300 Men, Weary yet Still Pursuing

Judges, chapter 8—there is a verse there that, as I was telling the brothers and sisters this morning, I have always wanted to preach about. And somehow the right time to do it had never presented itself, and I had never found the angle from which to approach that verse. But I have had it underlined in my Bible for many years,

and this week, as I was speaking with these faithful sisters who have been involved in putting together our financial campaign—I bless Patty and Damaris and Herenia and Florecita, as well as some of the men, Rupert and other brothers who have also helped us develop these campaigns. Glory to God for those brothers and sisters.

I knew that this Sunday, for the sake of consistency, I needed to take an interlude from our sermons on the book of Acts and preach something in keeping with the campaign, and it came to mind because we are halfway through this campaign. By the way, I do not know whether it is possible to project that campaign chart in order to clarify something, so that you are clear about it—just for a moment. I know the upper portion, beyond the figures showing $1,141,000, which is the total amount pledged, is not very easy to see; that is simply the unknown territory of whatever else you may be able to give. But from there on down is approximately what we already have in pledges, and if you look at the little lines where the arrow is, two lines above the arrow is approximately where we ought to be now. In other words, we are—we are not exactly at the halfway point where we want to be, but we are not that far away either. Two more lines and we would be approximately where we want to be. So it is not that… the other part is simply extra; that is the territory of extreme faith, where God can also take us.

So we are fairly close. I do not want you to become discouraged either, but we can go even farther. And perhaps some brothers and sisters may want to say, “You know what? I want to get this monkey off my back, so I am going to give everything I need to give right now and hand it over to the Lord now.” If you have it there in the bank, take out those dollars—the poor things are freezing in the account; who knows what might happen. Give it to the Lord. Do not regret it later and say, “Goodness, I would have been better off giving it to the Lord.”

So that is also one way of blessing us. In any case, I know that some brothers and sisters think, “You know what? I am going to wait a little longer, and then I will give it at the end.” It blesses us if you give it now; we can use it now. So I invite some of you to take up the challenge. Later we are going to show you that dozens of people have already fulfilled their commitment and are now sitting peacefully over there, relaxing and thanking the Lord. And do you know what some have said? “I want to sign up again so I can continue and give more to the Lord.” Do not laugh. Perhaps God will ask you to do the same. Perhaps God will put it in your heart to say, “You know what? I am going to be bold and say to the Lord, ‘You know what, Father? I fulfilled my pledge, and I am going to sign up again to give you more.’” Why not? God will bless you.

There are examples of such extreme offerings in the Bible. The widow’s offering, I would call it, which God blessed greatly, very greatly. I encourage you to break through the boundaries of your limits and move to another level of faith, spiritual growth, and boldness in the Lord.

How many can say amen to what I am saying, even if only by faith? Amen, amen—dare to do it. Expand your territory, brother. I am always asking the Lord, and God is always placing me in bolder areas so that I can expand my territory, and that is what we must also do in our spiritual lives. That is where we grow in faith, mature, and receive God’s greatest blessings. Because this is not merely about giving money fruitlessly to a temple; it is about your life being blessed and expanded so that you may live like a warrior in every area of your life and experience the glory of God in your life.

So I was telling you about a verse that I told you some time ago I wanted to preach about. I invite you to verse 4 of the book of Judges, and look at what it says here:

“…Gideon came to the Jordan…”

How many know who Gideon was? How many have heard of Gideon? Raise your hand. You are here. Are you asleep or awake? How many have heard of Gideon? Raise your hand and say amen. Okay. Gideon was a great man of God, a warrior, a judge whom God chose to free his people from the oppression of a nation, or nations, that were oppressing God’s people. And God called Gideon when he was a young man, and Gideon also needed to expand his vision.

We remember that when the angel first appeared to Gideon, he said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty man of valor.” And Gideon answered him in a tiny little voice, saying, “But I am the least in my land, and my family is the least in my entire tribe. How can you say that God is with me?” The Lord told him, “No, you are a mighty man of valor. I want to lead you into greatness.”

How many of us, when God’s visions and promptings come into our lives, look only at ourselves and see this half-baked person and say, “I cannot be that great man, that great woman whom God has in mind”? God wants to expand your territory. God wants you to be bold in the name of the Lord.

And finally God said to Gideon, “Go with this strength that I place in you, that strength you already have, and do what I command you to do.” And God says to this congregation, “I have great goals for you. You are a mighty and courageous congregation; you are a great warrior, and I want to take you to the highest level. I want you to perform my mighty deeds. I want people one day to see in this predominantly immigrant people a spear chosen by God to build his kingdom here in New England.”

In this place where the pilgrims arrived almost 400 years ago—those white people from Europe, from England, came here—today, you know what? We are the new pilgrims here in this nation, and God is calling us to bless this nation and renew the purposes he conceived 400 years ago when he founded this nation. I believe that.

And that vision may sound too far-fetched to you, but I believe that is how it is, and God says to you, “I have chosen you to do something great.” Do not answer the Lord in the tiny voice of a frightened cat. No, answer him like a lion, like a lioness. “Amen, Lord, I am going to do it in your name; I am going to launch it in your name.” I have not even read the verse yet. It seems I really felt like preaching today.

I want to make up for all those weeks when I did not preach. Verse 4 says here:

“…And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him… Here is the heart of this sermon and the subject I want to address with you… 300 men, exhausted yet still pursuing, exhausted yet still pursuing…”

Say, “Still.” Say, “Exhausted.” Yet still pursuing. I want to hear all of you: “Exhausted yet still pursuing.” I like that word, pursuing. Because it is a word that conveys intentionality: pursuing. They were hunting the enemy; they were committed to a goal, and they were not going to give up until they reached that goal, even though they were exhausted.

In the English translation Gregory read this morning while he was translating, it says “exhausted.” They were exhausted, but they were still like a marathon runner at mile 25 and a half, before reaching mile 26, the end of the race, when the body has no strength left at all. The only things remaining are willpower and discipline. The only thing remaining is the spirit that says, “I am not going to grow weary; I am not going to stop until I reach the finish line, because I set out to run 26 miles, and I am going to make it.”

And that is often what happens in life, with projects we conceive and visions God places in our hearts: many years may already have passed, and we may have only the thinnest thread of energy and willpower left, and we have to ask ourselves, “Am I going to grow weary and give up, lower my arms, and turn back ashamed and discouraged, or am I going to take one more step of faith until I reach the goal?”

And that, brothers and sisters, is what the Christian life is about. Even if you are exhausted, even if you are tired, even if the world around you says, “Lower your guard; you have already fought long enough for that project, that vision, that purpose in your life, that dream you conceived 10 years ago. You have already tried; several doors have been closed to you,” you say to the Lord, “You placed that vision within me, and I am going to complete it in the name of Jesus.” And you keep moving forward. That is the key to a victorious life that achieves its goals.

I thank the Lord for so many people in this congregation whom I see achieving their goals year after year. And I have sometimes seen them struggling for many years, but one day they reach their goal. I have seen these dear sisters and brothers fighting against their body weight, for example, and sometimes they lose weight and then gain a little more again; they lose and gain, but I see them fighting. And one day they finally stabilize and attain what they were seeking. That illustration may seem trivial to you. But you know what? Life is full of little visions like that, which you conceive in your spirit and commit yourself to in the name of the Lord, saying, “You know what? I am not going to take my hand off the sword until I fulfill what I promised myself. Because I am a child of God, I have God’s genetics within me, and God has never ended a battle ashamed or defeated.”

God has been struggling with his creation, humanity, for thousands of years so that they may come to see the vision he has for them. And humanity is still not convinced, but God has relented in his efforts; he continues working throughout history, he continues working through his church, because he knows what the goal is: a new heaven and a new earth; a redeemed creation; men and women touched by the Spirit of God, renewed. And until that vision is fulfilled before God’s eyes, God will not stop working in history, and he has chosen us to carry out the redemption of this earth. Every day here we strike blows with the sword to fulfill God’s vision in our lives and in the world around us.

I love this passage because it speaks of men who were tired. They had begun a battle, but they were still pursuing. In fact, I am not even going to look at my notes, because I am simply going to focus on that. I like this passage, brothers and sisters, because that is the motto of my life. I do not want to live according to my emotions or my mind, or even according to what my body dictates to me. Most human beings live enslaved to what their nervous system feels—to whether they are tired or not, whether they feel encouraged or not. If they feel encouraged, they do something; if they feel discouraged, they do not. If they are sad, they do not come to church, praise God, give, serve, or evangelize. If adrenaline is flowing through their bodies, then they give, praise, and listen to Marcos Sweet on the radio; otherwise, they turn it off and put it in time-out because God has not blessed them. “When he blesses me, then I will turn it on again.”

We are living at the mercy of circumstances, emotions, thoughts, and the flesh. But a child of God is not like that. A son of God, a daughter of God, lives according to what God has said through his Word. The words of Christ Jesus pursue me. He says, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” In place of bread, put this: Man shall not live by impressions, emotions, and circumstantial and material things alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

To me, that is what it means. I am not going to live by emotions or circumstances; I am going to live by what God has decreed. If God has said, “Do it,” I am going to do it. If God has said, “Carry it out,” I am going to carry it out. If God has said, “Change it in your personality,” I am going to change it, and I am going to battle no matter what until I see God’s goal accomplished in my life.

And I like that, because these men’s bodies were already saying, “Give up; you have already done enough.” But they kept going; although they were tired, they continued pursuing the enemy. What had happened? God had given Gideon a vision. He had called him: “Free my people from the oppression of Midian and Amalek. Free them; the time of liberation has come.”

Gideon embraced God’s vision. I believe God has called this congregation, this little Gideon that is Lion of Judah, full of immigrants and people who do not make much money. We do not have many people who make millions of dollars. We simply do not. But you know what? With that little bit, brothers and sisters, with five loaves and two fish, God allows us to do things that much larger and wealthier congregations fail to do.

And God knows that I do not say this with pride in my heart, because we are precisely—God has not chosen us because we are the best, but perhaps because we are the worst, just as he chose Israel in that way. There is no pride in that; rather, I give glory to God because he can do great things with what is small. And the more that which is small conceives of greater things, the greater the things it can do for the Lord.

So, I believe that, like Gideon, God is calling us to deliver his people. There are other congregations that God may also be calling. We are not the only one, but God says, Lion of Judah, I want you to be a lion here in Boston, in Roxbury. I want you to roar in my name and do great things. Embrace my vision. There is so much demonic oppression in this area. This area has been liberated economically. Here there are condominiums and studios next to our building worth 300,000 dollars, 350,000 dollars, the size of a kitchen in some houses. But you know that oppression and darkness have also grown stronger in this region: more secularism, more humanism, more rebellion against God’s commands.

This church is a spiritual stronghold of the Kingdom of God planted right here, like those forts that existed in the western United States, in the midst of new territories they were conquering; they were placed there to establish a presence. We are a stronghold here, in the positive, spiritual sense of the word. And we are not entrenched here; rather, we are conquering. It is not as though we were peering through little holes to see when the enemy is coming. No, no, we have the doors open because the power of God is among us.

And brothers and sisters, I continue to insist that the best times are ahead of us. God’s call has been given to this congregation. If we are building a sanctuary, it is not because Pastor Roberto Miranda took it into his head to build a mausoleum to his pastorate. That is not what this is about. It is about God giving us a vision, just as he gave one to Gideon, to build a temple for the Lord and declare to this area of the city that we are not retreating but advancing. The Kingdom of God advances. The Kingdom of God does not retreat.

Many have declared New England an inhospitable land for the Gospel. And we tell them, no, the best is yet to come. God’s harvest lies ahead of us. New places must be prepared so that the glory of God may be lifted up. God does not call us to store away vessels; he calls us to find vessels—and not just a few—so that there may be room for God’s oil in them and God may do what he wants. We are not here to be conservative; rather, we are raising up new places so that those who come may find room.

If you look around right now, there are a few sad chairs still empty here. Everything else is full. Upstairs there are more than a hundred children right now receiving the word of God on the third floor. And this morning the place was full as well—African Americans, Anglos, Asians, Africans, and Latinos worshiping the Lord in our English ministry.

God is doing great things, and we need more vessels so that God’s anointing may spread farther and become greater. We are building for the future, not for the present. We are building for what God has ahead. And God needs Gideons who embrace God’s vision and then launch out to carry it out.

Gideon embraced God’s vision, and God gave him a very unusual way to defeat the enemy. He gave him only 300 men against an army of hundreds of thousands of men. And God provided Gideon with the weapons and strategy he used in a way that we do not have time to explain to you, but that crazy, unusual, different strategy scattered the enemy and threw them into confusion. They began fighting one another. There was confusion in the camp of Midian and Amalek, there was a great defeat, panic spread throughout the enemy camp, and that entire vast army took off running; and Gideon had made a commitment to God to complete what God had told him to do.

If he had allowed that army to escape, he would have had serious problems, because that army might have been able to regroup, recover, and return to attack and oppress God’s people once again. Gideon wanted to finish what he had committed himself to do.

If you look at the histories of the Second World War, for example, you see that there were moments in the Second World War when the Allies could have finished off and defeated the enemy at a crucial moment, in a crucial battle, but unfortunately they pulled back before completing what they had begun. The same thing happened with the German enemy. They could have defeated the Allies in a crucial battle, but for inexplicable reasons and because of strategic mistakes, they withdrew before completing what they had begun. They did not seize the moment to finish the job completely.

And that is often what happens to us. We settle for partial victories, and then we lie down to rest and take it easy because… no—but God wants us to reach the goal.

So Gideon went after the enemy because he wanted to eliminate any possibility of recovery for the enemy. When we enter Chapter 8 at the point I am reading here, it is the moment when Gideon’s men, after already sweeping away the initial part of the enemy, are pursuing the enemy and want to destroy it completely. Because when the people of God begin something, they have to finish it. And so here we see Gideon and his men, tired yet still pursuing. They have spent the whole day fighting, but they have to complete the battle.

Brothers and sisters, there is no need to elaborate much on the comparisons. We are about halfway through—a little more than halfway through—our financial campaign. God has blessed us greatly; we began building in July, and the construction out there is exactly where we want it to be, but you are in the battle. Perhaps some of you are tired, but you are still pursuing. My goal is to tell you: brothers and sisters, keep pursuing. If you made a commitment before the Lord, do not say, “Ah, that was a vain dream, a commitment; they do not need me. Everything seems to be going well over there. Who knows—maybe in the end we will give something.” No, no; you conceived something in your heart, so renew and refresh your commitment before the Lord. And even if the economy is bad and perhaps your hours at work have been cut, as the Moroccan sister was saying.

Look, God is not limited by just a few hours or fewer hours. God can take 5 loaves and 2 fish that smell bad because they were in the sun all day and use them to bless an entire congregation, you know? To bless a city with them. We need something to place in his hands. God always works through what we place here on earth.

Christ took 5 loaves and 2 fish, lifted them up toward heaven, blessed them, and fed the entire multitude, with 12 full baskets left over. And if we do not provide 5 loaves and 2 fish, God does not do his part, brothers and sisters; that is the key to the Christian life. If there is no Gideon who says, “Yes, Lord, I will do it,” if there are no men who keep pursuing despite their weariness, God’s goals are not accomplished. And you are part of that miracle; you are one of the 300.

I ask the musicians to come up here quickly. You are one of the 300. Never live your life according to your emotions. Do you know why God does not bless you more? Do you know, brothers and sisters, why there are not more prosperous families? Why there are not more young people in our community studying? Because sometimes they have not seen in their families an ethic of effort, persistence, and discipline that overrules emotions. What they have seen instead are people who have resigned themselves to their circumstances, who have resigned themselves to their past, and who are simply doing the same thing earlier generations did. If my parents and my grandparents did not study, why should I study? If they were laborers, I am going to be a laborer too. Our children see that message, and then they fall short as well.

What would happen if every family had fathers and mothers who, even if they were sad or even if it were snowing or raining, would go to the house of the Lord to offer him their sacrifice? And what if those children saw those parents remaining firm in their commitments? What would happen if those children saw their parents regularly reading the word of God, or regularly reading a good book, or watching documentaries that enrich their culture and intelligence, instead of seeing them watch foolish things that do nothing at all to build them up?

There are times when I watch foolish things on television, and afterward I feel as though I ate 20 cookies and my stomach is stuffed, and I say, “Ugh! If only I hadn’t eaten that; if only I had eaten something healthy instead.” That is how we are sometimes. We spend 3 hours in front of the television, and in the end all we are left with is a terrible stomachache.

What would happen if, instead of doing that, we built ourselves up, read, disciplined ourselves, and our children saw that discipline—that culture of discipline over our emotions, our minds, and our bodies? Our children would become like us. God wants to bless his people, but God’s people have to overcome their weariness. God wants that temple built, brothers and sisters; I am sure of it. When God spoke to me in this building, in room number 208 up there, with this place completely full of dust and rubble—we had barely even begun the construction of this sanctuary and this building—and God told me, “One day, out there in that parking lot, I want you to build me a building with parking underneath, pillars supporting the building, a sanctuary with a balcony above it, and another floor above that.” It must have been about 10, 12, or 13 years ago, brothers and sisters. And that vision has pursued me, and I have wanted to carry it out, to give concrete expression to God’s vision. And I do not want to do it alone, nor does God want me to do it alone, because the things of God are done in community.

I want each one of you—every family, every household—to receive a small share of the honor. God wants it that way. God never does anything alone; he always does it as a team. If you read that chapter, Chapter 8, Gideon had to ask people for help as he continued his pursuit, because they needed others to come and help complete the task. God always works in community. You are part of that community. Tired, yet still pursuing. We are halfway there; we still have a way to go.

This afternoon I want to invite you to renew God’s vision. As a church, we are going to say, “Lord, we want to continue until we reach the goal; we want to shatter that goal and exceed it, to enter the realm of the unexpected and the uncomfortable, and to surpass even the ambitious visions we conceived at the beginning, for the glory of God.”

And one day, when we see that sanctuary completely built, we will rejoice every time we walk into it; and when we sit on those pews, worship the Lord, and hear the voice of the great congregation God is going to raise up, we will be able to say, “I was part of this miracle. God used me to give concrete expression to God’s vision.” And how wonderful it is to be part of God’s miracles.

So, people of God, this afternoon I invite you to refresh God’s vision. Stand up now; let us all stand and say, “Father, I commit myself to giving you even more than I conceived at the beginning.” And I ask that your people may be refreshed, Lord, that giving to you may not be a cause of drought, distress, or agony, but rather a delight, Father, and that we may see that what we give to you, you cause to rebound as a blessing upon our lives.

We ask for a prosperous people. We ask for an outrageously blessed people. We ask for a people who provoke the envy of those who do not know you because you have blessed them as you blessed your people Israel when they were faithful to your call. We want an exemplary church, Father, a church that proclaims through its life the faithfulness of the God whom we serve. We renew our commitment in the name of Jesus.

And I want to invite those brothers and sisters who are new to the congregation—perhaps you have come during this past year, in recent months or weeks. If you have not yet had the opportunity, if the Spirit of God has not yet moved you and you now feel him moving you to renew your commitment or to make a commitment for the first time, it would give me great joy to see brothers and sisters take one of those bricks. Perhaps you need to speak with your wife or your husband and say, “Look, how much are we going to pledge?” I want you to think carefully about it so that you will have time to give even more to the Lord.

That is supposed to be a joke; you may laugh. But the idea is that at the end of the service, you can come up here and make a commitment to the Lord. If you have not done it before, you can state the amount next week, but today I would love for you simply to say by faith, “I am going to put down my name, and then I will let the brothers and sisters know how much I am pledging.” Or else do it right now in the name of the Lord. Ask God; inquire of him, because God speaks. Ask God to give you clarity about it. Do not leave here as one of those who still has not made a commitment, because God’s Gideons need the help of others who will join them in pursuing the enemy until it is pulverized and finishing what was begun.

So I place that vision in your hands and in your hearts. Toward the end of the service, I invite you to come up here if you have not yet done so, and if you want to renew your commitment after already having given. In just a moment, we are going to see the names of many dozens of people who have already fulfilled their commitment in full. I hope this will be an inspiration for your life.

I love that chorus, “I Will Give You the Best of My Life.” So, Omar, come up here, and let us tell the Lord, “I will give you the best of my life.” Amen. And then we are going to hear one more little thing from the brothers and sisters involved in the campaign, and then we will go home blessed. Amen.

How many believe that God wants to bless your life? How many believe that God wants you to imprint His message here on earth? Amen. Glory to the name of the Lord. So let us bring before the Lord and His altar our crowns, our authority, our resources, and lay them at His feet, and He will be more than pleased to see His people commit themselves to Him. Amen and amen.

Today we bring before Your altar

Our crowns

We want to give You the best of our lives

I will give You all my love

The dreams I managed to achieve.

I will give You the best of my life

I will give You my best every day

It will be much more than a song

Obedience is my best worship

I will give You the best of my life

I will give You my best every day

It will be much more than a song

Obedience is my best worship

My brothers and sisters, in this same spirit of truly believing—we believe that if blessings were easy, they would not be blessings—and because we treasure what we are hearing, yes, we are tired of not seeing solutions; yes, we are tired of seeing those accounts in the red. Yes, we are tired of not seeing those doors open; nevertheless, we will pursue all the more, we will continue, and we want to take this moment to thank you, brother, sister, because by your life alone, by your testimony alone, you can attest that this is true. And here there are dozens of people for whom it may have been difficult, but they have already fulfilled their promise, for the glory of the Lord. And let us look at this slide.

I will give You the best of my life

I will give You my best every day

It will be much more than a song

Obedience is my best worship

I will give You the best of my life

I will give You my best every day

It will be much more than a song

Obedience is my best worship

I will give You the best of me,

I will give You the best of me,

I will give You the best of me.

I will give You my best.

Hallelujah!

Oh Lord, we commit ourselves always to giving You our best, knowing that You will always give us the best. We bless You, Father. Thank You, in Jesus’ name. Amen and amen. Take your seats, brothers and sisters. As we celebrate Holy Communion, as we do on this last Sunday of the month, we are reminded that through these symbols we are strengthened, and I ask the brothers and sisters not to leave too quickly. If you have to leave, do so with all the reverence you can, because we must still show respect for the Holy Communion that we have here before the Lord, and we want to say: Lord, thank You, because You gave the best.

The Word says that He who did not spare even His own Son—notice that: God did not spare His Son. If the Lord were to ask you, “Give Me your son; give Me your daughter,” as He asked Abraham, would you give Him your child? Brothers and sisters, to tell the truth, I am not sure. I hope I would; I would like to think I would. God did not think twice. When the time came to redeem His creature—you and me—God said, “The only solution is to give My Son,” and He gave Him. That is why the Word says: He who did not spare even His own Son, how will He not also, together with Him, give us all other things?

So, as we celebrate Holy Communion, we remember that God gave us the best. How can we not give Him our best? And our best will never compare with God’s best; always remember that. Give God your best, and you will see how your life will be transformed. Give the Lord the best offering; give the Lord the best of your days, energies, talents, gifts, emotions, money, property, and profession. Give Him the best—the choice portion, the best part—give it to Him, the firstfruits.

And call me a liar someday if you do not see God’s blessing explode in your land, in your life. I have never known anyone who gives God their best and then comes along saying, “You know what? They sold me a fraudulent product.” I have always seen that when people give God their best, they are blessed. Yes, they go through tribulations and difficulties, but they always come out victorious, stronger than ever, having shed their baby skin and now wearing the skin of a warrior. That is how the Lord’s great victories are achieved. Glory to the name of the Lord.

So let us remember that God.