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?

Ehud: One Man's Mission

Ehud: One Man's Mission
Judges 3:12-30

We recently met Othniel, Israel's first judge after the conquest of the land of Canaan.
Othniel stepped forward to lay a pattern of availability for the heroes of this time period who would, one by one step into the gap and be used by God to deliver His people.

Our text finds Israel once again in a terrible place of backslidden sinfulness.

The book of Judges records Israel's rollercoaster relationship with God in a way that is reminiscent of our own walk with God.
We too, become complacent and tend to slip away from the One Who has purchased us with His own blood.
We too have found ourselves on the business end of God's judgment, only to cry to Him for help and find Him prepared to deliver us from our sin.

Such is the case with Israel in Judges Chapter 3 and beginning at Verse 12.

READ TEXT Verse 12-15
PRAY

The pattern of sin and judgment is shown clearly in the verses we have just read.

First of all we see the spiritual condition of God's people.
They are once again involved in the same evil for which they had previously been judged.
Verse 12 tells us in terse but clear terms, Israel went back to their sin.

In equally clear terms we see that God immediately responded to their condition.
As Israel had chosen to dabble in the religious rituals of ungodly Moab and Ammon and Amalek, God used these wicked nations to teach Israel a lesson.

So it is when we take sin into our heart and our life, that sin will bring its own judgment, and that judgment will be of God.
Later in Israel's history Solomon knew all too well how much damaged could be caused by compromising in the area of relationships with people involved in idolatry.
He wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
Pr 6:27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

So Israel found that these Idolatrous people with whom they had decided to intermingle would be the very hand of judgment in their nation.

Eglon, king of Moab gathered Ammon and Amalek, two notoriously ungodly nations to join him in his conquest of Israel.

Verse 13 tells us that after a seemingly quick victory, Eglon took up camp in the general area of old Jericho.

As there is little written here of the actual battle or the fight that Israel put up, it appears Israel was taken somewhat by surprise by the enemy.

So it is when a Christian harbors a little bitterness or rebellion or worldliness or lust in his or her heart.
It is always a surprise when their life gets completely out of control.
They thought that this was a small amount of sin that could be managed, when, suddenly, the unintended consequences overwhelm their lives.

Suddenly it is 18 years later and the misery is counted in decades.

However, as we read in verse 15, Israel cried unto the Lord and God was listening.
He already knew what He was going to do for them.
He already knew who He wanted to lead and deliver His people.
He picked a south-paw to right the wrongs.

Now we will change tracks a little and look at the situation from Ehud's perspective.
The background of Israel's spiritual condition and the political and governmental situation was important to understanding Ehud's mission.
Verse 15 tells us that Ehud was sent to Eglon with a present.

This was not an uncommon thing.
The marauding army was kept at bay by such lavish gifts and presents sent regularly to Eglon.

However, Ehud was not willing to live a moment longer in bondage to the wicked king.
He did not call a committee or raise funds.
He did not ask for support from the cowering countrymen around him.
He knew that God wanted Him to complete this mission regardless of the consequences or the support he would garner.

This was One Man's Mission.

READ 16-21

Th details of the One Man Mission are a bit gruesome, as you have seen, but the underlying lesson is powerful and challenging.

Ehud could have waited for a consensus of his countrymen.
Ehud could have determined that he was going to be a part of whatever uprising would take place.
Ehud could have seen the mission as one that any number of other men should have gone on.
However, He believed that this mission was his alone.

He risked His own wealth and life by committing to his mission, but God did not let him down.
Because Ehud was willing to go it alone, God made sure that he didn't.
He was with Ehud every step of the way.

As we continue our story, and the most gruesome details finish in verse 22, we pick up in Verse 23.
READ 23-26

We see God's intervention into the situation blessing Ehud's courage.
The servants were confused and embarrassed to knock on the door while Ehud made his escape.

TRUTH #1 God wants you to be willing to do his bidding alone.

TRUTH #2 God will protect and bless the man who steps out on faith.

TRUTH #3 God will use one man's courage to inspire the masses.

When Ehud had escaped, his one-man-mission became a rallying cry for a nation.
Verse 27-30

The magnitude of the victory that Israel won at that time must have dwarfed the news of that One Man's Mission.
It seems, in the wake of great victory, the individual sacrifices are forgotten by man, but Ehud had not completed the mission for glory or acclaim.
He just obeyed the voice of God and stepped out on faith.

God may have a one man mission for you that seems destined to fail.
It may seem that your mission, the task to which God has called you may even seems small and insignificant.
You may feel that you are not up to the task.
Do not forget the truths from Ehud's story: One Man's Mission.

TRUTH #1 God wants you to be willing to do his bidding alone.

TRUTH #2 God will protect and bless the man who steps out on faith.

TRUTH #3 God will use one man's courage to inspire the masses.

Don't miss out on the blessing and the chance to inspire the masses or even better, glorify God.