SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 2/18/24
At times God will “bare his arm” against pride and humble his people to the degree that we are NOT able to boast of our own strength. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 7:1-8:3
TITLE: Our Weakness and the Glory of God
PREACHER: Tom Wilkins
BIG IDEA: God humbles his people so that we will boast in His strength alone.
POINTS:
1. We cannot boast of our own strength.
2. We should boast of God’s strength alone.
SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”At times God will “bare his arm” against pride and humble his people to the degree that we are NOT able to boast of our own strength. We will be reduced by Him so that we can then only boast of God’s strength alone. We will be decreased by Him in order that He will increase. We will be made weak in order that he is known as strong.”
“The people of Israel are now facing this 130,000-strong Midianite army of men with abundant resources. This army is well-fed and equipped! Yet, God has clearly declared that this enemy has been given into Gideon’s hand. The Israelites will defeat this enemy!”
“Verse 2 IS the central verse to everything in our text today! So, HOLD ONTO this KEY verse.”
“Our hearts are the “worship center” of our being. We are going to boast! This is who we are! This is what we do! This is how we were made BUT sin has corrupted us, and we turn away from God and worship… we boast… ultimately in ourselves.”
“The idol of self-exaltation, boasting in oneself over God, is captured in the words from Vs. 2 ‘MY OWN HAND.’ This is their sin. This is our sin. Our things and our accomplishments lead us to boast over God, as we declare ‘My own hand has” done this!’”
“God will remove every single thing that we grasp for in order to boast of our greatness… reasons to marvel at our own power and pat ourselves on the back for it.”
“THE POINT is that God is intentionally and mercifully REDUCING their strength in order that they will glory in His strength.”
“It is here that we have the joy of acknowledging that our weakness has been brought on by our LORD in order that we see our salvation was His alone! WE COULD NOT DO THIS, but GOD HAS DONE THIS. It is here that his ‘reduction’ of us is gracious and good for us.”
“The gospel of our Lord Jesus converts glory-thieves into glory-givers!”
“Gideon boasts in God alone! The evidence of his readiness to lead this battle is not in the numbers and strength of his army but is found in his WORSHIP of YHWH!”
“Sinners bring nothing to boast about when they are met by the mercy of God in the Gospel, but boast we will… but only in the power and strength of our Savior!”
QUOTES:
Charles H. Spurgeon - “PRIDE is most obnoxious to God. As a sin, his holiness hates it; as a treason, his sovereignty detests it; as a rebellion, the whole of his attributes stand leagued to put it down. God has touched other sins with his finger, but against this vice, he has made bare his arm… Remember, the first transgression had in its essence pride. The ambitious heart of Eve desired to be as God, knowing good and evil, and Adam imagined that he should be lifted up to divine rank if he dared to pluck and eat. The blasting of Paradise, the sterility of the world, the travail of human birth, the sweat of the brow, and the certainty of death, may all be traced to this fruitful mother of mischief, pride… Against all [pride] has he furbished his sword, and prepared his weapons of war. The Lord, even the Lord of hosts hath sworn it, and he will surely stain the pride of all human glory, and tread all boasting as straw is trodden for the dunghill.”
Paul David Tripp - “Sin has made us glory robbers. We do not suffer well because suffering interferes with our glory. We do not find relationships easy because others compete with us for glory. We do not serve well because, in our quest for glory, we want to be served.”
Paul David Tripp - “...But the story of Scripture is the story of the Lord's glory. It calls me to an agenda that is bigger than myself. It offers me something truly worth living for. The Redeemer has come so that glory thieves would joyfully live for the glory of Another. There is no deeper personal joy and satisfaction than to live committed to his glory. It is what we truly need.”
Charles H. Spurgeon - “God has ordained that the only way in which he will save men shall be a way which utterly excludes the possibility of man’s having a single word to say by way of boasting.”
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Acts 9:15-16
2 Corinthians 12:10
APPLICATION:
Be like Gideon: though now weakened, worship…BOAST in God alone!