Names of God | Pastor Lungz Makaula

Can we just give God a shout in this room if you're thankful for the Lord and what He's doing in your life? Thank you, Jesus. Hey, let's sing this out. ♪ Some say it's foolishness ♪ ♪ But I say it's worth the risk ♪ ♪ I can't forget what Jesus did, yes ♪ ♪ For I did not ashamed to praise like this, yes, yes ♪ ♪ Where are those chains I once held me? ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, I can't end it ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ And look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll sing, I'll dance, cause I believe ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free ♪ Let's just lift up a shout for the Lord, Jesus. Thank you, God. Let's sing this out. No other love's as good as this. And I don't care what anyone says. I'll never be ashamed to praise like this. Hey! ♪ Where are those chains I once held me? ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, I can't end it ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪

♪ I'll sing, I'll dance, cause I believe ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood, now the sin is cancered ♪ ♪ My debt is paid and my record is clear ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it, so you did it for me, sing! ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood, now the sin is cancered ♪ ♪ My debt is paid and my record is clear ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it, so you did it for me ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood, now the sin is cancered ♪ ♪ My record is clear, I couldn't do it, so you did it for me ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it, so you did it for me ♪ ♪ Only God could do it, only God could do it, only God could do it ♪ Let's sing this song right now! ♪ Where are those chains that once held me? ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, my sin is gone now ♪ Okay! ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, my sin is gone now ♪ ♪ And looking what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll sing, I'll dance, cause I believe I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, my sin is gone now ♪ Let's sing! You took the cross! ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood, now the sin is cancered ♪ ♪ My debt is paid and my record is clean, I couldn't do it so it didn't go wrong ♪ You took the cross! ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood, now the sin is cancered ♪

♪ My debt is paid and my record is clean, I couldn't do it so it didn't go wrong ♪ Holy King, yeah! ♪ I couldn't do it so it didn't go wrong ♪ Holy King, yeah! ♪ I couldn't do it so it didn't go wrong ♪ Only God could do it! Only God could do it! Only God could do it! Let's sing, look at what! ♪ Looking what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Looking what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Looking what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Looking what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ Thank you, Jesus! Are you guys excited to be in the house of the Lord today? Are you just thankful? Can you guys just give God your biggest praise for all he's done for you? Thank you, Jesus. This next song that we're gonna do, it's called Found My Life. And a really fun story. There was a person in the congregation, I was sitting in the congregation, and they came up to me. We had done that song on Sunday. He was like, what does that line mean? And I was so excited because I wanted to tell him exactly what it meant. There's a line in the bridge that says,

here's my praise, a costly perfume. And it's actually, when we wrote it, it was based in Luke 10, 38. So I'm gonna read it for you guys. Is that okay? Is that all right? So it says in Luke 10, 38, it says, as Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me. Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed, or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. And what that passage is telling us is that we wanna have the heart of Mary when we worship. The oil that we can pour on the feet of Jesus is our worship in this room. Do you believe that? Yeah, do you believe that? Yeah.

I just wanna pray right now into this worship, that we just continue to pour our oil at the feet of Jesus, keep surrendering, keep giving more of ourselves to him, because he is just worthy of our praise. Can we pray together? Lord, I just thank you for everything that you've done. You sent your son to die on the cross to save our sins, save us from our sins, and free us from our shame and our guilt. And we just wanna worship you right now, Lord. We wanna give you our everything. We wanna pour our oil at your feet, Lord, right now. We love you, Lord. We love you. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. ♪ Don't compare to your promise ♪ ♪ When you found me broken, you made me whole ♪ ♪ When you found me wandering, you called me back home ♪ ♪ When you found me desperate, you came and satisfied ♪ ♪ When I found you, Jesus, I found my life, oh, found my life ♪ ♪ I was trying just to get through, thought my efforts through ♪ ♪ Would impress you, but all you wanted ♪ ♪ Was the heart fully given, now and forever ♪ ♪ I'm marked by your presence ♪ ♪ When you found me broken, you made me whole ♪ ♪ When you found me wandering, you called me back home ♪ ♪ When you found me desperate, you came and satisfied ♪

♪ When I found you, Jesus, I found my life, oh, found my life ♪ ♪ I found my life, oh, I found my life in you, Jesus, oh ♪ ♪ And how I long to see a breakthrough ♪ ♪ I'll push through the crowd to touch you ♪ ♪ God, you said, believe in me now, Jesus ♪ ♪ Meet me, how I love to bow before you ♪ ♪ Here's my praise, a costly perfume ♪ ♪ You have tongue, you always make room ♪ ♪ Jesus, meet me, how I love to see a breakthrough ♪ ♪ I'll push through the crowd to touch you ♪ ♪ God, you said, believe and be new ♪ ♪ Jesus, meet me, how I love to bow before you ♪ ♪ Here's my praise, a costly perfume ♪ ♪ You have tongue, you always make room ♪ ♪ Jesus, meet me, how I love to see a breakthrough ♪ ♪ I'll push through the crowd to touch you ♪ ♪ God, you said, believe and be new ♪ ♪ Jesus, meet me, how I love to bow before you ♪ ♪ Here's my praise, a costly perfume ♪ ♪ You have tongue, you always make room ♪ ♪ Jesus, meet me, yeah ♪ ♪ Jesus, meet me, oh, Jesus, meet me, yeah ♪ ♪ Meet me, my Jesus, Jesus, meet me, oh, Jesus ♪ ♪ When you found me broken, you made me whole ♪ ♪ When you found me wandering, you called me back home ♪ ♪ When you found me desperate, you came and satisfied ♪ ♪ When I found you, Jesus, I found my life ♪ ♪ When I found you, Jesus, I found my life ♪ ♪ When I found you, Jesus, I found my life ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus ♪

♪ Thank you, Jesus, thank you, thank you ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, for what you've done for us ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, the blood you spilled for us ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, thank you for being our prince of peace ♪ ♪ Our Lord of lords, our friend, our helper ♪ ♪ For being the lamb that was slain, the lamb sacrificed ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above, holy, holy, righteous one ♪ ♪ To prove to us, Jesus Christ, you're holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ You're seated on the throne above, holy, holy, righteous one ♪ ♪ Who shed his blood to prove to us the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, you're holy, you're holy ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ You're seated on the throne above, holy, holy, righteous one ♪ ♪ Who shed his blood to prove to us the Father's love ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus Christ, you're holy, you're holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ To be lifted, let's sing it now ♪ ♪ And who else is worthy, yes, and who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is to come ♪ Let's lift Him up right now. ♪ You're seated on the throne above, holy, holy, righteous one ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ And who else is worthy, lift Him up ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, make Him need it ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ And who else is worthy, and who else is worthy ♪ ♪ And there is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ And there is no one, only You Jesus ♪

I feel like people are ready to worship in this room. Would you just lift your hands with me? ♪ Who else is worthy, let's declare that right now ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, Jehovah, for the King of kings ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, and who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ And who else is worthy, and who else is worthy ♪ ♪ And there is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, and who else is worthy ♪ ♪ And there is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ The Lamb of God, anointed One ♪ ♪ Who was, and is, and is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne of life ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, righteous One who shed His blood ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, righteous One who shed His blood ♪ ♪ Who proved to us the Father's love ♪ ♪ And who else is worthy, and who else is worthy ♪ ♪ And there is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, who else is worthy, no one else, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ And there is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, no one else, no one else ♪ ♪ No one else, there is only You Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is only You Jesus ♪ ♪ And there is, there is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ Only You Jesus, there is no one, only You Jesus ♪ Can we just give God some praise for what He's doing in this room? Thank you, God.

Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God. ♪ How many angels at your throne ♪ ♪ But none of them can open up the scroll ♪ ♪ It's yours alone ♪ ♪ How many saints have joined the song ♪ ♪ And still there's room for us to sing along ♪ ♪ Forevermore ♪ ♪ And holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, is the Lord. Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, is the Lord. Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord. They cast them down, they're worthless now. How worthy is the Lamb of God, who was and is and surely is. Come, you're here with us. Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, is the Lord. Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, is the Lord. And everybody shouts, holy. And everybody cries, worthy is your glory fills the room, your glory fills the room. And everybody shouts, holy. And everybody cries, worthy is your glory fills the room, your glory fills the room. Yeah. Thank you, Jesus. When you're in the room, nothing can happen. You're in the room.

When you're in the room, nothing else matters. You're in the room. When you're in the room, nothing else matters. You're in the room. When you're in the room, nothing else matters. You're in the room. You're in the room. When you're in the room, heaven can happen. You're in the room. Yeah! When you're in the room, nothing else matters. You're in the room. Say, you're in the room. When you're in the room, heaven can happen. You're in the room. Say you're in the room. When you're in the room, nothing else matters. You're in the room. And everybody shouts, holy! And everybody cries, worthy! Your glory fills the room. Your glory fills the room. And everybody shouts, holy! And everybody cries, worthy! Your glory fills the room. Your glory fills the room. When you're in the room, heaven can happen. You're in the room. Yeah. When you're in the room, nothing else matters.

You're in the room. Say you're in the room. When you're in the room, heaven can happen. You're in the room. Yeah. When you're in the room, nothing else matters. You're in the room. Can we just give God some sort of praise right now? Thank you, God. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you for your son. You gave us a sacrifice for us. Thank you, God. ♪ Your glory fills the room and everybody shouts holy ♪ ♪ Everybody cries worthy ♪ ♪ Your glory fills the room, your glory fills the room ♪ ♪ And everybody shouts holy, everybody cries worthy ♪ ♪ Worthy, your glory fills the room, your glory fills the room ♪ ♪ And everybody shouts holy, everybody cries worthy ♪ ♪ Your glory fills the room, your glory fills the room ♪ Thank you Jesus. Can we just give him a shout of praise right now? Lord, we are just so thankful. Church, aren't you grateful that he's not here because we've cried out desperate enough? He's here because he promised he would be. He's not here with us because we've, this week, been a little bit more holy than last week

and we brought our best selves to church. He's here because he loves to meet with his people. Thanks, Lord, that before our needs ever appeared, you are already there before us with your arms wide open because you love to be with your people. And God, you have all that we need and you offer it to us through yourself. And so we come to you hungry, broken, desperate, in great need, and I know you have an abundance to give. And we pray we might receive that today in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Will you go ahead and have a seat, middle schoolers, go have fun. Bye, Aria. Hey, y'all, grateful to be with you guys here this morning. We have some folks joining us, I know, here in person for the first time, but also joining us online. And we have our En Gedi Espanol campus meeting and En Gedi GR joining us. So we are one church in multiple locations. Excited to have that. And we are continuing and ending our series today called Names of God, where we are taking a look at all the attributes of who God is and the revelation we get to experience when we know God in these ways. And we've been encouraged over these past few weeks and we're excited to have our dear friend,

Pastor Lungs from Chicago, Sozo City Church, to come and bring the word with us today, to bring it home. So Pastor Lungs, we appreciate you and we're ready for it, brothers. Amen. Come on, let's give God praise this morning. Come on, let's thank the Lord today. Oh, come on, let's thank the Lord today. Let's praise Him for His goodness. Take 10 seconds and praise Him for His kindness. Thank Him that He woke you up this morning. Thank Him that He delivered you. Thank Him that He saved you. Thank Him that He did not give up on you. I thank God that He's a heavy load sharer. He's a burden bearer. He is the bridge over troubled waters. He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother. He is peace in troubled times. I thank God for Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah. My, my, my. It is good to be in the house of the Lord today. Amen. I don't know about you, but I find myself often when I'm with you all. I haven't been with you in a while. And oftentimes when we get there every Sunday, I'm often like David saying, thanks be to God. I was grateful when they said unto me,

let us go to the house of the Lord. And it is because it's in His house that we can encounter Him in a powerful and fresh way. But also it's in His house that we get to rub shoulders with other believers and stir one another on in faith in Jesus' name. I wanna say I'm constantly and forever grateful for this community. You have been a strength. You have been a community of great faith. You have been the community that has stood with us shoulder to shoulder across the pond and building God's kingdom together. And I'll never take for granted what it is to be able to be an extended part of the family with you all. And I'm excited about the Word this morning. Get to see some of my favourites here again. Good to see a lot of familiar. I love coming back because I get to see familiar faces. But what's also great is I'm seeing a lot of new faces, which means the church is growing and the church is healthy. Don't let them lie to you. Don't tell you the church is dying. No, no, no. The church is alive and well. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it in Jesus' name.

Great big hello to all who are watching online, Grand Rapids and Guinea Espanol and so forth. I sure wish you could be in the room with us this morning because my, my, my. But I could've kept worshipping for a long time. I didn't just come for a good time, I came for a long time this morning. And God's already in the room and He's already begun to move in people's hearts. And I'm believing that as we get to the Word this morning, that He'll continue to show up in faithful ways and minister to you. I pray the Word blesses you this morning. I am going to attempt to get through the entire message in this particular service. In the first service, I got through a third of the message. But here's the thing, I had restraints in the first service because all you lot were coming, but no one's coming after you. So I hope y'all packed a lunch. I hope you came ready. We are wrapping up the series in the names of God today. And what's really powerful and what I love about this series is here's the truth. God has always been, He's always been Jehovah Nissi. He's always been Jehovah Jireh. He's always been Elohim. He's always been Jehovah Ra. He's always been, oh my gosh, El Shaddai. He's always been these names.

We just took a while to catch up. And what we're seeing in the Scriptures we're unpacking as we uncover these names of God is that God has always been, but we discover it as God gives us revelation. Revelation precedes the name of God being revealed. And that's what I wanna do this morning. I'm gonna preach a little different style, different way than I typically communicate. Because what I'm hoping to do this morning is I wanna walk with us together through Judges chapter six, and we will walk together and hopefully uncover the same revelation that Gideon uncovered this morning around Jehovah Shalom. God is my peace. And so let's turn together to Judges chapter six. We're gonna read from verse 11 through to verse 24. It should come up on the screens behind me or you can just follow along in your own Bibles. Judges chapter six, verse 11, it says this, the Terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Bezerite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat, threshing wheat, other versions say, in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, the Lord is with you, oh mighty man of valour. And Gideon said to him, please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, oh my God,

I could preach that one line alone. We could feast on that alone. Discipline lungs, stay on, stay on it. If the Lord is with us, why then has this happened to us? And where are all these wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us saying, did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian. And the Lord turned to him and said, go in this might of yours, other versions say, go in the strength you have, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Do not I send you? And he said to him, please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house. And the Lord said to him, I will be with you and you shall strike the Midianites as one hand. And he said to him, if now I have found favour in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from me until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you. And the Lord said, I will stay till you return. So Gideon went into his house, prepared the young goat and unleavened cakes from Ephah of flour, the meat he put in a basket and the broth he put in a pot and brought them to him under the terebinth

and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock and poured the broth over them. And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of his staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened cakes and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. Verse 22, watch this now. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, alas, Oh Lord, my God, for mine eyes have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. But the Lord said to him, peace be to you. Do not fear for you shall not die. Then Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it, the Lord is peace. Jehovah shalom. And to this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Bezerites. If you're taking notes this morning, I want to talk to us this morning around a message titled, The Greater Conflict. The Greater Conflict. I don't know about you, but if you live life long enough and you've been a believer long enough, you'll know that there are some seasons in life when life has a way of shrinking you, diminishing you. The circumstances around your life, the troubles that you face, the difficulties, the adversaries you face, the state of our culture, the state of our political nature, the state of our finances, they have a way of diminishing and shrinking you. And here's the problem, it doesn't happen all at once. It can happen slowly, quietly, almost at times without you noticing it. What ends up happening is you stop expecting like you once did. You stop dreaming. And if you do, it's more cautious, it's more measured. You stop believing for more like you

once did. You don't necessarily lose your faith, but you just simply learn to survive. This is the scene we have entered into in our text this morning. We have entered into a space in time when this community of Israelites, they have been ground down for so long under the oppression and the occupation of the Midianites. They have been under siege for so long that this way of living under the Midianites has reduced them to hiding in caves and living in retreat in the mountains. Seven years they have lived under the oppressive rule of the Midianites. Seven years, some of you can't handle seven minutes. Seven harvests stolen. Seven years of planting only to watch the Midianites reap their harvest. Seven years of hiding, not thriving, just trying to survive. I want you to put yourself in that camp. See, oftentimes we can brush past scripture and brush past the context, but it's actually the context that gives the text power. It's the context that illuminates what God is doing in the text. I want you to put yourself in that space. And I bet you can imagine like I did that all of a sudden the songs have grown quieter. The stories of this great Exodus that used to fill the camp stories, the campfires, had become now memories from another generation. In fact, the children who had once heard about the great seas dividing were now watching their parents hide grain in caves. Hope had become history. This is the scene that we step into. And then that old wine press hidden beneath the weight of fear and tyranny, there stands our protagonist, Gideon, threshing wheat in a wine press. Now, I don't have all of the time to unpack the imagery of that, but I'll try my best to summarize it. He is threshing wheat, which is designed for the high places because the act of threshing wheat was to take the windowing fork and to throw the wheat in the air on a high mountain and let the wind blow the chaff and have the grain settle back down. But Gideon is not threshing the wheat on a high mountain. The Bible tells us that he is threshing wheat in a wine press, a sunken place, a place that is dark, below the surface, no light, no wind. You can almost picture it. It is a wasted exercise. Because as he threshes the wheat, there is no wind in the winepress to separate the wheat from the chaff. And as I read that, I thought, there's something in that. That's what the weight of circumstances and fear will have you do. They will diminish you to fruitless activity, and they can frustrate you.

And if we're not careful, those ideas left unattended to have a way of teaching you to expect less from God than He has promised. And it is into that atmosphere. It's not all dark and gloomy. I bring you the good news this morning, because as you read the text, you realize it is into that atmosphere. Into that sorrow, into that frustration, into that mess that God decides to show up. Not in Jerusalem, not in the palace, not amongst the generals, but besides a frightened farmer hiding in a winepress. I had to pause there when I read it for a second, and I couldn't help but praise God. Because it reminded me that we serve a God who does not wait for you to fix your life. Who does not wait for you to pick yourself up. Who does not wait for you to get it all figured out before He'll meet you where you are. We serve a God who loves you enough to strap down from heaven and wrap Himself in flesh and meet you in your brokenness. I thank God that when I was out of options, that He met me where I was. I thank God that He did not wait till I got myself figured out. He wrapped Himself in flesh and He met me in my sin. I'm grateful today, and I came to remind somebody today that you serve a God who'll meet you in your brokenness. Who'll meet you in your mess. Who'll meet you in your sin. Who'll meet you in your desperation. Who'll meet you in your frustration. God is not afraid of the mess. God stepped into that environment. And the Bible says this, opening line of verse 11. The angel of the Lord came and sat down Jesus. Let me remind you, let me remind you that in the Bible we have the picture of Jesus, the high priest, sitting down at the right hand of the Father. I've always wondered why the Bible emphasizes that Jesus sat down. Because the priests who were not our high priest Jesus would never sit because the work was never finished. Oh Gary, you see where I'm going with this. But our high priest Jesus, He sits down at the right hand of the Father. Because He tells you and me that the work is finished. Oh my God. But the Bible doesn't just tell us that for that reason.

He tells us that He sits down. Why? To remind you and me that I'm not here for a short while. I'm not just passing by. I'm the kind of God, sorry camera man, I'm getting a little adventurous today. I'm the God who'll stoop down, strip myself of glory and sit on your phone right next to you. I'm not just passing you by. I'm not here for a short while. I'm here to walk with you. I'm here to minister to you. And as long as you stay here, I'll be right here with you. And I pray if you let me, I'll pick you up and I'll take you out of the mire clay myself. Jesus. He sits down with you. And the Bible tells us that He sits down and He's watching Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress. And He turns to him and says, Oh Gideon, the Lord is with you. Oh mighty man of valor. Time out. Mighty man? Excuse me? A mighty man who's hiding in a winepress? A mighty man whose nation hasn't won a battle in years? And it made me remind myself again, oh the Bible is so good, we're going to be here a while. Isn't it like God to call you, not according to your circumstance, but to call you according to His purposes of your life? Even though it contradicts your current experience, look at what God does. He walks into Abraham's barrenness and calls him the father of many nations. He walks into Simon's misery and instability and calls him Peter, upon the rock I will build my church.

He walks into Saul's rebellion and calls him Paul, the apostle. And now He walks into a winepress, looks at a frightened farmer and says, Mighty man of valor. I thank God that He doesn't defile me. behind me by my current circumstance, but He looks beyond my pain. He looks beyond my fear. He looks beyond my insecurities and calls you by your name and calls you according to His purposes. I came to tell you today, it's time to stop defining yourself according to your current season because God looks through your season and calls you according to His plans. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. That's why I have no issue cutting people out of my life who try to hold me back to who I used to be. Some of you need to get better at saying, you know what, that person gotta go because they won't let you graduate beyond where you used to be. I serve a God who's calling me out of where I am into glory while you are holding me back to who I used to be. I'm not who I was and only God can do it. So many people in Nazareth missed their miracle because they couldn't get over who Jesus was. Isn't that the carpenter's son?

Isn't that the one who used to walk amongst us? The Bible tells us that Jesus could do no miracles there because they could not see Him for who He was becoming. I'm gonna leave it alone. I don't have time for this, I don't have time for this. And I'm reading that and I'm thinking to myself, ooh, I know how I would've responded, at least I think. Mighty Man of Valor? That'll, hey, that'll put wind in your sails. Ow, put my chest out. Matter of fact, we're the Midianites. I'll take it by myself. Mighty Man of Valor? I was watching this, I'm not typically on social media, but I was watching this video and this lady was like, man, my page blew up because I posted a video one day where I had made my husband a sandwich and I wrote on there, I love you, big dog, and his whole life changed, you know what I'm saying? Let me tell you something, ladies, it doesn't take much. You call your husband big dog, oh my God. You can have whatever you want. Big dog? Yeah, that's right. If all it takes is a little compliment, imagine how I would've felt if God says, you're a Mighty Man of Valor. Me? Let's go. That's why I thought Gideon would've responded.

But take a look at Gideon's response here. Oh, it challenged me. God calls a mighty man of valor and says the Lord is with you, but Gideon is so corrupted and so consumed by the circumstance, by the enemy, by the Midianites, that he can't even receive it. And this is how Gideon responds. He goes, if the Lord is really with us, why then has all of this happened? I don't wanna read that too quickly, and I also don't wanna judge Gideon, because the reality is I think every believer has whispered that sentence at least one time in their life. God, if you were really with me, then why did this happen? If the Lord is really with me, then why didn't that person stay? If God, you're really with me, then why did the diagnosis come? If God, you're really with us, why is my family falling apart? If God is with me, why are we hiding in caves? It's a real conversation. But as I stopped and I thought, isn't that the theology of pain? Can you hear the theology of pain? Gideon has reached the conclusion that because life became difficult, God must have become distant. And unfortunately, too many people have fallen into that trap of believing that lie,

that because life is difficult, then God must have become distant. What is Gideon doing? He is measuring God's presence by his circumstance. He is measuring God's faithfulness by his own comfort. He is measuring God's goodness by what he can currently explain. And it made me realize again that so many don't actually know God. We know our circumstances, and we've let our circumstances tell us who God is. Uh-oh, I'ma move on. I guess I stood on some toes here this morning. Gideon is not, watch this, Gideon is not questioning God's power. I'm questioning my life choice right now. It's hot up here. Lord, have mercy. I'd say dim them lights, but you won't see me on the camera. My bad. We'll make it. We'll make it. We'll make it. That got me, that got me good, that got me good. You have to edit that one out, you know. Please hear me, God, Gideon isn't questioning God's power. He is questioning God's proximity. How many times have you and I done that? Listen to the language, if the Lord is with us, as if his presence doesn't go with you

everywhere you go. The psalmist tells me, where can I hide from his presence? Where can I go from his presence? If I'm in the depths of hell, he's there. If I'm on the height of heights, he's there. When I lay down, he's there. In my coming and going, he's there. Can I tell you, there is no place you can go where you can hide from his presence. So this is, again, the theology of pain. It'll have you believing that your circumstance is the direct correlation to the absence or presence of God, and that's a lie. Because God is Emmanuel, God with us. And he says, if the Lord is with us, then where are all his wonderful works? What are the miracles? Where is the God our fathers talked about? And before we hitch our wagon to Gideon, I want to point this out. We ought to remember that Judges opens by telling us, in verse one, if you go back and read verse one to 10, it gives us the backdrop. It tells us that Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. And so, you realize that Gideon has forgotten why Israel is here in the first place. He wants to recall and remember Egypt, but he's forgetting the idolatry that landed here in the first place. He remembers deliverance, but he forgets disobedience. He remembers the miracles, but he forgets the compromise they made that put them in the situation in the first place. Isn't it amazing how suffering can make us redirect the story and blame God? Ain't that something? I've always been amazed at our society. We will leave God out of our schools. We will leave God out of our decision-making processes.

We'll leave God out of decisions. We'll leave God out of our marriages. We'll leave God out of everything, and then we're going to blame him for the outcome. Make it make sense, Gina. Is there a Gina in the house? Thank God. When you realize, and you look at the text, you realize that God hadn't abandoned Israel. Israel had abandoned God. But pain has a way of making us tell the story as though God moved first. That's the lie of the enemy, that God moved first, that God abandoned you, that God is not with you. And here's what fascinates me about this text, because I've got to keep moving here. Lord have mercy, slow down time. Gideon is pouring out his heart before the Lord. Years of frustration, years of disappointment, years of unanswered questions that come spilling out of him. If the Lord was with us, where are all his mighty acts? Why has this happened? The Lord has forsaken us. Now, pause. If I'm writing this story, here's what I would write next. Here's where I would go. I would imagine that in the middle of Gideon's complaining and fearful rhetoric, that God would put him, insert himself in the story and say this. God would write, I'm going to encourage Gideon. This is how I would write the story. God would insert himself and say, oh Gideon, be reassured. Don't worry, Midian's days are numbered. You would think that God would give him this encouraging speech or this reassuring rhetoric, but God does not do that.

God does not address the Midianite issue. Did you notice that? At no point does God actually address the Midian issue. What does the Bible tell us that God does? The Bible says in verse 14 that the Lord turned to Gideon and said, go in this might of yours. And the version said, go in the strength you have. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds counterintuitive. I would think that God's response would be, I got this. I'll take care of this for you, leave it with me. But instead, God is trying to show something to Gideon here. He responds and says, you go in the strength you have. But because of our pride, we will naturally read that and think, oh, I've got this. I've got the strength. But what God is trying to show Gideon is to help him realize, oh, the strength I have is not from myself. The strength I have comes from the Lord. I woke up today not because I'm great. I woke up today because God blessed me enough to see another day and breathe life into me. It's a reminder to Gideon and all of us who would read this text to never forget that God works in you and God works through you. It was never about you, but it was always God. in you, working through you. We make the mistake and we always come up short when we think I can do it. Can you see what's happening? Gideon keeps trying to make the conversation about Midian, but God keeps making the conversation about Himself. Have I not given you strength? Do I not send you? Every answer God gives

keeps pulling Gideon's attention away from the enemy and back toward Him. Have you seen that? Because fear and anxiety have a way of making us ask the wrong questions. We keep asking God, what are you going to do about this situation? But God keeps asking you and me, what are you going to do now that you know I'm with you? If we don't get a handle on our fear, our world will keep getting smaller. Take a look at what Gideon does. Gideon, everything about, everything becomes about the problem. Everything becomes about the obstacle. Everything becomes about the diagnosis. Everything becomes about the opposition. Everything becomes about Midian. And before long, our prayers don't become centered on the revelation of who God is. Our prayers become centered around what we have magnified, and that is the enemy. And Gideon responds exactly the way most of us would. Lord, how can I? My clan is the weakest. I am the least. Have you noticed how quickly fear becomes self-consciousness? I'm too small. I'm too weak.

I'm not enough. I'm the least. Can you see how fear will constantly swing between both extremes? First, it becomes the magnification of your enemy, and second, it becomes about minimizing you, leaving you stuck in a rhythm and a cycle of feeling hopeless and like you have no way out of your situation. It tells you, first, that the enemy's too big, and then it tells you, second, that you're too small. But listen to God's answer, because once again, he refuses to discuss Midian. He doesn't say, no, Gideon, you're actually stronger than you think. He doesn't give him a confidence seminar. He doesn't tell him to believe in himself. What does God say? But I will be with you. There it is again. God keeps bringing the conversation back to his presence. Not strategy, not his power, but his presence. If you're paying attention, you'll see a pattern here. God keeps refusing to answer the question Gideon is asking. It's almost as though Midian isn't the greatest issue. They missed it, Lord, just, whew. They missed it, Lord. Help me, Jesus. If you watch what's happening in this text, God constantly just ignores the questions about Midian.

And maybe it's because God is trying to reveal to Gideon that your greatest problem, your greatest opposition isn't the Midianites. It's almost as though there is something far more important that Gideon has yet to discover and God is trying to reveal it to him. Can I go deeper? Gideon says, okay, if I have now found favor in your eyes, then give me a sign, you know, faith move. Give me a sign. So he prepares the offering. The angel stretches out the end of his staff and touches the offering and suddenly it fire ups and from the rock, the sacrifice is consumed. And the Bible says that just as suddenly the angel is gone. Now watch the text. The Bible says, listen to this, watch this, verse 22. The Bible says, then Gideon perceived. Then Gideon got revelation. He begins to understand. And I just thought to myself, oh, let me pause there. Sometimes the greatest miracle isn't what God does around you. It's what he does in you through what he shows you. Too many of us are like Gideon, looking for God to fix everything around us and God going, I'll take care of everything around you. The bigger issue, the greater conflict is what's going on inside of you. Jesus, there it is again.

The Lord just, whew. Hex says, Gideon perceived that this was the angel of God. What is happening in this scene, I wish I had time to explain it, is what's called a theophany. The arrival and the presence of God in a situation. The manifest presence of God. And it is at that moment, oh I'm getting giddy, I can't wait to preach this, oh Lord. It is at that moment that Gideon realizes, this is God who has been sitting here with me this whole time I'm complaining about meeting and I'm in the presence of God and listen to what comes out of his mouth. He says, alas, I wish it was a better word because it's actually more, it's more terrified. It's like, wow, it's where the word awesome comes from. I'm in awe and terrified. Oh God, I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. Oh, do you know what it's like? It's like New Testament when Simon Peter's in the boat, fishing and Jesus goes, put your net this side and he catches and has this revelation. This is God and what does Simon Peter do? He goes, oh my God, please depart from me. I am too much of a sinner to be in your presence. Why is this the response? Because every good Hebrew boy knew according to Exodus that anyone who has seen the face of the Lord shall die because he is too holy and there needs to be a mediator

between the holiness of God and the sin of man. So have you noticed it yet? Do you see what's happening right now? All of a sudden I'm going, oh, what happened to Midian? Just a few verses ago, that's all Gideon could talk about. Everything was about Midian. Where are the Midiats now? Where is the talk of oppression now? Where is the talk of the wine press? Where is the fear? Where is the army? Did you notice that Midian disappears in Gideon's mind without ever moving? I'm getting to it now. You won't pay attention because Gideon has stumbled into something far more significant. He has discovered the greater conflict. See what I did there? You like that? Gideon thought that his greatest problem was Midian, but once he gets revelation, standing before the holiness of God, he realizes my greatest problem isn't Midian, it's me because every Israel knew, again, that if you see God, you shall not live. So Gideon is no longer afraid because of Midian. He's afraid because he thinks he's about to die. And this is the first moment in the entire story that Gideon is finally asking the right question because before God deals with the enemy around him,

God must first deal with the separation between himself and Gideon. And suddenly everything we read and have been reading looks different. God wasn't ignoring Midian. He was simply addressing the greater conflict, the conflict that existed between sinful man and a holy God. The greatest battle was never outside the wine press. It was inside the human heart. The greatest enemy was never Midian. It has always been sin. The greatest need was never deliverance from temporary circumstances. It was reconciliation to a God who was eternal. And it isn't to that moment where Gideon expects judgment, but God speaks peace beyond to you. Gideon, oh Lord, help me preach this, Lord. Please don't miss this. This whole message has been setting up this moment. Gideon gets a revelation of peace when he realises that he deserved death and his life was spared. So what am I teaching you this morning? What am I teaching us about peace? It tells you and me that peace is not God's answer to Midian. Peace is not God's answer to your circumstances. Peace is not God's answer to our trials and adversity. Peace is first God's answer to sin.

Why is this important? I tell you this because every generation has been looking for peace everywhere. Some have searched for it in prosperity. Some have searched for it in security. Some have searched for it in the political arena. Some have searched for it in pleasure. Some have convinced themselves, if I could just get out of this season, if I could just pay these bills, if this diagnosis would change, if this marriage could heal, if the circumstance would look different, then I would finally have peace. We have become convinced of the greatest lie, that peace is always something and somewhere out there. Just one more breakthrough away. And maybe that's because we've misunderstood what peace is. Because when you arrive in Judges chapter 6, you realize this Gideon did not discover peace after Midian leaves. Jesus, please hear me now. Oh God Gideon did not discover peace when Midian left. He discovered peace while still under Midian Occupation. He discovered peace before the battle. He discovered peace before the breakthrough He discovered peace before the miracle, before anything in his world changed. God revealed himself It is teaching you and me that peace is not about the external circumstances Peace is less about the absence of war and suffering. Peace is what you have and you find in Christ Jesus Do you see it? Do you see it? Nothing in his life changed. The Midianites were still there. The issue was still there. The danger was still there The trial was still there. The diagnosis is still there But Gideon got a revelation of peace because he encountered the God who brings peace through reconciliation to him

I came to teach you this morning that the peace of God, the shalom of God is Less about the absence of adversity and is more about his presence. Why? Because in his presence Here's what shalom actually means. It means completeness. Nothing missing. Nothing broken You have been made whole and the only person who can make you whole again is Jesus Christ who died on the cross What else does peace mean? Shalom means soundness. I came to give you a spirit of soundness Soundness of mind, not one of fear. Who else can give you soundness of mind that transcends understanding by Jesus Christ? This is why when you get a revelation of peace as Gideon did, you can be in the middle of a storm, in the Middle of the fight of your life and have peace and soundness of mind and it doesn't make sense to people because peace is not About what's happening around me. It's about what God is doing in me Why is this important? Because once you've made peace with God, every other battle becomes secondary What this story is quietly conveying is this Question that Gideon would have asked himself Because he realizes, oh, I've seen the face of God and God responds Peace be unto you. I have made you whole. I have made you perfect I have made you in health and prosperity I have made you in completeness and the question Gideon is asking himself in that moment Which is why he began to realize that God does not just provide peace, but God is peace himself It's because the question he asked himself was this, how can a holy God Look at a sinful man who deserves judgment, but instead speaks peace How? Through Jesus Christ on Golgotha's hill This text is the, we've seen this in so many Old Testament literature This text is one of them. It is reaching forward To grasp the future that God was building This text is Romans 5 before Romans 5 ever got written. What does it say? Therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace With God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to say it again because I think you missed it

Since we have been justified by faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't attain peace outside of God We can't attain peace through human effort. You can't attain peace through a vacation Italy, though It might be nice The only way we have attained peace is that we are justified by faith and it is achieved through the person of Jesus Christ Jehovah Shalom is not just a name. It is the person of Jesus Christ alive in you and me Listen to what it says We have peace with God Not peace from Rome, not peace from suffering, not peace from the Midianites We have peace with God The greatest conflict has been settled the enmity between a holy God and a sinful humanity has ended It's not because God not sin, but because Christ took it upon Himself. Do you hear it? Peace has a price and Jesus has paid it. The wrath of God should have fallen on us, but it fell on Him. The judgment belonged to me, but it fell on Him. The separation that was actually mine, so that has now become His, so that now God can look at people who deserve judgment and say, peace be unto you. Here's what Paul says in Colossians. Oh, give me two minutes here. Oh, please, Lord, let me get to this. Here's what Paul says in Colossians. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by Him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authority or Midianites. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things. And in Him, all things hold together because He is the head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything, He might be preeminent. Oh, Church, watch this. For in Him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And through Him, to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven. Watch this, making peace by the blood of the cross. Jehovah Shalom is not a name. It is a person. Can I give you a little more? Can I go a little deeper? Isaiah. Lord, I'm kidding. Isaiah looked down the corridors of time and he saw Him coming. And listen to what Isaiah says. His, oh my God, His name shall be called. Let me just start again. For unto us, a son is born. For unto us, a son is giving. He shall be called wonderful counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Talking about Jesus.

Not because He came to remove every Midian, but He came to settle the greater conflict. And hear me Church, this is why resurrection matters. Because our peace is not resting in a dead sacrifice. Our peace is not resting in external circumstances. Our peace is being held by a living Saviour. The One who died for our reconciliation and now who lives for our intercession. The Prince of Peace still reigns. The Lamb still intercedes. The Cross still speaks and the verdict still stands. Peace be unto you. In the Name of Jesus. Do you believe it? Do you believe it? So why don't you take 30 seconds, if you're grateful that your situation does not have to change for you to live in peace. You don't have to change your circumstance. You don't have to have a breakthrough. You don't have to have more money. You don't have to have more things. You don't have to be perfect. You can have peace in every season, in every storm, in every valley, in every heartache, because peace is a person and His Name is Jesus. I live in peace because peace lives in me. Praise the Lord. Thank you. Well, church, while you're standing, please stay standing.

If there's anybody here in the room and you know you are not at peace with God, that's made available to you right now in this moment through the giving of God's Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and through His shed blood and His perfect life, you could be made whole, experience new life and have peace, right relationship with God. And all it takes is for you to surrender and receive Him. So with every head bowed in the room, just so you could have a personal moment with the Lord, if that's you, if you'd say, I need my sins forgiven, I need the peace of God, and I wanna come home back to my Father in heaven. If that's you, would you just slip up your hand and say, yeah, that's me. I'm yielding my life to the Lord. I'm surrendering to Jesus. I'm receiving new life today. God, I receive new life today, a new identity, a new status, a new way of living through Jesus Christ. Father, thank you for every hand that was lifted and every heart that's open before you. Father God, we thank you for giving your Son, Jesus Christ on the cross. Thank you, Jesus, for living the life we couldn't, paying the debt we couldn't, so we could experience your life now. God, we receive your forgiveness through your precious blood,

through your body that was given. Thank you for forgiving me of all my sins. Make me brand new and help me to follow you. Jesus, we declare you are my Lord and my Savior, and I follow you in Jesus' name, amen. Hey, can we celebrate right now? Anybody who put their trust in Jesus this morning, heaven rejoices, and hey, if you did, the ushers are gonna come down the row. Why don't you just wave at them. They're gonna give you a Bible if you put your trust in Jesus today. I'm gonna give you a Bible and some resources. So just wave at them, they'll give you that, put it in your hands. And Pastor Brian wants to send you an encouraging note. So please let us know if you put your trust in Jesus. Otherwise, we're gonna end today, worshiping the Lord. So, man, would you lead us in the presence of the Lord? ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus, for you've done for us ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, when you're in the room ♪ ♪ When you're in the room, nothing else matters ♪ ♪ You're in the room, sing it out ♪ ♪ When you're in the room, nothing else matters ♪ ♪ You're in the room ♪ Let's do that again. ♪ When you're in the room, nothing else matters ♪ let's sing that again. ♪ When you're in the room, nothing else matters ♪

♪ You're in the room ♪ ♪ Heaven can't have it, you're in the room ♪ ♪ Sing you're in the room, when you're in the room ♪ ♪ Nothing else matters, you're in the room ♪ Let's sing that again. ♪ When you're in the room, heaven can't have it ♪ ♪ You're in the room, yes ♪ ♪ When you're in the room, nothing else matters ♪ ♪ You're in the room, and everybody shouts holy ♪ ♪ And everybody cries worthy, yes ♪ ♪ Your glory fills the room, your glory fills the room ♪ ♪ And everybody shouts holy, and everybody cries worthy ♪ ♪ And everybody shouts holy, and everybody cries worthy ♪ ♪ Your glory fills the room, your glory fills the room ♪ Let's sing, we are. ♪ When you're in the room, heaven can't have it ♪ ♪ You're in the room, sing you're in the room ♪ ♪ When you're in the room, nothing else matters ♪ ♪ You're in the room, sing you're in the room ♪ ♪ When you're in the room, heaven can't have it ♪ ♪ You're in the room, sing you're in the room ♪ ♪ When you're in the room, nothing else matters ♪ ♪ You're in the room, let's give God some praise in this room ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Well, hey church, if you need prayer for anything, we've got a team of people over on this side of the room that would love to pray with you. If you're new or here with us, love to see you at a Getty 15, which happens in just a moment in our lobby.

Head on over to my left and you'll see this garage doors. Team will be waiting to meet you there. Otherwise, let's pray one last time as God sends us out into this week. Thank you, Lord, for your peace. The peace you give, the world cannot give. For this peace belongs to you and you alone and only you can give it for it is your presence with us that gives us that peace. And we know your presence goes before us this week as we head out to work and with our families and friends, and we pray we would be a testimony of that peace so others might say, where can I find that? And we would point to you, Lord Jesus, and they'd come on home to the family of God. God, give us those opportunities to steward and use and obey in Jesus' name, amen. God bless you, church. Have a great rest of your week.