In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of being a priest unto the Lord Jesus. He starts by thanking God and asking for His help and guidance. The preacher then discusses the story of Gideon from the book of Judges, where God tells Gideon that he has too many people in his army and needs to reduce the number. This story serves as a lesson for the present day, reminding believers to prepare their hearts and make fresh commitments to the Lord. The sermon concludes with a call for individuals to make a renewed dedication to God and trust in His grace to overcome challenges.

But that thing that Abraham had cherished for many, many years, and God had given it to him, his beloved Isaac, after he had grown to years where he was just a fine young man, didn't take him when he was a day or two old when, you know, you hadn't got to know his personality. And I'm not saying that wouldn't be severe, and I know it can be very severe, I know that. But he waits till the young man grows and he sees his obedience, his love, his devotion. And God says, now put Isaac on the altar. That which God had given him. That which God had given him. And that through which God promised all nations would be blessed, God says, put that on the altar. But God, you could argue, I must be hearing wrong, because God, you promised that through him all nations would be blessed. But Abraham's faith by that time had become so strong, his walk with God so definite, he knew the voice, and he knew that God had risen from the dead. He knew that. So he said to his servant, you stay here, the lad and I will go up yonder and worship, and come again to you. The first mention of worship in the scriptures. Not the first time men worshipped, but the first mention of it, as far as I could figure out from the concordance, was when Abraham said, I and the lad will go up in the mountain and worship the Lord. So that worship is something that God wants his people to become. Abraham had become a worshipper. So that everything you do, it's not an hour of worship you have here, it's a 24 hour commitment to God. That everything you do is worship unto God. Whether it seem good or evil, good or bad. Blessing, editor, or devastation. The funeral for the altar is the wood of the idol. Only God can search the hearts to determine what has become our idol. Was Isaac becoming somewhat of an idol to Abraham? I don't know. But good things can become an idol. A ministry can become an idol. A great gift that God gives can become an idol. And does! And Moses erected a serpent of brass and hung it up on the pole because God told him to do it. And he says, you tell the children of Israel, if they look on that serpent of brass, they'll be healed. They were dying all around, poisoned by the serpents. And he erected a serpent of brass and put it up on the pole. And the word went through, just look at the serpent. Look at the serpent of brass and you'll be healed. With any strength that was in them, they turned their eyes to look at that serpent and they were healed. And that serpent of brass became an idol in Israel for hundreds of years. Hundreds of years. They burnt incense to it in Hezekiah. Had to destroy it because that which God had given to heal his people became an object of idolatry. End of time. Getting on. Do you want to go or ten more minutes? Shouldn't say that, I guess. So Gideon, having made the sacrifice, having made the commitment, having torn down the idol and having erected the altar of the Lord, using the idol as fuel for the fire, watching it burn and burn. But what God was concerned was not about that idol as much as the heart of that man. And Gideon was able to assemble a host of about 32,000 people. Not much compared to the enemy. But there was at least 135,000 of the enemy. But at least God had told him to go, so he go. Judges 7, verse 2. The Lord said unto Gideon, the people that are with thee are too many for me. In all of these mighty works of God in the book of Judges, I believe we have principles that God is bringing forth for this day and hour. One aspect here in this judge. Another one there in this judge. Here is one that somehow the Lord has impressed upon me through the years, through many, many years. That God is going to prepare an end time army. They're going to be weakened and crippled in small in number to rout the hosts of evil in this day and hour. While missionary organizations and churches are trying to amass, God comes down and says, you've got too many. And I get a missionary magazine and it says, there's not enough. Not enough missionaries. Not enough money. There's not enough resources. We've got to have more of all of these things. And God says, you've got too much now for me. Too much for me. So he told all the fearful ones to go home. 22,000 went home. Still had 10,000. Do what I can with the 10. And the Lord says in the beginning, you've still got too many. Bring them down to the water and I will try them there. I just want a certain small number who are totally disciplined. I'll prove them. I'll test them. You know how he tested them. Those who would go down on their face and drink. Those who would lift the water with their hands. 300 who did that. I know people have theories of what that meant. And I never bothered with that. I'm just saying this. They did not know they were being tested. They were just, Gideon says, go and take a drink. Told Gideon, you mark the ones. Mark them. Either write down their names or maybe he had a servant. That man over there that had this red thing on his sleeve. I don't know how they marked them. Go get them. Get them out by themselves. They did not know they were being tested. When they had finished drinking, Gideon had got the 300 by themselves. He says, the rest you go home. The first bunch that went home were a little fearful. But these men were not afraid. They survived that. They were not afraid. But they didn't stand the test. And God is testing you and I every day of our lives. Testing you here at school. You want to come and you understand you're going to be writing exams. To see whether or not you're approved. You might pass your exams. Because nobody can test you with this kind of test. But God is testing you every day. Your motives. Your attitudes. If there's selfishness. If there's things, you know, in your nature that is displeasing to God. Conceited in heart or proud of heart. Only God can see that. Only God can search out the heart. I'm saying this simply. God loves you, I know. And I've enjoyed ministering here to see the openness and the hunger. But let not him that girdeth on his armor zealously getting on that armor to fight the Lord's battle Let not him that girdeth on his armor boast as he that putteth it off. And that if your heart is right, God will be looking for you. If your heart isn't changed, I don't care what ability you got. What kind of ability do you got to preach or to teach or to heal the sick or to prophesy or to raise the dead. Oh, don't talk those things. We don't have that here. But you could have all of that if your heart isn't right. If your heart isn't right, God's not looking for you. We're being tested every day in all that we do as God would try the reins in the heart searching for that one whose heart is right toward Him who will be so totally disciplined of the Lord that they will do nothing less and nothing more than what our Gideon says. So he sent the rest of Israel to their tents. Gideon was afraid. Bad enough with 32,000, but now 300. I guess 135,000. God says, Gideon, I know you're a little afraid. Walk down the hill, you and your servants, and listen to a conversation that's going on down there. Goes down the hill, the enemy like grasshoppers for a multitude. The man wakes up. He had a terrifying dream, nightmare. What happened? What's wrong with you? I saw a cake of barley roll down the hill and tumble the tent. Knocked the tent and flattened it out. A barley bun. He said, I got the interpretation. He said, that's the hosts of Gideon. He said, they're going to wipe out the Midianites. He got the interpretation from the Lord. This ungodly Midianites. That was enough for Gideon. He went up, and he didn't put a sword in any of their hands. But somehow, I wonder if... Well, I guess God must have told him about this ahead of time. He gives everybody an empty pitcher and a trumpet and a lamp. Where's my sword? Forget that. Trumpet, an empty pitcher, and a lamp. And his word to them was this. Look on me and do likewise. All I can say is, if God had to send those 9,700 home, God saw their hearts, that they would not be a people who would look on Gideon and do what they were told. But here he had a people so disciplined of the Lord and would know his voice so well that they would look always unto Jesus and just do simply what he said and when God wanted them to do it. I've been emphasizing that. Timing is just as important as the thing that you're going to do. Just as important. Look on me and do as I do. I'll blow the trumpet, and the ones that are with me, he would be there with a hundred of them. There'd be another hundred here, another hundred there. I'll blow the trumpet, and I'll break the pitcher, and I'll hold the lamp, and I'll shout aloud the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, and you do as I do, and when I do it, not before and not after. I've got to get down there and do a little bit anyway. I know I'm not sure, but I've got to do something for God. None of that. You do as I do. And they stood, every man in his place, round about the camp. They blew the trumpets, they broke the pitcher, they lifted the lamp. And those are the weapons that God has given us. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may not be of ourselves, but of Christ that dwelleth within. It's in the light. It's in the lamp. It's in a broken pitcher, not a beautiful one, but one that's shattered. Earthen vessels to be broken that the light might shine, blasting with the trumpet the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Not two swords. God's sword and my sword. The sword of the Lord and of Gideon. For here was a people walking in union with their Gideon. God is going to have an army like that walking in union with him so that they shall smite the Midianites as one man. And they stood there and watched the enemy totally routed while they stood and watched the battle. Because when we move in God, in God's will and in God's anointing, and are in God's place at God's time, and hear God's voice, God puts fear on the inhabitants of evil. The host of evil. God puts his fear on them and makes them to hear things from the spiritual world, not just what they're hearing from the voice of man. God puts the fear upon them. And they said, they fired all our enemies that are coming against us and they fled. But not only that. God put confusion into their midst that they flew one another right and left. They were slaying themselves while Gideon 300 stood there blowing the trumpets and shouting the sword of the Lord and Gideon. And God was doing the work. That's God's way to reach nations. God's way. People, no matter how small or insignificant, but of people moving in the Spirit of God, looking unto him, listening for his voice, just doing what he said, no more and no less. May the Lord bless this word. Hallelujah. Some of those things that our brothers shared with us this morning are kind of like birds. They just won't let you alone. They kind of stick in there and let's prepare our hearts. God found fault with that generation because they did not prepare their hearts. Hallelujah. I'm going to make this morning a time of fresh consecration. Hallelujah. If there's something that you need to put on the altar, you may need to put yourself on the altar. You may want the Lord to show you how to prepare your heart. I would hate to come to the end of my life and be overthrown. I had not let the Lord get at it. Let's let the Lord work on us. Praise the Lord. I just want to open up the front for those who feel to make a fresh commitment to the Lord. Sense the Spirit of God just working with our hearts here and challenging us. Hallelujah. Let's trust God for grace that we will not fail the tests that come our way day by day. Praise God. Let's look to Jesus. Amen. Hallelujah. Just do as you see fit. Let's look to the Lord. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise God. Hallelujah. Lord, we thank you for this time together, O Lord. Lord, thank you, O God, for working in, Lord, just working in our insides, O God. Lord, touching us, O God, where no one else can, O Lord. O Lord Jesus, we trust you, O God, to continue to lead us, O God. Hallelujah. Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness, O God, to set us free from ourselves, O Lord. Lead us closer to you, O Lord. Make us truly, O God, bearers of good news. Hallelujah. Lord, help us truly to realize that you've called us to an eternal priesthood, O God, and that we shall ever be blessing you, O God. Lord, when the last soul is saved, O God, when our ministry is over and done, Lord, our ministry to you will continue. Lord, we shall ever be praising you. Be a priest unto you, Lord Jesus. Lord, help us, O God, to, Lord, enter into that more now, O God, and to, hallelujah. O Lord, prepare our hearts for your sake, O God. We thank you. We thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. It's about 10 after 11? Is that about right? 10-15? No, excuse me, 11-15? Okay. Let's have first and third periods. First and third. Amen. God bless you.