Judges 7:7

We go directly to the Book of Judges, Chapter 7 and we are going to see that this word flows in great affinity with what Pastor Basil was talking about and it is precisely the word of the Lord for us this morning.

Chapter 7. Let's go to verses 7 onwards. you know what, brothers? I am going to read it in English for the benefit of what we are going to do on the radio and you please take your Bibles, and I know that everyone brings Bibles here, in this congregation, so you can read it, Chapter 7 verse 9 to 23.

It is a wonderful word for us and we know that in Scripture many of these interventions of God have been put there because God wants to teach us how He works in times of trial. The Lord loves it when we find ourselves with more enemies than we can deal with, that everything seems to be against us, it seems that we are going to be defeated, there is no hope, there is no way out, we are surrounded. Those are the moments when God loves to show up and show that He is still present, that He is not asleep. Amen.

The Lord wants us to look at the pages of the Bible and take out the spiritual principles that are contained in these texts and put them into practice also in testing situations in our own lives. I want to specifically apply this text from Gideon to the time that the church of Jesus Christ is living in America and throughout the Western world.

The church today, in America, in Canada, in Europe, in Australia, is a weakened church, it is a church that feels surrounded, feels... it has lost its reputation. It has lost relevance, it is not respected, on the contrary, it is often seen with antagonism and in an unpopular way. Years ago here in the US when surveys of the most prestigious professionals were carried out, the pastors always came out first. That is no longer the case, we are out there with the lawyers, with the car salesmen, and with many people whom people are suspicious of, because the church has lost a lot of its power, it has lost a lot of its influence.

In America, what we have is rather a church that, as in the Book of Judges, is at the mercy of the enemy, surrounded by the enemy, much more numerous than it, the agenda of the church is being dictated by the enemy, Satan throws fires everywhere and we go there like firefighters to put them out, and when we finish that one he lights another one in another place and keeps the church distracted from continuing with the proactive, systematic, coherent agenda that God wants her to chase.

When the angel approaches Gideon, all Gideon can respond is with a demoralizing word: Who am I? I am nobody, and if God is with us why are all these things happening to us? I can not do it. It was a symbol of precisely what was happening. And yet, God used Gideon, God calls Gideon and what we have done in this text is to look after a series of dynamics at the moment in which the battle is going to take place, and we can see that in the strategy that Gideon It continues at that moment of the battle, of the encounter with the enemy, there are some principles that the church must use in this time where God is already ready to enter into direct battle with the enemy.

We are in the position right now to go to the enemy, God is defining the enemy, and God is also defining the people who are going to fight for and against Him. God is using everything This gay marriage thing, this whole thing. It's not that we're obsessed with this. I understand very well that homosexuality and same-sex marriage is just a droplet in God's bucket. That is nothing, but God is using these things so that there is definition, so that the battle can be defined, so that the enemy can be defined, so that everyone takes place, sides and so that then the battle can be defined.

These are things that have to be defined, we have to define who we believe to be God, the word of God, human sexuality, marriage, who designed the universe, and whether the word of God is something just for a time 2000 years ago or if it is also relevant to the 21st century. And I think there are 5 things, quickly, specifically that Gideon, we see here in the strategy. I will point it out as soon as possible.

A principle is the principle of just entering the battle, confrontation. Confrontation is important in battle.

The second principle is anointing.

The third principle: prophetic discernment.

So we have, confrontation, anointing, prophetic discernment.

The fourth element is the visibility of the church.

The last principle is proclamation.

The first principle we have is the principle of confrontation. The enemy needed to be confronted, everything was already prepared, it was necessary to go towards the enemy. The enemy will assume different forms through history and cultures and God's people are called in each culture, in each time, to identify the enemy, define it and attack it. The church needs to confront rationalism, apostasy, spiritual rebellion, secularism, sexual license and debauchery, spiritual pride, resistance to God's word, skepticism about God's declared values. Those are the enemies, the principalities, the powers, the fortresses that the church of Jesus Christ confronts in this nation, in this state and in this city. We have, like David, to identify the giant and confront him.

The enemy has used fear to throw a cloth of fear and conservatism and timidity over the church and we have absorbed his accusations that we hate, that we feel better than others, that we are homophobic, that we are politicizing the church, and that we are damaging the atmosphere in the churches, and the pastors and the churches have absorbed that message of fear and the churches have fallen into a torpor, an illusory dream where they listen to the voices of the devil, and they see him doing things but they don't have the power to stand up and confront him.

The Lord told Gideon: Go, confront, destroy the idol of Asherah and Gideon tried to do it at night so as not to cause much consternation and much conflict but in the morning he knew it was him, because at God likes his leaders to define themselves, to clarify things.

The church has to confront the enemy, the church has, and we do not have to do it in a hateful way or as if we are better than anyone, or with superiority, we do it in the love of Jesus Christ that for me He is one of the most confrontational people I see in all of Scripture.

Love is fierce, in defending life. Love does not allow the devil to do what he wants in the name of supposed unity and love. The enemy needs to be confronted.

The second thing is the anointing. When Gideon is confronted by the angel and Gideon gives a timid and cowardly response, the angel looks into his eyes and says: go, with this strength that you have.

The church cannot confront the enemy simply in the spirit of man, it is not in the strength of man, it is not in human techniques, it is not in the great human resources that we have, it is not in money , it is not in the Phd, or the Ddd, it is from the ministers, not in the educational pedigree that we have, it is not in the education of our people, it is not in the administrative techniques that we have or the leadership technique. All those things are good, I advocate for them but there has to be a spiritual anointing, the power of God has to be in our churches and in our lives.

That's why when Gideon receives that power, he receives with that power the spirit of the convocation, people come around him, and they unite because he has the anointing of God. The shy boy, the one who responds shyly, now blows the trumpet and the power of God makes the whole world come around him, because the anointing of the holy spirit is needed.

We need God's anointing in order to move against the enemy. That anointing is found in prayer, the consecration of our lives, remaining in the word, serving the Lord, increasing holiness in our lives, seeking the anointing, the gifts of the holy spirit.

The third thing Gideon sees here is prophetic insight. Gideon constantly communicated with God. The church has to prophetically discern the spirit of God. We see Gideon continuously receiving instruction, and God tells him: go to the camp, listen to what they are saying there, listen to that dream that I am going to instill in a person so that you can see that the battle is already done. I have already won it, and may you receive encouragement to move forward.

Brothers, when one flows in the word of God, which God wants to pour out on us daily, we will fight our struggles much better because we will be able to flow in the specific strategy that God wants to give. God always wants to give you strategy about things in your life. God always wants to talk to you and give you information.

The church to be able to fight the war in the 21st century, where man has been so penetrated by all the sophistication of rationalism, secularism, where the minds of children and adolescents and young people are so steeped in secularism and all the crap the devil has smuggled in through all the tremendous resources he has, the church needs a prophetic word from God.

We need to receive the life of God that comes when we hear from God, when God gives us strategies. That is why we need to flow in the prophetic discernment of God.

The church needs to put itself in a position of visibility in this city and in this nation. Gideon positioned himself and his men where the enemy could hear him and see when the time for confrontation came. We have to use what we receive here to go there, to the streets, and do what God wants us to do in our lives. If you receive here and jump a lot and the bow falls off, but then you return home and forget everything that happened here, it's useless. You have to witness to the world out there. You have to live a life of victory, of authenticity. The world has to see Christ reflected in you and that has to happen out there, that is where it truly defines whether the power of God is here or not.

Recently, the mayor of Boston, with all due respect, and some city officials, wanted to change the name of the Christmas tree that is displayed here in the city of Boston every year. Instead of calling it a Christmas tree, which means Christmas that has the word Christ on it, they wanted to change it to simply a festive tree, so that it is universal and does not offend anyone, who does not have any type of Christian association. Thank God some Christians said, "We're not going to allow that," confronted the city, threatened to sue the city, and finally the mayor backed down and it's still called a Christmas tree, as it should be. Glory of God.

We have to do it in the arts, we have to do it in government, the law. We have to do it in the revival by bringing it to the churches. We have to do it in academia. We have to do it in the world of social services. We have to do it in hospitals. We have to penetrate the world with the leaven of the Gospel and do it visibly. The church is not going to be pushed into the sea, the church is going to always stay where it has to be, in its position of authority over the nations.

We have to use weapons... what are the weapons that Gideon used to make himself visible? Some clay glasses that made noise when they broke. Imagine 300 glasses breaking in the middle of the darkness and at the moment 300 lights that rise like this in the middle of the darkness everywhere, and shouts of 300 men who make believe that they are many more than them. All of this was designed to create a visible presence that would confuse the enemy. Whenever God wants to do something great, he tells his people: declare, proclaim, shout. This is how he did it with Jericó when he made them run for 6 days and on the seventh day, shout loudly and then the walls will fall down. Our power is in the proclamation of the Gospel, the proclamation of the truths of God contained in his word.

We have to learn that we cannot remove from our service what is not popular, what the brothers do not like. I have a fierce pact with my God. Brothers, I prefer to stay alone. I hope you vote for me before that is the case, if you don't want it, but I prefer to speak the word of the Lord, I'm not going to put out a single word, a single concept, a single principle, even if someone is scandalized, because I know that if we are faithful to the word of God, God will honor us. And if our church has been blessed by God, it is because we have been faithful to the word of the Lord.

Perhaps we will not achieve one hundred percent but we have to try, at least try to be faithful to the word of the Lord. The Gospel preached in all its power is scandalous.

We have to confront the enemy. We have to be anointed. We have to flow in the prophetic word. We have to be visible. We have to proclaim the full Gospel of the Lord. Hallelujah!.

How many want to make a pact right now to make it so? Stand up.

We make a pact with you Lord this morning, to flow in that revelation of yours. We receive, we receive your anointing. Father, fill your town.

Renew us, Lord. Renew your power in us, Father. We want more, we want more of you. We want more of your glory Lord. We want more of your power, Father. We want more of your spirit, Father. We adore you, we bless you. Give glory to the Lord.

Yes, sir. We adore you, we bless you, oh God. Let's worship the Lord. Glory to God. Hallelujah! A shout to the Lord of praise. Hallelujah! We adore you, Jesus. We adore you, Jesus. You are the Lord. Hallelujah! You are the great God today, the almighty, the king of kings, the Lord of Lords. Your name will still be heard, Father, mentioned in the nations.

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More presentations recorded Sunday November 27, 2005:
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Sermon by Dr. Roberto Miranda recorded November 27, 2005 in León de Judá Congregation (53 min.)

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