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Judge 7:7, 1-25 Read: Verse 13-20 "And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold I dreamed a dream, and lo a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturn it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian." "When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpet also on every side of all the camp and say, the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came upon the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch: and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets brake the pitchers that were in their hands.And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and the cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon." PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED VICTORY Prepare means to make ready, to construct, to equip, to put together, and to make oneself ready for the final victory. Now the word victory means to defeat an opponent, win a fight, a game, a contest, competition, or being successful in a struggle. To win a victory means to overcome opposition, to overcome an enemy in some unfavorable battle. Whenever we think of victory, we usually think of sports. The Supper Bowl the Indianapolis Colt verse Chicago Bears. I know you have seen the lineup: the Dallas Cowboys versus the Pittsburgh Steelers; the Brooklyn Dodgers versus the New York Yankees; or U of L versus U of K; the Los Angeles Lakers versus the New Jersey Nets; Lennox Lewis versus Mike Tyson; the Williams sisters, Venus versus Jennifer Capriati, Serena versus Monica Seles, Tiger Woods winning the Masters. Victory is the goal of every athlete and soldier. It's also the goal of every politician, businessman, student, teacher, policeman, firefighter, preacher, Christian, and the "unsaved." We all face some kind of competition in our daily lives. We all have to prepare for the victory. Americans are the most competitive people in the world. We are taught to be competitive in school. We study to make the best grades in our classes. We are taught to be competitive in sports. We are taught to be competitive on the job market. We make our resume impressive to gain the edge over our competition in the job market. There is even competition in our homes. We compete against our brothers and sisters for the attention of our parents. We even compete against our children for the attention of our wives and husbands. But as Christians, we should prepare for the victory not just in the ream of our physical bodies. We need to prepare for victory over sin, Satan and temptation. The devil is competing with God for our soul everyday. We need to prepare for our greatest victory in Jesus Christ. "Let us not rest on the seat of yesterday's victory, for today's victory can be turned into tomorrow's defeat." There are battles to be won, and there are battles to be lost all over the world. A battle is not attractive and is seldom desired by the children of God. But the fact remains, that there can be no victory without a "battle." Victory is the sweet fruit, which grows on battlefields. It is the flower that blooms "after the battle is over". For every winner there must be a loser. But if we follow Jesus, we need never taste the bitter waters of defeat, for Jesus was never defeated, even at death. For I heard Him say "no man taketh my life from me, I laid it down myself and I have the power to take it up again." He never lost a battle. But, Church, we have not been called to fight an easy battle. Our fight calls for us, "to be thou faithful unto death." He did not say until death, but the writer said unto death. He did not say be faithful as long as the sun is shining. He did not say be faithful when you've had a good night's sleep and you wake up in the morning feeling good. He did not say be faithful as long as folks are not criticizing you. He did not say be faithful until you get tired. He said, "be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life." Our fight is within and not without. Our enemy, Satan, has left no stone unturned in his efforts to defeat us, "but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." "If God be for us, who can be against us?" When preparing for the victory, often times we need to seek the advise of trainers, coaches or strategist. The trainer, strategist or advisor will help to prepare us and to develop a plan to gain the victory. We don't just pick anyone to instruct us or direct us in our quest to win. We want someone with a proven track record in winning. We want someone who has experienced victories in their life. We want someone who can teach us winning ways. Athletes consult coaches to prepare for the victory. Bodybuilders, weight lifters, boxers, wrestlers, football, basketball, and baseball players consult personal trainers to prepare for victory. A Patient consults a doctor to prepare him for a serious operation. A Defendant consults a lawyer because he wants to win his case. A Soldier is assigned a drill sergeant to prepare him for rigorous training. A Sinner needs to seek out a church home to keep him from going to hell. A Preacher read and study the Bible to show himself approved unto God, so he will not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth. A Christian needs to have a little more faith and talk with Jesus; so He will make everything all right. For you see, victory is won on a battlefield, because we have better guns, better trained soldiers, better tanks, better ships, better jet fighters, better generals, better maneuvering power, better strategy, togetherness and will power. When it's winner versus loser, nobody wants to be a loser. The winner is always a part of the answer. The loser is always a part of the problem. The winner always has a program. The loser always has an excuse. The winner says, "It may be difficult but not impossible." The loser says, "It may be possible, but it's difficult." But, in the spiritual ream, the real victory can come only by faith in Jesus Christ. It's impossible to please God without faith. Now, in preparing for victory, we've got to unite our forces as one unit in the service of the Lord and develop a strategy for the enrichment and growth of the church. For we are in the same boat together and if the old ship of Zion goes down, all of us will drown. We need more dedicated Christian soldiers, men, women, boys and girls in the church. We need to fortify our positions by reading and studying the Bible. We need to set up a command post for a praying ground. We need to develop our supply lines with one another. We need to enhance the message of Jesus Christ to the sinners to defeat the power of Satan in this world. We need to help persuade others to gain the victory through Jesus. We need to pool our resources so we can be a strong force with Christian military strength and combat maneuverability. Now, in our text, we see "Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for in his hand God had delivered Midian and all his host." (Verse 14) Gideon had the assurance and the advise of God on how to prepare for the victory. "And the Lord said unto Gideon, the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands..." (Verse 2). God warned Gideon of the danger involved in having such a large army. You have too many! Jesus said, where there are two or three gathered together touching and agreeing in my name I will be in your midst. God is not so much interested in numbers. God is interested more in quality members. Have you noticed what happens when a group of people accomplishes their task? They say, "Look what we have done." It may be only a few who actually work. What do they say if they fail in their endeavor? They will say, "Look what he/she messed up." A large group working for God will always take credit for the victory rather than give God the victory! They are depending on numbers for strength. Gideon assembled a massive army of thirty-two thousand to fight against the Midianites. By human consideration, there is power in numbers. The odds of them winning were 30 to 1 in their favor. Gideon was ready to meet the enemy head on. But, God said, the numbers had to be reduced. A lot of times, a battle is not won with numbers but with the faithful few. And so it was. A proclamation was made that all of the troops who were afraid and wanted to go back home could do so. And twenty-two thousand of them dispersed. Twenty-two thousand of them got out of Dodge City in a hurry, leaving only ten thousand men. And I think I ought to tell you, God doesn't want a cowardly soldier in His army. "Winners never quit, and quitters never win." And so he ordered these ten thousand remaining men to go down to the stream. And God told Gideon, "I'll show you which ones shall go with you, and which ones shall not go." Gideon had to notice in the manner these men used to drink water from the stream. "...Every one that lapeth 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." (Verse 5b) Yes, those that lap water like a dog, bowing down on their knees and drinking, put them aside. They are considered lazy, and incompetent for the battle. It was seven hundred of them. I think I ought to tell you we have a lot of lazy Christians who are going to miss their own funeral, because they are too lazy to get up out of the bed on Sunday morning, and come to church on time. Some folks call it procrastinating, but I call it lazy. Look at those that put their hands to their mouths. Look at the ones that cup the water in their hands, and put it to their mouths, looking in all directions. And it was three hundred of them. They were selected for the battle. All three hundred passed God's, "water test." And, Gideon did as God instructed. Then God communicated with Gideon, again in a dream. And told him to "Prepare For the Unexpected Victory!" Divide the three hundred men into three groups and station them on three sides of the camp. And place a trumpet in the right hand of each man, and a pitcher in the left hand of each man, and torches inside the pitchers. At a given signal, they were to blow the trumpet and throw down the pitcher and hold up the torches, to befuddle the minds of Midianites. Make them think that it was a large army (a regiment). And so it was done. And, on that very night, while the Midianites and the Amalekites were in their camp sound asleep in the Valley of Jezreel, Gideon's soldiers blew the trumpets, and broke the pitches, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands, and cried out, with a battle cry, "The sword of the Lord and Gideon!" Oh, I wish I could have been there to witness this battle of victory. For you see all of the army of the enemy ran, cried, and fled, because they were caught unaware, unprepared. They lost their sense of direction and discretion. They were dumfounded and befuddled; they were confused. They panicked and began to destroy one another with their own swords. For you see, the battle was a random of disorderly confusion, and Gideon's army never fired one arrow, never drew a sword, or used their spears. This was a complete victory over their enemies who had harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for seven years. Well, "there is no secret what God can do. What he's won for others, He'll do for you!" "Beneath His wings of love, abide. God will take care of you," if you "Prepare For The Unexpected Victory!" With God on your side, I declare you will win the battle. The Bible tells us about many men who prepared for the unexpected victory, and they won the fight. If you don't mind I'd like to call the roll up yonder. NOAH, come here to the roster and tell us how you prepared for the Unexpected Victory over the flood? I built an ark and I preached 120 years that it's going to rain. And when the rains came, every animal and my family were safe and secure, because God locked the door of the ark. JOSHUA, come here and tell us how you prepared for the Unexpected Victory over Jericho. I put on a pair of good walking shoes and walked around the walls of Jericho seven times and the walls come tumbling down. SAMSON, how did you prepare for the Unexpected Victory over the Philistines? I picked up a jawbone of an ass and started hitting some heads. DAVID, a man after God's own heart, how did you prepare for the Unexpected Victory over Goliath? Well, I selected five smooth stones as ammunition for my slingshot but I only needed one to kill Goliath. GIDEON, how did you prepare for the Unexpected Victory over the Midianites? God told me to reduce the size of my army. I gave each man a trumpet, an empty pitcher, and a lamp and told them to break it, at twelve o clock midnight. And victory was mine. God the Father, how did you prepare for the Unexpected Victory for us Christians? I sent a Comforter who is the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you in the right direction. JESUS, how did you prepare for the Unexpected Victory to come in this World? God needed someone to save this mean old world from sin. And I said here I am, I'll go down and redeem man from the curse of broken law. JESUS, how did you prepare for the Unexpected Victory over the cross? I went to the Garden of Gethsemane and I prayed, and said, nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. JESUS, how did you prepare for the Unexpected Victory over death? Well, death had claimed every life it came in contact with. But, early Sunday, I got up out of the grave and said, "Oh death, where is your sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory?" All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. "Victory is mine, victory today is mine."