. Please do not depart from 52 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:54.319 here until I come to you and bring up my present and set it before 53 00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:59.439 you. And he said, I will stay to your return. So Gideon 54 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.960 went into with house, prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from ANA flower. 55 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:05.919 The meat he put in a basket and the broth he put in a 56 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:11.800 pot and brought them to him under the terramans and presented them. And the 57 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:15.199 Angel of God said him take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them 58 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:17.800 on the Rock and pour the broth over them, and he did so. 59 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.439 Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was 60 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:27.399 in his hand, touched the meat and the unleavened cakes, and fire sprang 61 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:30.560 up in the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and the 62 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:35.360 angel of the Lord Vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived he was the 63 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:40.759 angel of the Lord and Gideon said, Alas, oh Lord God, for 64 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:44.399 now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. But the 65 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:47.000 Lord said to him, peace be to you, do not fear, you 66 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:51.759 shall not die. Then Gideon built and altared there to the Lord and called 67 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:57.360 it the Lord is peace. To this day it is still stands at Oprah, 68 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:01.759 which belongs to the EAS. Thus will and the reading of God's Word 69 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:11.680 Please be seated. As I mentioned this morning, I am picking up the 70 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.959 book of judges where I left off in my message to my previous church, 71 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:19.079 which means we're looking at judges chapter six, as we just read. And 72 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:23.720 again, because this passage is fairly long, I'm not going to be expositing 73 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:28.160 every single verse in the text this evening. Should check to make sure that 74 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:31.199 I'm going to stay on time here and uh, but, but I will 75 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:36.759 be trying to get the gist of the story together with you, and then 76 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:42.480 I want to make some application to us. So we're gonna look first at 77 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:46.160 the background to the story in the first ten verses, and then we will 78 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:49.600 look at the call to Gideon, which takes place in verses eleven to four. 79 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:54.959 So let us begin with verse one. Here we have a very familiar 80 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:00.519 phrase in judges says the children of Israel did evil in the side of the 81 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.439 Lord. This is followed immediately by another familiar phrase that you may know, 82 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:10.040 appears in judges a few times. And the Lord delivered them into the hand 83 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:15.079 of and you can insert whatever particular enemy Israel would be dealing with at that 84 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:18.959 time. Up until this time in the book of judges, we have had 85 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:25.360 Mesopotamia, we have had MOAB, we have had the Philistines and the Canaanites. 86 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:29.920 And here the enemies that the Lord is going to deal with and that 87 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:35.399 our pressing Israel are two old enemies of Israel, the medianites and the Amalekites, 88 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:40.879 and both of those have been enemies for a while. The median nights, 89 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.800 you might remember, were first mentioned in the story of Joseph, when 90 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:49.040 Joseph's brothers decided to sell him as a slave to the median nights and day 91 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:56.079 in turn, Remember Soul Joseph to an Egyptian named Potiphar. They also APP 92 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:00.560 here. Has the enemies of Israel under Moses in numbers tween five versus seventeen 93 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.920 and eighteen, harassed the media nights and strike them down for they have harassed 94 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:10.120 you, harassed you with their wiles with which they beguiled you, in the 95 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:14.079 matter of pure and in a matter of Cosby this daughter of the chief of 96 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:16.920 Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on 97 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.240 account of PR and then in chapter thirty one, verse three, we read 98 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:26.759 this and Moses spoke to the people, saying arms some of yourselves onto the 99 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:31.199 war and let them go against the media night and avenge the Lord of Midian. 100 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:36.959 And of course you remember Amelek, as they figured prominently in exit the 101 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:43.800 Seventeen and a very famous story where Moses hands when they're lifted and Israelites are 102 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.160 winning and we dropped them. They're losing, and so Aaron and her are 103 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:54.000 holding up his hands at that time. Do you can you remember back to 104 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:58.199 when you were a child? Um, probably can to some point, but 105 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:03.000 you remember, and maybe maybe not everybody did this like I did. Do 106 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:07.560 you remember when you touched a hot burner on the stove? Uh, even 107 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:11.519 though your parents might have told you not to do it and that it wasn't 108 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:15.519 a smart thing to do, you might have done it and that experience tends 109 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:20.360 to stay with you and you think I am never going to do that again. 110 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:24.439 Or you're outside and you take your shirt off in this beautiful toss on 111 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:28.160 weather and uh, you're just enjoying yourself so much that all of a sudden 112 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:33.279 you look and you're baked completely red and you think, I'm never going to 113 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:37.480 take my shirt off again, I'm gonna wear sunscreen or something. And you 114 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.080 know, maybe you do or maybe you don't learn and you keep doing it 115 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.799 and keep getting burnt. I don't know, but Israel keeps doing the same 116 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:48.600 thing over and over again. They just don't learn. They keep on doing 117 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:54.720 the same thing and they get burnt. I noticed that some of the writers 118 00:08:54.720 --> 00:09:00.279 on this passage make no to the fact that the word again doesn't appear in 119 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:03.559 this verse. It simply says they did evil, but not like it those 120 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:09.799 other places where it says they again did evil. Now perhaps there is something 121 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:13.320 in the omission of the word again, but I had kind of a hard 122 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:18.120 time seen it. But some suggest that the last phrase of Chapter Five says 123 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:24.039 Israel, or the land, had rest for forty years after the praise song 124 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:30.240 of Deborah and that therefore there was kind of a breaking for a while of 125 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:35.639 Israel's backsliding and you probably know the way that Israel backslides, the sin they 126 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:41.399 keep falling into, and tell the Babylonian captivity is idolatry, the serving and 127 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:48.960 the worshiping of other Gods. Now I found it interesting in comparing different commentaries 128 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.360 and the different sources that I consulted on his passage. Some made the point 129 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:58.519 that the oppression that the Israelites faced under the media NITES was not as bad 130 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.759 as it had been among other oppressions they had in the book of judges. 131 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:09.080 But then I read other commentaries that say this is the worst oppression that Israel 132 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:15.039 has ever had under their enemies. So I can I can see from that 133 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:20.399 that the commentaries don't know everything. But the one difference we can see about 134 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:24.159 this oppression is the length of the oppression is shorter. It's only seven years. 135 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:28.440 Now. Verse Two seems to get more credit to those who look at 136 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:33.600 the oppression as a worst oppression, because it seems Israel was forced to flee 137 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.200 their homes and then make caves in the mountains. Now you can do that 138 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:41.919 here. We can't do that in Minnesota because we don't have those mountains. 139 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:43.960 We want to make a cave, we gotta go underground. That's that's that's 140 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:48.240 how we can make a cave when we're there, but you could do it 141 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:50.919 here, I suppose. And UH. In versus three through six, it 142 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:56.279 seems like both the produce and the economics of the nation are being laid low 143 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:01.440 at this time. And things are happening, name that people would plant Crofts, 144 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:05.120 but before they could enjoy the harvest. Uh, then the marauders are 145 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:07.759 come and take the fruit from them. Jamison, Fawcett and Brown takes the 146 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:13.559 idea that this was the worst oppression and says even life itself is in jeopardy 147 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:16.360 from the attacks of these probably marauders, the vast horde of media nites that 148 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:22.240 overran Kane and made them the greatest gourge which had ever afflicted the Israelites. 149 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:26.440 So you see very clearly what side they're on. In Verses Seven and eight 150 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:31.720 we have a different approach from the Lord than what we've had previously in the 151 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:35.399 book. Instead of raising up a deliverer right away, which he's done in 152 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:43.200 times past, instead God raises up a prophet. We don't know the name 153 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.320 of this prophet, we don't know who he is, but the message that 154 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:52.120 he gives in verses eight through ten is a very familiar prophetic ministry that is 155 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:58.600 applicable to God's people in most times. God's reminds God reminds them how he 156 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.879 delivered them before from the hands of an oppressor, and now he promised to 157 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:09.279 be with them if only they would serve him and not serve other gods. 158 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:13.240 But the people had not obeyed that. In the end of the message of 159 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:18.320 the Prophet leaves us wondering what's going to happen? Is God indeed going to 160 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.879 raise up a deliverer? Well, stay tuned, I've got the answer for 161 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:26.840 you, and here it comes, verse eleven. We are introduced now, 162 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:31.240 as we begin to call of Gideon and these verses, to the man who 163 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:35.759 would be the next judge of Israel. His name is Gideon, and if 164 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:39.919 we pay attention to the timetable, we note that, since the land had 165 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:45.559 rest for forty years, and it was only the last seven years that Israel 166 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:50.240 had been oppressed by the media nights, Gideon had been brought up in mostly 167 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:56.320 peaceful times. Thirty three years the length of time of our Lord's life, 168 00:12:56.919 --> 00:13:01.360 and Gideon had been subject to peace o. There have been, of course, 169 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:05.240 many sermons preached about Gideon, and you know how he's a coward and 170 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:09.399 he's behind the rock and he's hiding from the media nights and he doesn't want 171 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:13.679 them to know. And I guess there's something to that, of course, 172 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.679 but Um, he's really not doing anything different than anybody else is doing. 173 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:22.360 I mean this is just common sense, right. I mean, if your 174 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:26.960 enemy is coming and stealing your crops whenever you harvest them, then harvest your 175 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:31.399 crops in secret seems to be the wise thing to do. And so he's 176 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:35.360 doing that and he's hiding for safety, and so I don't want to be 177 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:41.279 too hard on Gideon because of this. But we're also informed in his verse 178 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:48.200 of another character who is now making his third appearance in the book of judges. 179 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:52.600 He has identified as the angel of the Lord and he's already appeared in 180 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:58.799 chapters two and chapter five, but this will be the first time that the 181 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:05.200 angel of the Lord appears in judges to a single individual, and it's kind 182 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:09.720 of a strange encounter. It kind of I mean you read it again and 183 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:11.960 it's it seems like, you know, the angels just sitting there under the 184 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.960 tree and Gideon's harvesting and nothing's going on and all of a sudden they start 185 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.799 a conversation. It's just kind of a weird thing that that's going on there. 186 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:24.240 Now we know from Hebrews chapter one that angels are spirits. They're not 187 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:30.159 physical beings like we are, but in some way it appears that they are 188 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:35.080 able to appear in some kind of physical form or a form that is recognized 189 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:41.320 by human beings. But this particular angel of the Lord seems more special than 190 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:46.080 that. This angel who has appeared, as I mentioned already, and also 191 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:50.799 appeared in the book of Joshua. Of course, this angel appears to actually 192 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:56.759 be at Theophany, which is a pre incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. Now 193 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:03.000 we see that and kind of there is a interplay where sometimes he's called the 194 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:05.080 angel of the Lord and sometimes he's simply called the Lord. In this passage, 195 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:09.559 remember later on when this being again will appear, this time to the 196 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:13.919 parents of Sampson, and they will say what is your name? That we 197 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:16.480 can tell you know. Good, tell us your name, and he says, 198 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:20.360 why do you ask after my name, since it's wonderful, and of 199 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.559 course Isaiah told us that this is one of the names of the Messiah of 200 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:28.679 Jesus Christ, that his name shall be called wonderful. And so in verse 201 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:35.240 twelve he says the Lord is with the Almighty Man of Valor. And again 202 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.320 it doesn't seem to fit the circumstances, does it? There he is hiding 203 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:43.080 behind the rock and scared of the media nights and not wanting them to see 204 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:46.279 him, and here comes the angel. Lord said, the Lord is with 205 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:50.440 you, you mighty man of Valor, and that's where it seems perhaps a 206 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:56.159 little odd in this case, and perhaps the contrast is meant to be there, 207 00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:00.720 but also maybe giddy and just practicing common sense. And he doesn't seem 208 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:06.840 particularly amazed or upset the periods of the angel, although he seems to identify 209 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:12.240 that this is a greater being, as he identifies the angel as my Lord. 210 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:18.759 That would be small L Lord ad and I, not large capital Lord 211 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:23.480 Uh Yahweh. So he says, Oh, my Ada and I, or 212 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:29.559 master uh if Yahweh is with us, is how he says it. So 213 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:33.120 we have two different names for God there. And then getting asked the question 214 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:37.399 that the saints that God have been asking for years on end. If God 215 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:41.440 is with us, then why is this happening to us if God is with 216 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:45.639 us, why is that happening to us? Why all this bad stuff? 217 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:51.399 And then the second part. Why don't we see the miracles that our forefathers 218 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.879 saw when you lead them out of Egypt, with the plagues and the miracles 219 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:59.440 in the Wilderness and all the mighty things that Moses did and the great things 220 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:03.039 we'd hold? Why don't we see that today? People still ask that question, 221 00:17:03.160 --> 00:17:07.680 you know. And in verse fourteen we have the kind of reply the 222 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:11.400 Lord gives to these kind of questions, and scripture doesn't really give them much 223 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:17.720 of an answer at all. He simply says simply, well, that's where 224 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:21.279 it is. Basically, it's kind of the question or the answer to that 225 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:25.160 Jesus gave to Peter when he said about John and in John Twenty one he 226 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:29.720 said, uh, what's what's gonna Happen to this man? and Jesus said, 227 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:33.240 you know, if he wants to, if I want him to be 228 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:37.119 around till I come, that's gonna be great, but it doesn't matter to 229 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:38.960 you, it's none of your business. You just do what I've called you 230 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:45.480 to do. And that's how the Lord tends to answer these questions. But 231 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:49.160 he says, Gideon, I'm gonna send you the power of the Lord in 232 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:53.119 Verse Fiften. He objects. Gideon does. So I can't be the one. 233 00:17:53.640 --> 00:17:59.240 I mean we're the little travel Manissa and our tribe are our our family 234 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:03.839 is like the the least of the tribes of Madisa and I am the least 235 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.200 in my family. So like, you have picked the wrong guy. I 236 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:12.039 am not the guy that's going to be able to do this. And again 237 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:17.240 I kind of like and not don't like at the same time, the response 238 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:21.000 of Gideon. Right, it's it's kind of Nice because it sounds humble. 239 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:22.519 Right, you know, you say it. Why me? I mean, 240 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:26.079 I'm nobody, I'm just you know, I don't I don't have any credentials, 241 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:29.440 I can't do them. kind of like that, they go, that's 242 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:32.720 a that's a good thing, to be humble. But then on the other 243 00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:37.559 hand it's like, well, God has just called you that, maybe you 244 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.160 should agree with him. Maybe maybe that'd be the right thing to do. 245 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:44.599 But it's a very common thing with God's people in the Bible to to not 246 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:47.920 believe what God tells them. Even Mary, Very Godly Mary, says, 247 00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:51.480 how is this possible? So that they don't know a man. How can 248 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:56.119 this be? But Verse Sixteen, the only answer that matters is given the 249 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.640 Gideon, the angel of the Lord, or should I say the Lord, 250 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:03.440 said, is but I will be with you, and that's really the only 251 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:08.200 thing that matters, is God saying I am going to be with you. 252 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:15.279 When David faced Goliath as a young man, he said in First Samuel Sev 253 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.119 David said that the Philistine, you come to me with a sword and a 254 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:22.559 spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the 255 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.359 Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have 256 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:32.759 defiled. If you go with the Lord being with you, in the name 257 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:37.279 of the Lord, in obedience to the Lord, God will see that the 258 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:45.000 battle is won. It's interesting that earlier Joshua when the angel of the Lord 259 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:51.640 appeared to Joshua, Chapter Five. Might remember the story. And here appears 260 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:57.119 as beery being before Joshua and he says, are you for us or against 261 00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:02.359 us? It's a good question him, but what I really like is the 262 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:07.079 answer of the angel. No. Are you for us or against us? 263 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:11.200 No, uh that in other words, that isn't the question. That isn't 264 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:15.839 the issue that matters at this point. But he comes as the captain of 265 00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:19.119 the Lord's Army. The question is, is God with us or not? 266 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:25.359 And so Gideon now desires to to show homage to this being and he's going 267 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:30.519 to do so by our and a goat that he's going to bring before him 268 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.119 as well. And so that's what he wants to do. And so he 269 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:38.839 goes gets these things, brings them out and lays them upon a rock and 270 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:45.759 pours the broth that he had prepared over those things. And then the angel 271 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.400 of the Lord Takes His staff and he touches it with the tip of his 272 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:52.799 staff and all of a sudden fire comes from the rock. The meat is 273 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:56.079 devoured, completely gone, the cakes are gone, everything is gone, and 274 00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:02.640 all of a sudden the angel of the Lord Disappears and Gideon, with the 275 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:07.720 typical brilliance that we see so offered in scripture, says, HMM, this 276 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:11.480 could have been the angel of the Lord. H Good, good one, 277 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:15.039 Gideon, very very, very smart. Yes, this is the angel of 278 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.119 the Lord, and the Angel of the Lord has departed. Now and and 279 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:23.559 again, Um, we see that, uh, the angel is the son 280 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:29.079 of God, this angel is the theophany that's come there. And and so 281 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:33.640 God assures Israel that even though he's seen him, that he's not going to 282 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:38.920 die and that God says peace will be with you. And in response to 283 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:45.880 that, gideon builds an altar and he calls it Yahweh Shaloge, meaning the 284 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:51.279 Lord is peace. Now this is what I've wanted to draw us to tonight. 285 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:55.319 Okay, this has all been kind of exposition leading up to this particular 286 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.839 idea. Now, I'm sure many of you know that there are several compound 287 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:04.200 names of the Lord that are found in the Old Testament, that different characters 288 00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:10.880 called him. By Abraham called him Yahwah Yaira, the Lord will provide, 289 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:15.519 or perhaps his other translations put it. The Lord will see. Ezekiel called 290 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:22.000 him Yahweh Shama. The Lord is there, Lord is present. Moses called 291 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:29.680 him Yahweh Rafa, the Lord who heals. Jeremiah called him Yahweh said Canoe. 292 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.079 He is the Lord who is our righteousness. All those names tell us 293 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:40.400 something about God and who he is to us and what relationship he has to 294 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:47.240 us. To Gideon is Yahweh Shalom. He is the Lord our peace. 295 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:55.559 So let me give you some application tonight before I come back to this once 296 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:59.559 again. In the story we see a familiar theme that has been dominant in 297 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:03.319 the book of judges, and that theme is God doesn't use always the most 298 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:10.480 apparent person or the person that seems like it should be the person that God 299 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:17.160 would choose. In fact, he tends to use unknown, weak individuals in 300 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:22.519 the book of judges, in fact flawed individuals. All along in the book 301 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:26.839 up too now, God has used individuals that surprises that he would use them. 302 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:32.519 He uses a man of the name of Shamgar, and you might say, 303 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:34.799 well, why is that unusual, because we don't know a lot about 304 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:41.200 Shamgar? Well, Shamgar is not an Israelite name. It's probably a Philistine 305 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:48.400 name. So God would use a Philistine to deliver Israel. And what does 306 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:51.720 he use? He uses an ox gode. I don't know if you've ever 307 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.079 seen a picture of OXICO. I looked him up a while ago to see 308 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:56.200 what they were because I wasn't sure what they looked like, and I looked 309 00:23:56.240 --> 00:24:00.799 at it and I thought I'm not going into battle of that that that's not 310 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:04.039 a weapon I want. But that's what Shamgar uses to destroy the enemies. 311 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:11.400 He uses a man who is left handed by the name of Ihad, and 312 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:14.440 he uses a person that a lot of people, believe it or not, 313 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:18.279 still struggle greatly with the fact that God used, and that is Deborah. 314 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:25.400 But I say, if God can use a Philistine to deliver Israel, I 315 00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:30.119 think he can use an Israelite woman as well. Remember, the historical books 316 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:33.519 are telling the stories. They're not prescribing to us, they're not giving us 317 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:37.039 what we should do, they're just telling us this is what happened, and 318 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:41.359 we remember that. And now we have a man who is the weakest member 319 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:44.160 of the clan, of his tribe, and he is the least in his 320 00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:48.880 household. And the point is that God would tell the Corinthians God uses the 321 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:52.799 weak to confound a strong. God uses uh to confound the mighty. I 322 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:59.119 could even say God uses the foolish to confound the wise and the despised of 323 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:03.359 the Earth to con found the noble. There are a lot of warriors mightier 324 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:07.279 to David. Remember the story se also trying my armor on. This stuff 325 00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:10.839 does not fit. I can't, I can't wear this, I won't be 326 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:15.480 able to move at all. He's a youth, Saul himself who, the 327 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:18.880 Bible tells us what's head and shoulders above every other Israelite. Saul should have 328 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:22.839 been out there fighting that battle, but it's this youth by the name of 329 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:32.279 David who goes out and does the fighting. And so God picks unusual individuals. 330 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:36.279 We might also ask, well, why in this story does God send 331 00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:41.599 a Prophet first instead of a deliverer, as he has in the stories before 332 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.519 this? And it's very similar to the story I gave you this morning of 333 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:48.680 John The baptist, where God send the Prophet John the Baptist before the deliverer, 334 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:55.319 Jesus, came. In his commentary on judges, Tim Keller makes the 335 00:25:55.400 --> 00:26:03.000 point the Prophet was needed because the people were regretful but repentant. As you 336 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:07.039 read through this chapter of judges, you'll see the people cry out to the 337 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:11.400 Lord because of the oppression of the enemy, but there's no real sign of 338 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:17.640 change in them. In the Bible there's a difference between regretting and repenting. 339 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:23.480 Perhaps well most well known illustration of that would be Um Peter and Judas. 340 00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:30.000 Both reacted very similarly after their sin. Peter had denied Christ, Judas had 341 00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:36.480 betrayed Christ. Both of them acted with remorse after they had done what they 342 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:42.319 had done. But we read of Peter and Matthew. Peter remembered the saying 343 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:47.240 of the Lord before the Rooster Crows, you would deny me three times. 344 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:51.279 And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Of Judas. We read in Matthew 345 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:55.359 Twenty seven, three and four. Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw 346 00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:59.599 Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back to thirty pieces of 347 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.759 silver to the Chief Priest and elder, saying I have sinned by betraying innocent 348 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:12.079 blood. Judas was a regret, peters was a repentance. Paul makes a 349 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:18.319 distinction between these and second Corinthian seven ten, for Godly Grief produces repentance that 350 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:26.119 leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death, as it did 351 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:30.160 for Judas. It's easy for us to be regretful over something that we might 352 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:37.599 have done, but are we repentant over what we've done? I would ask 353 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:38.640 you not right now, and you don't have to do this, but I 354 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:42.799 ask you to look through the entire chapter of judges six and see if you 355 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:49.839 can find anywhere, one sign that there is any repentance from Israel. In 356 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:56.079 fact, when you get to the end of the chapter, you read that 357 00:27:56.279 --> 00:28:00.480 the men of the area are ready to put Gideon to day. Why? 358 00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:03.559 What terrible thing is Gideon done? What is this horrible thing that they need 359 00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:08.079 to put them to death? For? Men of the town said to Josh, 360 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:12.160 bring out your son that he may die, for he has broken down 361 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:18.359 the altar of ball and cut down the Astra beside it. That's the terrible 362 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:23.680 thing you did. He cut down the idols of the false gods. That 363 00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:29.799 doesn't sound like people had repented to me. Sometimes we need a prophetic voice 364 00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:33.200 to come to us, as this prophet that came before Gideon and announced it. 365 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:37.920 Sometimes, I'm not talking about someone that comes and gives revelations and visions 366 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:40.319 and tells us all these things that are going to come, all of that 367 00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:44.839 stuff, which has never happens rightly and never does anything and does anybody any 368 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:48.640 good. I'm talking about the voice that comes that says we need to repent, 369 00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:52.480 we need to turn to God, we need to leave our idols aside. 370 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:56.880 Those kind of voices encouraging us to return to the Lord, put away 371 00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:02.680 idols, and this bring to another point I want to emphasize that I always 372 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:07.079 try to emphasize in my preaching, and that is that salvation, as Jonah 373 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:11.720 said, is of the Lord. Salvation begins with the Lord. Doesn't begin 374 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:17.480 with us. Didn't start with us. God makes the first step. God 375 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:21.880 makes the first move. He didn't wait for Israel to repent in this story, 376 00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:26.519 does he? Before he begins to save them, he calls a deliverer. 377 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:29.839 He didn't wait for Gideon to wake up one morning and say, man, 378 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.119 I'm a mighty man of Baylor. No, he called Gideon and said 379 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:38.240 you are a mighty man of valor. Paul said in Romans eight that God 380 00:29:38.279 --> 00:29:42.119 shows his love for us and while we were sinners, Christ died for us. 381 00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:45.720 You always hear people saying things like Oh, I found the Lord. 382 00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:52.839 No, he wasn't lost, he really wasn't. You didn't find him, 383 00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:57.480 he found you. God didn't wait for Adam to call upon him in the 384 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:03.160 garden and say, Lord, I sin. please. God went looking for 385 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:08.319 Adam in the garden. You didn't find God. God found you and he 386 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:14.759 put his spirit into you and he regenerated you. Paul says in First Corinthians, 387 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:18.920 consider your calling, brothers not many of you were wise according to worldly 388 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:22.359 standards. Not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But 389 00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:26.000 God chose what is foolish in the world the shame the wise. God chose 390 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:30.519 what is weak in the world to shame the strong. How could the scriptures 391 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:36.720 say it any stronger? It is God who does the choosing. If it 392 00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:41.920 isn't, this passage and Corinthians makes absolutely no sense. But it says God 393 00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:47.400 chose, God chose, God chose Gideon and God chose us. has his 394 00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:52.640 own elect not because of any great thing about us, but because of his 395 00:30:52.759 --> 00:30:57.559 love. In Verse Twelve, when Gideon has told God is with him, 396 00:31:00.039 --> 00:31:04.880 can't really see any indication that that's true. But God calls those things which 397 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:11.079 are not as though they are, and he does that again and again, 398 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:15.960 as he says in Romans fourth seventeen, Paul says, as it's written, 399 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:18.839 I have made the father of many nations before him, whom he believed, 400 00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:23.640 even God, who quickens the dead and calls those things which be not as 401 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:30.920 though they were. In the beginning he called called him as Abram. Abram 402 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:37.400 means high father, so everywhere Abram went somebody would probably say, Oh, 403 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:41.400 high father who are you the father of? UH, nobody, nobody. 404 00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:45.920 And then one day God said, okay, that's enough, I'm gonna Change 405 00:31:45.960 --> 00:31:51.079 Your name to Abraham, a father of a multitude. And now he's got 406 00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:52.799 to say what's Your Abra? Oh, your father of a multitude. Who 407 00:31:52.839 --> 00:31:57.079 are they? Well, I'm not really a father of anybody yet, but 408 00:31:57.359 --> 00:32:00.960 we recognize if the first name is embarrassing, the second is even worse. 409 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:05.799 But God is calling those things which are not as though they are. So 410 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:09.640 he calls Gideon a mighty man of valor. Who knows what God may call 411 00:32:09.720 --> 00:32:13.880 you? Who knows what God may equip you to do? And in verse 412 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:16.119 thirteen. We have that question. If God is with us, if God 413 00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:20.880 is with me, why am I depressed? Why cannot I cannot seem to 414 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:23.440 shake this depression? If God is with me, why am I suffering with 415 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:28.599 this disease? Why am I suffering with this pain? It continues to haunt 416 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:31.240 me? If God is with me, why am I so poor? Why 417 00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:35.079 am I struggling to make ends meet? If God is with me? If 418 00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:37.839 God is with me, it's been the voice of the saints, of God 419 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:42.839 through the years, but those are not signs that God is not with us. 420 00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:46.279 I noticed with you, as I try to bring this to a close, 421 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:51.039 the compound name of our God in the text is Yaowish Salom, or 422 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:55.440 the Lord is peace, and I said that all of the compound names of 423 00:32:55.519 --> 00:33:00.160 God speak of something we need from God, something that God can be to 424 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:05.279 us, and we need these various things at different times in our life. 425 00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:12.599 But one of the things we need from God is peace. You probably know 426 00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:15.640 the common greeting of the Jews one to another, is the word Shalom, 427 00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:22.880 which means peace. And you remember, perhaps that in every epistle that we 428 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:29.920 know that Paul wrote, he wished his readers grace and peace. Of course, 429 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:31.079 when he came to the Young Man Timothy, he knew he was a 430 00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:36.240 young pastor struggling, so he added mercy because Timothy would also need mercy. 431 00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:40.279 But every other place he said grace and peace. In the Old Testament you 432 00:33:40.359 --> 00:33:45.599 see a book called Song of Solomon. What does his name, Solomon mean? 433 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:52.039 Peace, Shalom. And who is Solomon's bride that he is courting? 434 00:33:52.119 --> 00:33:57.240 And she courting him? A shulamite, which means one of the meanings peace. 435 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:02.400 So we see peace everywhere. To those of you like me who are 436 00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:07.880 old enough to remember the nineteen seventies, you might remember that one of the 437 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:12.280 greetings we used to say all the time was peace. We even had a 438 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:15.559 sign. You know, we can make a sign with our hands and we 439 00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:20.159 could write signs on bulletins and things like that, and we would say peace 440 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:23.000 all the time. And why am I saying that? I don't know that 441 00:34:23.079 --> 00:34:29.119 we given up Pre Eminence to peace and our prayers, our Pre Eminence to 442 00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:32.280 peace and the things we say one to another. And I'm preaching to myself, 443 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:37.719 if not anybody else here tonight, and I think a lot of times 444 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:42.760 we don't say it and we don't give it that Pre Eminence in our prayers. 445 00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:45.960 We don't pray for peace like we ought to, perhaps for our brothers 446 00:34:46.039 --> 00:34:53.840 and sisters. But this is something we need. This is something God's people 447 00:34:54.039 --> 00:34:59.840 desperately need. I spoke this morning about forgiveness. We need the piece for 448 00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:05.960 giveness. We need to know that all is well between God and us. 449 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:12.480 Our confession assures us that is possible for us to lose our assurance, that 450 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:15.719 not necessarily but not not half full assurance, that the saints of God are 451 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:24.599 not necessarily characterized by full assurance and sometimes trouble comes into our life and our 452 00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:30.760 peace is forfeited, or sin comes into our life or sickness comes into our 453 00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:37.039 life and peace passes away. If I can paraphrase a past Supreme Court justice, 454 00:35:37.800 --> 00:35:43.239 we can't explain what that peace is. We know it when we have 455 00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:49.320 it, don't we? We know it. Peace Sets believers apart from the 456 00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:53.079 world. Twice in the book of Isaiah Isaiah says there is no peace, 457 00:35:53.400 --> 00:36:00.239 says God to the wicked. When Isaiah speaks of the coming Messiah, one 458 00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:05.800 of the names he ascribes to the Messiah is the Prince of peace, and 459 00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:08.800 goes on to say and of the increase of his government and of peace, 460 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:15.119 there will be no end. And in Chapter Verse Three, he says you 461 00:36:15.199 --> 00:36:20.360 will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind has stayed on you because he 462 00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:23.199 trust in you. In Verse Twelve of the same chapter he says, Oh, 463 00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:28.039 Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done 464 00:36:28.119 --> 00:36:32.159 for us all our works. In chapter seventeen, he says, and the 465 00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:38.599 effective righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust 466 00:36:38.719 --> 00:36:44.679 forever. And eighteen he says, oh, that you had paid attention to 467 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:50.280 my commandments, then your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness 468 00:36:50.840 --> 00:36:54.119 like the waves of the sea. WE'RE gonna sing in a little bit, 469 00:36:54.119 --> 00:37:00.320 a few seconds here. We're gonna sing when peace, like a river attendeth 470 00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:07.239 my way, when sorrow like sea billows roll whatever my lot. Thou hast 471 00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:12.840 taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. 472 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:17.280 God's people need his peace. Gideon made an altar and called it the 473 00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:22.159 Lord is my peace. God is your peace. If your believer tonight, 474 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:27.920 God is your peace. He wants to comfort you, he wants to fill 475 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:34.159 you with peace. So realize that, that, that is the desire of 476 00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:38.639 our God for you. Let's pray. Our God and father of our Lord, 477 00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:44.280 Jesus Christ, we thank you again for the promise of peace to your 478 00:37:44.519 --> 00:37:49.760 people, that we may dwell in peace, that we may have peace amongst 479 00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:54.360 ourselves, that we may have peace in our hearts. And Lord, I 480 00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:59.920 pray for your people tonight, and I pray particularly if there are those who 481 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:06.079 perhaps are lacking peace, maybe lacking assurance. Maybe something's happened today to shake 482 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:09.519 it, maybe some sorrow or trouble has come into their life. But, 483 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:16.280 Lord, I pray we may accept your peace and no god, that it 484 00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:22.000 is a piece, as you say in your word, that passes all understanding. 485 00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:28.039 We can't explain it, but it's there for us and we can dwell 486 00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:32.119 in it. And Lord, we thank you for that promise that you have 487 00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:37.320 given to us and they pray you'd make it real to your people tonight. 488 00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:38.559 In Christ's name, Amen,