Topic: Irrelevant Crowd.

“Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites “ Judges 7:3-7.

I encourage you to read the book of Judges afresh. It is the story of how the people of Israel fresh from Egypt settled in the Promised Land God gave them. It is the story of how ungrateful and unfaithful human beings can be to their creator and how God can keep his promise even when we fail to. It is the story of people preferring to worship the idols of the land to the destruction of their souls. How people always remember God after they’ve failed at all their human efforts but as soon as they cry to God he comes to their rescue. It is the story of how God uses men that are willing, fearless, capable, loyal, confident to achieve his noble and principled objectives among men.

The first Judge was Othniel the son in-law and nephew of the gallant soldier Caleb who demanded for the sons of Anak and conquered the mountains . “But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother, Kenaz. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge” Jud 3:9-10

Next was Ehud,the left handed man who thrusted a double edge dagger to the fat belly of Eglon. “Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled out the dagger strapped to his right thigh, and plunged it into the king’s belly.” Jud 3:21.

“After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath rescued Israel. He once killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.”Jud 3:31

Next was Deborah. “Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time.” Judges 4:3. God supported her with Barrak and defeated Sisera the army captain with the courageous woman Jael. “But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died.” Jug 4:21.

Next was Gideon. He was selected by God to deliver the people. He went to look for 33,000 people to fight the Midianites- in my words God said these are the irrelevant crowd! As you read in the passage above he whittled them down to 300 courageous men. The question the Holy Spirit is asking you this morning is simple – Are you part of the irrelevant crowd in the your family, church, and in the body of Christ? The enemy of the church has never diminished, in fact they are increasing, and they change their tactics and strategies to frustrate the people of God and slow down God’s plan of salvation. Yes, the gates of hell shall not prevail, but God needs a formidable army. Men are God’s methods. God needs men not boys. God needs Moses, Joshuas, Othniels, Ehuds. God needs Deborahs, Jaels, women that knock evil kings down with wisdom. God has no need of the 22,000 crowd who are in church and society for what they can get from God and are not willing to lift up their finger for a just cause for Jesus whom they profess as Saviour and Lord. Men and women who go to their places of work and out of fear cannot mention the name of Jesus or contribute meaningfully to the society at large.

God does not need 10,000 men who bury themselves in water! Men who bury themselves in their wealth, position, power and are irrelevant to what God is doing in His kingdom.

Are you among the irrelevant crowd? Simply ask yourself, what is my contribution to my community, church, nation building? If all your focus is about yourself- make a U-turn. Scoop water with your hands from the ocean and drink like a soldier. If all you do is just complain, forward negative information around on social media, never thought of a solution to the multi faceted challenges facing our generation, your church, your community, nation or your continent you are part of the irrelevant crowd!

Conclusion: God needs 300 men that will rise and follow their Gideon-minded leaders, pastors, politicians who are courageous to defeat the Midianites. The terrorists, the kidnappers, the bandits, corrupters, the cheaters, loafers are the Midianites and Moabites, which is troubling our God-given promised land. We need Christians who will use their wisdom, talents, gifts, and resources to win souls, govern their corporations, factories, ministries, parastatals, churches, cities, provinces, nations, and continents. No wonder Jesus chose different disciples of different levels and competence, the inner three, the dependable and reliable twelve, the usable seventy, and only fed the multitude! The church, the nations are tired of the irrelevant crowd! Come out of them Paul warns and be separate! Time is ticking, the coming of the Lord is near, what will be your reason for being an unprofitable servant on the judgment day? Broad is the way to destruction but narrow is the gate to eternal life. Today is not too late, tomorrow may be too late. Jesus loves you, so do I.

Make your life count.
Shalom.

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