Tearing down any idols and being Filled with the Spirit to fulfill God’s economy

We need to tear down any idols in us that replace the Lord, be willing to sacrifice our relationship with others in order to follow the Lord, and seek to be filled with the Spirit, and we will be filled with the Holy Spirit to carry out God’s purpose.

As we take a closer look at the story of Gideon to find out what is the intrinsic significance of his success, we see that there are four main factors.

First, Gideon listened carefully to the word of God. Second, he obeyed the word of God and acted on it. Third, he tore down the altar of the idol and cut down the pillar, and he built an altar to God to consecrate himself to God. Fourth, he was willing to sacrifice his relationship with his father and those in his city in order to follow Jehovah.

As a result of these four factors, Gideon received the reward of the economical Spirit who came upon him, and he was powerful and was able to defeat the enemy only with three hundred men.

We need to be those who listen carefully to the word of God, obey the word of God, tear down any idols, and consecrate ourselves to the Lord to be filled with Him.

It is particularly important for us to take care of how we hear and what we hear. Our ears need to be cleansed, circumcised, and anointed, so that we may hear the word of God and pay attention to it carefully.

In the Old Testament the leper was cleansed by having the blood applied first to the right lobe of his ear, then the right thumb, and then to the big toe of the right foot; then, the ointment was applied.

Before we can get the filling of the Spirit, we need to have our hearing, doing, and walking cleansed by the blood of Christ; then, the anointing will come.

May we have an ear to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches.

We need to listen carefully to the Word of God, and we need to obey the Word of God; we can obey God’s word because Christ’s life of obedience and submission is in us.

If we today walk according to the spirit, we will spontaneously fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. May we allow the mind of Christ, the mind which was in Christ, to also be in us, so that we would humble ourselves and obey the word of God.

How we thank the Lord that He has given us His life of obedience and submission! He came not to be served but to serve, and His life of serving others is now in us.

We may think that others need to serve us and care for us, but at one point we will realize that the Lord’s life of service is in us, and we simply need to turn to Him, live one spirit with Him, and serve others as He serves them in us.

We need to obey the word of God and act on it; we act on it by taking Christ as our life and person.

We know our God, we love our God, and we love His word; therefore, we take action by Him as our life and person.

Tearing down any Idols and being willing to Sacrifice our Relationship with others to follow the Lord

As God asked him to, Gideon tore down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah; this touched God’s heart because God hated idols, for He regarded the idols as men with whom Israel His wife had committed harlotry (Judg. 6:25-28; Ezek. 14:1-3).

Baal was the chief male god of the Canaanites; the children of Israel took Baal as their god.

Asherah was a kind of wooden structure, a pole, signifying the chief female goddess of the Canaanites.

Gideon was told by God to tear down the altar of Baal and the pole of Asherah, and he did it – yet he did it at night when no one was around.

An idol is anything within us that we love more than the Lord and that replaces the Lord as our life. All the idols need to be torn down and smashed.

The word Baal means master or possessor. When the Canaanites worshipped Baal, they offered incense to him and presented offerings to him; sometimes, they even sacrificed children to him. This is horrible. The worship of Baal often involved immoral acts by the worshippers.

Can you imagine how the Lord must have felt when He saw the children of Israel practicing these things?

Jehovah told Gideon to take his father’s bull and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to his father and cut down the Asherah that is beside it.

God regarded His children to be His wife, and their going after idols was as if a wife would go after other men to commit harlotry.

We need to realize that anything in us that replaces the Lord and distracts us from the enjoyment of Christ is an idol, and we need to tear down any idols in our being.

Gideon did this; he took ten men from among his servants and tore down the Baal and his altar, and he destroyed Asherath also. He did this, however, at night, not during the day.

When the next day the people of the city woke up and realized this, they were very upset.

By tearing down the altar of Baal and cutting down the Asherah that belonged to his father, Gideon sacrificed his relationship with his father and his enjoyment of society to follow Jehovah (Judg. 6:28-32).

For him to do such a thing required that he sacrifice his own interests, and his sacrifice was a strong factor of his success.

His dad, however, was not upset with him but rather, when the people asked that Gideon would be punished and put to death, his dad said that Baal should avenge himself.

Gideon sacrificed his natural relationship with his family and his enjoyment of society, for everyone was upset with him.

When we tear down our idols and give the Lord the first place, when we refuse to forsake the Lord but rather, we tear down anything that replaces Him, this will cause other people to be upset.

There is a great price to pay in our family relations and in society when we choose to tear down the idols; we need to be those who are strong in our decision and in our pursuit of the Lord.

We need to be willing to sacrifice our own interests and even our relationship with others and our enjoyment in the society so that we may follow the Lord according to His leading.

After we consecrate ourselves to the Lord in our heart, we still need to tear down the idols as an outward testimony.

Others may not be aware of our consecration, but this is expressed through our fosaking of the idols.

When we see God, we will realize what an idol is; when we see Him, we will realize that any wooden image is not God.

If we listen carefully to God’s word, obey the word of God, act on it, and pay the price to tear down the idols even at the cost of sacrificing our relationship with others and our enjoyment in the society, we will obtain the filling of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit comes upon a man that stands in a proper position and has a proper condition.

Lord Jesus, we love You above all things. We consecrate ourselves to You and we’re willing to forsake anything that replaces You. Amen, Lord, we are one with You to tear down any idols, anything that takes Your place in our heart. We love to behold You, Lord, and to enjoy You. We do not want to forsake You as our Husband, our Lord, our King, and our Head. We desire to be filled with the Spirit so that we may be empowered to carry out Your purpose. We treasure You above any earthly relationship and any enjoyment in society. Lord Jesus, we love You!

Being Living and Active by being Filled with the Spirit and by Preaching the Gospel and Teaching the Truths

In order for us to do anything for God and one with God, we need to be filled with the Spirit.

In the story of Gideon, we see that he didn’t particularly seek to be filled with the Spirit; rather, he did what God told him to do, and the Spirit of Jehovah clothed him (Judg. 6:34).

As long as we listen carefully to the Word of God and obey it, consecrate ourselves to Him and tear down any idols under His shining, and are willing to sacrifice our natural relationships and our enjoyment in the society, the economical Spirit will clothe us outwardly and the essential Spirit will fill us inwardly.

For us to practice the Lord’s present move, we need to be filled with the Spirit; we need to be filled not with culture, religion, education, or philosophy, but with the ultimate consummation of the Triune God.

The Spirit needs to fill us inwardly for our life and outwardly for our work; the economical Spirit clothes us outwardly for us to work for God in His power, and the essential Spirit fills us inwardly for us to live for God and with God.

We are filled not just once for all but continually; our filling needs to be continual.

What Christ has accomplished is once for all; the application of what He has accomplished is continual, day by day, even moment by moment.

Day after day, morning after morning, evening after evening, and all day long, we need to experience being filled with the Spirit.

It is not only when we go to preach the gospel or shepherd some of the new ones that we need to be filled; we need to be filled with the Spirit all the time.

We need to be filled with the wonderful, all-inclusive, processed, and consummated Spirit for our entire lives.

We need to be vital, that is, living and active by being filled with the Spirit inwardly and outwardly.

We are being vitalized by preaching the gospel and teaching the truths at any time and in any place by diving into the Word for the increase and propagation of the Lord (Dan. 11:32b; Acts 13:52; 4:8, 31; 13:9; 2:38; 5:32b; 2 Tim. 4:1-2). Amen!

To be vital is to be living and active; we are such ones by being filled with the Spirit inwardly and by being filled with the Spirit outwardly.

The Spirit needs to be our inner content and our outer clothing. And we are filled with the Spirit by preaching the gospel; when we speak to others about the Lord, we are being filled with the Spirit.

We’re being filled with the Spirit by teaching the truths, and we can teach the truths if we are constituted with the truth.

We need to dive into the Word of God so that we may be filled and saturated with the riches in God’s word; then, we will be equipped and enabled to preach and to teach.

We cannot overflow to others with something that we don’t have; we cannot preach the gospel and teach the truth if we don’t get into the truth personally and corporately.

We need to come to the Lord and seek Him with our whole heart; we shouldn’t come to the Word of God only half-heartedly but with our whole heart.

As we dive into the truth, we are filled with the Lord as the Word, and we can overflow with Him to others.

May we seek to be filled with the Spirit day by day so that we may be vital persons who cooperate with the Lord for the fulfillment of His purpose on earth.

With Gideon, we have a picture of a man who lived in union with God – a God-man – to fulfill God’s word and carry out God’s economy.

Lord Jesus, fill us afresh. Fill us with Yourself as the Spirit. We want to be filled with the Spirit both within and without. We want to be wrapped up and mingled with You. Amen, Lord, we seek You with our whole heart, and we give ourselves to be in the Word of God, in the truth. Keep us open to You so that we may be continually emptied of ourselves and filled with the Spirit. Clothe us outwardly with the Spirit as the power and fill us inwardly with the Spirit as our life. Amen, Lord, fill us to overflowing. Overflow through us as we preach the gospel and teach the truth. We want to be one with You for You to carry out Your purpose among us and through us.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 11, pp. 743-774, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 8, The Intrinsic Significance of Gideon as God’s Valiant Warrior.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Idols once they won thee, charmed thee, / Lovely things of time and sense; / Gilded thus does sin disarm thee, / Honeyed lest thou turn thee thence. / What has stripped the seeming beauty / From the idols of the earth? / Not a sense of right or duty, / But the sight of peerless worth. (Hymns #437)
  – O Lord, appear to us today; / We see this is the only way. / The idols to forsake / And Canaan land partake, / O Lord, appear to us today. (Hymns #1190)
  – Fill me with Thy gracious Spirit, / Fill my longing spirit now; / Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, / Come, dear Lord, and fill me now! / Fill me now! Fill me now! / Fill me with Thy Spirit now! / Strip me wholly, empty throughly, / Fill me with Thy Spirit now! (Hymns #267)