1. EVERY MAN STOOD IN HIS PLACE JUDGES 7:19-25

2. Gideon And The Midianites The Midianites had impoverished Israel. They had destroyed the crops of the Israelites. Destroyed or took their livestock. Many of the Israelites ran and hid in the mountains. Gideon was selected to deliver Israel, Judges 6:14. His success depended on Organization Steadfastness Everyone doing his part. Judges 7:21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.

3. Others Who Stood In Their Place Moses Hebrews 3:2 Who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all of God’s house. Moses had to stand against Pharaoh, Exodus 5-12. It could of cost him his life but he stood his ground. He also had to stand against the children of Israel. The golden calfTheir lack of faith. Some wanted to overthrow him and return to Egypt. But again Moses stood his ground.

4. Stephen Stephen preached to an angry mob, and it ended up costing him his life. Acts 6:9-7:60 He stood firm in what he preached and did not back down. Paul He had to stand against: He was in danger from the Jews He was in danger from the Gentiles PeterFalse brethren II Corinthians 11:22-28 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? ---I speak as a fool---- I am more:

5. in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

6. Through all this Paul stood his ground It ended up costing him his life, but he stood firm. When the end came he could honestly say: II Timothy 4:6-8 For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

7. Some Who Did Not Stand In Place King Saul I Samuel 15:21-23 "But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.'' Then Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.'' He could of been a great king. He did not stand his ground and it cost him his kingship and his life.

8. Judas He could have been great. He could of done a lot for the cause of Christ. Instead he betrayed Christ He didn’t stand his ground. Demas At one time he was a faithful Christian. Through the course of time he fell in love with the world, II Timothy 4:10. He did not stand his ground James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. I Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

9. What About Us? Gideon and the Israelites had a formula for success. OrganizationEveryone knew their place. Everyone continued to do their part. Everyone did their part We can follow their example. OrganizationThere is a place for you in the kingdom of Christ; the body of Christ Ephesians 4:11-12 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

10. Do your part. Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Continue to do your part. I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

11. ARE YOU STANDING YOUR GROUND IN THE BATTLE FOR CHRIST?

12. Given by David Hamlin on 1-10-10 am Hollister, Missouri church of Christ www.hollisterchurchofchrist.orgwww.hollisterchurchofchrist.org