Let's begin with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your grace to us and for this time to meet together and to be strengthened by your word and by the work of the Spirit in us as we are conformed to the image of your Son. So Father, give us attentive hearts and minds and Father, obedience as we see what your word has to say about these things. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Let's turn to Judges chapter six. So we've been looking at the names of the Lord and the angel of the Lord as the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. And I'm gonna go off from this passage, but let's start in Judges six. Verse 11, then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Oprah, which belonged to Joash the Abizarite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior. You see a contrast there, he's hiding, and he's beating out some wheat, and he probably was not in any way at all thinking of himself as a valiant warrior. And I'm just captivated by The Lord has called each one of us to do certain things, good deeds that we should walk in them, Ephesians 2. And I think all too often we're overwhelmed by what he's called us to do. And we're used to hiding there in the wine press. and we're not used to getting out of the wine press and making ourselves a target. And I have to add to this, I got a hold of a book by Vody Bachman and it really shook me up. Now he's a pretty powerful, famous black pastor. He presently resides in Africa. But he wrote a book, and the title is It's Not the Same as Being Black. And what he tackled there was that this whole LGBT, I can never do it right, but you get the idea. has grabbed a hold of the Civil Rights Movement, and they're saying it's the same thing. They're saying, we need our rights like the blacks needed their rights. in this country. And he says, it's not the same thing. And then the scary part is he goes back and he starts to lay down the origins of this movement, which went back decades farther than I thought. And there are some things in there. I didn't want to bother you and read it to you. They're already, the people that are for this say, we already have one. We own the press, you know, we own the government, and we're changing the laws, and ultimately, we're gonna change your scriptures. And they address this right to Christians, basically saying, we're after you, and we're gonna get you. And, It led me to think, am I ready for this? Am I ready for where this might go? I'm not saying that this is going to happen to me. I think it could. But all we have to do is have the right law in play, the wrong law in place. And they can go through my sermons probably in a second and say, you know how many times he talked against this? And that's hate speech. And you get the idea. So the question is, am I ready for this? And then I asked the question, are you ready for this, if it should come? I had this thought of, I've mentioned this before, the worst thing that, the first thing I was in, the worst thing that I was in over in Vietnam, I was with a, really with just a squad, and we walked into an ambush. And it all planned out well. And we had a lot of Green Marines, never been in a firefight like me and like the platoon commander that I was forward observing for. And we were in a mess. And I thought back, I thought, I wonder if I had a chance to go back I know this is weird, but if I had a chance to go back, what would I have told those guys that morning we headed up that ridge to secure this? It gives me shivers, but what would I have said? You know? And I've thought over, I can't tell you how many times I've gone through this. I don't know whether they call that back, you know, flashes or whatever. But I've gone over it again and again. What could we have done to save lives of Marines? And what would we have said? And then I take that and I say, I'm a pastor of a flock. And are we ready for whatever might come? You know, and am I warning? I haven't been in it either. But am I preparing us for what may be on the horizon? All right, so, Judges, verse 11. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, two things. I mean, I break it into two things. The Lord is with you, verse 11, last part. And then, O Valiant Warrior. You get the connection? That's a huge connection. And I try to think of this from the mind of God. I don't know if that makes sense, but when he says to somebody like me, or you, or Gideon, or any of the others, I'm with you. How important is that for us to understand? To me, God's thinking is you don't need anything else. I'm with you. I just gave you everything you will ever need to do what needs to be done. But then it goes on and it says, Then Gideon said to him, oh my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? So he's already, I don't know. And where are all his miracles, which our father told us about, saying, did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt, but now the Lord has abandoned us. and given us into the hand of Midian. Notice verse 14. And the Lord looked at him and said, go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you? Again, what does he say? everything you need is prepared and given you, go do it. And so that led to how often in Scripture we find people who are convinced And I have to say, rightfully so, that they can't do this stuff. That God gives, puts something on their plate that is way beyond, and they know immediately, there's no way I can do this. But they don't really get, I'm with you, go in this your might. And so, go back to 2 Timothy chapter four, I just wanna add this in before we, Go to the Old Testament, 2 Timothy chapter four, and verse 16. So Paul is recounting his trial before the Romans, and he has this sad comment to start with, verse 16. At my first defense, no one supported me. So you think of all the believers that had come to faith in Jesus Christ because of the ministry of the Apostle Paul, and nobody's there? You know, he looks around and all he's got is adversaries, hostility, not a very comfortable thing. And then he says, may it not be counted against them, Then he says this, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished. He got to give the gospel. in the court to people of tremendous power and sway and government and so forth. And he says this, but here's the thing. He fully accomplished and that all the Gentiles might hear. But then here's the line that really bothers me. And I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. And my first thought is, what's he doing in the lion's mouth in the first place? And yet I find throughout scripture that there's a lot of people that have in one way or another been in the lion's mouth and it was part of the plan of God. So again, my question is, How can we be ready to be in the lion's mouth? Okay, so let's go back to Exodus chapter three. Exodus three, and we're gonna start in verse 10. So the Lord, this is the burning bush, and the angel of the Lord is speaking to Moses, and the Lord says, therefore, come now, I will send you, you Moses, to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. Moses is 80 years old, been a shepherd for the last 40 years. I don't think that he thought of this as retirement. Maybe how he thought he would spend the rest of his life. And remember, he had to flee Egypt because the previous pharaoh had been seeking his life and been on the backside of the desert, so to speak, all this time. But from 80 to 120, God has called him to, I say this, to be in the lion's mouth with an obstinate people. and with many, many crises and judgments and many, many things. And so, notice Moses' immediate response. But Moses said to God, verse 11, who am I? What one of us wouldn't say that? Who am I? Lord, are you sure you don't have the wrong person? Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? Okay, here's God's answer, just like his answer to Gideon. Certainly I will be with you. Do you need anything else? And this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain. Okay? Then let's go to next chapter, Exodus chapter four, because this isn't over yet. Verse 10, Exodus four, verse 10. Then Moses said to the Lord, please, Lord, I've never been eloquent. Neither recently, nor in time past. And the last one I've always, I just love. Nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant. What's he saying? He's really saying, Lord, I would think if you were calling me to go to Pharaoh, that you would have fixed it right now. And that whatever this speech impediment was, as he's addressing the Lord, it's still there. Okay? And so he says, I've had this my whole life, and even now I still have it. Okay? Please, Lord, I've never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past nor since I have spoken to thy servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. And the Lord said to him, what a powerful verse. And the Lord said to him, who has made man's mouth? Do you get that? Who has made man's mouth or who makes him dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Whoa. So what is the Lord saying? I made you that way and I'm sending you that way to Pharaoh. And I don't know if you see this maybe the way I do, but God's word is to be heeded no matter whose mouth, whatever the difficulty is, when Moses goes before Pharaoh and in his own halting way says, let my people go. To me, it's more powerful if he has trouble saying that. I don't know why God did this, but he did. And I do think that it's a wonderful lesson for us because we, we're always gonna have something that we can say about why I'm not the right guy for the job. You know what I mean? I'm not, Lord, I haven't been to school long enough, I haven't got this, I haven't done this, I haven't, you know, there's all these things that we could say, and yet, if the Lord's calling us to something, he basically is saying, well, he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, period. Okay, all right. Then, Numbers chapter 11. So here's Moses again. Numbers 11, and we're gonna start in verse four. Now they're out of Egypt, and Moses is God's man in charge. And in verse four, it says, and the rabble who were among them had greedy desires, and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, and of course it was free because they were slaves. the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There's nothing at all to look at except this manna. Now manna was God's perfect provision for them. I've always thought if you could make manna today, you would have the ultimate health food that's ever, in my mind, that's ever been on earth. The perfect food. It takes care of everything. He says your feet didn't swell, they didn't get scurvy in all those years without the fruit and so forth. It just would be the perfect thing. And here, the perfect thing's been provided, and basically they say, this is horrible. You think of man's response to the true man that come down out of heaven. And what does man say? We don't need that. No desire, no appetite for that at all. At any rate, come down to verse 10. Think of poor Moses. Now Moses heard the people weeping. They're all crying about this. You know, it's pretty serious when a whole nation is weeping, and it's a food issue. Really a heart issue, but at any rate. Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent, and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased. I think of this as Moses in the mouth of the lion again. These people that he loves, these people that he's trying to lead, have a wicked attitude towards the God who he loves and his provision for them. And so now this is what he says. So Moses said to the Lord, why hast thou been so hard on thy servant? And why have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou hast hid the burden of all this people on me, that thou hast laid the burden of all this people on me? What's Moses saying? I don't like this job. And I think about the Lord's word is truth. And in life, so often people tell us what we want to hear. I remember years ago, I was going in for surgery. I said, yeah, you'll be able to go home tonight. And yeah, it's over in Salem. You know, they give you that shot. Well, just before that, the anesthesiologist comes in and he says, start talking to me. And I said, oh, I'm just really glad to be able to go home tonight. He says, oh, you're not going home tonight. You know, and they're ready to shoot the stuff in. I gotta go home tonight. We left the kids at the house and we gotta be there. No, you're not gonna be able to go tonight. Why had they told me before that that's the way they would do it? And for my upcoming treatment on the 18th, they just said, and we will talk to you then. about some of the possible problems with this treatment. Notice that not in the front end when they're lining it all up, but just before they got you on the table and they're gonna turn it on and say, well, and this could happen and that could happen. But here's my whole point. God doesn't do that. He doesn't do that. He tells you, that by the scripture, we know that over and over and over again, he put people in impossible situations because he was with them. But that doesn't mean that they just laughed all the way through. Do you know what I mean? Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. He saw all these things that he promised by God's word would come true to Judah. He saw them happen and they were so awful and God didn't hide that. Moses says, was it I who conceived all these people? Was it I who brought them forth that thou shouldest say to me, carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant to the land which thou didst swear to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me saying, give us meat that we may eat. I alone am not able to carry all these people because it's too burdensome for me. Notice how serious. So if thou art going to deal with me, deal thus with me, please kill me at once. I think it's, I'm resigning. Please take me home, okay. If I found favor in thy sight, which God said he had, and do not let me see my wretchedness. This is so hard, so hard for him. All right, then. I mentioned Jeremiah, let's go to Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter one. Jeremiah one, and we're gonna start in verse four. The Lord's call to Jeremiah. Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. Then I said, alas, Lord God, here we go again. Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I'm a youth. I don't have the experience. I'm not a speaker. I don't know. OK. Because I am a youth, but the Lord said to me, do not say, I am a youth. Why? Because everywhere I send you, you shall go. And all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them. For I am with you to deliver you. I've said many times, that was my father's verse in old age. because he could see his mind was slipping, and he could see that once in a while he'd get into a situation that wasn't good, and he would say, I take this promise from the Lord, I'm with you to deliver you, and I'm doing what I believe the Lord wants me to do, and this is how he did it. I thought it was a great example. I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, behold, I have put my words, which are alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, in your mouth. Get this. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms to pluck up and to break down to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. You look at the latter parts of the book of Jeremiah and all the nations that God had Jeremiah address as to what his plan was for them and his judgment that would fall on them. Okay, then Jeremiah chapter 15. In Jeremiah 15, we're gonna come down to verse 10. And here's Jeremiah in the lion's mouth, okay? Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me as a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land. You realize the message that Jeremiah had that the enemy, the Chaldeans, were gonna come and destroy the nation and destroy the temple. Nobody wanted to hear that, and they hated that message. And as far as I, he was about the only one, it seems. There may have been others, but he's the main one here, and he's giving this message, and everybody hates him. And they're basically all saying, somebody needs to shut this guy up. Somebody, they need to kill him. I love this line. Last part of verse 10, I have neither lent nor have men lent money to me, yet everyone curses me. You know, you can get into a lot of bad situations, lending money and so forth. The Lord said, surely I will set you free for purposes of good. Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in a time of disaster, in a time of distress. Okay. And I want you to come down to, you can read this whole chapter, but come down to verse 18. So this is what Jeremiah says, talking to the Lord. Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Then he says these scary words. Wilt thou indeed be to me like a deceptive stream? Remember in the In that part of the world, there were these, what they call wadis, and they're places where when it really rains, the water just is there, and it's there in abundance. But you can say, you know, last year we came by here, and there was all kinds of water, and we need to go over there to get our water filled, and you go over there, and it's nothing. Okay, in fact, scripture talks about that. And so he says, will thou indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that's unreliable? What a thing to say to the Lord. But again, here's one of the great prophets. And what it says to me is, what do you have left when the job isn't what you thought it would be? And it makes you very sad. What do you got left? The issue to me is, am I ready to be in this situation? Verse 19, therefore, thus says the Lord, if you return, you need to return, Jeremiah, then I will restore you. Before me, you will stand. And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become my spokesman. Here's the rule. They, for their part, may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them. All of us who are believers in Jesus Christ never want to find ourselves agreeing with his enemies, you know? And he says, then I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze. And though they fight against you, they will not prevail against you, and they will not prevail over you. For I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord. So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent. But that still says that's awful close to the mouth of the lion. And this is what happened, he finds himself in the cesspool, remember, sinks down in the mud up to his, and he's starving in there. What do you think about when you're in that situation? Okay, and then we will close with this one. Jeremiah chapter 20. And verse seven. Jeremiah says, oh Lord, thou hast deceived me and I was deceived. Thou hast overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughing stock all day long. Everyone mocks me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud, I proclaim violence, coming of the Chaldeans, and destruction. Because for me, the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long. So it seems to me he's thinking about, well, maybe I just ought to stop the message. But if I say I will not remember him or speak any more in his name, then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire. shut up in my bones, and I'm weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it. That's such a great picture, you know. This is terrible. Every time I'm making everybody mad, I just, maybe I should lighten up. And then what happens is he realizes, just like we realize, this is what's coming, you know. These things that God said were gonna happen are gonna happen. So he says, for I have heard the whispering of many, verse 10, terror on every side, denounce him, yes, let us denounce him. All my trusted friends, what a thing, the people, his friends, his trusted friends, watching for my fall say, perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our revenge on him. But here's the key. Remember what the Lord said? I'm with you to deliver you. So now here's his testimony. But the Lord is with me like a dread champion. What's a dread champion? That's a person, you know, I don't even like to mention Goliath, but he was the dread champion for the Philistines until the Lord took him out with David. But he's the man, he's the toughest one in the whole army, okay, would be the idea. The most efficient, the scariest guy to come up against. And so Jeremiah says, the Lord's with me. like a dread champion, that everybody just kind of melts away in the face of the Lord. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed because they have failed with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten. All right, we'll stop there. Father, how we thank you for your grace to us We realize for a short period of time here on this earth, we are here by your plan, by your purpose, to do and accomplish by your grace and your strength what your plan calls for. We don't know what that plan is, Father, but we do ask that we would be ready, that we would be prepared, that our confidence that we would be building by your grace, our confidence in you in the small things of life, Father, so that we will be ready for something that might come of this magnitude. And so we thank you for your grace to us, Father, and your plan for us, and that you are truly with us to deliver us. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.