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 “It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.

^25-27 “It’s urgent that you get this right: The time has arrived—I mean right now!—when dead men and women will hear the voice of the Son of God and, hearing, will come alive. Just as the Father has life in himself, he has conferred on the Son life in himself. And he has given him the authority, simply because he is the Son of Man, to decide and carry out matters of Judgment.

^28-29 “Don’t act so surprised at all this. The time is coming when everyone dead and buried will hear his voice. Those who have lived the right way will walk out into a resurrection Life; those who have lived the wrong way, into a resurrection Judgment. (The Message)

Jesus’ claim to be one with God the Father was explosive, and the Jews understood that He was claiming equality with God. That’s why they accused Him of blasphemy. Jesus’ oneness with the Father was seen, not only in His working on the Sabbath, but in sharing the Father’s prerogatives of Judging and giving life.

‘Life’ is one of John’s repeated themes. Jesus is ”the life” (John 14:6), and He imparts ”life”. I believe there are two senses in which we can experience this:

a.) Jesus raises people from the dead spiritually now. He is sovereign in giving ”eternal life” – ”real, lasting life”. This is a wonderful miracle. When you receive the life Jesus gives it can feel as if you have never lived before. Someone put it like this: ‘Previously, my life was in black and white; but after becoming a Christian, everything was in glorious technicolour!’ I attended a funeral where the son of the deceased, in his eulogy said, ‘My father was a Christian and believed in internal life!’ Indeed he did. I knew him well ‘Internal life’ starts with the new birth, in which the life of eternity is planted deep in the soul;

b.) One day He will raise all people from the dead. But they will not all share the same destiny. It is faith in Jesus that makes the difference (24). Jim Packer pointed out that in the Bible justification is by faith, but judgment is according to works, because the works reveal the reality of faith, or its absence.

I remember, as a young teenager, walking with my dad and uncle to visit my grandad’s new grave in a Lancaster cemetery. I’m sure they felt the pain and sadness of it, as did I. But I also recall the cheerful conversation initiated by my Uncle. He said, ‘Wouldn’t you just love to knock on the cemetery superintendent’s door and say, ‘Sir, do you realise that one day every grave here will open and every dead person come out?!!’ The ashes of my dad and uncle are now buried in that same cemetery, but I am grateful that I can affirm:

‘I believe in…the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.’

‘The partition thins between this world and the world to come, or
the next or the other world. On the other side of the partition
the dead are living. As one grows older some of the dead grow
more alive, more essentially themselves. One loves them more. As
the next world grows more distinct, this one becomes, not more
vague, but more strange.’ Wendell Berry

 “But you haven’t seen the half of it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honoured equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonours the Son, dishonours the Father, for it was the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honour. (The Message)

In order to honour God we must honour Jesus. The truth is, our attitude to God is bound up with our attitude to Jesus. To reject Jesus is to reject God. Some people want a form of religion/spirituality – want a god – but they do not want Jesus. But Jesus made it clear that the only way anyone can approach God is through Him (John 14:6). There is no other way.

”No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:23)

The Jews ‘…in fact…were blind. They didn’t realise that Christ was indeed equal with God. Therefore, they refused to honour Christ. They said, ”We honour only God.” But Jesus told them, ”He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father.” It’s the same among men: whenever we dishonour a man’s son, we dishonour the man himself.’ Tom Hale

So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing. (The Message)

Someone observed that all Jesus’ movements were ‘according to a divine timetable.’ Isn’t this part of the reason why ” Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)? His earthly ‘ministry’ flowed out of communion with His Father. The Father showed Him what to say, what to do, where to go, who to be with. During those three years, our Lord did not do everything; He did not meet every single need in Israel. But He did walk in step with the Father.

I am convinced that this is a vital key to effective Christian service: i.e. consistent communion with God. ‘Deep calls to deep’, and deep within we know it. I cannot think of one biography of a pastor/missionary/Christian leader I have read, where prayer was not their heartbeat. They followed Jesus into the ”lonely places” and prayed.

‘The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with God.’ Oswald Chambers.

Chambers also said, ‘If you have ever prayed in the dawn you will ask yourself why you were so foolish as not to do it always: it is difficult to get into communion with God in the midst of the hurly-burly of the day.’

I once heard about a missionary, greatly used by God. Someone asked him. ‘What is the secret of your success?’ He replied, ‘I watch what God is doing and go and join Him.’

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. ² The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ ³ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

⁴ But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

⁵ So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” ⁶ Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. 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 others go home.” ⁸ So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. (NIV)

”Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” (1 Sam 14:6b)

Here are some key ingredients for ‘success’ in spiritual leadership:

1. A leader who listens to God;
2. A leader who does what God says, no matter how counter-intuitive or crazy it seems; no matter how much it goes against the grain. We need to be able to hear from God with clarity, and then step out with God in courage;
3. God must be in control of the whole enterprise;
4. God must get all the glory. The reason the Lord wanted Israel’s army reduced was because He didn’t want them boasting that they’d won the battle in their own strength (2). ”“You have too large an army with you. I can’t turn Midian over to them like this—they’ll take all the credit, saying, ‘I did it all myself,’ and forget about me.” (The Message).

‘Victories won because of faith bring glory to God because nobody can explain how they happened. ”If you can explain what’s going on in your ministry, ” Dr. Bob Cook used to remind us, ”then God didn’t do it.” When I was serving in Youth for Christ, I often heard our leaders pray, ”Lord keep Youth for Christ on a miracle basis.” That meant living by faith.’ Warren Wiersbe

‘When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely upon education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do. And so on. But when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do.” A. C. Dixon

PRAYER: In our churches, lives and ministries, Lord, cause us to move in your power and live in your miracles.

 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— ³⁷ look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” ³⁸ And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” ⁴⁰ That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. (NIV)

When I was a young Christian, in my teen years, I would often hear other believers talk about ‘putting out a fleece’ when seeking guidance. Of course, they got the idea from the story of Gideon. At the time it seemed to make sense. But as the years went by, I eventually heard voices saying, ‘No, this is not a good idea’, and I came to understand that Gideon’s ‘fleece’ was evidence of a lack of faith. Warren Wiersbe articulates the issue well:

‘The phrase ”putting out the fleece” is a familiar one in religious circles. It means asking God to guide us in a decision by fulfilling some condition that we lay down. In my pastoral ministry, I’ve met all kinds of people who have gotten themselves into trouble by ”putting out the fleece.” If they received a phone call at a certain hour from a certain person, God was telling them to do this, or if the weather changed at a certain time, God was telling them to do something else.

”Putting out the fleece” is not a Biblical method for determining the will of God. Rather, it’s an approach used by people like Gideon who lack the faith to trust God to do what He said He would do. Twice Gideon reminded God of what He had said (6:36-37), and twice Gideon asked God to reaffirm His promises with a miracle. The fact that God stooped to Gideon’s weakness only proves that He’s a gracious God who understands how we are made (Ps.103:14). Who are we to tell God what conditions He must meet, especially when He has already spoken to us in His Word? ”Putting out the fleece” is not only an evidence of our unbelief, but it’s also an evidence of our pride. God has to do what I tell Him to do before I’ll do what He tells me to do!’

In all of this, however, let’s not lose sight of the precious truth that our God is real, alive, vocal and active! He speaks; He acts; and He does guide His people in many mysterious and wonderful ways.

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. ³⁵ He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them. (NIV)

Warren Wiersbe tells the story of when a group of British pastors were discussing the advisability of inviting D.L. Moody to their city for a mission. One man asked, ”Why must it be Moody? Does D.L. Moody have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?” Quietly one of the other pastors replied, ”No, but it’s evident that the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on D.L. Moody.”

Having encountered Gideon, we know he was not naturally heroic. It was the Spirit of the Lord who made the difference. When the Spirit does the work through us, we can’t take the credit. All the glory must go to God.

‘Just change a few details and the story of Gideon can be the story of any Christian today. We won’t be called to fight Midianites, but we’ll surely be called to fight other enemies just as bad – false teaching, worldliness, ungodliness, and idolatry of every kind; and if we are faithful, God will add our names to His list of ”heroes of faith.” Tom Hale

 ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. (Zech.4:6)

‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

“Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.” ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. ¹⁸ Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

¹⁹ Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

²⁰ The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. ²¹ Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. ²² When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

²⁴ So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵ That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. ²⁶ Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”

²⁷ So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

²⁸ In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

²⁹ They asked each other, “Who did this?”

When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

³⁰ The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

³¹ But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” ³² So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day, saying, “Let Baal contend with him.” (NIV)

I guess it shows just how low things had got in the nation that the spiritual rot was showing itself under Gideon’s own roof.

When God calls you to do something, you need to make a start, however hesitatingly and fearfully you may approach the task. Furthermore, it may well be that you need to start at home. But your stand for truth, righteousness and God’s Word may not necessarily be understood or appreciated by your nearest and dearest. Jesus calls us to love Him first, and to love Him more than any natural relation, and there may be a high price to be paid at home. Some new believers find, at their baptism, that they are cut off from their families.

Gideon’s bold action was so unappreciated by his family members that he would have died, but for his father’s intervention. Maybe Joash had long suspected that Baal was overrated, but hadn’t been able to bring himself to get rid of the altar and pole. Perhaps it was superstition? Had these things become like ‘good luck charms’ to him? Or maybe his son’s actions were a sudden wake up call, and he began to see things clearly. The crowd themselves probably expected that Baal would have put Gideon to death; when this didn’t happen they began to side with Gideon.

‘It took faith for Gideon to tear down his father’s altar and to go against his community. In our day, too, we are called to do as Gideon did. We must always put Christ first – above our community, our family, and ourselves (see Matthew 10:34-39; Luke 14:26).’ Tom Hale

 One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites. The angel of God appeared to him and said, “God is with you, O mighty warrior!”

¹³ Gideon replied, “With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracle-wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us, ‘Didn’t God deliver us from Egypt?’ The fact is, God has nothing to do with us—he has turned us over to Midian.”

¹⁴ But God faced him directly: “Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven’t I just sent you?”

¹⁵ Gideon said to him, “Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan’s the weakest in Manasseh and I’m the runt of the litter.”

¹⁶ God said to him, “I’ll be with you. Believe me, you’ll defeat Midian as one man.” (The Message)

God knows who you really are, and who you can be, and what you can do, because of Him. He only has to be with you, and you have a strength you never realised (14). Jesus meets Simon. the reed, and knows He will make him into Peter, the rock.

‘Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ 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. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” ‘ (1 Cor.1:26-27)

I think it may have been Hudson Taylor who referred to himself as ‘a man small enough for God to use.’ I like that!

It’s not who we are (or who we are in our own eyes) but who God is that matters. He makes the difference.

‘Gideon was an unlikely candidate for God’s ”Hall of Fame” (Heb.11:32). When God called him, he was hiding. When God spoke to him, he raised problems instead of trusting promises. One of his favourite words was if (vv.13,17, 36; Mark 9:22-23). When Gideon did start to obey God, he worked at night (v.27) and had to have repeated assurance that the Lord was with him. But God saw the potential in Gideon and even called him a ”mighty man of valour” (v.12). God sees the potential in you and says to you as He did to Simon, ”You are…You shall be” (John 1:42).’ Warren W. Wiersbe