Beforehand: Be sure to check out Pastor Ben’s message online if you were not able to catch it on Sunday morning.

Below is the outline of Pastor Ben's message.

The Deep Six Study follows.

Epic - “Convictions”

1 – Identify God’s Competition – Judges 6:25; Psalms 115:4-8

2 – Choose One! – Judges 6:25-27; John 14:6

3 – Prove It! – Judges 6:28-32

Deep Six Study

Introduction

Our world today is in desperate need of men and women who have Godly convictions and are able to bring those convictions to bear upon the world in which they live. If we are to be such people something must happen long before we encounter the opportunities that come our way for influencing our world through our convictions. We must go through a Divine training process with the Lord where we diligently seek Him and allow Him to remove the idols of our heart and replace them with the convictions and strength of Holy character that are needed. Over a significant period of time in personal training sessions with God through the mighty impact of His Word, He will enable us to embrace Biblical truth and then wonderfully build into the fabric of our being the convictions and Holy character needed for truly influencing our world. This is the difference between those who are merely hearers of God’s Word and those who prove themselves to be doers of His Word as well. This is the focus of this Week’s Deep Six Study.

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Part 1 - Corresponds to the first point of the message

Judges 6:25 - That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it.”

Psalm 115:4-8 – “Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.”

Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Philippians 3:17-21 – “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

Comment – A question that is always good to have in view is this: as I seek to influence my world how much is my world influencing me. Someone has said that a ship will sink into the ocean when there to much ocean in the ship. That is the way it is for us as well. When we are out in the world around us and there is too much of that world in us, we will sink and drown in our world. The world we live in competes for our affections. We must regularly examine our hearts for ways we have set our affections on worldly things. While our idols might not be blatant replacements for God, nevertheless, we do have idols that get in His way and must be torn down and removed altogether. We must set our sights on God and heavenly things. Men and women of Biblical conviction and character become keenly aware of and focused on eternal things that are not seen as they learn to walk by faith.

Question # 1 – How well do you really know the teaching of Scripture and what steps do you think you should make to improve this?

Question # 2 – What is one idol in your life that competes with God for your affections and what do you need to do about it?

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Part 2 - Corresponds to the second point of the message

Judges 6:25-32 - “That night the LORD said to Gideon, ‘Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. Then build an altar to the LORD your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.’ So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town.”

John 14:6 – “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’”

Hebrews 11:24-27 – “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.”

2 Timothy 3:1-17 – “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also. Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Comment – We live in a day that makes living by Biblical conviction and character trickier than ever. Views of reality and involvements in the world have become very sophisticated. The seduction of the world and all it has to offer is a relentless force that pursues our hearts, minds, and bodies. The Biblical view of reality and life has been chipped away and multitudes of Christians settle for a brand of faith that is little more than the world with Christian packaging and labels. We particularly need to guard ourselves from the notion that in addition to God and His truth there is room in our lives (or at least in the lives of others) for other understandings and practices. We must continue on the straight and narrow and make all necessary adjustments along the way to align ourselves properly with God, His truth, and His ways. There is no room for idols.

Question # 3 – How would you respond to someone that states that whatever understandings make sense to someone and works for them is truth?

Question # 4 – What is one Biblical conviction that you particularly feel is increasingly being forsaken in Christian circles today?

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Part 3 - Corresponds to the third point of the message

Judges 6:25-32 – “Early the next morning, as the people of the town began to stir, someone discovered that the altar of Baal had been broken down and that the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down. In their place a new altar had been built, and on it were the remains of the bull that had been sacrificed. The people said to each other, ‘Who did this?’ And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash. ’Bring out your son,’ the men of the town demanded of Joash. ‘He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole.’ But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, ‘Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!’ From then on Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means ‘Let Baal defend himself,’ because he broke down Baal’s altar.”

Romans 16:17-20 – “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

1 John 5:18-21 – “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 – “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Comment – Certainly we must be diligent to guard ourselves from the influence of the world on ourselves in terms of the consequences that come directly to us. But our motivation must move beyond ourselves to others around us whose present condition and eternal state may very well hang in the balance pending our influence on them as ones who forsake the influence of the world and live out Biblical convictions and display holy character before them. God’s calling on our lives is a high calling indeed. May His mercy be poured out in our lives so that we may fulfill that calling wonderfully and fully.

Question # 5 – In our world today what is one example of standing up for Biblical convictions in unloving ways that has been harmful to the cause of Christ?

Question # 6 – Can you think of a way that your living by Biblical convictions has been an influence on someone else for the Lord?

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Conclusion

One of the Scripture passages above said, “Therefore we do not loose heart …. for momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory.” Now that is “epic” in its scope and helps us have and maintain a perspective and commitment that is truly in it for the long haul. The sacrifice necessary to live an “epic” life may seem huge to us, but when seen in the light of eternity, unseen things, and ultimate glory, it is really quite a small thing. May God deliver us from ourselves, our selfish ways, and our lack of sacrificing for the “epic” cause of God’s kingdom that will someday prove to be of infinitely more worth than any temporal, earthly idol the world has to offer.

Under “comments” in the Deep Six section of the church website post your thoughts, applications, and questions from this week’s Deep Six Study.