God's Strength Made Perfect in Weakness

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, Phillip. I love Phillip and his wife, Stephanie, and the whole Bauman family. I was just thinking as he was leading songs, they spent so many years with Jennifer and I there in Sherman, traveling from Frisco, Texas, up to Sherman to help facilitate that congregation for so many years. Quite good servants, so thank you very much for that.

What we're going to talk about today is a statement in which Jesus Christ made, and it's maybe one of the most perplexing, yet profound statements that he's ever made. And it is this. He, Jesus Christ, said, my strength is made perfect in weakness. In that perplexing statement, an intriguing statement to consider, God's strength is made perfect in weakness. This is what we're going to study today, and we're going to reflect upon this divine principle. We're going to see that it is just that, a divine principle. So let's turn and find where these words are found. Turn with me to 2nd Corinthians, if you will. 2nd Corinthians, in verse 9, those words are recorded by the Apostle Paul as Jesus Christ spoke them to him. And here in 2nd Corinthians 12, Paul is recounting back. He's remembering back to those words in which Jesus Christ spoke to him. And Paul was feeling weak, absolutely weak. He had this infirmity, an extreme infirmity, that he had cried out time and time again for relief. And yet, those cries had not been granted. So here we are. 2nd Corinthians 12, in verse 9. Paul says, And he, Jesus Christ, said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Causing Paul to then say something maybe just as intriguing when he said, Therefore, most gladly, I'd rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Quite a passage of Scripture there. And I think Paul had a unique perspective as he was speaking about a power. And he was speaking about a strength that is from Jesus Christ that rests upon and resides in every one of his people, every last one of them. And as perplexing as it is, it is often most recognizable. This power and this strength from Jesus Christ is most recognizable and most on display when we are at our very weakest.

Why? Why would that be? Why would he house his power and his strength in a weakened individual? Well, let's turn back a few chapters here to chapter 4, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7. Paul is now going to give further insight regarding this strength and this power from Jesus Christ. And he's going to tell us why. Why this strength has been given to individuals who are all too often weak. So 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7, just one verse here. He says, verse 7, you see, verse 7, we have this treasure, he says, this power, this strength, this treasure in earthly vessels. Why? So that the excellence of the power may be of God and not us.

The NIV version, let me read this to you from verse 7. It reads this way. But we have this treasure in jars of clay. That's us. We're the jars of clay. Why? To show that the all-surpassing power is from God and not us. So here Paul is providing this absolutely unmistakable picture as he contrasts a treasure and a jar. And it's with the understanding that in human weakness, human weakness presents no hindrance to the purposes of God. And rather, rather, it is in human weakness that the power of God is most on display. I don't know if this occurred to you as a kid. I think I remember this as a kid. Were you ever given a lump of clay and you were asked to make a jar out of it or some kind of pot? Or maybe as a parent or grandparent, one of your kids brought this home? And if we're honest, it maybe didn't resemble a jar at all.

It was maybe misshapen, tilting to the side. But if you were like me and Jennifer, we, you know, you quickly went out and you collected just the best wildflowers that you could collect. And you arranged them just right in there in that pot. And something incredible happened. Something incredibly beautiful. But really, the clay jar did nothing to enhance the beauty. It was what was put within it. And so you see what Paul is saying here. And make no doubt, it is Jesus Christ. It is the power of Jesus Christ that appears in in his people. And it's the light from his triumph over sin and over death in his people. And so we are like these old clay jars in which he's poured the wonder of his light, of his victory, of the power of himself. And so in knowing that then, it's not so perplexing. Paul's words are not so perplexing when he says that he could actually boast in his infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me, he said. And that we have these earthly vessels, these clay pots, these old clay pots, so that the excellence of the power may be seen of God and not us. So when an individual views the life of one of God's own, they don't say, oh wow, you know, look at these pots. Well, what they say is, isn't it amazing the treasure that is within? He has placed within you that triumphant power in your weakened state, and he has chosen you to put it within. And it's so not to draw attention to the pot, but so as to draw attention to the one who has entrusted us with that strength and with that power and with that light. And this goes in complete opposition and goes completely against how the world operates. You know, the world operates in terms of human ability, only using the best and the brightest.

God often doesn't work that way. Instead, he looks across such a vast array of humanity, and he may see a man or a woman who apparently is unattractive in their abilities. And he says, that's my man. That's my woman. I'll take them. Why? Because he delights to declare his strength in weakness. And so this is going to be our study today in Scripture, and I hope it's an encouragement for those of you who maybe get up from time to time and don't think that you're much. And you might say to yourself, I can't do much right. That might be so, oven by yourself, but you're not oven by yourself, are you?

Today's study is a reminder that in you something incredible has happened. God has set his love upon you, and it's a light that he has placed inside of you, an old clay pot to shine. The treasure is now within you, and it can take your weakness and do something glorious with it. Absolutely glorious, and it's profound. We see this power and this strength placed in old clay pots throughout all of Scripture, all the men and women that God has worked through.

So we're going to leave Paul for a moment, and we're going to look detailed into one such man, an old clay pot himself. So let's turn to Judges chapter 6, if you will. Judges chapter 6. This is a wonderful place to go in Scripture because it displays this divine principle, and it's through the wonderful and the captivating story of Gideon. And of all the story of Gideon teaches us, it's certainly this vivid example in which Paul has revealed to us there that there has been a light put in an old clay jar so that the all-surpassing power and might would be seen to belong to God and not to us.

And it's also a reminder we're going to see here in the story of Gideon that God chooses the most ordinary in many ways to do the extraordinary. So Judges chapter 6, let me set the scene here. At the end of Judges, we read that Israel had no king, and every man was doing what they thought was correct in their own eyes. And so this is the situation in which we're picking up at.

There was no one to lead them. Everyone was going off and choosing to live their life how they chose. There was no absolute truths. So let's begin to read here. Judges chapter 6, in verse 1 through 2. Judges 6 verse 1, it says, Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel because of the Midianites. The children of Israel made for themselves dens and caves and strongholds, which were in the mountains. So let's stop there.

So the people were being oppressed here by the Midianites, and they had really imprisoned themselves. They had to go off into the mountains and the caves to make shelters for themselves. All basic provisions were gone for these individuals. All necessities. They'd lost faith. They'd lost sight of God. And so it is into this that God would now raise up an old clay pot and place his light within him. And that's Gideon. So staying here in Judges 6, go down to verse 12, if you will.

An angel is sent to Gideon now to begin to raise him up. Judges 6 says, And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. So the angel here, Gideon, he called Gideon a mighty man of valor. Now that's interesting, because what we'll see is that Gideon was anything but a mighty man of valor. Just the opposite. But God saw something in Gideon that man did not see. Verse 13. Gideon says to him, Gideon responds, Oh, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?

And where are all his miracles, which our fathers told us about, saying, they said, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And in a way, Gideon's saying, Lord, with all due respect, I have to disagree here. There's nothing mighty happening down here. Nothing mighty at all. Just weakness. No strength. It's all gone. Verse 14, God's response. Then the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.

Have I not sent you? So God begins to bring Gideon's mind around to this. And verse 15 is so telling of where Gideon's mind was about himself and his purposes. Verse 15, so he said to him, Oh, my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. Did you see that? Here is the Lord. And he looks down upon this nation of Israel.

And obviously, he searches out the strongest clan, the mightiest clan, right? No. God searched and found the weakest clan. Well, surely within this small clan, there's an individual who's just this leader, and he's strong and powerful. Not at all. God chose the weakest clan and chose the individual that was least in his own family, the very least. And he says in verse 16, Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man. Gideon, I want you to know, I know that you're an old clay pot. I know that, Gideon. I don't need your strength.

What I need from you, Gideon, is I need you to have faith. Faith in my strength, the Lord says.

I want you to have faith, and you will see my strength in your weakness. Gideon was certainly not the most obvious choice, but he was God's choice. You and I certainly are not the most obvious choice.

But if we are God's choice, there's nothing that can stand against us and what God wants to do through us. Absolutely nothing. This is what we're going to see today in this study. Gideon has been met by God with this phrase, God is with you, you mighty man of valor. So he stands up and he begins to take on the task of realizing what's before him and analyzing any kind of possibility of victory in this battle that is now before him. We're told that he has 32,000 men. So let's go down to chapter 7, if you will. Chapter 7 in verse 1 through 2. We're now going to see some very interesting direction that is now going to be given to Gideon here. Let's read this. Chapter 7 in verse 1 through 2. Then Gideon and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Herod so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moray in the valley. And the Lord said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands. They're too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands. Lest Israel claim glory for itself against me, saying, My own hand has saved me. The glory is not to be in that of the pots. The glory goes to God. So the reduction of men begins here. Look at verse 3. Verse 3. Now therefore proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead. And 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. Anyone who trembles in fear, let them leave Mount Gilead. Those that went home maybe were the ones that were most qualified in battle. We don't know. Most capable. So why did they go home?

Think of the effect in battle. Think of the disastrous effect there is when you have individuals in the battle who are leading by sight, who have a fear of men.

God says we don't need those people. Get them out of here.

Now you can imagine what Gideon was thinking here. You know, 32,000 wasn't even enough. We'll read later that the Midianites and the Amalekites were absolutely vast in numbers. In verse 12 it describes them as lying in the valley, numerous as locusts, their camels were without number, like the sand of the seashore.

So 32,000 wasn't even enough, and now he stands and watches as two-thirds of his men leave. You can feel his heart sinking, can't you?

And the 10,000 must have saw many family members leave.

Why did they leave? Again, it comes down to faith. It comes down to faith. It comes down to whether an individual is looking towards themselves for the strength, looking towards themselves, or if they look to God and his strength.

They were walking by sight and not by faith, and so two-thirds of them left.

But it gets worse for young Gideon. Look at verses 4 through 7 here.

But the Lord said to Gideon, The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be that of whom I say to you, this one shall go with you, the same shall go with you. And of whomever I say to you, this one shall not go with you, the same shall not go. So he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue as dogs lap shall be set apart by themselves.

Likewise, everyone who gets down on their knees to drink, and the number of those that lapped putting their hand to their mouth was 300 men. But the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. And the Lord said to Gideon, By these 300 men of those who lapped, I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his own place.

So 10,000, still too many.

So what is this reduction about? If you read commentaries, what they'll say is, well, surely it's obvious here. It's obvious. Those who knelt in their knees, they would have had their head down, and surely they wouldn't have been as alert or as good of warriors. And those that laughed like a dog, they would have been able to keep their eyes alert. Surely those will be better warriors in this battle.

They don't know. And it really doesn't matter, because what's the point? What is the principle here?

Was God whittling it down to the most elite group? No.

God wanted to make it absolutely clear that the reason for victory was going to be because of him. So he was going to take the most unlikely 300, yeah, we'll choose those that laughed like dogs, to join with the most unlikely leader in order that God be glorified. That's the point. That's the point in choosing an old clay pot.

That was God's concern, to reduce the numbers, to grant deliverance in such a way to show them that it had nothing to do with who was leading them or how many numbers they had. Get rid of the vast numbers, and I will show you deliverance belongs to the Lord. God's not concerned with defeat, and we shouldn't either. We should never be concerned with defeat.

Victory has already been had.

What is God concerned with? God's concerned with ensuring that his people know why they had victory. What is God's concern? God is saying here, I'm in no way dependent on your numbers.

God is well aware of the pride that exists in the hearts of men and women. We have a tendency to take credit on ourselves. Pride can come in. We don't give God the glory. He recognized that if they proceeded on the numbers on that basis, that the temptation would have been there to become self-reliant, somehow boast in themselves. But to God goes all the glory. Did you know that? Did you know that for God's people now, there is no glory? Often it's just the opposite. It's persecution and suffering. This is not the time for glory for God's people. That time's coming when everyone stands before God and gives an account on the type of jar they were and how they shined God's light through them.

Then it's glory beyond imagination. But that time is not now. That comes later. And so often, God determines to radically prune the numbers.

After all, who do we think we are?

Are we strong? Are we mighty? Are we of a particular intellect? No. So why would God use you? Think about that. If we're none of those things, why would God use you? What is your role now? What is your role now? With what is housed in you? It's to show Him through you. To show His power through you, despite being an old clay pot and all the weakness that goes with it.

The 300 who were left were not supposed to be an elite group, but a group so inadequate that when the battle is won, no one would be able to doubt who did it. So Gideon now moves forward with the 300. So verse 8, So the people took provisions in their trumpets and their hands, and they sent away all the rest of the Israel. That's 9,700 of them, if you're counting. Every man to his tent and retain those 300 men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. Now you didn't have to remind Gideon of that. I can tell you, he was well aware of what lay below in the valley for him as he's watching all these men leave and drink water and all this that's going on.

There was doubt. There was no doubt. Fear beginning to build in Gideon. So often, fear begins to build in us when we see the insurmountable begin to come up to us. But we're about to see here such a loving, tender, merciful Father and how he deals with his clay pots and how he deals with Gideon in our fear and our weakness. Let's see this, verse 9 through 14. And it happened on the same night, verse 9, that the Lord said to him, arise, go down against the camp. It was time for I've delivered it into your hand, verse 10. But if you are afraid to go down, go down into the camp with Purah, your servant, and you shall hear what they say. And afterwards, your hands will be strengthened to go down to the against the camp. Then he went down to Purah, his servant, to the outpost of the armed men who were at the camp. Verse 12. Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east were allowing there in the valley as numerous as locusts, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seashore in multitude. And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. And he said, I have had a dream. To my surprise, the man said, a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down the camp of Midian, and it came up against the tent, struck it so it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed. And they're still listening. And his companion answered and said, Ah, this is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand, God has delivered the Midian and the whole camp. Let's stop there. So during the night, the Lord said to Gideon, he knew that fear was building up. He is a gracious God. Once Gideon acknowledged that he was afraid. He says to Gideon, I want you to I can help you with this. You said yes to me. I'm going to help you through this, Gideon. I don't leave you. You don't have to rely on your own power, Gideon. So let me give you some encouragement. Take your servant, go down, and listen to what they're saying, and afterwards you will be encouraged. So they go down to the outpost of the camp. You can imagine. I was trying to picture this. Just the sounds of sleep and all this enemy snoring and the animals. They were all armed. Oh, man. Their hearts must have just been pounding. They were probably hoping that they couldn't hear their hearts pounding. I can almost see Gideon looking at Pura, non-verbally, no doubt, but their eyes were saying, what are we doing here? As they went down, maybe as they were about to turn around, they heard something. They heard someone in a tent say, I've had this dream. They moved closer. In this dream, a round loaf of barley bread came tumbling down to the Medianite camp. It struck the tent with such force. It overturned. The tent collapsed. And then, of course, the interpretation, of course, his friend says, this can only be the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Medianites and the whole camp into his hands. This might be a good spot to ask a question. Do you think God's in control?

No matter what you're facing, do you think God's still in control in your life? Make no doubt. He is. Even when things seem the bleakest.

Gideon was well aware of the fact that if he took these 300 men against all that he faced, they were doomed. Their power was absolutely worthless against what faced him. It would be the kind of nothingness if he took a loaf of bread and threw it against the tent. That's kind of the nothingness that they were. But remember, God's strength is made perfect in weakness. And so he said, here we go. They're about to carry trumpets and empty jars with lights inside. Oh, it's perfect. It's perfect going into battle.

The world would stand and laugh at them. An absolute joke.

And they might be right. The clay pots may be a joke, but the power within those clay pots? No joke. No joke. And God is strong today as he ever has been. God is in control. We may be weakened, pressed, crushed, but this is why we're never destroyed. Because we know.

We know something incredible has happened in our life. And God has looked down amongst our vast array of humanity. And maybe he's chosen the weakest one. But that's okay. He's with us.

So Gideon believed, and now he returns to camp. He goes into campus and says, Get up. We're moving forward. Verse 15 through 22. Let's read this. This is an amazing, amazing story and event that occurred. Verse 15 through 22. And it was when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand. And he divided the 300 men into three companies. And he put a trumpet into each man's hand with empty pictures, torches inside the pictures. And he 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. And when I blow the trumpet and I who are with me in my hundred, then you blow your trumpets as well on every side of the whole camp. And say, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Verse 19. So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle of the watch, just as they had posted the watch, and they blew the trumpets. And they broke the pictures in their hand. And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pictures. And they held the torches high in their left hand, the trumpets in their right for the blowing. And they cried, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And every man stood in his place all around the camp, and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. And when the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his companion throughout the camp below. And the army fled to the surrounding cities here. Let's stop there. The three hundred men blew their trumpets, broke their pictures, held the torches in their left hand, trumpets in the right, yelled out the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

Absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing. I'm sure some were saying, boy, as soon as we blow this trumpet and break these, they're just going to show them where we are. They're just going to come and kill us.

But let me ask, what of our strength is needed in victory?

None. God didn't need an elite force. He needed faithful people who could see beyond what was in their physical sight, who had faith in His power, not their own, who would be ready to stand up, blow a trumpet, smash the jar, sound the light, shine the light, and yell when instructed. A unified act with the ultimate purpose in mind. Every man standing on his own, every woman standing on its own, doing their part, prepared, one goal.

If someone said, you think this is going to happen, you really think they're going to turn sword against each other and kill each other and flee? They would say that's never going to happen. But why do they say that? Why do we have those thoughts? Why do we think we're not strong enough? And why does that invade our mind many days? What's the principle? It is God's strength. It is God's strength that is made perfect in the impossible.

It is God's strength that is made perfect even in our weakness. You have a treasure in an old clay jar. How about you smash it? Blow the trumpet, shine the light, even when you're feeling weak. Maybe your knees are shaking a little bit. That's okay.

We acknowledge that the very fact that is that we are an old clay jar with the hope that they'll look at the Lord Jesus Christ in us. That's what we want. We don't want a people that when individuals come to church, they say, what a nice place or what nice surroundings. No, we want to say, what a beautiful Savior. What a glorious gospel. Look at what is within these old clay jars.

I think it's only fitting to conclude with the Apostle Paul. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 9 through 10 as we conclude. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 9 and 10.

It's the same mindset with Paul getting in all of them, all of God's people that did tremendous works. It's the awareness that we are, each of us, the least, the very least, but that only provides God an incredible opportunity. Paul is about to sum up here in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 9 through 10, the complete walk of a Christian life. I love these two verses. Let's conclude with this. Paul says, For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. Verse 10. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. By that light, by that strength, by that power that's been placed in me, by that grace, I am what I am. And his grace towards me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was within me.

An old clay pot. Paul knew who he was, an old clay pot, and he was going to make sure that that grace and that light which was placed within him, that it wasn't going to be in vain. It was not going to be in vain. That's what he was determined to do, and that's what made him so great and such a great servant of God. Not that he was anything, but he knew what he had received, and he was determined that it wouldn't be in vain. And so what did he do? He labored more abundantly than them all. An old clay pot, working hard to allow God's light to shine. May God's strength be made perfect in our weakness.