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All right. Well, howdy. It's good to be with you this morning. If you would please turn in your Bibles to Judges chapter 7. We were in chapter 6 last week. We are moving right along. As you turn, let me just give a brief synopsis of our passage today.

Today, we are going to read about an epic battle between good and evil. One side is an overwhelming force. The other side is small and inexperienced. One side has every conceivable tactical advantage. The other side is equipped just with a promise from God. The results of this battle will affect not just one man, not just one nation, but will ripple through the entire world.

Oh, and by the way, this battle has nothing to do with the Midianites. Sure, there is definitely a battle against the Midianites in this passage. I think a lot of you know of this. We learn about it in Sunday school. But while that battle is being fought on the physical plane, there's another battle, a battle that's being fought on the spiritual plane.

And it's a battle not between Israel and Midian, it's a battle between fear and faith. Fear and faith. And it's being fought over Gideon's heart. All throughout this passage, we ask ourselves the question: will Gideon respond to the voice of his fear or the voice of his God?

And I'm convinced that this is the central theme of Judges 7, not what happens with Midian, although that's important. It's fear versus faith. And this is important for us because I don't know about you, but I don't plan on being a general of an army anytime soon. I don't really think that's in my cards.

But I guarantee, if you have a pulse, and you do, then there is a similar battle between fear and faith raging over your heart as well. And one commentator noted on Judges 7: the textual patterning of this Gideon narrative is carefully composed to highlight not the deliverance from Midian, but the change that transpires in Gideon's heart.

Do you want a changed heart? Well, I think we can find something useful for us today. Well, what's at stake? We talked about this last week. Gideon has been commissioned by God back in Judges chapter 6 for an impossible task to deliver Israel from the hands of Midian.

And understandably, Gideon is a little bit nervous. I would be too. He hesitates, and you see through his dialogue that he. He is a fearful man. He takes one look at his circumstances, and he takes one look at himself, and then he says to God, You've made a mistake.

You've chosen the wrong man. But God says, You remember this? He says, Fear not. Fear not, because I have sent you, I am with you, and I have shown you who I am and what I can do. And we might call this the birth of Gideon's faith. This is the origin.

This is his calling, his commission. God gives Gideon confidence to take a step of obedience in God's direction, despite Gideon's insecurities. But, as we'll read today, Gideon's fear is still there. It doesn't just poof go away. And that's not really how it works for us either, right? We confess and forsake our sins.

We turn to Jesus, but we still wrestle. We wrestle with fear. I think you'll find that this is more common than you realize. And it certainly happens here in our text. If fear can regain control of Gideon's heart, then Satan can discredit Gideon, he can discredit God, and he can discredit God's promises to Gideon.

Because Gideon has God's promises, he has God's verbal revelation, God's word, if you will. But the question remains: will Gideon step out in faith according to those promises? Or will Gideon give in to his fear? Fear versus faith. Which one will win? Which one will be Gideon's Lord?

This is the primary tension of our passage today. Forget the Midianites. I know I asked you to turn to Judges chapter 7, but let's back up a few verses and let's actually begin in chapter 6, verse 36. I think it's important that we address this scene first. So I'll begin reading in Judges chapter 6, verse 36.

Then Gideon said to God, If you will deliver Israel through me, as you have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool out on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it's dry on the ground, then I will know that you will deliver Israel through me, as you have spoken.

And it was so. When Gideon arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God, Do not let your anger burn against me, that I may speak once more. Please, let me make a test once more with the fleece.

Let it now be dry on the fleece, and let there be dew on the ground. And God did so that night, for it was dry only on the fleece, and the dew was all on the ground. All right, let's stop there. Let's get our biblical context here for a second.

Earlier in chapter 6, you may remember that God has to coax Gideon out of his shed. At insecurity, and convince him to lead the Israelites for deliverance. And part of that coaxing, you may remember, was this sign that the angel of the Lord performs in front of Gideon.

Fire literally comes out of a rock to consume the food that Gideon brought. That same night, Gideon goes out and he leads a small band of merry men and destroys a couple of idols in his hometown. So word spreads. People find out. And people come to Gideon. They're starting to hear about this guy.

And so you can imagine that now people are gathering around Gideon, looking to him for leadership. Now, stop there. If you were Gideon and you saw all this happening, how would you feel in this moment? Confident? Assured? I mean, obviously God is working, right? Well, Gideon doesn't. He doesn't feel any of these things.

And I can relate just a little bit. When I worked a maintenance job at Pine Cove, I remember the first time that they entrusted me with a major project using heavy equipment, a lot of people. And I loved the idea of being in charge. I loved the idea of leading.

But then the day came, and my team assembled, and they all looked at me and they said, okay, John, now what do we do? I remember I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I mean, I had all the plans. I knew them by heart. But here were these people looking at me.

And I was not only responsible for getting the job done, but I was responsible for them and their safety. I think Gideon felt similar in this moment. I can imagine him looking out over the Israelites that are coming to him and thinking, they expect me to lead? And I can imagine those old insecurities just creeping back up in Gideon's heart.

In the battle between fear and faith, I think fear is actually taking a little bit of ground. And we know this because Gideon doubts God's word here. Everybody says again in verse 36, if you will deliver Israel through me, as you have spoken, dot, dot, dot. If? If you will deliver Israel?

Isn't it the same God who called down fire to consume Gideon's sacrifice in the last chapter? Who does he think he is asking God if? It's easy to be hard on Gideon here, but I think the core of Gideon's emotion, he's just asking for something that we all truly desperately want.

And Gideon's asking for assurance. Assurance. Has anyone else asked for assurance before? Well, what is assurance? Assurance is just that we don't want to just know something. We want to feel that it's true. We don't just want to know that God is forced. Want to feel that God is for us.

That's assurance. We want to feel peace. We want to feel safe. But what if the feeling isn't there? We live in a fearful world. Just watch the news. Just over the past few days. There's a lot of fear out there. There's not a whole lot of safe feelings.

Life doesn't exactly bound with warm feelings, even as Christians. So, what do you do when you have faith, but you lack assurance? Well, Gideon, he has a bright idea. He's thinking. Gideon tries to gain assurance by using, you ready for it? The scientific method. Yes. He's ahead of his time.

He thinks to himself, if God's word is testable, observable, and repeatable, then I'll feel better about following him into battle. So he runs an experiment. That's all the sign of the fleece is. It's an experiment. And that's what we call it. We call it putting out a fleece.

This is kind of the proverbial testing God. And let me just show you, once I turn it on, this is what a fleece looks like. I love visuals. This is a good one. This would be something similar to what Gideon puts out. Now, I imagine you probably don't have this hanging up in your closet right now.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if a few of you do, but that's beside the point. Putting out a fleece today doesn't often Refer to a literal fleece. It refers to some experiment that we come up with in order to test the will of God. If my favorite parking spot is taken tomorrow, then I know that God wants me to quit my job.

If that pretty girl says hello to me at church today, then I know God wants me to marry her. Have you met her? No, but my fleece told me that I'm going to marry her. You see, it's ridiculous. And the examples are pretty crazy, but let's examine the issue.

Some preachers will say that this is good, that Gideon did it. God doesn't rebuke him, so we as well ought to be putting out fleeces, running these tests to discern the will of God. Let's examine that for a moment. Should we be putting out fleeces? I think in order to answer that question, we need to ask ourselves two follow-up questions.

Number one, is it right to put out a fleece? And number two, does it work? Is it effective? Let's start with the first one. Is it right to put out a fleece? And the answer is no. This is not appropriate for Gideon to do, and here's why. You might say, but John, Gideon does this, and there's no rebuke from God.

Yes, you're right, but remember, Gideon has also lied. He's also slandered God to his face. He's also a coward. And God doesn't rebuke him for any of these things either. And yet, we know that it is wrong and inappropriate for Gideon to do these things. Gideon isn't exactly the model of a modern major general here.

He's not someone we're supposed to emulate. If you want to imitate someone, imitate Christ. And Christ said, Do not put the Lord your God to the test. You might say, But, John, you said last week that it was okay for Gideon to ask for a sign. Ah, good memory.

I did say that. I said it was okay for Gideon to ask for a sign. But I don't think it's okay for Gideon to keep on asking. Don't forget, the sign of the fleece isn't the first sign that God has provided for Gideon. God has proven himself to Gideon, mercifully proven himself, and he's given Gideon His word, his promise.

Well, now it's up to Gideon to believe his word. Now, Gideon doesn't ask God to do this thing with the fleece out of ignorance. He's asking in unbelief. But he's also asking in pride. It's like Gideon is saying, God has to do what I tell him before I do what he tells me.

Do you see the pride in that? This isn't the act of someone humbly seeking the will of God. This is the act of someone who knows the will of God, but is reluctant to do it. This is not right. Gideon's fear is ruling. Over him. So let's make this personal.

What is the will of God in your life? Well, it's actually kind of an easy question. It's in Micah 6:8. You can read it there. He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? Three things. Three things. To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

That's it. That's God's will. What's stopping you? Well, I'll tell you what's stopping you. For most of us, it's fear. It's fear. Fear that will get it wrong, fear that we'll get hurt, fear that will hurt someone else. And so we keep from walking in the revealed will of God because fear is ruling our lives just like it was Gideon.

And if fear is ruling your life, then God is not on the throne of your heart. And the Bible calls this idolatry. That's wickedness. That's wickedness. But there's another reason that we shouldn't be putting out fleeces, and that's because they don't work. They just straight up do not work.

And we see this in the passage. Did Gideon's fleece give him the assurance that he was hoping for? No. How do we know that? Because God follows Gideon's instructions to the letter. But we read in verse 10 that Gideon is still in the grip of fear. The problem with putting God to the test is that it makes us the author of our faith.

We're the ones setting the terms. We're the ones who won't trust God until we're satisfied. And if you've ever tried this before, you'll realize very quickly that you're never satisfied. The terms you set are never enough. Just look at what Gideon did. He does this sign: the fleece is sopping wet, and the ground is dry.

And what's Gideon's immediate response? He says, I need another sign. You might be thinking, oh, okay, so the wool naturally attracts the moisture. So of course it was wet and the ground is dry. We got to reverse it and try it again. What? As humans, we have this uncanny ability to chalk up the works of God to science and chance.

Another example of this is in John 12. Jesus is talking to the crowd, and a voice from heaven comes down and says, I have glorified thy name, and I will glorify it again. And what does the crowd do? Oh, I think it thundered. Did you hear that? It's thunder.

What? We ask for signs, and then we miss them when they appear. This is why signs don't work the way we think they will. You can't manufacture faith. Because even if the thing you're asking for comes to pass, it will only cause you to doubt and to question and to seek more and more and more.

More signs, chasing an assurance that can only come through submission and repentance. Don't do that. We walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7. What does that mean? It means that you are not the author of your faith. Jesus is. If all you believe is that which is testable, observable, and repeatable, then you will never have genuine faith.

Faith comes from believing what God says is true, no matter what your eyes are telling you. God sets the terms for your faith, not you. And He has. Praise the Lord, He has. John 3:36, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.

But the wrath of God remains on him. Believe and obey. Those are your terms. So please don't think that putting out a fleece will give you assurance and grow your faith. It won't work, and it's not right. And Gideon had to learn this the hard way. And so we'll read on.

Now that Gideon has tested God twice, God is going to test Gideon twice. So read with me in Judges chapter 7, verse 1. Then Jerubbabel, that is Gideon. And all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside the spring of Herod. And the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Morah, in the valley.

And the Lord said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for me to give Midian into their hands. For Israel would become boastful, saying, My own power has delivered me. Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.

So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. We'll pause there. So you can picture this, right? Gideon has assembled everyone who would come. They have their camp in the mountain, 32,000 men of arms. That's a pretty good host. However, where they're camped, they're overlooking this valley where the Midianites are camped.

And this is the main base camp of the Midianites. Remember, they are raiding all over Israel, and this is probably where they return to. So every Midianite in the land is here. And you wanna know how many there are? Judges chapter 8:10 actually tells us there are at least 135,000 Midianites.

Wow, that's pretty crazy. I'm not really a numbers guy, so I like visuals. So I've reduced this to a one to a number. So here's. Here's how it goes. For every one Israelite soldier, there are 4.2 Midianite soldiers. Those are your odds. Not great odds, but maybe not impossible.

You know, maybe they could get this done, right? So you can imagine Gideon's shock when the Lord tells him, no, you have too many. What? Do you know the odds, God? Can you do math? We're outnumbered here. No, no, no. You have too many. And God tells us why.

He says, lest Israel becomes boastful, saying, my own power has delivered me. You see, God is not just concerned with physical victory here. Physical victory is easy. And he's more concerned about a spiritual victory. Now, he wants to win Gideon's heart. And he does this by exposing his fear.

And he does it twice. First, God allows the people who are afraid to go home. We just read that. Now, did you know that Gideon should have actually already done this? In Deuteronomy 20, verse 8, this is where Moses is giving instructions to the Israelites how they're supposed to live in the promised land.

And Moses knows that there will be wars and battles. And so he says, who is the man that is afraid and faint-hearted? Let him depart. Let him go to his house so that he might not make his brother's hearts melt like his heart. So Gideon should have already done this.

But maybe Gideon didn't know the law, or maybe he was just too. Afraid to follow the law? We don't know. It takes God stepping in for this to happen. And guess what? Two out of three of the men, get the heck out of there. They're gone. This isn't a great start to a mighty battle.

So imagine how the rest of the men felt. Imagine how Gideon felt. So much for inspiring leadership, right? He's up there leading, and two out of three of the guys are afraid. So this reduces Israel's numbers to 10,000 soldiers. So let's update our odds here. Now, for every one Israelite, there are 13.5 Midianites that they have to contend with.

So whatever assurance Gideon had gained from the fleece is immediately shattered by the reduction of his army. But God isn't done. Let's keep reading. Judges chapter 7, verse 4. Then the Lord said to Gideon, The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there.

Therefore, it shall be, of he of whom I say to you, this one shall go with you, he shall go with you. But everyone of whom I say to you, this one shall not go with you, he shall not go. So Gideon brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.

Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hands, Hand to their mouth was 300 men, but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. The Lord said to Gideon, I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped, and will give the Midianites into your hands.

So let all the other people go, each to his own home. So the 300 men took the people's provisions and their trumpets into their hands, and Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

Okay, so I want to do a little survey here. The show of hands. How many of you, when you go and order a drink at a restaurant, how many of you ask for a straw? Okay. All right, very good. You put your hands down. All right. Now, how many of you drink straight from the glass?

All right. Well, thank you for your participation. If your hand was just raised, y'all can go home now. All right, I'll see you later. This was fun. We're going to continue with the straw people today. Okay, I'm kidding. Please don't go. I saw a few eager people, but remain with me.

You can imagine, perhaps, the effect that this had on Gideon's army. Now, these are the guys that have already passed the first weed-out test. These are the courageous ones. But God says, these people are still too many. But God, haven't you seen the size of the Midianite army?

Army? Yeah, and okay, fine. Maybe let's have an archery contest or an endurance contest. We'll keep the winners and maybe send some of the losers home. Let's have them drink water. This is not the test I would have chosen. In fact, the spring of Herod, it's there today.

You can actually go and drink from it. Today, I wouldn't recommend going today, but the normal way to drink from a spring like this would be to put one's mouth directly to the water. And we read that most of the men did that. And the abnormal way was what's described here, you know, taking your hand and putting it to your mouth to drink.

And we read that 300 men drank the abnormal way. And God chose them to stay in Gideon's army. Now, why did God design this kind of test? Now, we don't really know. Some say that it's to test their alertness or maybe their commitment. I really think that's reading between the lines.

And personally, I think God just wanted Gideon to have a small army of weirdos. Like, honestly. Whatever the reason, the end result is that the Midianites now have an overwhelming numerical advantage. You ready for this? 450 to 1. These are the odds. Just to say that another way, imagine the might of this auditorium.

Yes, mighty though you may be, imagine the might of this auditorium against Kyle Field, Bluebell Park, and Reed Arena combined. That's what they're up against. These odds aren't just improbable, these are impossible. And Gideon, by account of the evidence of his eyes, is walking into certain death and national humiliation.

And by the way, he's leading 300 guys to do the same. What do you think is happening to Gideon's faith at this moment? And you might think, man, must be taking a beating. And at first glance, that certainly seems so. But Gideon does something significant here in verse 8.

And I don't think that we should miss this. Here it is. Gideon sent the men of Israel back to their tents. Did you catch that? Gideon sent the men of Israel back to their tents. Who sends the men of Israel back to their tents? Gideon. Despite the odds, despite his fear, despite every instinct inside Gideon screaming that we need every man we can get, Gideon obeys.

Obeys the voice of the Lord instead of the voice of his fear. This is a victory for his faith. When Gideon sends those troops home, Gideon's comatose faith suddenly gets a pulse. Now, the fear is still there. In fact, the fear is bigger than ever. But God is using Gideon's fear.

He's exposing Gideon's fear so that Gideon's faith can grow. How does God grow our faith? I went to a gym once that had this quote on the wall: It is impossible to grow without challenge. God often puts us in challenging situations, situations that are designed to make us afraid just in order for our faith to grow.

And the book of James calls this trials of various kinds. But in these trials, even though we are vulnerable, even though we are weak, even though we are often facing overwhelming odds against us, James said that these trials produce steadfastness. Steadfastness. When we survey the men and women of great faith in the Bible, a few come to mind: Abraham, Moses, Mary, Hannah, the Roman centurion, the Syro-Phoenician woman.

They all have great faith. But what else do they all have in common? They all had something to lose by following God: reputation, land, comfort. For Abraham, it was your son, your only son. But they all obeyed the voice of the Lord instead of the voice of their fear.

So, the question for you is: what does the voice of fear sound like in your life? What are you so afraid to lose that it keeps you from following God? Because, guess what? These may be the very things that God asks of you so that He can make you steadfast.

Will you obey the voice of the Lord or the voice of your fear? As we return to the text, we see that Gideon's faith is there, but it's weak and it's growing. It's not great, but this trial is helping it along. Let's read on verse 9: Now, the same night it came about that the Lord said to Gideon, Arise and 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 to the camp. So he went with Purah, his servant, down to the outposts of the army that was in the camp.

Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts, and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. And when Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend.

And he said, Behold, I had a dream. A loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck so that it fell, and it turned upside down so that the tent lay flat. And his friend replied, Ah, 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. When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands. This is the moment of truth.

God comes to Gideon and says, Arise, go down, fight. Now is the time. But Gideon still isn't ready. And I love that in this moment, God does not beat Gideon over the head. He is loving and merciful and compassionate. I would be hard on Gideon. But God knows that Gideon's faith is weak and infantile.

So God helps it out by sending yet another sign. And this sign is really fascinating because it's so utterly pagan. Multiple commentaries point out that interpreting dreams was a commonplace practice among foreign nations, including the Midianites. In many cases, it was the only way for them to communicate with their God.

Now, Joseph and Daniel, we know that they interpreted dreams, but they did so for pagan kings. The Israelites, on the other hand, they don't need dreams to know God's will. They have the law, they have the prophets. But God still uses dreams. We see that. He's still sovereign over dreams.

And he proves this to Gideon and his servant. And Gideon and his servant, they spy on this camp and they overhear this dream and its interpretation. And just as the Lord predicted, Gideon's hands are strengthened. And I have a couple observations to make about this. One is that it's not a very good look for Gideon.

He's willing to believe the voice of this random Midianite before he's willing to believe the voice of God. And remember that the interpretation of this dream is not new information to Gideon. He knows this. God has already told him this. And yet, Gideon is more willing to believe a pagan than he is the word of God.

Not a very good look. But God doesn't rebuke Gideon like I would. Like a tender father teaching his child to walk, God. Mercifully encourages Gideon's faith in this moment. And Gideon's heart is strengthened by this interpretation, which is from God. And he returns to camp full of courage.

So here we can put a pin and mark Gideon's journey from a doubting heart at the bottom of a wine press in chapter 6, now to a heart that's full of courage in chapter 7. But is this faith? Is that faith? Has his fear been defeated? Not yet.

There's one more thing that Gideon still has to do. And Gideon does it in verse 15. I'll read it again. Gideon returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands. Arise and go. Did you catch that?

This is the same thing that God told Gideon in verse 9, the same words. Did you know that it's possible to have real confidence, but to lack real faith? Faith is not merely a feeling. A strengthened heart is good, but it doesn't do anyone else any good. Faith comes out of the heart.

Faith acts. This is why in James chapter 2, he writes, I will show you my faith. By my works. And here's when it happens for Gideon. Not when he hears the dream, not when he hears the interpretation, not when his heart is strengthened, but when he returns to the camp and he tells his men, Arise and go, for the Lord has given them into your hands.

These are the very words of God. For one shining moment, the will of Gideon and the will of God are in lockstep. This is when Gideon's fear is vanquished. This is when Gideon's faith triumphs. God's arise and go becomes Gideon's arise and go. This is the faith that moves mountains.

This is the faith that defeats armies. And guess what? This is the faith that God requires of us if we're ever going to be used by Him to accomplish great things: belief, obedience, action. No feelings necessary. So, what are we waiting for? Fear held Gideon back for so long.

He could have done this ages ago. Don't let that happen to you. I'd like to end with a story. And this is a story of a famous tightrope walker who traveled the world doing these impressive feats. You know what a tightrope walker is? They suspend a rope. Rope way up high.

Any one of us would go out on that rope and surely perish, but yet they can go across like it's easy. So one year this tightrope walker decides to demonstrate his abilities by crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Here's a little visual for you. Niagara Falls, huge, giant.

Word gets around. Spectators travel from near and far to watch this man perform. And finally, the day comes. The spectators are all gathered there on a platform. The tightrope is stretched across, and the man comes out to perform. And the crowd cheers. They're excited to see him. And the man addresses the crowd and he says, Who believes that I can walk across this tightrope?

And the crowd answers with one voice, We believe, we believe. So the performer, true to his talent, goes out across Niagara Falls. He does some tricks. He does a little somersault. Perfect. He walks on back. And the crowd goes nuts. They're loving this guy. So the performer retrieves a wheelbarrow from his tent.

And he turns to the crowd and he says, Who believes that I can walk across this tightrope pushing this wheelbarrow? And the crowd says, We believe, we believe. And so the performer. Fills his wheelbarrow with sand and he starts pushing it across that tightrope. And he doesn't even waver.

Not one grain of sand falls. And he turns around and he comes on back. And the crowd is just ecstatic. They're soaking this up. They're cheering and hollering. This is the best thing they've ever seen. And so the performer empties the wheelbarrow. And then he turns to the crowd again and he says, Who believes that I can push a person across this tightrope on this wheelbarrow?

And the crowd is still excited. They say, We believe, we believe. And so he asks, All right, who would like to volunteer? Now, how many who say they believe will truly answer the call? That's the question. And that's the difference between belief and faith. You know, it's easy to believe when you're safe on the platform, but faith takes you face to face with fear.

And it asks you to follow the one who has called you. And many of us, myself included, we like the results of having a great faith. We like the ability to say, yeah, I've been over Niagara Falls. We want mountains to be moved. We want armies to be defeated.

We want that massive bill to be paid. We want that stubborn family member to repent and come to Jesus. And it's not that God doesn't want these things to happen, it's just that He wants your heart more. He wants your allegiance. So, if you desire the results of a great faith, and you should, then you better know that God will take you on a journey that takes you face to face with your fear.

And in that moment, he'll ask you, or rather, he'll tell you, arise and go. Will you arise and go? Or will you obey the voice of your fear and stay? If you're sitting here this morning and you feel a little bit like Gideon, like your fear is too strong to ignore, like you'll never have great faith like Abraham or Moses or Hannah, rest assured, because if God can win a victory over Gideon's heart, then surely He can win a victory over yours.

And here's how He'll do it: Hebrews 12, verses 1 and 2. We read this at the top of the service. I'll read it again. It says, Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, oh, by the way, these witnesses that he's talking about, these are the men of faith that he just described in chapter 11, who did great things.

Deeds because God was with them, because they believed God and God accredited them as righteousness. And by the way, Gideon is included in that list. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

And here comes the key. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus is the author and the perfecter of your faith and mine.

You don't have perfect faith? Join the club. You still wrestle with fear? Join the club. I think the whole point of this story in Judges chapter 7 is to demonstrate that it is God who makes Gideon's faith great, not Gideon. And we have something that Gideon didn't have.

We have the cross. So fix your eyes. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Listen and obey His voice, not the voice of your fear. And when you do, you'll find that the The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and His grace. Let's pray.

Lord, I know even as I speak these words that this is easier said than done to fix our eyes on you despite the raging, screaming fears that are all around us. So God, I pray that you would give us strength, that you would give us mercy. And you demonstrate that with Gideon, Lord.

You are tender and loving towards Gideon, so please, we ask for that for myself, for these men and women here, whatever that fear is, I pray that we would trust you more. Thank you for the cross, for being an example. In Jesus' name, amen.