"A Sword For the Lord and For Gideon"

(Judges 7:2-25)

We are all personally fighting against our enemies, amen?  Our battles are against spiritual rulers, against the demonic powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).

Our battles to us are real, and at times, we do get wounded.  But praise God, in the Lord, we are more than conquerors!  In the Lord, we have been given the authority to not only resist the devil, but to cause him to flee, him and all his hordes of demons.

Jesus said, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” (Luke 10:19)  And so, we learn to engage in our spiritual warfare against Satan, and we fight to win.

Now, I know you know this.  We can all attest to what it means to submit to God and resist the devil.  But, what you probably don’t pay much attention to is this.  Are you listening?  I want you to hear this:

God does not want us to go through our battles by ourselves!  We are not alone!  We have each other!!!  Yes we have God, but He’s given us each other!

We are meant to fight as one army for each other.

“And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Jesus Christ on white horses.” (Rev. 19:14)

This army that is with Christ in the heavenlies, is nothing more than the beautiful bride of Christ we talked about a couple of weeks ago.

And the fine linen she is clothed with, are her righteous acts.  Let me tell you one of the major righteous acts of the bride of Christ.

It’s when we fight for each other, in spiritual warfare!  God is engaged in fighting our battles against Satan, with us!  But so is His army, His church, amen?  This is all part of loving each other.

“We pursue the things that make for peace and the building up of one another. (Rom. 14:19) [We all want peace from the conflict]

“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Phil. 2:4)

“And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 Jn. 3:16)

“Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.” (Rom. 15:2)

“Be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” (Eph. 6:18)

Caring about each other’s concerns, along with our own, is what God’s army of love is all about.

We are interceding for each other, and always hoping the best.  We are speaking encouraging words, and doing deeds of kindness.  In church life, we are never alone.  We are together as one, and mighty we are in the Lord!

There is indication in Scripture that when God is fighting with us, against our enemies, one can put to flight 1000, but 2 puts to flight 10,000!  (Josh. 23:10; Deut. 32:30)

We are told to submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee.  Well, what happens when we stand together for each other, and resist the devil.

When 2 or more come together and pray, God is in our midst, and He gives us what we ask for.  We are way more than just 2, we are a great majority because God is with us!

Can you imagine 10,000 of your enemies, coming at you at once?  Well, can you imagine just 2 of the saints putting all of them to flight!!!  We’ve got to believe this is true.

God said, “Unify!  Bless each other!  This is one of the main ways that Jesus Christ is building His church!

We are together as one, and as one we are strong.  God made it that way.  We are fighting on the same side for each other, not against each other.

What is it that you are battling with?  Don’t do it alone.  Let the church fight with you.  Though our numbers are few, we are just enough to break through for each other.

Let’s look now, at our opening text.  Read  Judges 7:2-14

Let’s notice that God said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands.”

Don’t we always think, the more the merrier?  I mean, which would you rather have, 32,000 or 300?  But God doesn’t think the way we do.

So God takes Gideon’s church from 32,000, and reduces it down to 300.  And the Lord hand picked the remnant.  It was then that Gideon heard the Lord say, “I will deliver you with 300 men.”

So with an army of only 300, Gideon was supposed to believe that he could fight and win, against an enemy army that was “as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.”

You have got to be kidding.  No, God said it was enough.  God was leaving room for Himself to do the miraculous!

But just like you and I would, Gideon still had his doubts.  He was afraid.  But look at how gracious the Lord is.

So the Lord told him,

“Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands.  But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp, and you will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp.” (7:9,10)

So Gideon took the Lord up on His offer, and he and his servant quietly went down to the camp and overheard a conversation.  Two men were talking, and one was sharing a dream he had just had, of a loaf of barley bread tumbling into camp.  The other interpreted it as “God has given the camp into Gideon’s hand.

Gideon, at last, had heard enough.  He caught the vision.  What vision?  That small was enough to defeat the enemy.  God often makes our circumstances impossible for us to deal with ourselves.

We come to the place where we only see the enemy, and he looks strong and able to defeat us.  But as Elisha told his servant, “Those who are for us are more than those who are against us.”

When all looks hopeless in the natural, we must put our confidence in the unseen realm of God’s angels and believe that His forces far out number our enemy’s.

This is why we walk by faith, not by sight.  Our faith is in God, and in His ability to change circumstances for the better.

The Midian army had held Israel captive for a long time.  They were a huge fighting force.  But with only 300, God was going to change things.  Let’s read how Gideon’s battle ends.

Read Judges 7:15-25

Now, I’d like for us to zero in on their battle cry.  With torches in their left hand, and trumpets in their right hand for blowing, each cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.”

Yes, this sword was for the Lord and for all of Israel, but it was Gideon’s fight that God had called him to.  And God had hand selected 300 men to surround Gideon with, in order to win the battle.  The battle cry was, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.”

What is your fight?  Because we are in it with you.  God only gave Gideon 300 men out of 32,000.  Well, here we are, are we are for you, and whatever it is that you’re fighting against.

Church, we have got to prevail in each other’s battles, as well as our own.  It does not matter if you see your enemy as Gideon did, “as numerous as locusts.”  God has got your “300” right here, in Life Church of the Islands.  [church=cover each other’s back!]

We are the exact number you need to fight and win every battle you’re engaged in.  Our battle cry should and must be, “A sword for the Lord and for Janice, or Debra, or Patsy.  A sword for the Lord and for Craig or Josh or Lisa or Tim or Savina!”

Scripture says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”  But it’s not just God doing all the work.  He is in His church, and we are engaged too!”  If we be for each other, who can be against us?”

Now the Bible says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood.  So I’m not talking about fighting people.  I’m talking about fighting you demons with you, and prevailing with you, because we intercede and encourage and care about each other’s problems.

Notice, the enemy kings of Midian who had come against Gideon had their heads cut off.  The enemy was utterly destroyed.  And I say to you, revival in your life and mine is when God and His church help you cut off your enemy’s heads too, and bring them to you.

We may be few, but we are mighty in the Lord!  And we are just the right number needed to help you win your battles.  If we get involved in fighting for each other, there will be far less chance for us to be tempted to fight against each other, amen?

You are not alone!  You’ve got to stop living as though you were.  Live like you really are a part of an army engaged in battle for each other.  We are one, so let us fight as one, on our knees.  How can we help you get the victory?

Are you discouraged?  Are you being tempted to sin?  Are you distressed or depressed?  Are you ready to give up on something?  Does it seem hopeless?  Please, let us stand with you.

Don’t retreat!  Don’t stop praying.  Please keep praying for my son Christ who has a killer diabetes.  I’m not going to give up, but I need your prayers.  If you’re concerned about your family, let’s pray!  Are you concerned about your marriage.  Let’s pray!

All it takes is for 2 to come together, amen!

Now, Proverbs 16:20 says, “How blessed is He who trusts in the Lord.”

I want us, this morning, to get serious about trusting in the Lord.  I want us to understand that God has the victory we need.  But we have got to get desperate for it, like never before.

Don’t let the “wrong thing” happening in your life, and in the lives of those you love, just keep on happening.  If ever there was a day to get serious about spiritual warfare, this is it.

The enemy for some of you in this room, is as numerous as locusts, and the sands of the seashore.  But let this message sink in.  You have got in each other, a sword for the Lord and for you that will win the fight.

Now, I happen to know a little bit about each of you in this room today.  You’re engaged in warfare for your children.  You may think I’m talking about you, and I probably am, but I’m probably talking to the person sitting next to you too.

Church, we have got to win the fight for your children.  Get mad.  Don’t let Satan have his way.  Don’t think that what you see happening in their lives is the way it’s got to be.  NO!

Be a people of God’s authority.  Stand on the promises of God.  Enlist help from those around you.  God has the victory, but we are going to have to fight the battle, with faith and trust in Him to break Satan’s hold, and set the captives free.