Overview
Rev. Jon Ryan examines “One Accord Conference #7: One Accord and Personal Conviction” through Hebrews 11, Romans 15, Judges 8, Romans 8, showing how gideon, going, together shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.
Transcript
Understanding One Accord Conference #7: One Accord and Personal Conviction
What a wonderful time we’ve had so far, and we’re just still digging into it. It’s great. Well, if you would take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter 11, please.
I’d like for you to indulge me this evening, if you would, to consider how things might have been 2,000 years ago. When people would come to some gathering, whether it was the Sermon on the Mount, or that record we heard about where Paul gathered together a whole group of people in a house, and the gentleman fell out of the third story window, and then he had to raise them from the dead. They did not come, like we do today, with Bibles in their hands, notebooks, and pencils.
They just came prepared to hear the word, and it was presented to them. Much of it that we get to read wasn’t even written. Paul, at times in the book of Acts, he had written Thessalonians, and he had written Corinthians, Romans, but so much of it was written after he was imprisoned.
And so we get the privilege to listen and consider. Here in Hebrews 11, Paul gives quite a number of individuals that he just touches on as these wonderful men and women that walked with God, that believed God. And we’re looking at this topic of, what a chord.
And it’s to move together with God. It’s so great that we get to see how to do that. In Romans 15, where we started last night, we learned that the things written a four-time were four-hour learning, that we would be able to walk with one accord.
It says, with patience and comfort in descriptions, we might have hope. We get to walk with the Father, but it’s not a solo walk, an individual walk. It’s a walk together with God.
Here in Hebrews 11, we get down to verse 32. And here Paul’s attributed with writing Hebrews, and here we read in verse 32, and what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jepthah, and of David also, and Samuel, and the prophets. He couldn’t teach them about everyone in the Old Testament.
So he shared different things. I imagine that teaching that went until midnight, and then they broke bread together, and then they got back together and taught until morning. Probably got to cover a number of these individuals.
But let’s go to Judges chapter 8. We’re going to look at the example of Gideon. How did Gideon walk with God in this unity, in this one accord? Because we saw this morning that Nehemiah gathered together with all these names that were mentioned in the first seven chapters of Nehemiah. They were all working together towards that goal of rebuilding the wall, rebuilding the temple, and it took all of them.
The Biblical Foundation
And here it’s not a solo walk. It’s a walk with God, and it’s not based on our great abilities. It’s really based on God’s grace.
We’re building on the work of another man. What Jesus Christ accomplished, his finished work, is what affords us the opportunity to move together with one accord in our day and time. And in this record with Judges chapter 8 with Gideon, I’m going to start at the end.
So if you look at Judges 8 and in verse 28, Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more, and the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. Look at verse 22. Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son also, for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.
And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, the Lord shall rule over you. See, that’s where Gideon was at. It wasn’t that he was so great, and he had won this freedom, this got them out of the captivity by his great prowess in military strategy.
It was all God. So you can look at chapter 6 and 7 and 8 as you’d like, but I just want to recount some of the things that were recorded here. As we are first introduced, we find out that these Midianites and the Amalekites had been harassing God’s people Israel.
And I say harassing them. They were stealing from them. They were treating them so heinously that these Israelites were hiding in dens and in caves, and they were crying out to God.
And we’re introduced to this young man, Gideon, who was most likely in his 20s, maybe even a late teenager. And he does not want these Midianites to continue to steal from his family. See, the Midianites, when I say harassing, it’s because they would allow Israel to plant their gardens, to water them, to weed them, to go through the whole season, the growing season, and then just when it was harvest time, that’s when they would come in and they would steal the harvest or they would trample it down.
How discouraging that must have been for these people that you’re looking forward all summer long for your sustenance and just when it is ripening on the tree or on the vine, here comes the enemy. And see, the enemy, that’s what he enjoys doing, is to steal and to discourage and to try to bring God’s people into a place of despairing. It’s the same thing today.
We don’t have to go up against the Midianites or the Philistines or the Amalekites, but the adversary, the enemy of God, has not changed. He still wants to discourage. He wants to get people to think that they really don’t have a way out, that perhaps God is not any longer in the business of taking care of them.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
And that’s not true. But we just have to learn, how do we stand? In this record, Gideon had gone to his father’s house and he had gone and taken the wheat and was hiding behind the wine press and was threshing the wheat so the Midianites wouldn’t see him. He didn’t want to let them steal.
And as he’s doing this, an angel appears unto him. And this angel calls him a mighty man of valor. Perhaps Gideon didn’t see himself that way.
But he calls him a mighty man of valor because he is not just standing by and allowing the enemy to steal, the enemy to run over him. You know, it says in the record that God’s people were crying out for deliverance, much like we can read in the time of Moses, that God’s people were crying out for someone to deliver them. And God sent Moses.
Well, in this case, here’s Gideon. And this angel calls him a mighty man of valor and he tells him, you are going to deliver God’s people. That’s a pretty big thing for him.
This young man is told that he’s the one that God has chosen to move forward. And he obviously has what it’s going to take because he accepts this. He has to check with God.
Is this really you, God? And he does a couple things with some fleece. God, if this is really from you, let the dew be on the fleece and everything else around the fleece be dry tomorrow morning. And he woke up and it was dry all around, but the fleece was soaking wet.
And then he says, well, if you’ll indulge me one more time, God, how about tomorrow the fleece is dry, but all the ground around is wet. And so God accommodates him. And the angel tells him that he needs him to go and invite others to come and be a part of this deliverance.
And you know what Gideon does? He breaks bread with him. He prepares a meal with this angel. He says, hold on right there.
I’m going to go get a meal together and we’ll break bread together. It was very significant. And then the angel has the meal with him.
Faith in Action
And then Gideon goes and invites some of the other tribes, Asher, Manasseh, Zebulon, Naphtali. He tells him, we’re going to take on the Midianites. And 32,000 respond.
That’s quite a group. Although we’re told that the Midianites and the Malachites are so many, they’re like sand on the seashore without number. Even their camels cannot be numbered.
So 32,000 may sound like a lot, but compared to these thousands and thousands of the enemy, they hardly compare. And yet, here they come, 32,000. And God tells Gideon, invite the ones that are fearful to go back home.
You know, these 32,000 have joined in. It sure would be great to get out from this captivity, this bondage, this harassment, this evil that we’ve been under. But I don’t know if I’m ready to do this.
Just look at the size of my group and look at the size of the enemy. And so two-thirds of them depart. 22,000 leave to go back home.
There’s still 10,000 remaining. And God says to Gideon, you’ve still got a group that’s got a lot of fear. They’re really riding the fence.
And so he tells them, have them go down to the water and tell each of them to get a drink of water. And the ones that take the water and bring it up to their mouths to drink, set them aside. And the ones that get on their hands and knees and put their face into the water, set them aside.
And the ones that were on their hands and knees were still caught up with some of the idolatry that had been prevalent in that time. And they’re not going to be strong enough and fearless enough to move forward. So what remains are 300 men.
300 men. And yet these men are going to move with Gideon with that unity, with that one accord. These men are going to be willing to take on the enemy.
Walking in Love and Confidence
Doesn’t matter how many there are to these men. And so God tells Gideon the night before that this battle is going to take place to take your servant and go down to the Midian camp. And just quietly on the outside of the camp, listen to what’s happening.
And so Gideon goes down there with his servant and they hear this conversation that’s happening inside the tent. And it’s one of the Midianites telling his friend, the man that he’s bunking with, he said, I had this terrible dream. I dreamt that this barley roll came into our tent and rolled over our tent and laid it on its side.
And his fellow, his person that’s with him, the soldier that’s with him said, oh, that’s nothing more than the sword of Gideon that’s going to come and defeat us. And I thought, of course, these Midianites that have gathered together to take on God’s people, they are not just coming blindly. They would have done some espionage.
They would have heard about, hey, there’s a man over there that’s gathering thousands to come and put up a fight against us. And his name is Gideon. And so this was not a foreign name or a strange name to this army that’s there.
And Gideon hears this, and hears this man give the interpretation of the dream, and now he’s convinced. And he goes back, back to the camp with the 300 men, and says, here’s the plan. We’re going to separate into three groups.
A hundred of you go over here, a hundred of you go over here, and the other hundred will be with me. And I want you to take with you a lantern, you know, a torch, and a trumpet or a horn. And it doesn’t say anything.
They probably had a sword in their belt, but it doesn’t mention a weapon. And when I give the signal, this is the middle of the night, when I give the signal, I want you to light your torches and blow on your horn and yell the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And so these men don’t turn away and say, that’s a foolish plan, I’ll see you later.
Now, these men are in one accord. They’re not questioning that this is the way to go. Maybe these men had heard the record of Jericho and how Joshua had them march around the city for seven days and then shout and the walls of Jericho fell down.
Or other records where they had seen God work, Moses parting the Red Sea, so much of this they would have been familiar with. And yet here they are, they’re willing to take a stand on God’s word as this man Gideon is leading them and telling them this is the plan. And sure enough on the signal of Gideon, these lanterns all get lit, these trumpets start blowing and they start yelling the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
Consider the fear that is striking the heart of these people, these Midianites that are in the camp. They see these torches, they hear these horns, they hear the name of Gideon and they begin, I’m sure it wasn’t a moonlit night, I bet you it was very dark and all they see is what they think are these thousands coming after them and they begin to turn and flee to get away and the people behind them are hearing the same trumpets and the same cry and seeing these torches and here’s people coming towards them, killing them and then they’re running and they just begin to kill one another as they try to get away from this group of 300 men, this group of 300 that’s just walking together in unity in one accord and they take on the Midianites and as this discomfiture, how the word describes it, as this begins to happen, some of the others that have the 9,700 of Manasseh and Asher and Zebulun, they join in and then even others, Ephraim comes in, Ephraim asks Manasseh, Gideon who’s from Manasseh, how come he didn’t call us? He says, who am I compared to you? Ephraim was in the tribes of Israel, Ephraim and Manasseh were two of Joseph’s sons and Ephraim got the greater blessing. Ephraim was looked upon as the greater than Manasseh and Gideon with great wisdom says, who am I compared to you? You took on two of the great kings of the Midianites, you know, Orib and Zeb and then by that he’s able to appease these Ephraimites and to help them to move together and this whole group moves together and vanquishes the enemy, these thousands that had come on to take them on and to steal their crops and to impoverish them and that’s how they won the battle and then like we read in chapter 8 they had peace with Gideon’s rule for 40 years.
How tremendous. You know in our day and time again we don’t fight against these groups of people but the adversary is no less evil and he wants to get people to to begin to rely on their own abilities, their own works, instead of recognizing the finished work of Jesus Christ, instead of recognizing God’s grace that we have that we can move forward with, that’s what it’s all about. Go to Romans chapter 8. We can move together and it just takes, you know, in the book of Samuel, he, Samuel is, Jonathan and his armor bear in chapter 14 are going to take on the Philistines, just the two of them and Jonathan asked his armor bear, are you with me? And he says, I’m with you according to your heart.
And it says that God can save by many or by few. In that case it was just two. And a similar thing is they moved into the enemy.
They began to run over themselves to get away. See the enemy is really afraid. If you remember the, in the book of Joshua, when they were moving into the Promised Land, Joshua sent a couple spies to check out Jericho and they met with Rahab and Rahab told them, we’ve been afraid you guys are going to come for 40 years.
See that’s the enemy, the adversary’s fear is that people are going to stand up and believe God because he can’t stand against that. He just tries to intimidate, to discourage, to deflate the energy out of people that would really love God and want to stand for God. Oftentimes he gets people to get caught up in condemnation.
They don’t think they’re worthy of God’s help. And they’re trying to think of things that they can do. I need to pray harder.
I need to study the word more. I need to do all these works. You know, I talked to somebody just yesterday that said, well, I went, and I did the Stations of the Cross.
You know, that was what they were taught, to go to the church and to go through these things that are put into the church that show the, I guess, the trials that Jesus Christ went through before he was crucified. But they felt good about themselves for doing that. You know, it’s not all about doing these works and getting a good feeling because we’ve prayed enough in the morning.
We’ve studied the word enough. Or often to compare yourselves to somebody else and go, well, I don’t study the word as much as that person, so I’m probably not going to get the results they get. It has to do with nothing with that.
A Life Shaped by God’s Word
It has nothing to do with that. We just get to walk with God. In Romans chapter 8, it says in verse 31, What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? See, that’s what God wants, is to freely give us all things.
God wants us to have peace. To be able to walk through life with the confidence that he is there by our side. That when obstacles come up, it’s no surprise to him.
And all we have to do is to continue to trust him. To stand together on his word. And to expect wholeheartedly that he’s going to direct our steps.
He’ll bring us the deliverance. It goes on to say, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh the intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? This pretty much encompasses all that life can throw at you.
And none of this can separate us from God’s love, from the love of Christ that we have. It goes on to say, in verse 37, Nay, and all these things we are more than conquerors through him that love this. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul was teaching this in Romans, and again, they probably didn’t have, I can guarantee you, they didn’t have Bibles. The printing press wasn’t invented for another 14 centuries. He was teaching them, and they were listening to who they are, that you are Christ.
You belong to him. There’s nothing that can separate you. You can walk as a super conqueror in any situation.
And these great examples we have in the Old Testament would have been familiar to them. And this is what we can count on, is that our God will take care of us. We have the advantage of also having the New Testament records.
We can read how God took care of them in the book of Acts and in the Gospels to see how Jesus Christ just walked with the Father and took on situation after situation. So we’ve got great potential to walk with unity, to walk with one accord, and to bring peace to our fellowships, to our homes, and to anyone that cares to join us. Thank you very much.
Key Takeaways
- He tells him, we’re going to take on the Midianites.
- And so God tells Gideon the night before that this battle is going to take place to take your servant and go down to the Midian camp.
- And his fellow, his person that’s with him, the soldier that’s with him said, oh, that’s nothing more than the sword of Gideon that’s going to come and defeat us.
- And I thought, of course, these Midianites that have gathered together to take on God’s people, they are not just coming blindly.
- And in this record with Judges chapter 8 with Gideon, I’m going to start at the end.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “One Accord Conference #7: One Accord and Personal Conviction”?
Rev. Jon Ryan examines “One Accord Conference #7: One Accord and Personal Conviction” through Hebrews 11, Romans 15, Judges 8, Romans 8, showing how gideon, going, together shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from Hebrews 11, Romans 15, Judges 8, Romans 8.
How can believers apply this teaching?
Believers can receive the truth presented, verify it in Scripture, and put it into practice with faith, humility, love, and consistent action.
Scripture References
Hebrews 11; Romans 15; Judges 8; Romans 8
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
