Good morning, everyone. Want to welcome everyone on this Sunday, this Sabbath day, where we celebrate in the Lord and all that he's given us. And we're thankful for what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us and for sovereignty. And we're thankful that we're still able to meet as a congregation and also publish the sermons and just able to have fellowship with those around the country. As you know, we're continuing to work in the book of Judges and we've been going through the life of Gideon, which is very significant. There is a group that took Gideon's life and work seriously and now they do something very godly, which is distributing the scriptures. And today we, of course, have our brother visiting us, and he's come from all the way down south, and we wish him well, and we also wish him traveling mercies when he returns back down south. Not to brag, but basically, brother, you traveled from the South to the South because the real Southerners are in South Brooklyn, as you're going to find out. But seriously, there are many of those of us here that are traditional, love the Lord, stick to his word. And what we're going to see today is one of the worst things Christians have done throughout history, whether it's the Old Testament or the New Testament, is to make things up. Don't make stuff up. God's people ought to stick to the word, to study his word, to learn it. Just do what God says. Obedience is better than sacrifice. As we've been told a number of times, and we're going to find out toward the end of Gideon's story. and his life, we're going to see that Gideon has matured, he shows some good instincts, and then he does something really bad. And this is not unique to Gideon. All of our heroes from the Bible, those that are called heroes of the faith, made the same mistake. We make the same mistake as God's people, is we make stuff up. If you're afraid, if you don't understand something, just stick to the word of God. Don't make up new doctrine. Don't become a part-time Pharisee. Don't be like King Saul, or almost like Peter, as we're going to read about. Don't make things up. Stick to the word of God, and it will be well with you. And you can actually say that you are a friend and a servant of God. So again, the Book of Judges describes an immature group, just like the Church of the United States of America. It has turned into a disaster. The Church is afraid. It wants to be friends with the culture, it wants to be friends with the government, and we are making stuff up as we go along. We're putting doctrines from the world or from our new god in Washington DC, the government, and we're placing it in our doctrine to please them. But when God's Word disagrees with the Pope, with a president, with a bishop, I don't care what denomination, what political power, we stand firm on the Word of God and we never back down. So if there's one thing you take away today from the sermon, don't make stuff up. And that's the title of today's message. People keep making up things that are not in the word and we've gotten so bad We are destroying our civilization literally literally So that's the condition we're in that's why Christians from north south east and west in this country better make connections Better make friends that are really committed to the Bible. No more Sunday Christians. No more fairweather Christians fairweather friends Things are serious now. So let's pray and then we'll get into our sermon. So let us pray together. Lord Jesus, we thank you that we're able to call on the Father in your name. We know, Lord, that you don't listen to the unrighteous when they call on you, but you do listen to the righteous Lord. And we ask for a humble heart today. We pray, Lord, for peace. in the sanctuary as we continue our worship service. We pray, Lord, that you would forgive us for the week past and on this day for our sins and thought, word, and deed when we've disappointed you, Lord. And we pray that you continue to keep us close to you during these challenging times. We pray, Lord, for our congregation, Fellowship Baptist Church, and we pray for the millions of other faithful Christians and ministries in this country. We know, Lord, there is a large remnant, not a small remnant, people that love you. And we pray, Lord, that in these trying times, You help us set up networks like Christians did in the past during times of persecution. And we pray, Lord, that you be that cave in the mountain, you be that cleft in the rock for us to give us protection from the literal Satanists who have infiltrated the churches and our government and are now ready to start a war in this nation. And we pray, Lord, that You would consume these people if they're not ready to repent, that you would consume them and their evil, Lord. And we pray that like Gideon, we would stand fast in our faith and not back down. And we pray, Lord, that we will be faithful in our worship and not make stuff up trying to please you. So we ask, Lord, that you be with us today in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen. So we're in the book of Judges today, and we're going to be working through verses 22 through 28, and we're going to see how God continues to work with Gideon, and we're going to see how maturing as a believer is true. It's something that we need to do, and we're going to see it in the life of Gideon. So starting at verses 22 and 23, We're going to see something great that Gideon does through his maturity, through his new faithfulness to God. So we see it. chapter 8 verses 22 and 23. Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son's 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. Now for Gideon in this time in such a time of immaturity for God's people and all the idolatry that was going on, Gideon did a great thing. He was offered kingship. They wanted him to rule over Israel and his sons. They wanted to be a traditional patriarchal family line of kings. And Gideon refused the ring of power, which is very hard even for Christians to do. So we commend him for this. And Gideon illustrates how much he has matured in the Lord by rejecting Israel's request to make him king. Where others have failed, Gideon checks his pride and declares God's law will rule the people. So that's why In this culture in America, and also for a time in Great Britain and England, because of Alfred the Great and his study of God's law and interpreting much of the, he was a reformer in many ways and a great reformer. He was a king who could read different languages. He could read Latin. He could read some of the biblical languages. So we actually took God's law and codified it for the people of England. And that's why we call him, the reformers call him, Alfred the Great. And he should be someone that's well known to everyone. So when we say we're going to be ruled by God, what we mean is even if God isn't sitting next to us, we have his word. We have the scriptures. And we follow the commands in scriptures. When it comes to all things, not just how you behave or dress on Sunday, but also Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, right? And people have forgotten that God's law applies to everything. It applies to government, to economics, to sociology, to anthropology, to all these things. The way you view God and your knowledge of his law and his word will influence your entire life. So it was like peanut butter and jelly, the gospel and Christian America early on. And the founding fathers growing up in a Christian culture, regardless of their denomination or their degree of faith, They knew that superior to being ruled by men is to be ruled by a set of laws that everyone agrees to. That's why we have a constitution, a piece of paper. And what's nice about a piece of paper with written rules, a contract, it doesn't suffer the way men suffer. It can't become, the piece of paper can't become a megalomaniac or a tyrant. We follow the rules on the paper. And that's what Christians have forgotten with the Bible. We don't want men to make stuff up as they go along in ruling us or even in managing the church. We want them to follow our constitution, the original constitution for mankind, which is the Bible. So when the Bible says it's an abomination for two men to get married, Because your nephew is a flaming homo doesn't mean you could start making up your own law, because that part of God's Word makes you uncomfortable, or if the government wants to garner extra votes or placate the people. It doesn't mean that laws can be passed to allow sodomite marriage and then the Supreme Court somehow finds it within the Constitution to do that. So we don't back down. We stick to God's word. We don't make things up. Stay with the word. If you don't like God's word, that's fine. Christianity, the church, it's a free association, meaning no one's putting a gun to your head or a sword to your throat to join. If you can't handle God's word and you want to be apostate, fine, kindly leave, but don't torture the rest of us that are trying to be faithful to God's word because you're scared or you want to please people, okay? So Gideon did a great thing. He rejected the request of the people even though it would have been to his advantage to change God's law in his word and accept the kingship. He didn't because at that time we had the perfect law of liberty Israel was completely libertarian in that God gave simple rules, the Ten Commandments, and then we had other statutes built from those, and they had no king. They had an extreme amount of freedom. But to have freedom, you need to be mature. And that's why we're losing our freedoms today. We don't study the word. We look for passages that make us feel nice and fuzzy and emotional. Well, we don't truly study the word. And that reformed tradition and then that old school Baptist tradition of taking the word at what it is and breaking down God's word, that's gone. And that's why our nation's suffering. But Gideon didn't do that in this instance. And like we said, where others have failed, Gideon checks his pride and declares God's law will rule the people. And that's what we have to do again. When people say, oh, we got to get back to the Bible, be specific. What you mean by get back to the Bible is, The church needs to follow God's word, and we need real sanctification again. We need to honor God in the way we live our lives, and when we fall short to repent, not to justify our sins, like Isaiah said, declaring that which is evil good, and that which is good evil. So, that's the first point in our sermon today. Our second point, as we read through verses 24 through 27, And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you that you would give me every man the earrings of his prey, for they are golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites. And they answered, we will willingly give them. And they spread a garment and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides ornaments and collars and purple raiment was on the kings of Midian and besides the chains that were about the camel's neck. And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and we'll explain what that is, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah, and all Israel went thither a-whoring after it, which thing became a snare unto Gideon and to his house." So here we see, because Gideon is a human being and a fallen creature just like us, He goes from extreme faithfulness to starting to make stuff up. God didn't ask him to make an ephod. And here we go. Once you start making things up outside God's word, that's when you fall into idolatry. God doesn't ask us to be particularly smart. He asks us to be faithful. And today, everyone wants to be creative. They want to come up with, we have a certain verse that we've known what it's meant for 2000 years, but they want to spiritualize it in some way and be creative. Don't do that. with the word of God. Don't make stuff up as you go along, as we say in our culture. Very destructive. So the next action of Gideon shows how dangerous it is to make stuff up when it comes to our relationship with God. Gideon, always doubting himself, tries to recreate an ephod to rule over the people This was an unintentional act of idolatry which weakened the faith of the people. If you remember in the book of Exodus, and I gave you the reference, an ephod, a garment was made for the high priest to help him to rule over the people and it helped him with judgment. Gideon who can't get away from doubting himself, didn't mean to be sinful. Gideon didn't just say, okay, I reject the kingship, but now I'm going to make an idol. If you remember, an ephod was something that was designed to help lead Israel. Gideon doubting himself, it wasn't enough that God was with him, he's always looking for these signs and this extra help, and he recreates an ephod. Now some interpreters say this ephod was not the garment like we read about in Exodus chapter 28, but it was a type of idol that was made. If you look at the gold that was asked for and you look at what was done with the materials, this was some type of item that was made for Gideon to understand God's will just like the priestly garment the original ephod what that was for so Gideon not having enough faith to realize that God will guide him and just stick to God's rules and things go smooth he needed this extra guidance so he created the ephod and it was a disaster because this ephod became a symbol of power And it weakened the people. So, again, don't make it up as you go along. Gideon was equipped for the job. He should have known through his miraculous victories that God would equip him to lead Israel. But again, in his weakness, he made this ephod. Now, let's go to Exodus chapter 28, 6-14, so you get an idea of what an ephod was. And we're told, starting at verse 6, This is instructions for the priestly garments. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twine linen with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof, and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod which is upon it shall be of the same, according to the work thereof, even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet. and fine twine linen, and thou shalt make two onyx stones, engrave on them the names of the children of Israel, six of the names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone according to their birth, with the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet. Shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. Thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. and thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial and thou shalt make ouches of gold and two chains of pure gold at the ends of wreathed work shalt thou make them and fasten the wreathed changes to the ouches so here we see that this was a type of garment that was used to project authority So Gideon did the wrong thing. He wasn't asked to do this, to be this fancy in ruling the people. He should have been focusing on God's word, on the five books that they had in their possession. And this is what they needed to do. Focus on what was passed down to the people by God himself through Moses. Just follow the commands. That's all you have to do. But we don't like that. Because it's not fancy enough. And it's sometimes it's too restrictive on us. So we want to disobey God's word and make up these fancy traditions. And Catholics, Charismatics, Baptists, the Episcopal Church now, Lord help us, the liberal Methodists, Lutherans, ordaining their first transgender evangelical Lutheran church, ordaining their first transgender you know, whatchamacallit, whatever you want to call those people. This is what we're doing. We're getting away from God's Word and to try and help ourselves to have more of a hold on the people, we make these things up. Don't do it. And what's amazing, we have a reference in the Gospel of Luke, if you turn me to chapter 9, the Apostle Peter almost made the same mistake in the Gospels. So read Luke chapter 9, verses 28-36 with me, and we're going to see that When we're scared or confused, we can do irrational things. We can easily break God's law, and that's why we're to be confident in knowing His word and following His commands. So let's see Peter in his Gideon moment, where Jesus helped him, kept him from doing it. So we're going to look at Luke chapter 9, and we're going to read through verses 28 through 36. And we're going to see Peter have his Gideon moment. This is the transfiguration. And it was a marvelous thing. But Peter almost stumbled and fell over this. And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, Jesus' inner circle, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elijah. who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep. And when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. not knowing what he said. While he thus spoke, there came a cloud and overshadowed them. And they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. And when the voice was passed, Jesus found alone. And they kept it close and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. So Peter, in his Gideon moment, scared, and trying to do this extra thing for the Lord which he didn't need to do wanted to make three places of worship, three tabernacles for Jesus and Moses and Elijah after the transfiguration again, making stuff up, don't make stuff up and Jesus understood and the Father understood and God himself checks Peter and says, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, before you turn Elijah and Moses visiting my son in some type of idolatry, God speaks from heaven and reminds him, you worship me and you worship the Son and the Holy Ghost, not men. So once again, don't make stuff up, stick with the Word of God. Peter almost had his Gideon moment where he erected these tabernacles that were not meant to be built. So let's be very careful. We see this principle in the Old Testament and the New Testament and we see this with many churches that used to be faithful. They're just making stuff up and it's destroying the church and we need to stop. And the final point that we want to make is that you can be mature in Christ. You can have victory. And that's the story of Gideon, a fallible man with no confidence, built up by the Lord, a nobody who came out of nowhere and delivered the people. And it was glorious. So Daud and Gideon, through God's might, delivers the children of Israel from their oppressors. God's people enjoy a time of revival and restoration before their next episode of lawlessness and idolatry. And we know, as God describes in his word, rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. You don't have to be fancy, you don't have to pray to the devil, you don't have to do incantations, you don't have to light candles. One thing about our Satanist friends and our occult friends, they work so hard to try and attract the devil and they don't need to do that. Just reject Jesus Christ and all his laws and you're in the devil's hands already. So you don't need to do all that. So we see that Gideon was faithful, the people were delivered, God's word attests to this, and we're told, 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. So God accomplished his will through Gideon, a weak vessel, and God showed his glory through using a weak vessel. And may God do that with us, especially at this time. Read the Ten Commandments. Read the commands of Jesus Christ. Read the commands that Jesus explicitly explains when it comes to money and marriage and our relationships. You have exact rules to follow. You don't need to make things up. And that's why people like, you know, the usual suspects, Stephen Furtick and T.D. Jakes, and the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope, that dirtbag himself in Rome, all these people, it doesn't matter, Protestant, Catholic, different denominations, there's such a large falling away. And all they're doing is vying for power and money and a position in this new world order, that they're selling out Christ. But stick to Christ's law and we can have a time of revival and restoration again. But let us pray that we, like Gideon, could be that nobody from nowhere that defeats a powerful enemy. by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, that God might bring revival and restoration again to our land. And if that's not his will, that there's revival and restoration among the remnant, that we could survive this time of trouble. Don't make stuff up. Just be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Lord Jesus, we ask that we could take your law and your word and meditate upon it and place it in our hearts. We pray, Lord, that you give us all a spirit of peace at the end of our time of worship, that you will protect us, Lord, and not just only physically, but more important, Lord, spiritually, that our hearts are true and we stay focused on your word. We ask this, Lord, in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost, amen. Go in peace. God bless everyone until we meet again for our Bible study and our time of prayer. God bless you.