I understand that this is Resurrection Sunday. And we praise God, and we worship Him for it. But the Lord gave me a different type of message this morning.

When you reach Judges chapter seven, please stand for the reading of the Word of God. Somebody say amen. In verse one it says:

1. Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

2. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

3. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand . . .

Somebody say, “Twenty-two thousand.”

3. . . . and there remained ten thousand.

Somebody say, “Ten thousand.”

4. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.

5. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.

6. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred . . .

Somebody say, “Three hundred men.”

6. . . .but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

7. And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

Let us pray.

Most holy and gracious heavenly Father, we thank You today for the opportunity to hear Your Word. Lord, hide Your son behind the cross, that Your people would see and hear you only, and not me. Master, I decrease right now, that You would increase. And Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

I thank You for the Presence of the sweet Holy Spirit, that He would teach us all things, Lord God. Lead us and guide us into all truth today. I thank You that the spirit of error is bound. I thank You that all wickedness is bound, that only love would operate in the house of God. In Jesus Name.

And the people of God said amen. You may be seated in the house of the Lord.

Everything comes in stages. Here we have Gideon being a mighty man of war. But we’ve got to understand that he was not always a warrior. When we look at the book of Judges chapter six and verse eleven, the Bible shows Gideon by the winepress, pressing out the wheat, pressing out the grain from the wheat. Glory to God.

But right in the midst of him working in the natural, there comes an angel of the Lord and begins to speak to Gideon. And he says to Gideon, “Oh, mighty man of valor.”

And he begins to tell Gideon (glory to God) about the goodness of the Lord. But then what begins to happen is, Gideon says, “If God was really who He says that He is, how come we’ve been going through the things that we’ve been going through.”

You see, you’ve got to understand this morning that everything happens in stages. And at that stage that Gideon was in at that time, he had an attitude. Look at your neighbor and say, “He had an attitude.”

You see, what happens to us (glory to God), when God begins to call us, there’s still some things within us (glory to God) that God has got to deal with. Come on, somebody. There’s still some issues that are within us that God needs to rectify.

Right after he had his attitude, the angel of the Lord speaks to Gideon. And he says, “God is going to use you to deliver Israel out of the position and the predicament that Israel is in at this time.” Amen, somebody.

And right after that Gideon speaks to the angel. And he said, “How can I be the one to deliver Israel when I am (glory to God) coming from such a poor family, and I am the least in my house?”

Look at your neighbor and say, “He had a problem with his self esteem.”

You see, among the people of God, in the house of God there seems to be a problem with our self esteem. Because if there was not a problem with our self esteem, as soon as the Lord begins to speak to us about our mission and our assignment, we would be able to say, “Here am I, Lord, send me.” But what we begin to do is look at ourselves and look at (oh, my God) how we are and where we are; and therefore, we hinder where God is trying to take us. Amen, somebody.

So we find Gideon, not only having an attitude, but we find Gideon with low self esteem.

I remember there was a time in my life when I suffered with low self esteem. Can I get an amen in the house of God? And what I began to do is try to cover it up and put on a mask and have a facade, and then I began to act like somebody that I really wasn’t. Glory to God. But when God began to move on the inside of me, and He told me that greater was He that was in me than he that was in the world, I began to take my focus off of me, and I began to put my eyes on God. Can I get an amen in the house of God?

And here we have Gideon accepting the call of God. He begins to receive his first assignment. The Bible said that he tore down all the altars of Baal; and therefore, he had the chance to have his name changed from (my God) Gideon to Jerubbaal. Come on, somebody. Being and meaning that he cast down the altars of Satan, of Baal. Amen, somebody.

So here we have Gideon now, and he is in a position of leading God’s people. Let me explain something to you, leaders. The time has passed (listen to what I’m saying) for us to put down the fleece and look up into the heavens and say, “God, is that You?” Come on, somebody. God has been speaking to us about what He desired for us to do. And He’s gotten us to the point where we trust God and we know the voice of God. Now it’s up to us to observe and to do. Look at your neighbor and say, “I’m ready now.”

Everything moves along in stages. And now people of God in the body of Christ, we are at that progressive stage. We are at the stage where God is about to lead His people down to the waters of testing.

Let me explain something to you. Only God can refresh you and refine you at the same time. Oh, my God. You need to hear that with a spiritual ear. Because God led them down to the water thinking on themselves that they were going to have a drink. But the Bible was saying that when God said, “I’m going to try them,” that meant that he was going to refine them as pure gold.”

Let me say something to you today. God may be blessing you, but God is still refining you at the same time. I wish I could get a witness in the house of God.

Listen, saints of God. Sheep of God by the thousands . . . Come on, somebody. . . . defining their way to different water holes looking for a drink, if you will. But there’s a battle to be fought. And how many of you know that everybody is not called to the battle? And let me explain that today. Because everybody is not a warrior. Come on, somebody.

You see, you’ve got an understanding. And you think you came here today to get a drink of water. But I came to tell you that you came here today to be tested. Come on, somebody. You see, God was in a place where He was testing and separating and commissioning. And that’s how it is in the body of Christ today. He’s testing us. He’s separating us. And He’s commissioning us. Because a lot of people have lip service. A lot of people don’t have foot service. A lot of people say, “I’ll do it.” But not a lot of people go to the battle. Give God praise in this place today.

We’ve been basking in the Presence of God for long enough. Now God wants to see what you have.

Look at verse four. The Bible said:

4. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.

You’ve got to understand that God gives your leaders, He gives your leaders spiritual insight. So if your leader tells you that you can’t go on this particular battle, then you need to just step back and say, “I just can’t go this time.”

But we find people in the body of Christ getting angry with the leaders (glory to God) when other leaders are going to the battle, and you’ve got to stay at home. God is saying, “I choose who I choose for the . . .” Oh, my God. “. . . for the battle that is to be fought at that time.” Amen.

He’s speaking to us today. I know I normally preach, but God is teaching us something. Because you’re coming down the waters, and you’re thinking that you’re being refreshed because you got a new bank account. You think you’re being refreshed because you got a new job. You think you’re being refreshed because you’re in a new relationship. But let me tell you something. You’re about to be tried by the fire. You’re about to see what’s really on the inside of you. Give God praise in this place today.

Even in the times of refreshing He’s trying to get the mess out of us. God was bringing them down to the water to be tested. But you’ve got to understand He was testing their personal commitment. He was testing their motives. And He was testing their character. He was testing their commitment. Do you hear what I’m saying today?

God is looking for people in the church that are committed to the church. He’s looking for people that are committed to the things of God. He’s speaking to us today. He’s looking for peoples’ motive. Somebody say, “Uh oh.”

Don’t you understand that with everything that we do there’s a motive behind it? I don’t care if it’s a good motive, and I don’t care if it’s a bad motive; there’s a motive behind everything that we do. And God is testing our motives in the season for why we say we want to follow Him. Because some of us are following God for the fishes and the loaves, and we’re looking for the blessing, but we’re not looking for God. Can I get an amen in the house?

He’s testing the motives. Why? Why? Why do you want to be in position? Why do you want to work in the house? Let me explain something to you. You see, when your motives are right, no matter what happens while you’re in the position you’re in, you won’t move out of the position that you’re in. It’s when your motives are jacked up, that’s when you find your feet moving from the position that you said a while ago that God put you in, but now all of a sudden it’s uncomfortable, so it must not be God any longer. I beg to differ in the house of God.

He doesn’t want you comfortable. He’s going to keep you in a place that’s uncomfortable, that you can stay in prayer. He’s always looking for us to talk to Him. Look at your neighbor and say, “You got to get your motives right.”

He’s testing our character. Our character in this season is being tested. Because there is some promises that we’ve made that we haven’t kept. There’s some people that seem unlovable that we have not loved.

Our character is being tested. And while we’re shouting and praising God for what He gave us, He’s testing our character. Because He gave you, He may tell you to give it away. Where is our character? He’s supposed to be molding us into the image of Christ.

Nobody knows you like you. You know if you’re Godly, and you know if you’re ungodly. You know if your character is righteous, and you know if your character is all jacked up.

They thought that they were coming down for a drink. But little did they know they were coming to be tested. To be tested. To see what’s in you. To see what’s really there.

Look at verse three. Go back to verse four. He said:

3. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

So from thirty-two thousand who came with Gideon, less than one-third continued (amen) to the test. So that means that everybody didn’t even make it to the test. Oh, I can’t get an amen in the house. Everybody didn’t even make it to the test to see if they were going to be able to go to the battle.

Out of the ten thousand who drank of the water, only three percent passed the test to become soldiers in Gideon’s army. So less than one percent of those that started out made the transition and moved to become the warriors. Three hundred men out of thirty-two thousand.

So in order to be chosen they had to have certain characteristics. He said, “Those that lap it up like a dog, those are the one that you choose.” When I looked up “dog” in the Greek, it meant “attack.” So those that were tenacious about their mission were the ones that were chosen. Oh, my God, somebody.

So if I’m going to be a warrior in the body of Christ, then I’ve got to be tenacious about the things of God. Oh, you don’t hear me today. Certain characteristics. Certain characteristics.

The Bible says that the Kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. We have come to the point in the stage of Christianity that if we don’t go on attack mode, then we will continue to be attacked. I want to be like Jesus in Luke four, where the devil messed with Him for a season, and then the Bible said that the devil departed from Him. But most of us are in a place where the devil’s bothering us all the time. Because we don’t know how to attack the devil.

Three hundred men out of thirty-two thousand. One percent became warriors, and the rest of them had to go home.

Isn’t it amazing how Jesus was a warrior, but yet He was a Lamb? He was a Lamb when He went to the cross, but He was a warrior when He went to hell and defeated Satan? So that means there are certain characteristics that I’ve got to have at all times. I’ve got to be a lamb when I’m dealing with you, but I’ve got to be a warrior when I’m dealing with that devil.

So then what are the characteristics? The love, the joy, the peace, the long suffering, the temperance, the meekness, the goodness, the gentleness, the faith. I’ve got to have the fruit of the Spirit of God operating in me. But at the same time I’ve got to be able to tread on serpents and scorpions. Do you hear what I’m saying, in the house of God today?

Some of us don’t know how to turn it. Some of us are too passive in the natural, and we’re too passive in the spirit. And some of us are too tenacious in the natural and definitely tenacious in the spirit, but we don’t how to turn it off. So when I deal with you, I’m still cutting you like I’m cutting the devil. I’m dealing with you like I’m still dealing with my adversary. And therefore, when you offend me, you better look out, because I’m about to cut you. Look at your neighbor and say, “He’s talking to you.” You all said it too quiet.

One percent. One percent understood who they were. One percent went to the battle, out of thirty-two thousand. So that causes me to think that out of all the hundreds of thousands that are in the body of Christ, that’s why He could search for an intercessor, and He couldn’t find one. Because there are not many that understand the battle.

You see, He could let us all fight, but then there’ll be some that’ll say, “We were saved by our own hand.” That’s why when we have prayer, some of you stay home. That’s why when we have deliverance service, some are afraid. He’s speaking to us today.

Get a balance. Don’t stay on cut mode. And don’t stay passive. Don’t be even passive. Be compassionate. Be compassionate.

Three hundred out of thirty-two thousand. So what are the characteristics for the army? The right attitude and the right spirit. The right attitude and the right spirit. Do you know when your spirit is right?

The psalmist said, “Create in me a clean heart,” but then he said, “Renew in me a . . .” What? A right spirit. A righteous spirit. A spirit that is not tainted with the wickedness of this world. This is what we need.

Now, if I had asked before I preached, how many warriors we have in here, just about everybody would have lifted up their hand. But now after the message if I ask by the raising of hand who is a warrior, probably one percent. One percent. Because some of us are still at stage one, where God is dealing with our attitude. And some of us are at stage two, when God is still dealing with our low self esteem. Come on, somebody.

But see, you’ve got to understand that there is no condemnation in that. Because while Gideon still needed to deal with these things, God still said, “Thou mighty man of valor.” And that’s the reason why I can prophesy to people that you know their attitude is jacked up; you know their spirit is wrong. And I can tell them they’re going to be a prophet or a prophetess to the nations. And that’s why you’re still looking at them and saying, “Now, how in the world are they going to be this?” God looks at the end from the beginning.

It’s just like our children. God can speak to us concerning them, saying, “They’re going to be a great pastor, a great prophet,” but when you look at their character and the way they are now, you say, “Lord, how?” But don’t let nobody else come and talk about them, because you done seen, and you know what God done said. “Now, how dare you put your tongue on my child?” And that’s what God is saying to us. “How dare you put your tongue on My child?” I’m teaching you today. Teaching you.

Say, “Well, they’re still in sin.” You were in sin when He called you.

One percent out of thirty-two thousand went to the battle. They became warriors. The rest of them had to go home. Did it mean that they did not partake in the spoil? That’s not what it meant. It said that after they went home, the three hundred men went and defeated the Midianites. But everybody was able to partake in the celebration. Everybody had victory, though there were only a few that fought the war.

Jesus fought for us. But all that received Him as their personal Savior can celebrate the victory.

He’s working on you. He’s working on you. He’s working on us. He’s working on us. I can still say that where I am . . . I’ve been preaching for years now, pastoring a few. But I can still say that He’s working on me. There is still areas of my life that God has got to work on. There is still some stubborn places in me. There’s still some hard ground that needs to be broken up. There’s still some ways that I have where I want my way. Can I . . . Does anybody concur with me in the house of God? There’s some things that I want. There’s some things that He wants.

But I’ve got to be like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the Bible declared that sweat like drops of blood came from His face, and saying, “Nevertheless not My will, but Thine will be done.”

Don’t be ashamed today if He’s working on you. In the holiness church a lot of times we have a problem with condemning people. As soon as they walk through the door we expect them to be as holy as we are. We expect them to be on fire. We expect them to be clean coming from the world. And then we turn them off, and they go back outside the door, forgetting where we came from.

See, the thing was, we were a lot of times in a Baptist church or something where . . . You know, I’m not saying . . . I grew up Baptist, so I can say this. We were in a different type of church where nobody could see anything. They couldn’t see in your life. We sang hymns, heard the sermon, and then we went on back home, and nobody changed.

But see, now, when you come in the house of God, and people can see, either you’ll change or you’ll try to find something wrong with the church, and blame the church, because you want to be in sin. You can’t blame me for fornicating, because I ain’t in fornication. Do you hear what I’m saying? It’s tight, but it’s right.

Don’t cry and go home. See, because, see, a lot of times, you see, you don’t understand. When I give these type of hard words, and then people don’t see you for a while, they know I was talking about you. That’s love in that. Don’t think that, you know, there’s arrogance in that. There’s love in that. There is. There is.

If somebody cares enough about you to tell you that you need to get it right, to save your soul from hell, would you rather be there, or would you rather let somebody tell you, “Oh, it’s going to be alright”? It’s not going to be alright, if you don’t give your life to the Lord. You will bust hell right open. In hell you will lift up your eyes. It’s real. It’s real. Hell is real. It’s real.

I don’t want nobody to pet me to sleep, and then I die and go to hell, and then I say, “I wish I had listened. Pastor Abernathy spoke a hard word, and I got offended, but Lord, I wish I had listened.”

There’s somebody here today, and God is calling your name. And He’s calling you mighty man of valor, or virtuous woman. And He knows where you are right now. But He’s speaking to you and He’s calling you. Will you answer today? If you know your attitude is all jacked up and messed up . . . You know your self esteem is low, but you know God is dealing with you. And He wants to use you. You want to give your life to Him for real, then I want you to come down.