THE RESTLESSNESS OF GOD’S LOVE; THE EMMAUS ROAD

TODAY’S READING FROM THE ONE YEAR BIBLE: 

APRIL 29 Judges 9:22-10:18; Luke 24:13-53; Psalm 100:1-5; Proverbs 14:11-12

We see many sinful attitudes motivating the destructive actions described in the Book of Judges. Abimilech’s reign is one of cruel pride.  His punishment for killing the seventy sons of Gideon catches up with him (Judges 9:56).

The prophesied fire comes out of the bramble of Abimilech’s hot headed pride to destroy his former support base, the people of his mother’s family- Shechem.

Gaal son of Ebed foolishly boasts of his worthiness to rule and challenges Abimelech’s authority. He earns the trust of the disillusioned of Shechem.  But his foolish pride blinds him to  reality of Abimilech evil schemes and leads to his being driven out of Shechem.

Abimilech is destroyed by a woman who drops a millstone on his head. He asks his armor-bearer to draw his sword and kill him so it would not be said that a woman slew him.

It is interesting to note what is recorded in the Bible and how it tracks the motives of the proud Adamic nature.  It is what we were born with.

Marvel not, Jesus said. You must be born again. (John 3:3-6)

JUDGES 10 

The first four cycles of deliverance involved God raising up those judges who would help turn the people from serving idols to serving the living and true God.

We notice that there is no record that the next judges, Abimilech, Tola, and Jair, acknowledged God.

THE SIXTH APOSTASY (10:6f)

After the death of Jair, the sin cycle starts with the familiar words:

1. Sin

Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, (10:6)

2. Idolatry

(They) served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. (Judges 10:6)

3. Punishment

The Lord is angry at sin and sells them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites for 18 years.

4. Repentance.

Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals." (Judges 10:10)

5. For the first time, the Lord refuses to save them.

The Lord must first let them know how completely given over to idolatry they are:

Judges 10:13-14 "Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. [14] "Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress."

6. DELIVERANCE? How will their prayers be answered? (We will read further on tomorrow).

What we read in verse 16 is revealing.

¹⁶ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.  (Judges 10:16)

Whereas we have seen the motive of pride in the actions of men like Abimilech and Gaal, we can see the motive of God’s love in disciplining His people.  “He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.”

The Lord is restless with love! We have the anthropomorphic expression of God’s strong desire to relieve suffering when he sees it, even when he knows that the suffering is the result of direct rebellion and disobedience.

NEW TESTAMENT READING: Luke 24:13-53

We call the study of sermon composition and delivery “Homiletics”. The root word is the Greek verb ‘homileo’ which we find in Luke 24:14. It is translated as “talking”, “conversing” and” discussing”. It is used to describe the activity of the two disciples of Jesus who were walking to a village named Emmaus, 7 miles from Jerusalem, after the resurrection of Jesus.

Luke 24:14 (NASB) ¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.

This is hardly the idea we have today of sermonizing. You get the picture that the disciples are fully engaged in a vigorous dialogue with one another.

Jesus, unrecognized by his disciples, approaches them and contributes to the discussion the revelation of Himself from the Scriptures.  It is vitally important to discern and welcome the revelation of Jesus in all the Scriptures to our ‘homiletic’activity. We commune with Him in our preparation in study and in prayer. We commune with Him as we share what He has shown us of Himself with others. Instead of merely lecturing our audience, we need to be actively participating in the process of knowing Jesus and making Him known. Whether we are preaching in a more formal gathering or sharing our hearts in an informal conversation, we all should sense, no matter who we are in the dialogue, speaker or audience, that we are participating in a process in which it is Jesus who is engaging with us and making Himself known.


In this incident in which Jesus is welcomed to stay with the disciples we have a foreshadowing of how Jesus will make Himself known to us also when we gather together to break bread and share the cup in remembrance of Him and His self-giving sacrifice that gave us new life (Luke 24:30; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).

Notice the Sovereign activity of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of Christ, who either opens eyes to recognize more of the truth of Who Jesus is, or who prevents eyes from seeing Jesus (v.16).

How often do we really recognize the Lord’s presence in our Bible study and in our discussions? How wonderful it is when we let Him explain to us all the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27). He has given the Holy Spirit to do this. He leads us into the discovery of this reality! (John 16:13).

 

Luke 24:32 (NASB) ³² They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"

PRAYING FOR THE NATIONS

From the Prayer Guide “Operation World”

The Cook Islands

Geography: Over 100 coral atolls and volcanic islands 3,500 km northeast of New Zealand, 15 of which are inhabited.

Population: 19,933    Annual Growth: 0.87%

Capital: Avarua

Official language: English, 

Niue

Pacific

Geography: Area: 258 sq km;  The world’s largest coral island.

Population:1,438    Annual Growth: -2.64%

Capital: Alofi

Pitcairn Islands

Pacific

Geography

Area: 47 sq km

Pitcairn is one of the smallest (47 sq km and 47 people) and most isolated territories in the world.

Population: 50    Annual Growth: 0.00%

Capital: Adamstown

Tokelau Islands

Pacific

Area: 12 sq km

Three infertile coral atolls 480 km north of Samoa.

Population: 1,206    Annual Growth: -0.12%

Answer to Prayer

Niue has effectively shut down its offshore banking industry, since it was becoming a money-laundering haven. Praise God for the commitment to root out evil practices. Pray for just and wholesome ways to earn a living – for islanders who already suffer from a lack of resources.

Challenge for Prayer

The strong Christian legacy of over 150 years – bordering on theocracy on some islands – is fading rapidly. Increasing numbers are nominal or even non-religious, and Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are the fastest growing groups. Pray for reversal of these trends and for new life to come to the mainline Churches.

Pastor David

So, naturally, we proclaim Christ! We warn everyone we meet, and we teach everyone we can, all that we know about him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ. (Colossians 1:28, J.B. Phillips paraphrase)

New Life Community Church, Concord, MA 10742

www.newlife.org

Meeting Sundays at 10:30 AM at the Emerson Umbrella for the Arts, 40 Stow Street, Concord MA

Mailing Address: Post Office Box Five, Concord, MA 01742

Church Offices: 35 Bypass Rd. Lincoln, MA 01773  978-369-0061

Home Office: 978-371-3176

New Life Fine Arts

"Theater you can believe in."

www.newlifefinearts.org

GIDEON and THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE

TODAY’S READING IN THE ONE YEAR BIBLE 

APRIL 28 - Judges 8:18-9:21; Luke 23:44-24:12; Psalm 99:1-9; Proverbs 14:9-10

As we read through the Bible we learn more about the instrumentality of those who are faithful in their obedience, trust, and availability to the revealed will of God.

Gideon is an ordinary farmer, a man of passions, fears, lusts, vindictiveness and zeal.  In spite of his many sins, through his humble obedience and availability to the One who called him, Gideon becomes instrumental in delivering the Israelites from the oppression of the Midianites.

The Living God went to great lengths to encourage him, giving him signs, the enemy dreams, and assuring words promising him victory (Judges 6:17-21; 36-40; 7:9-15).

The enemy (Midianites and Amalekites) had been warned of their overthrow in a dream one man had of a loaf of barley bread rolling into the camp and overturning and flattening their tent.

A friend interpreted the dream

"This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand."

Ironically there is no record that Gideon and his army of a mere 300 had any swords at all. “The sword of Gideon” was the Living Word, the LORD GOD, his Savior. His weapons were not carnal. They were mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds (2 Cor 10:4). 

What were their real weapons?

1. Their identification with the Word of God by faith (7:16).  The 300 elected men were divided into three companies. According to the dream given to the enemy, they would come upon the Midianites and Amalekites as “one loaf” (7:13). Gideon had been told that they would attack the enemy as “one man” (6:16).  They were three units but acting as one, a holy ‘echad’, a composite community of oneness, imaging the Trinity (1 Cor. 10:17).

2. Their identification with the Holy Spirit. The dream given to the enemy was that Gideon’s army was one barley loaf. The Feast of Pentecost is the celebration of the harvest of firstfruits. The first harvest is barley. The giving of the Holy Spirit to the church occurred at Pentecost (Acts 2). Barley is not esteemed as highly as wheat in the eyes of men, but here in the divine economy, its worth is demonstrated due to its identification with the power of the Holy Spirit. Gideon did not look like much, but he was a man who was clothed from on high with the Holy Spirit (6:34).

3. Their Brokenness.  Each man was to hold empty pitchers with burning lights inside them. When given the signal they all were to follow Gideon’s example and break the vessel and reveal the light.  The impact of each light through each man’s broken vessel would appear from a distance to be the lights of an innumerable multitude, signaling to the enemy that they were surrounded by troops that out numbered them.

The apostle Paul speaks of the value of light shining through brokenness, the submission of our own wills to the will of the Lord, in 2 Cor 4.

2 Cor. 4:6-12     For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.     [7] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; [8] we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; [10] always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. [11] For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. [12] So death works in us, but life in you.

4. The Word of their Testimony.  The torches were held in each man’s left hand, while the trumpets were held in each man’s right hand.  Each man would blow the trumpet. From a distance, the enemy would perceive that each trumpet represented a full battalion of men coming against them. The trumpets herald the gospel of Christ, which announces the defeat of the enemy.

Rev. 12:10-11    Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,"Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. [11] "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

5. The Obedience of their Faith.  This was the God-given strategy. They were to put their trust in the Word of the Lord.  They were to look to Gideon and do exactly what they saw Gideon do (7:17).

 Jesus had the same modus operandi. He only did what He saw (understood) the Father was doing.

John 5:19  Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.

This is the victory that overcomes the world- faith in Christ.

1 John 5:4-5  For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. [5] Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

6. The Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God)

Gideon’s army won the battle with no sword in hand. The enemy soldiers would turn on themselves and destroy each other with their own swords.

It reminds us of Jesus’ words to Pilate when Pilate asked if he was a king.

John 18:36     Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."

This speaks of the “other-worldiness” of the believer’s victory.

The believer’s weapon is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17).

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We experience brokenness in our lives so we are no longer going our own way, doing our own thing, for our own glory. Our will is submitted to His. Our daily experiences of death to self, our brokenness, becomes the means whereby the light of His life within us can be multiplied. The effect is the undoing of the works of the devil.

Our trumpets cannot boast in anything other than Christ crucified, risen and coming again. We do not hold on to the things of this world. We love not our Adamic life that was judged in Jesus’ death for us on the cross. For us to live is Christ. Let us trumpet that message.  Our obedience and holding fast to the Word of God can be a sword for the Lord and the other Gideons we are called to assemble with for eternal purposes.

Although Gideon is an example of how God can use ordinary sinners such as ourselves, he is no role model.  As mentioned earlier, Gideon is not a type here of the Savior. He is a picture of a recipient of God’s grace through faith.

You will notice the absence of any reference to the Lord leading Gideon in his further pursuit of the enemy.

The Israelites wanted to make Gideon their ruler (king).  Gideon refused to rule, and pledged that his son, Jether, would not rule. But Gideon did request that each one give them an earring from the spoil they had taken from the Ishmaelites. Gideon made an ephod out of it and the Israelites soon made it an object of worship. It proved to be a snare to Gideon and his family.

When good things are put in the place of the Ultimate and receive a greater allegiance from us than what we give to God, they become idols. What things are in danger of becoming idols in your life?

Gideon’s defeat of the Midianites brought 40 years of peace.  In contrast to the revelation he received when the Lord made Himself known to Gideon as YAHWEH SHALOM”, (the “Lord is peace”) all humanly negotiated peace arrangements prove to be short lived.

THE FIFTH APOSTACY (The REIGN OF ABIMILECH) begins in Judges 8:33

After Gideon’s death, the Israelites return to the worship of Baal.  In this fifth cycle of deliverance the judge raised up was evil.

Gideon was sexually promiscuous and had more than seventy sons by wives and concubines.  Gideon’s son by a slave girl, Abimilech, conspires with his mother’s relatives at Shechem to rule over Israel and kills his seventy half brothers with the exception of the youngest one, Jotham, who escaped.

Jotham boldly proclaims a parable for the people of Shechem from Mount Gerazim (where God’s promised blessings upon the obedient were once proclaimed).

He calls them to obedience: “Listen to me that God may listen to you” (9:7).

THE PARABLE OF THE TREES

 The earth is the Lord’s and the Lord is the King over all the earth. The trees, however, set out to have someone rule over them. So they bowed down to inquire whether the olive tree (Gideon) would rule over them.  The olive tree recognized that it was not created to wave over other trees, but to provide what it was gifted to do for God’s pleasure and man’s.

The invitation then went to the fig tree (Jether) and the vine (other sons of Gideon). Each gave similar answers. Each of them are national symbols of Israel.

Having been refused by more worthy trees, the bramble (Abimilech) is now asked to rule. “If you are truly anointing me to rule over you”, the bramble says,  “come and take refuge in my shade” (9:15).  Although the trees should know that it is impossible for a thorn bush or bramble to provide leadership and protection, they are warned that the most obvious result will be that the bramble will be the means of destruction of the more worthy trees, including the tall cedars of Lebanon.

Jotham boldly prophesies, Judges 9:19-20

“If then you have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. [20] ut if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech."

Jotham’s warning came true when Abimilech after reigning for three years, destroyed the city of Shechem (9:45) scattering salt over its ruins, and  burning its tower (9:46-49). Abimilech’s skull is cracked by a woman at Thebez, and he asks his own armorbearer to kill him.  A period of 45 years of quietness followed under the dictatorship of Tola and Jair.

NEW TESTAMENT READING: Luke 23:44-24:12

Today we read Luke’s dramatic account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

TODAY’S PROVERB- PROVERBS 14:9

Today there are many who make light of sin. They do so at their own peril.

Hebrews 9:27 (NASB) ²⁷ And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

PRAYING FOR THE NATIONS (from the Prayer Guide, “OPERATION WORLD”) We encourage you to get a copy at www.operationworld.org

PRAYING TODAY FOR: Congo-DRC

Democratic Republic of Congo (Formally Zaire)

 

Africa

Geography

Area: 2,345,410 sq km

Congo contains most of the Congo River system and much of the vast Central African rainforest.

Population: 67,827,495    Annual Growth: 2.80%

Capital: Kinshasa

Urbanites: 35.2%

HDI Rank: 176 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Answer to Prayer

The turning to Christ in the 20th Century has been massive. The number of Christians grew from 1.4% of the population in 1900 to over 90% professing Christianity today. Though much of this would be nominal, there have been revivals in some areas before and after independence. Evangelicals have increased 10-fold since 1960.

Challenge for Prayer

The evils of Congo’s tragic history must be overcome through repentance and reconciliation.

a) Arabs and Belgium’s King Leopold II enslaved and looted the country in the 19th Century. The latter’s private empire in Congo probably halved the population, leading to the deaths of 10 million people in 30 years before the Belgian government took over in 1908.

b) Belgian colonial rule and international mining companies exploited Congo’s resources but neglected the people – most of the improvements came through extensive Protestant and Catholic efforts.

c) Interventions by foreign powers and, latterly, African countries often with selfish motives. The West’s propping up of Mobutu’s corrupt regime is, in large part, the cause of the present chaos.

d) Inter-ethnic hostility during the 1990s led to warfare, killings and many fleeing for their lives in Shaba in the south and the Great Lakes in the east and northeast. Hutu and Tutsi ethnic militias, of both Congolese and foreign origin, still roam the Great Lakes region, terrorizing the populace and perpetuating violence, destruction and terror.

The evils of the past need to be admitted, repented of and put right for the Congo to have a viable future. Some Christian groups in Belgium have offered identificational repentance for the predations of their country, a positive development.

-Pastor David

So, naturally, we proclaim Christ! We warn everyone we meet, and we teach everyone we can, all that we know about him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ. (Colossians 1:28, J.B. Phillips paraphrase)

New Life Community Church, Concord, MA 10742

www.newlife.org

Meeting Sundays at 10:30 AM at the Emerson Umbrella for the Arts, 40 Stow Street, Concord MA

Mailing Address: Post Office Box Five, Concord, MA 01742

Church Offices: 35 Bypass Rd. Lincoln, MA 01773  978-369-0061

Home Office: 978-371-3176

New Life Fine Arts

"Theater you can believe in."

www.newlifefinearts.org

GIDEON’S SHRINKING ARMY- TESTING THE FITNESS OF YOUR FAITH

TODAY’S READING IN THE ONE YEAR BIBLE

Judges 7-8:17; Luke 23:13-43; Psalm 97-98:9; Proverbs 14:7-8

Yesterday we read of Gideon putting a fleece before the Lord, not because he doubted God’s ability to deliver His people from the Midianites, but because he doubted whether God could use an insecure person such as himself to do it.

Then Gideon said to God, "If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, ^[37] behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken." ^[38] And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.  (Judges 6:36-38)

Gideon knew that he was no savior. He needed to be saved from the fear and unbelief that gripped him.  God can deal with the enemies within as well as the enemies without. In the cases of both Moses and Gideon the angel of the Lord appeared to them (Exodus 3:2; Judges 6:12) to make this point.  Both Moses and Gideon shared haunting doubts whether God could use them for the works He was calling them to accomplish.

Contrary to the teaching of popular “self-esteem” gurus, the answer for the “insecurity problem” of Moses and Gideon was not that they thought too lowly of themselves.  The problem was that they were not thinking lowly enough. They still were thinking too highly of themselves, and not highly enough of God. They were still measuring and evaluating their own fitness for the task. They had not yet realized that God is so great that He can use any old bush in the wilderness to manifest His power and presence.

His fire was not fueled by anything in the bush that burned before the eyes of Moses (Exodus 3:2-3). God also did not need any naturally kindled fire to consume the offering that He received from Gideon (Judges 6:21). The angel commanded that the entire offering be put on the rock, which speaks of Christ. The angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the end of His staff and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed it all. It was not consumed with any fuel provided by Gideon. The spark and fire came from the staff in the hand of the angel of the Lord, the life and authority of God Himself.

This is the way of God- to take an insecure man and make him insecure enough to realize that he must turn to the Lord Who is our complete security. He takes a man who is insecure about his adequacy for the task and brings him to the place where he realizes that the Lord is our complete adequacy. He is our strength. He is our sufficiency. He is our confidence. The battle is His. The strategy is His. The weapons are His. The victory is His! The peace is His!

During the period of Judges the peace is short lived because the people fail to live in the Lord who is their peace. It is a picture of God’s people failing to abide in Christ.

Gideon, rather sheepishly, asked if he could put out ANOTHER fleece before the Lord! He does this knowing that God had every right to be angry at his unbelief (Judges 6:39).  This reminds us of the man with the demonized son who said to Jesus, “I do believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).  In some cases we believe the right things in our heads but our hearts need some emotional reinforcement.

The epistle of John teaches us that there are better ways to assure our hearts before God!  (1 John 3:14-24).  Throwing a fleece is not the Biblically prescribed or divinely sanctioned method for discerning God’s will.

Gideon has reasons to be insecure if God were banking on his personal qualifications. He was not a military man, he was a farmer. There were other men from families and tribes who currently had more influence to rally the troops. There were others who were more competent, naturally winning the vote on being most likely to succeed.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate. He is sympathetic to our human limitations (Psalm 103: 14) and stoops to Gideon’s request. As the fleece is left out overnight it is completely dry while the ground is wet with dew.

Now Gideon was without excuse. He must confront the enemy. But he and his army were to confront them as ONE man. The word for ‘one’ in the Hebrew in this instance (Judges 6:16) is ‘echad’, meaning a ‘composite oneness’ reflecting the community of oneness figured in the Trinity (Deut 6:4), in marriage (Gen 2:24) and grapes joined in clusters to the vine  (Numbers 13:23). The army would be identified and joined together as one man, prefiguring Christ and His church.

But once again the Lord challenges natural sensibilities.  Gideon, who blew the trumpet to rally 32,000 men, is told that the number of men with him are too many!  The enemy’s troops number 135,000 or more (Judges 8:10).

The Lord tells Gideon to dismiss all those who are afraid. 22,000 leave!  This would have been shattering to Gideon’s ego, if there was anything left of his ego to shatter!  The ability of the leader to encourage the faint-hearted was not the quality God was looking for here.

Those who remained did not do so because their trust was in themselves or their leader’s natural abilities. Their trust was in the fact that God had promised to deliver the enemy into their hands  and would use His servant Gideon to do so.

The Lord then tells Gideon that the 10,000 who remain are still too many.

To whittle the army down to a miniscule size of 300, the Lord announces that he will test or sift those who were already trusting His ability to deliver them from the enemy.  He would do with the ‘water test’.

How did the Lord determine those who would be joined together as one man to fight the enemy? 

With the men that lapped.

 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." ^[6] Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

 ^[7] The Lord said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place."

What does it mean?

We may not be entirely sure but it appears that those who lapped brought the water to their mouths with cupped hands, maintaining a position of alertness to their surroundings and readiness for the battle for which they were called. Those who prostrated themselves, bowing down or kneeling, would have lost sight of where they were and why they were being summoned. We will have situations in our lives that test whether our faith in rooted in God. Do we forget the big picture and lose sight of why we are called?

The greatest ability that God looks for is AVAILability- the availability of faith.  The word ‘avail’ refers to ‘prove worthy’, ‘profitable’ or ‘valuable’.  Faith sees the value and worth of God’s ABILITY to the degree that we make ourselves ’present and ready’ to do what God has called us to do. We are confident in God’s ability to perform so we avail ourselves to God’s marching orders.

“The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” (1 Thess 5:24)

Those who lapped were not afraid to look like dogs in the eyes of the enemy or others.  They would not dawdle to indulge themselves by putting their heads in the water.  (Some commentators infer that the getting down on their knees smacked of the religion of the Midianites and Amorites in the worship of Baal.  I am not convinced that nearly 10,000 of those who were coming forward were doing so trusting in Baal to deliver them!) 

How is it with your faith?  Is your heart attitude one that “joins together” with the people of God, identifying with the person, work and mission of Christ?

We cannot borrow faith from our next door neighbor.  Some people view faith as being the ability to believe something to be true.  No, that is not Biblical faith. Faith is the transfer of trust to a person or thing considered reliable. Faith must take a valuable, trustworthy object. True faith is not faith in faith. True faith is faith in the One who is Faithful and True! (Rev. 3:14; 19:11)

It has been said that faith is like a toothbrush. We all need one, but you should not use someone else’s! Is your own trust in the One who is trust-worthy?

-Pastor David

PRAY FOR THE NATIONS

TODAY-  CONGO  (from the Prayer Guide  “OPERATION WORLD”)

Republic of Congo [Brazzaville]

Africa

Geography

Area: 342,000 sq km

West of Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Zaire), with which it is often confused. Around 60% of the country
is covered with tropical rainforest, which is declining from deforestation. Grasslands and bush in the central and southwest, forest in the north.

Population: 3,758,678    Annual Growth: 1.93%

Capital: Brazzaville

Urbanites: 62.1%

HDI Rank: 136 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian (89.72%)

Challenge for Prayer

The Congo is a land of past troubles, but future potential. Two decades of Communism have been followed by a sham of a democracy, with the past dictator reinstated as president after provoking a civil war that devastated the land, killed thousands and displaced over 300,000. Congo is a land rich with natural resources, but the majority of the population live in or very near to poverty level. Pray for benign government, for wise economic policies and for justice to prevail in society.

The Church needs revival and restoration. Congo has been Christianized – superficially, at least – but never truly converted. The majority of the population are Christian, but some sources claim that up to 50% are actually animists. What is undeniable is that for a vast number, Christianity is a thin veneer over traditional African religion. The upheaval of the 1990s was a major setback for many ministries. Pray for a new move of the Spirit, greater than the revival that blazed through the region more than 50 years ago. Churches need to be swept clear of flawed worldviews and false beliefs, and instead filled with the Spirit’s power and led by biblical truth.

New Life Community Church, Concord, MA 10742

www.newlife.org

Meeting Sundays at 10:30 AM at the Emerson Umbrella for the Arts, 40 Stow Street, Concord MA

Mailing Address: Post Office Box Five, Concord, MA 01742

Church Offices: 35 Bypass Rd. Lincoln, MA 01773  978-369-0061

Home Office: 978-371-3176

New Life Fine Arts

"Theater you can believe in."

www.newlifefinearts.org

GIDEON and GOD’S GRACIOUS DELIVERANCE

TODAY’S READING IN THE ONE YEAR BIBLE:  

APRIL 26  Judges 6:1-40; Luke 22:54-23:12; Psalm 95-96:13; Proverbs 14:5-6

7 times in the Book of Judges we come across this indictment: “the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2:11; 3:7; 3:12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1).

What evil did they do?

They were turned aside by their lusts (covetousness) to serve idols.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE SIN CYCLE

Chapter 2 gave us a summary of the cycles of failures and deliverances to come: (2:11-23)

They do evil in the sight of the Lord- turning to sin and self-reliance (2:11)

They covet and give in to the culture’s idolatries/forgetting the Lord (2:12)

They serve counterfeit gods (2:13)

The fall into trouble, defeat and enslavement (2:14)

They experience distress (and sometimes cry out to the Lord) (2:15)

The Lord raises up judges (saviors) to deliver them (2:16)

They are delivered (2:18)

When the judge dies the nation returns to its former sins and becomes more corrupt in its behaviors (2:19).

The Book of Judges not only demonstrates that we need a savior to save us from our individual sins, but we need a savior to keep us saved (save us from the sin cycle!)  We need the gift of a holy life!  Moral reform and religious revival do not deal with the root problem. We need a Savior who will save us to the uttermost! (See Hebrews 7:25) This is the kind of Savior we have in Jesus! (2 Peter 1:3).

In Judges 1 through 5 we read of the first three deliverances.

1. The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord by serving the Baals and Ashteroth (3:7). They were delivered to the King of Mesopotamia (Cushan-rishathaim) for 8 years.  When they cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up Othniel. (3:9)

2. The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and  were delivered to Eglon of Moab for 18 years. The Lord raised up Ehud to deliver them. (3:12)

3. The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, and the commander of his army, Sisera, who oppressed them severely for 20 years. The Lord raised up Deborah and Barak as their deliverers. (4:1)

In Chapter 6, we read of the fourth deliverance.

4. The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord (6:1) and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for 7 years, who brought them very low and devastated the land. The people cried out to the Lord (6:7) and the Lord raised up Gideon. (6:12 f)

The Midianites terrorize the Israelites and devastate their crops.

 The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. (Judges 6:2)

The Midianites were bullies. They seized the livestock, exploit their grazing fields, sabotage their crops and humiliate the Israelites in whatever way they could.

When the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance, the Lord sent a prophet to remind them that if they had properly feared Him there would be no need for them to fear the gods of the Amorites.  But they had been disobedient.

GIDEON’S CALL

Gideon’s call to be Israel’s deliverer is quite humorous. Because of Gideon’s fear of the enemy, he threshes wheat in a winepress. The threshing of wheat was often done on the top of a hill. There the wind would blow the lighter chaff away from the heavier kernel when it was tossed into the air. But Gideon was afraid to be seen on any hill top. Instead he chose to thresh his wheat in a pit that was used for a wine press.  Whereas he was less likely to be seen by the enemy in this unusual spot, he was less likely to be productive in threshing grain. How often fear clouds our thinking like this!

The God of all grace addresses this very insecure man as if he were a courageous hero!:

The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior."  Judges 6:12

How does Gideon respond to this gracious appellation? He complains:

"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 abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian." Judges 6:13

We often moan, “If God is good, why do I suffer?”  The fact that God’s people had been disobedient, turned to idols and forsaken Him did not seem to cross Gideon’s mind, although a prophet had just explained this (verse 10).

The LORD does not reprimand Gideon, He commissions him! (v.14)  Gideon, like Moses being called by God from the burning bush, makes excuses. How can he be useful to God? He is the youngest in his family and his family is the smallest in the Manasseh!

We see a pattern in God’s choice of human instruments throughout the Bible.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, (1 Cor 1:27-28)

The LORD dodges Gideon’s excuses and promises him victory, saying

 "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man." Judges 6:16

Here we have a prophetic picture of the instrumentality of the church as one new man, the body of Christ.

Gideon continues to waffle in unbelief. He asks for a sign. He asks the Lord to stay there until he prepares an offering to put upon a rock as an altar.  The Lord received the offering in a way that is supernaturally affirmed by a fire springing up to consume it. Then the angel of the Lord suddenly disappears but the conversation continues. Gideon, after the fact, recognizes that he has been speaking with the angel of the Lord, saying “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord, face to face.”

Again the Lord graciously comforts and assures Gideon of success, giving him peace. Gideon builds an altar and names it, “The Lord is peace”.

But Gideon’s peace is short-lived. On the same night the Lord commands him to tear down the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole beside it and then build an altar on top of this stronghold!

He is then to offer a bull on the new altar and burn it with the wood from the Asherah pole.

Fear causes Gideon to do it by night rather than by day (6:27).

When the Israelites arose and saw what had been done, they were outraged and they want to kill Gideon. His father, Joash, tries to alleviate their vindictiveness by challenging them to let Baal defend himself, if he can, against this wrong. Gideon is named ‘Jerrubaal’ , meaning “Let Baal contend against him.” (Ah, thanks, Dad).

A new scene begins in verse 33. The armies of the Midianites and Amalekites assemble in the valley of Jezreel.

A new beginning occurs for Gideon in verse 34. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon and he becomes the necessary leader bringing deliverance to the Israelites from the oppression of the Midianites. He is compelled by the Spirit to blow the trumpet. For all who heard it, it was a signal that a battle was imminent.

The Lord had given His promise to Gideon that He would provide deliverance from the Midianites but Gideon was slow to believe it. He needed reassurance. He asked the Lord to give him an outward sign that the victory He had promised would indeed come. He put a fleece on the ground of the threshing floor and asked that if the ground would be dry, the fleece needed to be thoroughly wet.  God answered that request. But rather than taking the answer as an assurance, Gideon asked for ANOTHER sign. HE asked that if on the next evening, the earth could be wet with dew, but the fleece be thoroughly dry.

And God GRACIOUSLY answered that request.  (v.40)

Although there are some who believe that Gideon was unsure that God was going to give them the victory over the Midianites, it is more likely that Gideon’s real struggle was to believe that God was going to give the victory through him!

What about you? Do you find yourself making excuses when God asks you to do something? Do you put up a fight?  Do you put up a lot of hoops for the Lord to jump through to give you assurance? Can you identify with Gideon’s slowness to believe that God could use him for His purposes?

When we look upon the accounts of those living at the time of the Judges we can recognize that there are many similarities with the spiritual climate of today.  We all need a Savior. And in Christ, we have a deliverer who secures peace, not only for a season, but for all eternity!

-          Pastor David

-           

PRAY FOR THE NATIONS-  Comoros (off Africa)

(from the Prayer Guide “OPERATION WORLD”)

Geography

Area: 1,862 sq km

Three volcanic islands between Madagascar and Mozambique, all densely populated and resource poor.
Mayotte, which voted in 2009 to integrate fully with France, is claimed by Comoros.

Population: 691,351    Annual Growth: 2.32%

Capital: Moroni

Urbanites: 28.2%

HDI Rank: 139 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 12 (67% unreached

Official language: Arabic, French, Comorian (a mix of Swahili and Arabic)    Languages: 7

Religion

Largest Religion: Muslim

Challenge for Prayer

The vast majority of the population are Muslim.They were almost completely unevangelized before 1973. Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise. However, most are involved in occult practices through witchcraft, curses and spirit possession. Many young people – disillusioned with life in this society that offers so little hope – attempt to find solace in drugs, sex or the opportunity to leave the islands. Pray that they might have opportunities to hear the gospel of life that offers hope to all.

There are severe restrictions on Christians. Evangelism is forbidden, and those who convert to Christianity can expect severe reprisals from the community and from their own family. Harassment and persecution have risen in frequency and intensity in recent years. Pray for courage for those choosing to follow Jesus, and wisdom for all who must walk out their faith in this hostile atmosphere.

David MacAdam, pastor

New Life Community Church, Concord, MA

So, naturally, we proclaim Christ! We warn everyone we meet, and we teach everyone we can, all that we know about him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ. (Colossians 1:28, J.B. Phillips paraphrase)

New Life Community Church, Concord, MA 10742

www.newlife.org

Meeting Sundays at 10:30 AM at the Emerson Umbrella for the Arts, 40 Stow Street, Concord MA

Mailing Address: Post Office Box Five, Concord, MA 01742

Church Offices: 35 Bypass Rd. Lincoln, MA 01773  978-369-0061

Home Office: 978-371-3176

New Life Fine Arts

"Theater you can believe in."

www.newlifefinearts.org