Hallelujah!
God is looking for true worshipers to worship in spirit and truth. If you are worshiping God in truth and spirit, God is with you there. But I miss you. I long to see you again in this room together. So let us continue to worship and pray believing his wonderful promise. In all things, God is working together to bless those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
Hebrews 11:32-34
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
And what more shall I say? ….
Gideon, Barack, Samson, David, Samuel, the prophets…
We are still in the great chapter of faith. We know and agree totally by faith we are saved, we are justified, sanctified, we can overcome any problem in this world, please God, we can see the glory of God, the presence of God, the unseen. By faith we can experience victory.
“By faith, we can experience victory!”
I bless you to experience wonderful victory in life by faith through Jesus Christ.
The OT records the lives of many people who experienced wonderful victory by faith. As we know, faith is a dynamic certainty. A visual certainty, and future certainty. The role call of the heroes of faith continues here.
v. 32
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,
Only a few are mentioned here, but none of them are perfect in their character. Many of their sins are recorded in the OT but these people were among those who believed in God. These people lived by faith in their whole lives. It means faith can operate in the lives of any person who surrenders to the will of God.
David, Samuel, the prophets and so on. Faith can operate in the lives of anyone who surrenders their whole lives to God. Let us see each of them one by one.
Gideon
One of the judges in the OT in Judges. Gideon was a timid farmer at first, but God had a great vision for him to become a great and mighty warrior. One day the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” Though he was a timid farmer, the Lord called him a “mighty warrior.”
As we know, he conquered the Midianite army with a group of only 300 men armed with trumpets and torches, no swords. This is the victory by faith.
Barak
At first he refused to go forward, but at the prompting of Deborah, he assembled 10,000 men and faced the army before them and won a tremendous victory by faith in God.
Samson
We know this story well. In his story, he was always fighting alone. He was also a judge in the book of Judges. He was a Nazarite – devoted to God from birth. He never cut his hair, never drank alcohol, etc. But usually we don’t think of Samson as a man of faith – a godly man – because of his love life with an ungodly woman. But finally, Samson trusted God wholly and was willing to give his life to serve God and destroy his enemies.
David
We know his story – he had once been just a shepherd boy. But to his own and everyone else’s astonishment, he was anointed king over all his brothers. He defeated all his enemies and brought peace to Israel.
One day, in his battle against Goliath, he showed great faith by shouting against his enemy. He was just a teenager at that time. “You came against me with sword, javelin, and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord, whom you have defied today. Today, the Lord will hand you over to my hand so that all Israel will know that you are the Lord God.”
Samuel
Samuel was the last judge and a prophet. He was the founder of the kings of Israel – he anointed both Saul and David.
Samuel had lived a life of faith since he was a boy. By faith, he delivered the word of God to anyone at any time by faith, boldly – even to the sinning King Saul. “Does the Lord delight in the sacrifices and burnt offerings as much as to obey the voice of the Lord. To obey is better than sacrifice. To heed the voice of God is better than the fat of lambs.” This faithful proclamation became a mark of true prophets.
The Prophets
They were faithful and isolated witnesses to God. They demonstrated that faith will accomplish much and has the power to overcome enemies and gain victory.
Who is our enemy today? Satan, sin, unspiritual world.
There is a demonstration of what happened by faith in their practical lives.
v. 32-34 – this is the example of demonstration by faith
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
In this passage, we see 8 examples:
- conquered kingdoms (OT history) – Joshua, Judges, King David conquered kingdoms and enemies
- administered justice – Judges, Nehemiah, other national leaders administered justice and righteousness to the people
- gained what was promised – some people in the OT did see the fulfillment of God’s promise (Possession of the Promised Land)
- shut the mouth of lions (Daniel) – saved from the mouths of lions but not only him – it could also refer to David and Samson
- quenched the fury of the flames (Daniel) – Shadrach, Mishach, Abednego – saved and delivered from the fire, from the burning furnace “Even though we are thrown into the fire, we believe our God is able to save us; yet even if he doesn’t we will continue to serve our God” (this is absolute faith in God)
- escaped the edge of the sword – David, Elijah, Elisha
- whose weakness was turned to strength – King Hezekiah – experienced tremendous recovery and wonderful healing and strength after his sickness
- became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies
Joshua experienced this wonderful victory and power against their enemies.
We believe God is alive. Do you believe this? God is still the same in his power.
Heb 13:8 “Our Lord Jesus is the same yesterday (OT), today, and forever.”
From this story, we get three lessons to apply and enjoy:
1. Victories against enemies
We also can experience this by faith in Christ
We may have a similar experience to those of OT saints, but more likely those victories will be more related to the role God wants us to play. These may not include such dramatic events as these, but surely includes the moment our faith is tested. At that moment, we must be able to give our testimony publicly, honestly, and encourage the faith of others.
We agree that even though our bodies deteriorate, and will die some day, but we will live forever in eternity in Jesus Christ, simply because we believe in him.
Our physical death will be defeated and conquered. His victory will be made perfect and complete.
Romans 8:33-39 “In all these things… (including what is happening today)… we are more than conquerors through him who loved us…neither death nor life… will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in us in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
There is no longer any condemnation through Christ.
1. Victory through faith
2. God can deliver the faithful man
Who is the faithful One? If you are the faithful One today, then God can deliver you and me ANYTIME he wants.
- Noah, for example, were saved from a flood that drowned all the rest of the human race at that time.
- Moses and the people walked through the Red Sea as on dry land.
- Joshua crossed the flooded Jordan river.
- Rahab survived the fallen walls of Jericho.
- Gideon prevailed 1000:1 against an army.
Like this, God also can deliver us TODAY, victoriously, triumphantly – and he can save us at any time from difficulties, persecutions, coronavirus, oppression of the culture today – God is doing this job again and again.
Salvation is God’s job. But we must remember: All the time, it is only by faith in Jesus Christ.
3. If you have faith in Christ, God has a wonderful plan for your life
God has a mission / task for your life. It is impossible to live by faith without mission. It is impossible to live by faith without a God-given task. We can do nothing apart from Christ, but at the same time, IN Jesus Christ, by faith in him, we CAN do. We can do great things that are only possible by faith.
So if we are to do great things, we must accept these things by faith willingly, confidently, because he was delivered over to death for our sins, and raised again to life for our sanctification and glorification.
By faith, we can experience victory!
1 John 5:4 “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world – even our faith in Jesus Christ.”
God bless all of us for his glory, for his kingdom, for our victory in this world, by faith in Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray.
