I Don't Care What You Do!
No Weapon!
One of my favorite all time songs is “No Weapon” song by one of my all time favorite artists, Fred Hammonds. The lyrics simple says:
No weapon formed against me shall prosper, it won't work
God will do what He said He would do
He will stand by His word
And He will come through
God will do what He said He would do
He will stand by His word
And He will come through
No weapon formed against me shall prosper, it won't work
God will do what He said He would do
He's not a man that He should lie
He will come through
God will do what He said He would do
He will stand by His word
He will come through
(Bridge)
Oh I won't be afraid of the arrows by day
From the hand of my enemy
I can stand my ground with the Lord on my side
For the snares they have set will not succeed
No weapon formed against me shall prosper, it won't work
The Bible says that “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,” 2 Cor. 10:4. And in Judges 7:20 & 21 it says, “Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” 21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.”
In examining the supreme lesson in the life of Gideon, we learn that this is the crowning illustration in the strength of his weakness. God has demonstrated how He can use the weak things, considered in this world, to confound the strong and the mighty by using the weapons and the few those that were chosen to fight in Gideon’s warfare. What we see as small and insignificant, God uses to make something great. “We must call those things that be not as though they are” (Romans 4:17). Things that are considered dead, God brings to life.
In the story of Gideon’s warfare we see a very timid man, even in the commencement of the final assault against his enemies, and for the final attack upon the Midianites, God sends him forward anyway. God recognizes the fears of His timorous servant. He tells Gideon to “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you shall hear what they say;”
So yet again, God encourages the trembling faith of His timid child by giving him another sign. It is just after ten o’clock at night and in stealth mode Gideon and his servant creeps down to the edge of the hostile Midianite camp and they listen cautiously outside one of the tents of the sleeping soldiers. The camp is wrapped in profound slumber. But one of the soldiers is suddenly woken from a troublesome dream, and he is telling one of his comrades how in his dream a round cake of barley bread came rolling into the host of Midian, and struck the tent and smashed it into ruins. Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” The fears of the enemy are prophetic of their fate and that is enough to satisfy Gideon that God is already working.
Our lesson in this is God is ever working for those that trust Him. And in the hearts of our enemies, He will fight our battles for us, discomfiting them even before the conflict begins. There must be faith to recognize our unseen Allies, the thousands of forces and resources waiting on every side for the command of God to advance into war with those who trust and obey Him.
God moves on behalf of those souls that you have been praying for and seeking God to save. The seed has already been planted and the victory has been proclaimed. You must be steadfast in your faith to know that it will be done. God had to show those with Elisha when he stood at Dothan surrounded by the Syrian armies, all seemed lost and hopeless to his frightened servants. But there on the mountain tops and all in the sky were angelic armies gathered more mighty than all their foes. So it matters not if Gideon’s forces are but three hundred against one hundred and thirty-five thousand of the Midianite army. Because with God all things are possible and He uses little to accomplish much. In this great battle it matters not that their weapons are but pitchers, lamps, and trumpets, for they did not need to strike one blow. The hearts of the Midianite army had already begun to melt with great fear of what was to come that was revealed in a dream. God turned the Midianites against themselves in all of the confusion, while Gideon’s army stands waving the torch and blowing the trumpet of victory as they shout, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.”
These same simple and apparently foolish weapons are fitting types of the weapons of our warfare which “are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
What are the Weapons of Our Warfare:
- The Pitcher
- The Lamps
- The Trumpets
- The Battle Cry
1.THE PITCHER
The pitcher is just a vessel of earthenware (clay). The pitcher did not need to be strong or beautiful. If the pitcher had been of iron, or if the pitcher had been of brass, then the pitcher would have been useless. The chief advantage of the pitcher was the fact it was very frailty in nature, watch this, for it was of no service until it was broken. OH! how well the pitcher represents our vessels of clay through which God is pleased to accomplish what it is that He needs to accomplish through our frailty, Paul said in Romans 12:1 that we should “Present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,” and in Romans 6:13 to “not present our members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present ourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness to God...”
These members are represented here as weapons, what members? Our hands, our feet, our lips, our eyes, our ears, our physical senses are all so many weapons that we can use for the Lord in fighting against evil. Just as Gideon’s vessels had to be empty, we too must be emptied of all our selfish, willfulness. God requires our bodies and spirits to be given to Him exclusively, and ready at any moment for His service.
When our vessels are emptied and filled with all of His indwelling spirit and then broken like Gideon’s pitchers, then His light will shine bright. God will use us in our very weakness for the accomplishment of His plans and the revelation of His glory. We need not be troubled about the breaking of our pitchers. Because there will be times God will break us, or, at least, allow us to be broken, by circumstances and trials, perhaps the injustice that often comes will furnish the occasion for the victory of His grace.
There may come a time that you will have to stand unmoved in the midst of intense provocation, when the natural impulse would be to speak that quick word and to resent the wrong in a manner that might seem to the world more dignified and becoming. But instead of this there will be the self-suppression and silence, and a gentle sweet smile that cost a moment’s effort. A strong prideful man will be broken down by the victory of love and led to seek the grace of God that enables a Christian child to triumph over his egotistical demeanor, and unkindness, and to let the light of God’s love shine through his broken vessel to radiate out and envelop the cruel wrong.
How often have you stood in silence because of misrepresentation and mistreatment and waited for God to vindicate you, and in the days of waiting exhibit the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and glorify God by your silence as no self-vindication could ever have done? And then in the end be vindicated with God’s own seal of approval, that human words could never have provided.
2. THE LAMPS
The lamps of Gideon represented the Holy Ghost which is the light of truth and the source of all light, but more than this, it is the indwelling light of Christ and it is life in the innermost soul of the children of God; these lamps shine inside the pitchers and the Lord of Life must be lit in us if we are to shine in darkness. And in order for the light to shine brighter than ever, we are going to have to be broken. And so Jesus says that we “are the light of the world.” It is what, and who we are, not what we say that matters, it is what Christ is within us that accounts for the strength of our testimony and the power of our life. It is the light of Christ within shining through the broken vessel in a suffering child of God, that very frail instrumentality that honors God and effectively works for His glory and kingdom.
3. THE TRUMPETS
What are the trumpets representing? They represent God’s symbol of the Gospel message. Simply put, a trumpet is just an artificial voice proclaiming something is about to happen, it is a loud and startling message of alarm, or warning, or of a command to charge. What a perfect representation of the message of the Gospel. These trumpets are not a musical instrument. They do not have that fine inflection of tone, but it's summons is loud, short, and sharp, meant to arouse and to stir up. When Christ sent out His disciples to preach He did not say, Go, and give eloquent orations and artistic speeches, but He said, Go, and proclaim as a herald the glad tidings of salvation. Our message should be as clear and as urgent as the herald’s trumpet, for it is the preaching of the good news, message so simple that none can misunderstand it.
John the Baptist was, “A voice/trumpet crying in the wilderness” You might think that there is not much honor in being a voice to express anothers thought and message. In fact, this is the chief business of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors, and the teachers, and the evangelist of Christ. Those that are called to proclaim His word to the unchurched.
Let this be the aim of our work and the claim of our faith, you will find that the weapons of our warfare are still as mighty as of old, and that we need not be “ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;” Arise, and blow your trumpets. Cry aloud and declare the goodness of God and His righteousness. Lastly;
4. THE BATTLE CRY
As I bring this to a close, the one thing that I find so interesting in this is that the battle cry of Gideon’s chosen few is full of instructive meaning. When we break down “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon” is actually a translated version. Can I deeper? In Judges 7:18 we read the word “sword” and we find that word in many of the different translations. But the “sword” is not in the original writings. What we read is, “When I blow with a shofar, I an all so was with me, then you also blow the shofars on every side of the whole camp and say, “For the LORD and for Gideon!”
There are different reasons as to why this was changed. But whatever the reason, it was indeed a blood curdling battle cry. These few words were as startling as the blast of their trumpets, loud and thunderous, “FOR GOD AND GIDEON!” Think about how it is when you get sick and tired of being sick and tired of the devil all up in your business, and you cry out in a loud boltersous voice, “IN THE NAME OF JESUS!” The Bible talks about demons believing and trembling. And if we have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, that we can drive demons outs in the name of Jesus. But watch this, you first have to have a relationship with Him in order for Him to work through you. Just because someone utters, “In the name of Jesus” does not mean anything supernatural will happen on their behalf. The seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19 found that out the hard way.
I have looked and tried to find where in the Bible there is a verse that says, “demons tremble at the name of Jesus” James 2:19 actually says, and I believe this is where we get this saying, “You believe that God is One, you do well: the demons also believe and tremble.” The demons understood the kind of power that is in God. And in James 4:7 tells us that if you “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Knowing that we have this same power with the indwelling of the Spirit of God that we can stand our ground and he will have to flee from us. Another scripture we use is Philippians 2:10 “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” This lets us know that God’s power reign supreme. Even though there may not be a scripture that specifically says that “demons tremble at the name of Jesus” here’s my point in all of this, that there is sho nuff power in the name of Jesus. You will find out through out the New Testament that there are many scriptures that talk about the power of Christ and the effects He had on the demons in the region. While He was present on earth, and after He commissioned the disciples to work in His name once He left the earth.
“For God and Gideon” rang out over the midnight air until it echoed back from the hills and ravines, until it was answered back by the shrieks and screams of the terrified and battered men of Midian. Used together it represented two great principles of divine operation and human cooperation. God comes first in all of our battles, for the battle is now ours, it belongs to the Lord. Just as God stuck down enemies in the Midianites camp. God will strike down our enemy. It is God who uses and prepares the instrument of war. It is God who turns the oppressors upon each other. It is God who decides the battle before it begins by filling their hearts with fear.
It is God who is ever present in all His unchanged omnipotence, and whose Spirit travel to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself upright in the sight of man on behalf of those whose heart is pure toward Him. It is God who saves us. It is God who sanctifies us. It is God who is our Healer. It is God who delivers us from temporal distresses. As the God of providence, it is God who still works in the events and circumstances of life in answer to His children’s prayers. It is God who sits upon the throne, an ever present God, making all things work together for good to them that love Him. It is God who by the Holy Ghost convicts the world of sin and of righteousness and judgment.
He can soften the hardest of hearts. He can change the most stubborn will. He can change the persecuting Saul into a humble apostle of Christ. He can prompt the hearts of men to lay their treasures at His feet, and supply the needed resources for the work of the Gospel and evangelization of the world. He does not need our religious tricks and our shameful compromises with the world in order to gain the favor of the rich and win the popularity of the crowd. Christianity is a supernatural power, and the same God that led Israel with a Pillar of Cloud and of Fire, who showed up at Pentecost spoke through the tongues of flame, He opened Peter’s prison door, and then struck his persecutor down upon his throne in his impious pride.
God is waiting to work the greater wonders of His grace within us in these last days. We have a sword of God! And through our faith we proclaim the victory! It is this, the proof of God promise that we “Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.” There is the sword of Gideon as well. For there is a place for our obedience and our faith. Gideon himself had to be true, and his three hundred men had to be adjusted and ready, and they had to follow him just as closely as he followed God; for the command of God is urgent and imperative, “And he (Gideon) said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do:” (Judges 7:17).
In our warfare, we must be in perfect unity and precision of action. In battle, we watch, listen, and act when God commands us to act. But then, when the victory is won and the tide has turned, there was still work to be done. Just as with Gideon the enemies must be pursued; for the battle must be completed; the enemy must be cut off in their retreat, but watch this, the very men that had been rejected and sent home because they failed the water test the day before, the nine thousand seven hundred, they were now permitted to come in at the finish and cut off the fleeing midianites. So there was a part for all in the battle.
You may feel that you are inadequate and your numbers are few. But God and His righteous arm will get the victory. Use what you have been given. Don’t allow what you see with your natural eyes distract you from the bigger picture. When men say it is impossible, God says I’m possible.
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