Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire
Ezekiel 11:1-5

Last week we picked up the ancient prophecy of Ezekiel again and continued reading one of the visions that he recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit some 600 years before Christ.

In that vision we saw the presence of God move into Jerusalem to oversee His judgment on that city.
Last week we saw the Coals of Fire that represented His holiness and its effects on a city.
These Coals of Fire were scattered around the city to represent the purging work of God's Holiness and the judgment that the actions of the inhabitants had warranted.

Now we will finish the vision as Ezekiel has recorded it for us here in Chapter 11.

READ TEXT
PRAY

There are some peculiar turns of phrase in this chapter that catch our eyes.
One in particular that caught my attention is the clause, "this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh."
After some diligent study on this wording I chose the title for this morning's sermon, "Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire."

The passage begins with a scene at the east gate of the temple that hearkens back to the earlier part of the vision from Ezekiel 8:16 wherein Ezekiel saw 25 men with their backs turned toward the temple.
They were worshipping the Sun.
This was evidence of their incremental compromises in worship that ends with some people practicing witchcraft instead of worshipping God alone.

Verse 1 of our text reveals that among these men were the leaders of society.
Princes of the people he calls them.
They had found the wisdom of the world to be more attractive and mysterious than the wisdom of God.
While they worshipped celestial bodies, and directed their lives and their counsel by the stars, the God that had given them their authority and positions of leadership looked on with displeasure.

Now this same God points out in Verse 2 to Ezekiel that these leaders are giving wicked counsel to the city.

Verse 3 reveal the particular counsel that these men were giving, and that wicked counsel has three parts:

1.) "It is not near;" They had heard the prophecies and warnings that God would destroy Jerusalem for its wickedness, but they would comfort the people with these false words.
The lie of the Devil has not changed much throughout time.
Satan has always tried to cast doubt on the full veracity of God's predictions.
"Ye shall not surely die," he told Eve.
Know this, that when God makes a prediction of coming judgment it is to be taken seriously and acted upon with expediency or you will suffer the consequences.
Even today there are naysayers about the great rapture of the saints, in which Jesus will return and catch up those who have trusted in Him as their Saviour.
The Apostle Peter predicted the same:
2Peter 3:3 ¶ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
You may notice that Peter comments that the same attitude prevailed in Noah's time but judgment came and the procrastinators were caught unawares.
Now we have seen from Verse 3 the first item of wicked counsel.
Let us not listen to the lie that God will put up with our wickedness a moment longer.
We must realize that He is a Holy God and demands that we act upon His commands immediately.
Now we can se the next wicked advice that the leaders in Jerusalem were purveying.

2.) "Let us build houses:" Now, of course there is nothing inherently wrong with building houses or repairing them, but the timing of their diversion is the primary lesson here.
It was a time to repent.
It was a time to worship.
It was a time to build the walls of the city.
It was a time to pray.
It was not a time to be concentrating on self and personal belongings.
These men were distracting from God's call by encouraging people to think of themselves.
It is an old politician's trick to point out the importance of the individual with the ulterior motive of distracting from the real crisis.
The crisis in Jerusalem was not that the people didn't have houses.
As a matter of fact, with the many who had been taken from the city, there was most likely a housing glut, but the leaders still encouraged the people to focus on themselves and their own well being.
The crisis in Jerusalem went unheeded.
That crisis was a moral one.
While the politicians spewed off their normal promises of housing and encouraged the people to focus on their own wants and needs, people of Israel were dying in foreign lands because they had been ripped from their homes and hustled away to be slaves of the Babylonians.
So it is today that politicians are still trying to keep the focus on the personal welfare of the individual while innocent children are never given the chance to breath, and the real dangers of our society are ignored.
Like God's words against Jerusalem in verse 6, we have multiplied the slain in our streets while ignoring the real crises of our society.
The third bit of counsel that the politicians of Jerusalem are giving closes out verse 3.

3.) "this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh." It is and odd saying but not too difficult to understand.
Remember, from an historical perspective, Israel had been under siege by the enemy for some time.
The Chaldeans had been marauding through the countryside, kidnapping and looting.
Jerusalem had held out, however.
It was a well fortified city with its own source of water and could seemingly be defended forever, or so thought the people of the city.
But they couldn't see the forest for the trees.
They considered the victims of the Chaldeans to be those that God had judged, while they, they had Jerusalem.
They were safe because of their proximity to the temple.
They had their traditions, and those would protect them against the righteous anger of God.
The city of Jerusalem was to them like a great iron caldron, and they figured themselves to be the savory stew inside which God enjoyed so much He would never let them be exposed to the fires outside of the pot.
It is a strange thing to feel safe in a caldron.
It makes me think of a cartoon I read as a child in which an unsuspecting missionary is carried on the shoulders of a group of natives into their camp.
He feels quite honored by this and even more so when the set him into a great warm bath over a fire.
Of course, he has been kidnapped by cannibals, but ignorance is bliss.
The counsel that the Jerusalem politicians gave the people is that, "We are safe."
God would never let harm come to the great city of Jerusalem.
If you are stuck in the same false assurance this morning I beg you to repent.
Your proximity to the church and your presence among God's people is no safety.
When God is ready to judge us He will do so with no regard to our location.

In verse 4 Ezekiel is told to prophesy against the men in his vision, which, in his vision he does.

God's particular claim in verse 5 is frightening if you have sins of the mind.
God says, "for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them."

In Verse 6 God points out that they have ignored the real crisis while concentrating on themselves.
In my opinion, it is not actual bodies in the streets of Jerusalem that Ezekiel is here revealing in his vision so filled with symbolic pictures, but the hidden casualties, the many who had been taken away.
They were the great casualties, but in Verse 7 we see that they were the ones under God's protection.
They would be the ones protected under God's promises to Jerusalem.
Although they were scattered around the empire of Babylon, they were protected by God's promise to Israel.
They had repented and God would honor their repentance.

As for the people that were physically still in Jerusalem, they would suffer the sword as shown in verse 8-11 and they would be taken out of their comfortable place and God would execute His judgment on them as they fled the very borders of their country.

The great purpose of God's impending judgment is revealed in verse 12.
It is that God be revealed for Who He is.
The people of Jerusalem had been no better than the heathen they mocked.

In Verse 13 we see that as Ezekiel prophesies in his vision, in his vision Pelatiah, a leader among the people is stricken dead.
This shocks Ezekiel the prophet, who exclaims, "Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"

Now we get to an encouraging part of the chapter:
God points out in verses 14, 15 that those who were mocked by the "holier-than-thou" Jerusalemites were the ones that would eventually inherit the land.
By their repentance they had procured the favour of God, and He was intent on blessing them.
They had been cast off from Jerusalem and Israel and were now in a foreign land enslaved by the Chaldeans, but hey were not out of God's care.

As Verse 16 implies, when we come to our senses in a place far from where we should be, God is ready to provide sanctuary where we are.
Of course much has been lost and the scars of our sin we will carry with us for some time, but God still loves us and looks to bless the repentant.

In Verse 17 Ezekiel is told to prophesy yet again, but this time to the people who have been cast off and repented.
God promises to gather them back and give them back their first estate.

The real intentions of the people are revealed in Verse 18 as Ezekiel predicts that they would come back with the clear purpose of ridding the city of Jerusalem of its idols and abominable things.

Then that great prophesy continues in verses 19-20 with a promise of a new heart, for it is not of our own volition that we worship Him in truth and holiness, but out of a heart that He has given us when we repent.
Then we are able to walk according to his rules and keep his laws.
Then we will be His people and He will be our God.
Verse 21 reminds us of those who did not respond to the pleading of God.
From a faithful study of Scripture we understand that this is not because God did not give them the same opportunities but because when God brought them to the same place of opportunity the rejected God's order.
They will suffer the consequences of their choices.

Finally the great vision comes to a close with one more scene.
Remember Ezekiel is one of the captives, and had been transported in the vision to see Jerusalem and its condition.
In Verses 22, 23 the great Chariot-Throne lifts off from the city gate and sets on the mountain of Olives, one more incremental step of departure from Jerusalem.

Then God takes Ezekiel the prophet back to Chaldea where Ezekiel brought the good news to them there.

I bring that same powerful message to you:
Have you been far from God?
Have you been judged for your sin?
Are you now feeling isolated from His protection?
Know this: God is ready to receive you back.
All He has ever wanted is repentance.

If you are here this morning and have never accepted Christ as your personal Saviour, let me be the one to tell you that God is ready to accept you today.
Won't you join us and repent of your sins and receive His salvation today?

Coals of Fire

Coals of Fire
Ezekiel 10:1-22

It has been about two and a half months since we were last in Ezekiel.

Then we saw the beginning of a vision that God gave the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel.
In that vision in chapter 9 we saw a group of militant angels with destroying weapons in their hands enter the city and walk toward the house of God.

That was a vision that began with a dark outlook and ended with a small glimmer of hope.
With the destroying angels was one clothed in priestly white linen.
He had no weapon in his hand but an inkhorn with which he was to mark those who mourned for the spiritual condition of their country.
Those who were thus marked were granted mercy when the judgment was visited upon the remainder of the people.
In that last sermon from Ezekiel we learned that there is mercy in the mourning of God's people for their sin.

Today we are in Chapter 10.
It is merely a continuation of the same vision and we should recollect the scene which will be shown in this chapter as well.

First of all, let us remember that God is here pictured in a complex and magnificent chariot-throne.
- The glory of God is revealed in the efficiency of the wheels and the consistency of their movement.
- The glory of God is revealed in the four-faced angelic creatures representing different powerful characteristics of God's nature.
- The glory of God is revealed in the appearance of coals of fire beneath his glorious throne.
I'll remind you that this chariot-throne has, in the earlier portion of this vision, come close to the temple in Jerusalem, that symbol of God's presence among His people.
It is that throne and the nearby mercy angel still clothed in white that we see right away in our text this morning.

READ TEXT EZEKIEL 10:1-22
PRAY

There are three outstanding aspects of the scene in this chapter.
1.) The Chariot-Throne
2.) The Coals of Fire
3.) The Presence of God

These three aspects have, in their representation in the text, specific and powerful lessons.
Let us look to each of these and find the Lord's challenge for us this morning.

1.) The Chariot Throne
The first aspect that grabs the attention of the reader is the wonderful chariot-throne.
Its description is complex, but seems to communicate a multifaceted, efficient and powerful God, in Whom is no change or instability.
The Cherubim appear to be a part of the chariot-throne and wholly obedient to the will of the One Who sits thereon.
We have studied the lessons of the chariot-throne in Chapter One and will spend no additional time on it today.

2.) The Coals of Fire
In Chapter 1 it was noted that the appearance of the cherubim was as coals of fire.
As we noticed in Chapter One, there is a distinct symbolic value to the appearance of the cherubim.
Now we see that this is even more apparent with the linen-clothed angel now instructed to procure coals of fire from the throne of God and scatter them about the city.
These coals of fire are clearly representative of God's judgment and their placement throughout the city is nothing but the fiery judgment of God spread over the entire city of Jerusalem.

From the previous chapters we have seen that God's people had allowed sin into their lives.
They had surrounded themselves with images and idols.
They had compromised their worship, trading religious ritual, dead traditions and even pagan influences for the holiness and purity that God had demanded in the lives of His people.
Now He is instructing the angel to take the coals of fire that represent His own holiness and purge the city of its wickedness.

Elsewhere in the Bible we see the symbolic use of coals of fire.
- In Leviticus 16:12 we read that the Priests of the tabernacle were to take coals of fire from the altar and use them to burn sweet incense before God's throne, the Mercy seat. It was there, that God's Holiness was shown to bring out the sweetest aroma from a life lived for His pleasure.
- In Isaiah 6:6, after Isaiah declares himself undone and unworthy to be used of God, an angel takes a coal from the altar and touches Isaiah's tongue. There, God's holiness was shown to make an imperfect man able to speak God's perfect truth and glorify God.
Then, there are the passages that show God's holiness in a different light.
- In Psalm 18:12 and 13 we see coals of fire sent forth from God's presence as judgment for displeasing Him. There the holiness of God is shown to be a terrible thing to the object of God's wrath.
- Habakkuk 3:5 shows coals of fire paving the very footsteps of God when God comes to judge the earth. There God's holiness spells the doom of the sinners who rejected Him.

In each instance, coals of fire represent the holiness of God.
The holiness of God is the empowering healing revealer of beauty or it is the terrible destroyer of sinfulness.
The difference is the condition of the people exposed to God's holiness.

In our text we see that God has directed that these coals be scattered throughout the city to signify that Jerusalem would be burned because they failed to respect the Holiness of God.

3.) The Presence of God
The final aspect of the chapter is the Presence of God.
the text is very specific during the vision about where God is in the scene.
This is because His presence is what gives meaning to the text.
In Verses Three and Four it appears that God is present on the threshold of His temple.
He has moved there and filled the court with His glory.
Normally this would be a good thing, but as we have seen, God's holiness can have a terrible effect as well as a good one.
It appears God has descended from His throne to oversee the spreading of the coals of fire.

What a thought!
The temple that had for so long been the place of compromise finally has the presence of God.
Unfortunately it is not a time of rejoicing.
They had pushed Him out of the temple by their compromises.
He had come back to them to deliver His judgment.
Now was a chance for repentance, but no, there would be no repentance from the city of Jerusalem.

In verse 18 we see the presence of God moving.
He departs from the temple and is carried away to the east gate.
Now He has left His people to be judged without His assistance.
So it is when a person rejects God's offers for repentance and mercy, he honors the choice made by the sinner and leaves him utterly alone.

If you are here today, a child of God, a blood-washed believer, you must respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit this morning.
His coals of fire represent a holiness that you and I must respect.
Let us decide that we will let His holiness do its perfecting work.
If we don't, we can be sure it will do its work of judgment.

If you are here as one unsure of your position with God today, I can tell you in simple terms, God is offering you mercy.
You are a sinner I know because we all fit that moniker.
You fall short of the holiness you need to be in His presence.
Your sin has indebted you to Him, and you have nothing to pay.
But Jesus was Holy enough.
He paid for your sins.
He offers you His holiness if you will take Him as your personal Saviour.
Won't you do so today?

THE MAN WHO HAD NOBODY

THE MAN WHO HAD NOBODY
John 5:1-7

Today is Friend Day! at Gospel Light Baptist Church.
If you were invited here by somebody today, it means you are loved and somebody considers you a friend.
Our greatest treasure is the relationship that we enjoy with our God.
The greatest gift we have to give is an introduction to the Greatest Friend that anyone could ever have.
Is has been said that:
Insomuch as any one pushes you nearer to God, he or she is your friend. -Anonymous

We would also like to prove to you that it is our goal to be the most loyal friend you can find in a person.
If there is ever anything that we can do to help you in any way, do not hesitate to call us.

I would also like to express my thanks for my friends that have come today.
It is said that true wealth can be counted in the number and quality of a person's friends.
I am truly a wealthy man.

Today we are going to read from a passage that John wrote, an excerpt from the life of Christ.
Our text begins shortly after Jesus healed a nobleman's son from a deadly fever.
The special circumstance of that miracle was the great distance at which Jesus healed the young boy.
There was a feast, in all probability, the Passover feast of the Jews, coming up in Jerusalem, and Jesus is entering the City of Jerusalem through one of the many gates.
In our text it appears he has entered by way of the sheep gate and has crossed through the nearby sheep market.

READ TEXT
PRAY

BACKGROUND:
In 1956, a team of archeologists discovered a great rectangular shaped pool, fed by a natural spring, long since dried up.
This pool had covered porches on all four sides and a dividing porch across the center.
The location of this pool was just inside the sheep gate on the way to the temple.

Our text tells us that this pool was called Bethesda, which means in the Hebrew language, "House of Mercy."

Verse three sets the scene for our imaginations, with a great multitude of lame and crippled people sitting under the shade of the porches and leaning against the pillars.
- An old English term is used to describe these folk as being completely helpless, unable to work and unable to help themselves.
- Also there are blind people, whose blank stares and whited eyes tell their own stories of helplessness.
- Some also whose injuries or birth defects had caused them to limp or drag a foot in their walk, were there.
- Others had limbs that had somehow failed to get the nourishment of the others, they were those "withered."

What a scene this must have been!
Can you place yourselves there?
Can you see the despair in the crowd?
Can you smell the odors of humanity?

All were waiting for something to happen.
There was and air of anticipation in the porch of Bethesda that day as a strange phenomenon was known to take place.
Since the pool was close by the temple and enroute from the sheep gate, it is likely that the primary use of this pool was the washing of sheep on the way to the temple for Passover.
Typically, in such a pool unclean cripples would not be allowed to enter.

As Passover season was just beginning, there must have been some signal from God that it was time to bring the lambs to the temple.
This bit of grace came in the form of an angel sent to trouble the waters of the pool.
A byproduct of this signal of grace was that the first to enter the waters after the disturbance would be healed of whatever ailment he had.

Verse 5 zeroes in on one man.
Praise the Lord that while the salvation of God was sufficient for all, it is offered on an individual basis!
This man was most likely 38 years of age and suffering from a lifelong ailment.
We are not given this man's specific issue but most likely he suffered from the Palsy and was wholly unable to mobilize himself with any speed.
His tortured progress would soften the heart of any man as all could see that he would never reach the water before another.

Jesus looked on him with complete awareness of his problems and asked him a powerful question:
Wilt thou be made whole?

As we get to Verse 7 it is clear that the pool was not wholly ADA compliant.

The man's answer wove a tale of despair and hopelessness.

SOME OBSERVATIONS
OF THE CRIPPLED MAN:
1.) Although surrounded by people, he was completely alone with his illness.
> Loneliness is not necessarily the condition of being by yourself.
Can you identify with this man to any extent?
Have you ever been surrounded by people and yet completely alone.
It is so easy to become engulfed in loneliness in this world, while hundreds of lives go on around you, it seems you are completely alone.
This man was in just such a place.
No one cared more for him than themselves.
No one offered to carry him to the pool.
No one seemed to realize he was even there.
He was alone with his illness despite the fact he was surrounded by people.

2.) Although near the healing water, he was helplessly crippled for life.
> Proximity to help is of no benefit if you are unable to get there and it won't come to you.
Often people recognize a need for a relationship with God, and they get as close as they can by attending a familiar church.
However, surrounding yourself by religious symbols and well dressed people does not bridge the gap between you and God.
Just as this man needed to actually encounter the healing power, we must actually encounter God by accepting the salvation he offers.
Gospel Light Baptist Church is a great church, but you can attend here four times a week it will not bring you an inch closer to salvation if you do not meet Jesus.
This man would be crippled for life next to a pool of healing water.

3.) Although in the prime of life, he was hopelessly waiting to die.
> Death comes to people of every age and every condition.
This man was nearing forty years of age, but had no hope of becoming the man he had dreamed of being.
He was just waiting to die.
Know this that we too are susceptible to death at what ever age.
If you are living a life consumed with fulfilling your own desires, you are no different than the poor man whose life was over for all intents and purposes.
If this life is all there is, we are just waiting to die.
Paul said, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
This man was at the age most people are solidifying a career but he had nothing but death to look forward to.

Having now seen the state of the crippled man and how closely we can relate to him, let us look to Jesus for help.
SOME OBSERVATIONS
OF JESUS
1.) Jesus knew all about him.
> This man may have gone unnoticed by most, but he was not unnoticed by Jesus.
Jesus not only noticed his current condition but Jesus knew all about him.
The psalmist put it beautifully:
Ps 142:3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.
If you are struggling with some ailment or overwhelming feeling of loneliness, Jesus knows all about you.
He is acutely interested in you and wants to be your friend and companion.
He knows your greatest sorrow.
He knows your greatest sin.
He still wants to be your Saviour.
Jesus knows all about you.

2.) Jesus offered him healing.
> Never does Jesus force Himself upon the unsuspecting.
He politely offers his help.
The question so compassionately offered to the crippled man is not unlike the way Jesus offers salvation.
He positions Himself as One standing on the outside asking for an invitation to come in.
The Bible speaks of salvation as a gift that Jesus offers.
It is not earned.
It is not forced upon us.
It is offered.
Jesus offered healing to a man who could reject his offer.

3.) Jesus healed him completely. Verse 8, 9
> When Jesus saves or heals, He does so completely.
There is no trial period to the salvation Christ offers.
It is a transaction made in heaven where payment is applied in full for a debt that we have incurred.
Ro 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
As Jesus healed the crippled man completely, so Christ saves completely.
There is no work left to do for my salvation, He did it all on the cross.
Now I work for Him out of a heart of gratefulness, and every work is now rewarded because He is good.
I have now every confidence, that when I die, I will immediately go to be with Him.
Is it because of my good works?
NO!
It is because of His.
He saved me completely.

As we close today, I want to leave you with this challenge,
Have you accepted His freely offered salvation?
Have you found a friend and a Saviour in Him?
I am not asking if you know about Him.
I am not asking if you attend church.
I am asking if you have accepted His offer of salvation.

It is one thing to feel lonely on this earth.
It will be quite another to stand alone before God and say, "I thought I could earn my way into your grace."
His words have already been written.
Jesus warned what he will say:
Mt 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

You never have to be alone again.
You can accept Him as your personal Saviour today.
He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you, and on that final day, Jesus will say, Well done, good and faithful servant...enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT

LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT
JUDGES 3:31

READ TEXT
PRAY

Our text is short and the sermon will follow suit.
However, the message is a powerful one that resonates throughout the book of the Judges of Israel.

The message is that little is much when God is in it.

It is this same theme that we have noticed in the ministries of the previous judges.
God wants us to catch this vision for the new year, a vision of a God that is determined to do something great with His church, to change lives and save souls through the ministry of His people.
He is not looking for the most skilled and He is not recruiting the masses to this work.
He wants you and what little you have to be available to Him.

Once again we see the true essence of ministry revealed in the story of Shamgar, Judge of Israel.
He is given little acclaim.
He is not shown leading the masses.
He is revealed as one surrendered man with one inadequate tool, accomplishing the miraculous because God was with him.

The hero of our passage is mentioned only one more time in Scripture. Judges 5:6

From this second passing mention of Shamgar, we learn of the desperate straits in which Shamgar lived.
People were afraid to walk on the main roads because of the marauding Philistines in the land.
They snuck around on the less known paths to avoid being seen and mugged by the enemy.
This must have been a difficult time for Israel.
Certainly many in Israel wished somebody would do something.

I recently read a funny story that often mirrors the work that God would have us all to do:
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Now Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Now there are plenty of reasons why we can't do what God wants us to do.
Two are most often used as excuses for disobeying God.
We are alone.
We don't have the right tools.

Shamgar is never once mentioned as having a companion.
Shamgar appears to have had no respectable tool of warfare.
Yet somewhere on a country road or in a farmer's field, one man stood against 600 and won.

We do not know the circumstances of Shamgar's great victory.
We do not know the entire effect of Shamgar's great victory.

All we know is that, alone, and ill-equipped, he accomplished the miraculous.

As with the story of Ehud, and closely related in both message and timing, God used one man to deliver His people.

There are two truths that jump out at me in the story of Shamgar.

1.) God is able to use limited manpower to accomplish great victory.

1Samuel 14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.


2.) God is able to use limited resources to accomplish great victory.

Mark 6:41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
42 And they did all eat, and were filled.
43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.


From our text we can see three challenges.


1.) Start where you are

We have no record of Shamgar's climb up the ladder of military experience.
We have no record of Shamgar's moves to acclimate himself to contact with the enemy.
We only see that he started where he was.

Where are you in you Christian life?
Are you just waiting to be mature enough to share your testimony with someone?
Are you waiting to grow unafraid to share the gospel of Christ?
God wants you to start right where you are.

Shamgar was most likely out in the field trudging behind a plow when the Philistines came down the road.
Perhaps they decided Shamgar's oxen looked like barbecue.
Shamgar didn't wait for better circumstances.
The enemy picked the battlefield upon which they would die because Shamgar was willing to start right where he was.


2.) Use what you have

Shamgar did not run home to pull a sword out from under his bed.
Nor did he use the excuse of being poorly armed to justify his flight from the battle.
He simply used what he had to defeat the enemy.

An Oxgoad is not an ideal fighting tool.
It is a pole of about 2" diameter and about 8' length.
One end is capped with a heavy steel spike with which the farmer would prod the oxen in their thick hindquarters to remind them of the direction in which they should travel.
The other end is a spade which was used to scrape the clay from the plow or the wheels of the cart.
It is useful for sliding along the buckboard edge or the plow frame and prodding the oxen, but it is not designed for battle.

What do you have for accomplishing God's will for you?
Do you have a ratty old car with a taped up window?
Try bringing people to church in it and see if God doesn't bless that.
Think right now about what you have.
Remember, that is what God has provided for you to do His will.
He has unlimited resources, and could have given you anything else, but he gave you what you have.
What you have is exactly what you need for doing something great for God today.

I have often wondered how the battle would have gone if Shamgar had a real weapon.
Perhaps he would have been confident in his ability to kill with it and less dependant on God's strength.
Such is often the case in God's ministry.
Those with the greatest tools are often laid aside because they are too dependant on them and not enough on the Lord.


3.) Do what you can

I wonder what Shamgar's goals were when he started to swing that ox-goad.
Did he really think that he could kill 600 of the enemy?
I seriously doubt that.
What is clear is that he decided that he was going to do what he could.
Let us lose the fear of inability and gain the power of availability.
The fact is, you can do nothing without God anyway.
Go in the power of His might and you will find that God will bless what you can do.
It is the willingness to do that God blesses, not the ability to do.

You may not be able to win the world.
You can however, win one.
Go after that one and see how God multiplies what you can do for Him.

Do you want God to win a spectacular victory?
1. Start where you are – it’s where God has placed you.
2. Use what you have – it’s what God has given you.
3. Do what you can – it’s a lot more than you think.

If you have never repented of your sin and trusted Christ for your salvation, remember, God wants to do great things through you as well.
1.) Start where you are – you can get no closer to God without Christ.
2.) Use what you have – you have nothing to offer.
3.) Do what you can – you can do nothing to work your way into God’s graces.

Jesus has provided Himself as your Saviour.
Won’t you accept Him today?