The Great People and Faith

Today’s message comes from the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 11:32–40. I urge you all to go back to Hebrews chapter 11, read it and put it together with today’s message.

Here we see great people and their faith in God. This is recorded for our benefit. As we read of their faith, so will our faith be increased. We serve the same God these people served. They were not superhuman! They were people just like us. God will do similar miracles for us, if we only believe.

I. The People of Faith (v. 32)

Hebrews 11:32 “32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.”

A. Gideon.

Judges 6:11–13 “11 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” 13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

He had 30,000 soldiers against an enemy of 135,000 soldiers. With only 300 soldiers he caused the 135,000 to flee.

B. Barak.

Judges 4:6–8 6 One day she (Deborah) sent for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. She said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. 7 And I will call out Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him.” 8 Barak told her, “I will go, but only if you go with me.”Along with Deborah, Barak did great things for God through his faith.

C. Samson, We all know this story don’t we? (Judg. 1–16). Samson did impossible things when the Spirit came upon him. Samson was “born” for spiritual work for our Father. His other could not drink and alcohol, eat raisins or anything that had anything to do with alcohol.

D. Jepthae (Jephthah). He did wonders for the Lord.

Now listen to this story, most of you haven’t heard or even remember Jepthae do we? So, there is always “more to the story” as the Paul Harvey stories say, now, the rest of the story:

Judges 11:5–7 5 When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. 6 The elders said, “Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!” 7 But Jephthah said to them, “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?”

Does any of this sound familiar in our lives today? Sure it does.

E. David, King David, 1 Samuel 17:32–35 32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” 33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.” 34 But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. David slew Goliath. “I come to you in the name of the Lord.”

Previously, he killed a lion and a bear.

We know that Jesus came from the line of King David.

Subdued kingdoms (2 Sam. 8). David overcame kingdoms for the glory of God.

Do you think the Prophets had Faith?

II. The Prophets and Faith (vv. 32b–35a)

D. Stopped mouths of lions (Dan. 6). Daniel could sleep with the lions and have faith in God for protection.

E. Quenched fire (Dan. 3). The Hebrew men refused to bow.

F. Escaped swords (1 Sam. 17). David escaped Goliath’s sword.

G. In weakness made strong (Heb. 11). Sarah had a son when she was ninety years old.

H. Put armies to flight (1 Sam. 17:5). The Philistines fled when David slew Goliath.

Prophets healed and raised the dead, this next scripture tells it all. Different emotions, different faith, let’s read:

I. 1 Kings 17:17–24 “17 Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. 18 Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” 19 But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. 20 Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” 21 And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” 22 The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! 23 Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!” 24 Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.”

III. The Punishment and Faith (vv. 35b–38)

A. Endured torture, Joseph’s suffering but continued in growth of His faith in God.

B. Endured mockings and scourgings. Jeremiah suffered for God, put in jail, thrown down a cistern, .

D. Sawed in half, History says Isaiah was cut in half by a saw.

G. Suffered wanderings. No permanent home. Are there times when you believe you are suffering for God maybe to do the right thing, say the right thing of maybe to not say anything at all?

IV. The Promise of Faith (vv. 39, 40)

B. Promise (v. 40). We have the Messiah, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible.

Faith is of little value until it is tested. These great men and women, of this chapter had their faith tested, and it was stable. How strong is your faith? Will it stand testing? Is it strong enough to trust God regardless of circumstances? Will it stand against fear, discouragement, and doubt? Your faith in God will surely make you stand true at all times, If we are all in.

AMEN

Let’s please all now stand and turn in our Hymnals to page 378 and sing, “Amazing Grace”