Phil Beach Jr. explores the life of Gideon, emphasizing the importance of recognizing our weaknesses and relying on God's strength. He highlights how Gideon, initially seen as a fearful man, was transformed into a mighty warrior through God's calling and empowerment. The sermon encourages believers to embrace their brokenness and allow God to work through them, using the story of Gideon's victory over the Midianites as a metaphor for spiritual battles. Beach emphasizes that true strength comes from acknowledging our dependence on God and being pliable vessels for His glory.

There's a few words of advice that I'd like to share with you from the Scriptures, and then we're going to, with the help of the Lord, we're going to teach tonight on an interesting character in the Bible, who I am sure is perhaps a favorite of some of ours. But before we do that, I'd like to invite you to turn your Bible to Proverbs. And as we're turning our Bibles to Proverbs, I want to breathe a prayer, if I could, so that the Lord can help us tonight. Father, we do thank you and praise you, and our hearts are filled with gratitude because of who you are and what you have done for us. Lord, we ask for your spirit tonight to have freedom in our hearts and minds. Enlighten us. Give us understanding. We come to you as children, and as children, we depend upon you. Lord, I pray that you will impart life to our spirits tonight. Use the word of God to strengthen us, instruct us, correct us, and build us up so that we can be fit for thy work. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Proverbs chapter 27. Proverbs chapter 27. This is a very interesting scripture, and the truth contained in it is very astounding. Proverbs chapter 27, verse number 1 and verse number 2. Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth. Someone else, and not your own lips. Here we find in the word of God a command not to boast. And then we find two areas that we ought not to boast about. The one area is about tomorrow. This simply means that we should allow the Lord to develop an attitude in us where we shall do this and we shall do that if the Lord permit. The Lord wants us to always be aware that we're not promised tomorrow and that we should allow him to teach our hearts, not to presume on anything. It doesn't mean that you can't have plans, but you always be sure that every plan that you make, even if it's in prayer, is subject to God, in that you may have your heart set on doing something, but harnessed along with that desire is the breath of, Lord, if you permit me to do it. Number two, the Bible says in verse two, let another praise you. Friends, ask the Lord to teach you the bliss and joy of laboring for him and for others without the hidden craving to be recognized or noticed or honored or having the credit given to you. It is not he who commends himself, but he whom the Lord commends. This one is approved by God. Think about your own life and how many times have you steamed within when the credit was not given to you. And then how many times have you taken things into your own hands to correct that by making sure people understand where the credit belongs? By praising yourself. Friends, learn the joy of laboring for the Lord, and if you're pleasing him, that's all you need. And then if God should permit others to praise you and to recognize you, be careful that you give that praise right back to who it belongs to. And that's the good Lord. What a joy to be able to do your best, have someone else get the credit, and sit in the back without any feeling of resentment or envy or jealousy, and just sort of smile at the Lord and say, Isn't that something, Lord? And not even let it bother you. Now that's Jesus, friends. That's the way Jesus is. How many want to be like him? See, when we say we want to be like him, the implications are sometimes a lot deeper than what we suspected. So ask the Lord, before we get into Gideon tonight, ask the Lord to help you minimize your boasting and maximize your service for him in love. And if you're pleasing God, then you let the Lord take care of the credit. You know, the Lord, oftentimes, when you long for his dealing in your life, and he doesn't intrude on people normally unless they're asking, and they're praying, and they're longing for him. But normally, when a person touches the Lord in faith, God will permit circumstances to occur where you'll have this opportunity to die to that area of your life that would want the credit. It could happen at the job. It could happen in the marriage. All of these little opportunities are given to us by the Lord to find a more fuller identity with Christ and a greater experience of being crucified with him, our old life. So don't be quick to grumble and complain about the little things happening in your life. Because, friends, that's where God makes the diamonds. He doesn't do them on top of the Empire State Building where satellite TV is zeroed in on you and the whole world sees. Well, sometimes that's what we think. We so disregard the... You know, the Bible says, despise not the day of small things. Don't despise the dealings. Don't despise the people that you meet. Listen, if you're a child of God, you're right where God wants you. That means the boss. That means the one you gotta work with. And there's a reason why. God's trying to make you more like Jesus. Maybe someone always belittles you, always belittles you, always puts you down. You do your best, but when that person sees it, it's not good enough. Well, don't let it destroy you. Don't let it cause you to get depressed and insecure. Let it bring you to the cross so you can take that part of you that can't handle that, bring it to Christ, identify with His death by faith, and ask God to perform a transformation so that you can identify with Christ in that situation. Let me tell you, when Christ is confronted in that situation, He doesn't lose it. See? This is how God takes the work of salvation and works it in our daily life. Everything we go through, we can find Christ's response or our reaction. Christ's response or our reaction. I'm thinking of Joel. He deals with people all day long, don't you? You've got people that smile. You've got people that come and feel like it's all your fault when you had nothing to do with it. And that's an opportunity to really get flustered and upset and downright want to tell this guy right off. But now see, it's also an opportunity to find an identity with Christ and let Him develop in you His patience so that you can put up with people that are hard to put up with. See? This is great. What an opportunity to be more like Jesus. I had one man come and tell me, you know, Brother Beach, I feel that my problem is I just don't have enough time with God. If I didn't work and I could just spend all my day praying and seeking the Lord, I know that I'd just be close to Him. But let me tell you, it wasn't true because this person was granted that opportunity. And what did they do? They didn't spend it with God. See, we're always looking for the greener grass. We're always projecting what we could be if this was like this. See? But listen, friends. You can find God right where you're at. So you pray and ask Him to help you find that grace in the situation that you're presently in. And learn not to boast. And thank God when you do something and someone else gets the credit for it. Thank Him for it. And then when you do receive honor for something you've done, be humble about it. And give it back to God in prayer. And keep in check in that area. Because that's a very important area. We're going to be learning tonight about a broken vessel in action. Now listen, friends. I do not want you to apply this teaching in light of some kind of a glorified ministry. I want you to apply this teaching to your life where you're at now. The answer to marital problems is found in the story of Gideon. The answer to be a good preacher is found in the story of Gideon. The answer to be a good cashier is found in the story of Gideon. The answer to be a good mom and a good dad is found in the story of Gideon. See, the Word of God is applicable where we're at. So I want you to see the Word of God tonight as that which can meet your present need and equip you and qualify you to please the Lord where you're at. A broken vessel in action. This is Gideon. Now, first of all, I'd like to define the name Gideon. The name Gideon. Gideon means a tree fellow or a warrior. A man of mighty valor. The very name Gideon suggests a great warrior. And what we hope to accomplish tonight is to see why. Why did God look upon Gideon as a man of great valor? And how can the Lord look upon you tonight and say spiritually, Gideon, you are my Gideon. You are a man or a woman of great power. How can the Lord do that? Do you think he can? Sure he can. He wants to. And we'll discover that tonight. We're gonna break this up into several points to make it easy for you. I do want to suggest we're not gonna read through both chapters tonight. But I do suggest that you would go home tonight or make it your devotional tomorrow morning. Read through Judges chapter 6 and chapter 7 so you can get the entire message of this story. Read through it nice and slowly. And let the Lord speak to your heart. First, I want to give you just a little bit of background. First of all, the book of Judges records some of the most terrible, evil history of the children of Israel. The book of Judges is a record of the nation of Israel as they perpetually turned from God. You see, prior to the book of Judges, Joshua was alive. And as Joshua led the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, they did quite well. And then when Joshua died, those that served with him took over the leadership. And Israel still did pretty well. But as soon as Joshua and the elders that were with him died off, Israel was tempted to turn from God and to serve the other nations and the other evil things in the world at that time. So the condition of Israel is a picture of evil idolatry. Israel was perpetually caught in evil idolatry, always falling from worshiping the Lord, turning from the commands of the Lord. And as a result, right in this particular time when Gideon was alive, Israel was taken captive by the Midianites, an ungodly nation. Now listen to this situation. Listen to this situation that's present. The Midianites along with the Amalekites were so strongly oppressing the nation of Israel that they, the nation of Israel, had gone into the caves and into the mountains to live. And the enemy was occupying the territory that God had given to Israel. Talk about putting fear in people's life. You've got the enemies of God now living where God wanted His people to live. And here His people were hiding in the rocks and in the caves of the mountains, afraid to go down, afraid to challenge these Midianites. Oppressed, fearful, being taken advantage of. This is what happens when people turn from the Lord. We end up being pushed out of the victory that is rightfully ours in Christ. The enemy drives us right from the victory and we end up living in caves, in dark places, afraid and fearful many times. Now in Judges chapter 6, beginning in verse number 10, And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God. Fear not the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell, but ye have not obeyed my voice. And there came an angel of the Lord and sat under an oak, which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Iberite. Sounds close enough. And his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Now let's stop right there. The Lord looked at this guy Gideon and said to him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Now I want you to see something. God is looking at a man and is saying to that man, You are a mighty man of valor. Now let's read verse number 13. And Gideon said unto him, O my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befalling us? And where be all his miracles, which our fathers told of us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Now verse 14. And the Lord looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee? Now here is one of the most profound scriptures, I believe, in the entire Bible. The reason why is because it appears to contradict everything that God teaches us. Here God is telling Gideon, and I've checked it in several translations and it all says the same thing. Here God is telling Gideon to go in the power of His might. Doesn't make sense. Doesn't make sense. Now that's what the word says. We can't pretend it doesn't say that. Now at first glance, that appears to contradict everything that God teaches us. It's not our might, it's His might. It's not our strength, it's His might. But God looks at this man Gideon and says, Go in the power of your might. Now, here is the secret of Gideon's might. Verse number 15. And he said unto him, O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. There was Gideon's might. You see it? Gideon's might was found in how he saw himself. And that was a weak, poor, feeble man, least among Israel, with really no strong qualities at all. Ah, there's the might that God wants us to walk in. Didn't God tell Paul, my strength is made perfect in your weakness? Friends, I pray that God will give you a revelation of your total inability and insufficiency without Him. I pray that God will show you how dependent you are upon Him, even as the branch is so dependent upon the vine, and that it cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abide in the vine, and likewise you and I. You are powerless, powerless, powerless, and helpless unless you abide in the vine. And such a revelation and such a confession gives you great strength with God. Go in the power of your might, Gideon. Oh, but I have no might. Yes, that's right. Go, go in that, and I will make you strong. Isn't that precious? Now bring it down to where you're at. I can't be a mother to these children. All right. Be weak, and ask God to teach you. I can't cope with this. I can't cope. All right, fine. Be weak, and let God teach you how to cope with it. Be weak. Be broken. See, this is the beginning of brokenness. Seeing your total insufficiency. Now, here's God's promise to the might of Gideon. Here's God's promise to everyone who has the strength of Gideon, which in reality is weakness. Verse number 16, And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee. There it is. Surely I will be with thee. And thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. God's promise is to be with us and to be our strength as long as we are ever aware of our utter weakness without him. Friends, beware of anything in your life, and I mean anything, that takes you from a conscious awareness of your dependence upon God. Beware of anything. Because that will inevitably be a weakness in your life. God has never failed to be with those who are weak. But God lets the strong fall. And that means his own children. We don't fall unto destruction. Thank God. He keeps us from destroying ourselves. But he does let us fall. He lets us fall in little things sometimes just to teach us that he only likes fellowship with weak things. He doesn't like fellowship with the mighty. He says, I can't do that. God says, I'm the only mighty one. Amen? God's the only mighty one. God promises to be with Gideon and be his strength. Now verses 25 through 32. 25 through 32. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it. And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock in the ordered place. And take the second bullock and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. And then of course verses 27 through 32 describe Gideon's obedience to God's command. Now I just want to put this into perspective as the Lord gave it to me. Like I said, read the whole chapter. Let the Lord minister to you. But I want to bring your attention to this. Once God commissioned Gideon and promised Gideon that the Lord would be with him, the first thing that Gideon did was he dealt with his own life and he dealt with his family. Or he dealt with that which was within his reach. He purified his house and sanctified himself. The first sign of a genuine encounter with God or I ought to say a continual encounter with God is a concern about oneself and a concern about the field in which you are living and which you are operating. That you would find the sanctity of God within that realm. That you would work out the Lord's salvation and let him produce in you that which enables you to take care of yourself and the field that you're in. The first thing Gideon did in response to the call of God was he dealt with his house and he dealt with himself. He was commanded to tear down the altar of Baal and cut down the graves. This was the preparation necessary in order for Gideon to do something for God or rather to be used by God to do something. He first had to deal with his own house and his personal life. And this is the divine order of things. This is the divine order of things. Now in verses number 36 and 39 this is an incredible story. And Gideon said unto God if thou wilt save Israel by my hand as thou hast said behold I will put a fleece of wool in the floor. Now I want to just make a mention here that we skipped over verses number 17 through 24. And in here the Lord gave Gideon a sign. You know the angel appeared to Gideon and he was consumed in the fire. This speaks to us as God's continual faithfulness in encouraging us so that we do not become weary on the path that God has called us to be on. Because now, see God did that at this time and then once Gideon worked out more of God's plan in his life then God comes back and gives him another sign. Now this is a very significant thing. God is constantly working in our hearts asking us to do certain things working in us but always knowing when we need that special confirmation from his word that special word of encouragement to us to keep us on so that we don't faint and become weary in the battle. And we've all had that confirmation many times. Now, afterwards after he dealt with his house and his family's house we find in verse number 36 and this is very significant and Gideon said unto God if thou wilt save Israel by mine hand as thou hast said behold I will put a fleece of wool in the floor and if it do be on the fleece only and if it be dry upon all the earth besides then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand as thou hast said. And it was so for he rose up early on the morrow and thrust the fleece together and wrung the dew out of the fleece a bowl full of water. And Gideon said to God let not that anger be hot against me and I will speak but this once let me prove I pray thee but this once with the fleece let it now be dry only upon the fleece and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night for it was dry upon the fleece only and there was dew on the ground. God, listen, God reassured Gideon that the Lord would be with him in the victory and in the battle with the Midianites. Now, God used dew to confirm the fleece. Now, I did a little bit of studying on dew and this is what I came up with. The dew in scripture is a sign of the beneficent power of God which quickens, revives, and invigorates the objects of nature when they have been parched by the burning heat of the sun's rays. Therefore, the sign itself was God's promise to Gideon that the strength and quickening of divine assistance would accompany his weak and lowly condition. The dew was God's own testimony that just like the dew in the natural quickens and invigorates nature from the hot sun, likewise, his spirit would be like dew and it would quicken us and invigorate us and energize us to do the work that we have to do. What's the work before you? Are you looking to the dew? Listen, in a way, God has given us all this sign, hasn't he? Sure he has. Each one of us have had the sign of the dew. God has given his Holy Spirit to them that obey him and this Holy Spirit quickens and invigorates and energizes the believer in order to accomplish what God has called us to do. Now let's turn to Judges chapter 7. Judges chapter 7 is the final closing chapters of the life of Gideon. The final closing chapters of the life of Gideon. Here we see God has called Gideon, he has prepared Gideon, he has confirmed his promise to Gideon and now he's about ready to thrust Gideon into the battle. But before he does, he has two things he needs to do. God designs two ways to purify the army of Gideon so that ultimately God himself will get the glory. And let's see how he does it. Verses 1 through 6. Then Zerubbabel, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him rose up early and pitched besides the well of Herod so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them by the hill of Morah in the valley. And the Lord said to Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites under their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from the Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many. Bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not. So he brought down the people unto the water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. Now this is very peculiar. God devised two ways of sifting the people. And this is what God does in our life in order to prepare us for the battle. The first thing that God did was he told Gideon to tell the fearful and the doubting to go home. Now in Deuteronomy chapter 20 verse 8 I'm not going to turn to it, but there's a law that those who are ready to prepare for battle, who were fearful and doubting they couldn't go to battle. So what God does with us in our preparation for being useful to him is he does a spiritual operation in our life and begins to free us from fear and doubt. Because fear and doubt disqualify us from entering into the battle that the Lord has prepared for us. Fear and doubt. Now remember all that God did in Gideon's life and now the final preparation before the ultimate victory. Fear and doubt. Expect God to deal with fear in your life. Expect him to deal with doubt. Expect him to help you overcome these things. Number 2 God had a strange test where he said everyone who goes down like this and drinks the water they're disqualified. But everyone who takes it in their hand they can go. Only 300 picked it up. Now what does that speak to us about? What that speaks to us about is being watchful. Watchful. In Luke chapter 21 verse number 36 Luke 21 verse 36 I'll just read them real quick because this is a significant lesson that the Lord will teach you. In other words the careless, unwatchful were disqualified. Disqualified. Verse 34 And take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares for as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore and pray always. Ephesians chapter 6 verse number 18 Ephesians 6 Now this scripture is right in the section where Paul talks about what? Spiritual warfare. Right? Ephesians 6 verse 18 Listen, you're gonna like this. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching. A watchful heart. A watchful eye. Not turning your eyes off in order to take a drink. Oh that God would develop in us a watchful heart. Listen, are you watching your life? Are you watching your family? Are you watching your attitudes? Are you watching your motives? Are you asking God to keep a watchful eye within your heart? Or do you just go through day after day week after week, month after month and never really become watchful? God will deal with you about fear and unbelief and he will deal with you about carelessness and unwatchfulness so that you can be a prepared servant of the Lord for the battle. Now we're getting right into the final closing of the teaching and the final victory and this is absolutely wonderful. Verses number in chapter 7 Now God has found a people who are prepared. Verse number 8, chapter 7 8 through 15, I will not read it. I just want to mention what it is. God gave someone in the Midianite camp a dream. Now remember the Midianites were the ones that the Lord was going to overcome and he let Gideon go down by the camp and hear this man tell the dream that he had. Here's Gideon listening behind the fence and here's someone in the camp saying I had a strange dream and he told the dream and the fellow said oh my that sounds like that must be the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. So here right when Gideon was finally prepared and God had prepared a people who were ready to do things God's way God gave Gideon a final surge of confidence in order to hurl him into the place of perfect faith. And friends I'll tell you as God prepares you and God enables you to clothe yourself in the Lord Jesus Christ and he begins to cast out fear and cast out doubt and cast out unbelief and you begin to stand clothed in him and you are living by him and your strength is in him God will then begin to flood your soul with a surge of confidence in him and a surge of faith in him so you will be prepared to stand in the battle and go forward in the name of the Lord. God will never leave you comfortless. God will always confirm over and over and over again to you regarding the situation that you're in. He'll never leave you alone. Oh there might be times when he'll be quiet but you just hold on because he'll roar like thunder when it's time. He'll roar like thunder. So here God gives Gideon an opportunity to hear with his own ears that the Lord was already revealing to the enemy that they were going to be defeated. And oh boy. You pray about that and let God encourage you with those words. God will make the victory sure for you. Now. The last part. Gideon prepares for battle. Verses 9 on through down to verses number 25. We're going to just describe to you what God asked Gideon to do in order to win the victory and show you how this latter part of this teaching, listen, is the prepared work of the Lord that is ready to be manifested to the enemy. See when God puts us through all of these steps he prepares us in order to really see the victory in our life and in the lives of others. These next verses where Gideon is commanded by the Lord in verse number 9 these next verses from verse number 9 down to verse number 20 down to verse number 21 describe in a spiritual way the life a trumpet an empty jar and within torches so we have empty earthen vessels and inside of these vessels were torches, bright lights and then they had a trumpet and what God told Gideon and the army to do was surround the camp of the enemy 300 of them and all they had was a trumpet and vessels and within the vessels were torches and the Lord said, listen when I say I want you to blow the trumpets and break the vessels and when the vessels are broken suddenly the light will become visible so they all surrounded the camp of the enemy and when the Lord commanded Gideon they blow the trumpet and they yelled out the sword of the Lord and of Gideon is upon you and they broke the vessels and the lights began to shine and the enemy looked and because it was night and because there were so many lights they were so afraid and confounded that they killed themselves and that's how the Lord brought the victory now what's the significance of all of this I want to suggest to you in closing because we're just about done now that the spiritual weapon the spiritual weaponry that will equip you for your battle whatever it is how to cope with anything that you're involved with is found within this story right here this is what God is building in your life all of the things you're going through is for the purpose of equipping you with nothing but a trumpet a vessel and a torch the trumpet is the word of God the trumpet is the word of God number two the vessel the vessels which were broken are lives broken before God yielded to Him flexible and pliable in God's hands and the torch is that all illuminating light of Christ's life that dwells within the believer and may I suggest that when a believer is equipped with God's word and trained by God's spirit to be broken and pliable in the hands of the Lord then God can take that believer and put him anywhere and break his vessel and as soon as that vessel is broken the life of Christ starts flowing out the light of Christ starts flowing out and it brings light on wherever the situation is the spiritual significance of this story is far beyond our comprehension but I am persuaded and convinced with all my heart that if the church would stop flirting with the world and stop looking for lovers to court with spiritually speaking and come back to the feet of Jesus Christ and start bathing every page of scripture with their tears the work that God did in Gideon would be wrought in us and God would equip us with the fire of His word God would break us with brokenness and humility and then God could break us at any time and as He breaks us the life of Christ begins to flow through us and there is what God wants to do glorify His Son through the church these divine principles are unchanging this is the only way to win the battles of the Lord the true battles Christ's life flowing through the believer with the word of God nigh unto your heart will always at every time bring the victory that God desires in your life always and sometimes God hides our life just like they had to put the torches in and walk and no one saw the light sometimes we walk around and no one knows but when God wants He can break us just like that and suddenly the light shines so the goal is to be in God's hands as a vessel pliable and willing to be broken at any time so that the life of Christ can flow through us on the job at home and God can be glorified in all things Gideon thou man of valor you want to be strong in Jesus be weak in yourself go through these stages now fear unbelief unwatchfulness and then watch the Lord begin to work in your life friends can you see it tonight can you see it Gideon overcame thousands of enemies with a jar with a torch and with a trumpet and friend all you need in your spiritual battle is the word of God a pliable vessel and that life of Christ we are a majority so let's pray and ask God to make His word real to us meditate upon it like I said let God give you divine insight and may He encourage us Amen anyone have any comments or anything they'd like to say it's just 8.30 now