Victory by Faith.

Opening:

It is a beautiful thing to open the Word of God on the Lord’s Day.

Introduction of the Passage:

This morning we will be in Hebrews 11:32-35. The Apostle Paul is nearing the end of this list. He could go on and on without end listing the men and women who lived by faith. But for the sake of time, he wraps things up with a shotgun list of other Old Testament saints who lived by faith. He is just hitting the bullet points here. But the faith of these men is well worth examining briefly. And in his list, he has two main points. He divides the list of accomplishments into two broad categories. Those who achieved great victory by faith, and those who endured great suffering by faith. This morning, we are examining the victories won by faith.

With this in mind, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Reading of the Passage:

Hebrews 11:32–35a “32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s Pray.

Prayer:

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we commit this time in Your Word to You. We ask Your hand be upon us as we study Your Word. May this time be honoring to you and edifying to us. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.

Need:

There is a great need in our day to study passages like this. This is a passage that is focused primarily on military or political victory. And we often do not think such things can be done in faith. But this passage stands in opposition to that. It is not a politically correct passage we are looking at. But that is a very good thing. We need to be challenged by God’s Word. So let’s be challenged by God’s Word this morning.

Text Idea:

In this passage, the Apostle lists a group of Old Testament saints who achieved great victory through faith.

Sermon Idea:

Faith is the key to true victory.

Interrogative:

But this may raise a question this morning. Does faith always guarantee us victory?

Introduction:

I want to get this out of the way right at the start. This morning’s passage is really part one. I do not want you to hear this morning that if we just have enough faith, we will always win. This is not a name it, claim it prosperity message. The Bible outright condemns that idea. And sadly there are countless ministers in the pulpit today who will try to pass of this idea that if we just believe hard enough, nothing bad will happen. That is a lie. Do not believe any minister that just attempts to tickle your ears. We outright deny the prosperity gospel.

But in the same way, we must outright deny the poverty gospel. There are also ministers who will attempt to tell you that no matter what, everything is going to get worse. There will be no victories. History is going to perpetually spiral out of control and we better just bunker down and hide until Jesus returns. There are men who will try to tell you that as a Christian you must walk around poor and defeated all the time. If you only loved Jesus you would bankrupt yourself and give all your money to them so that they could feed the poor. Interestingly, these guys tend to be reluctant in selling their multi million dollar house while telling you that you should sell yours.

For every Joel Osteen, there is a David Platt. For every minister who tries to sell you wealth and prosperity there is a minister who tries to sell you gloom and poverty. Both are manipulative lies.

Some men will try to get you to give to their ministry by promising you blessings. Others will try to get money from you by fear or guilt tactics. Both are utterly reprehensible. The closing of Hebrews 11 is a fantastic example of the comprehensive teaching on faith in the Bible.

The Bible teaches that through faith we will either gain glorious victories, or through faith we will gain the ability to endure horrific suffering. And the Christian life is really a mix of the two. We will have times of victory, and we will have times of pain. Both of these require faith. Faith does give us actual victory. Faith does give us endurance in pain. And this morning we are looking at the victories. Faith is the key to true victory. Through faith, we can conquer. Through faith, we can win real battles. God truly does bless faith. We are forbidden by God to be pessimists. It does not matter how bad things seem, we are forbidden from despair. God gives real victory through faith.

Transition:

So let’s examine the victories of faith.

The Victories of Faith.

Explanation:

We will be going through this passage a little backwards. The Apostle gives a list of saints who lived by faith and then a list of the actions they did in that faith. I want to start with the actions, and then we will link these actions with the specific people listed. I’m doing this to sort of set the stage. I want to familiarize you with these actions so that we can connect them to the saints Paul lists. So what were the actions? Well let’s read it again.

Hebrews 11:33–35 “33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.

This is a rather interesting list.

1. Subdued Kingdoms.

In faith, the saints of old went to war and conquered kingdoms or nations. This is a little confusing for us in our day. We would likely not link faith with conquering rival nations. However, Scripture makes it clear that even this can be done in righteousness.

2. Worked Righteousness.

Specifically this is addressing how the rulers listed here made righteous rules or laws. As we will see when we examine the people, they ruled in a righteous way. Contrary to much modern thought, God has commands on how rulers are to govern. God commands certain things to be criminalized and certain things to be protected by those with civil authority. This must be done in faith, and when it is done in faith, it is a beautiful thing that honors God.

3. Obtained Promises.

These saints trusted the Word of God and saw God keep His Word. A central act of faith for these saints was believing God’s Word. And through this faith they did see the fulfilment of many promises.

4. Stopped the Mouths of Lions.

Now this may be a reference to Daniel even though he is not listed. But there are several other saints who were saved from lions. Samson and David both killed a lion by God’s power. And it is their faith in God that spared them from even wild beasts.

5. Quenched the Violence of Fire.

Fire is often a symbol of God’s judgement. And many of these people rescued Israel from judgement. But it also seems this is referencing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendnego. It was faith that saved them from the fire.

6. Escaped the Edge of the Sword.

Continuing on in the militaristic and political theme of these victories, it was faith that saved these saints even in the midst of battle. What was it that kept the arrows from piercing them or swords from cleaving them? It was faith. Trust in God delivered these men and their armies from defeat and slaughter.

7. Out of Weakness Became Strong.

As we will see, most of those listed here did not begin as some bold and brave fighter. They were weak men. But one of the fruits of faith is strength. Faith does not lead to weakness. It takes weak and frail men and makes them strong. Trust in God builds strength.

8. Became Valiant in Battle.

Valor and faith go hand in hand. Faith makes you brave. Faith makes you bold. These saints became valiant in battle through faith. Because of faith, they laid off their cowardice and became mighty men of valor.

9. Turned to Flight the Armies of Aliens.

When the Apostle says they put attacking armies of aliens of foreigners to flight, it does not just mean they defended against foreign armies. One of the things God says is a judgement on nations, is when they are overrun with foreigners. God specifically calls this out as a sign of His judgement on a people in Deuteronomy 28:43-45. And we see this over and over in Scripture. When God wants to judge Israel, or even the other nations, He allows them to be overrun with foreigners. When massive amounts of foreigners come into a nation, it is a sign of God’s judgement.

But God raised up these saints to drive out the foreigners that had taken up residence in their land. This means that these saints were used by God to quell His judgement on the people. God had judged Israel many times in this way for their sin, and then when the judgement was complete and the people repented, God raised up these saints to free them from the judgement.

But this may raise a question. You may be thinking right now, “what about the passages about caring for the sojourner? Aren’t there a lot of Bible passages that command us to care for the sojourner and foreigner?” You would be correct. But there is a difference biblically between the occasional foreigner who comes to dwell in the land, and an overwhelming amount of foreigners. The occasional foreigner is to be treated with complete dignity. Noel, God does require them to assimilate and obey His Law, but they are welcome. But anytime you see this happening in large scale, it is a judgement from God that will destroy a nation. When the masses of the Amorites moved in and displaced the Israelites, it was a sign of God’s judgement. When Rehab moved into Israel and became an Israelite, it was fine.

10. Received Their Dead Back.

This is the final victory listed . And the Apostle is specifically referencing the occasions where Elijah and Elisha, the prophets by faith raised dead children.

Argumentation:

But there is something I want us to notice before we dive into the examples given. This list of victories is almost entirely political or militaristic. God gave the saints of old political victory.

God Gave the Saints of Old Political Victory.

Why do I bring this up? Likely, as soon as I used that word political, many of you became uncomfortable. Why is that? Well, it is likely because we live in an extremely divided time, politically. So let me give us something to unite us.

This list is at least 2/3 political or militaristic. The saints of old gained righteous political victories by faith. They won the right battles against the right enemies. They defended their nation. They passed godly and righteous law. The conducted themselves with valor on the battle field. They escaped death by the sword. They put invaders to flight. I could pretend that these things are somehow not political, but man, I would have to really twist this text to do so. And I’m not going to do that. I am far too afraid of God to twist His Word like that.

Here is my point. Christians should not be divided. When we see the political confusing of our day, we should go to the Word of God. What does God say rulers should do? Just look at one of these points. They worked righteousness. The Judges and kings of Israel who lived by faith worked righteousness. This means they passed righteous laws.

Did you know God views human laws as either righteous or unrighteous? And the godly kings of Israel like David passed righteous laws. If you want to know what righteous laws look like, read the commands God gives rulers in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Those are righteous. The New Testament summarizes what rulers should do in Romans and 1 Peter as serves God, punishes evil, rewards good.

Here’s the point, we should want rulers who specifically honor God and who work righteousness. Listen to the words of The Belgic confession Article 36.

On the civil magistrate or rulers.

Their office is not only to have regard unto and watch for the welfare of the civil state, but also to protect the sacred ministry, that the kingdom of Christ may thus be promoted. They must therefore countenance the preaching of the Word of the gospel everywhere, that God may be honored and worshipped by every one, as He commands in His Word.

As Christians, we’ve always believed this. People only recently began to find this controversial. Christians should desire godly rulers who work Godly laws That honor the One True God and promote the Christian religion not evil and demonic religions. So next time you feel like the political divide is too great in the church, remember this passage. We should easily all be able to agree on wanting godly rulers who actively promote worship of the One True God. And if we can’t have a perfect ruler, we should want the one who most enables free Christian Worship and does not punish Christianity. I think this should easily unite us.

Transition:

And we have multiple examples of how this plays out in the people Paul lists. So we have seen the actions of faith, now let’s look at the examples given.

The Examples.

Explanation:

Hebrews 11:32“32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:” This is the final list of names the Apostle gives of those who lived by faith. I’ve included the Scripture references in your notes, so that you can study these saints further at home, since, like Paul we are limited on time and time would fail me to exhaustively cover how each of these saints lived by faith. But let’s simply examine how these saints fit the faithful actions Paul attributed to them.

Gideon: Judges 6-8.

Likely you are fairly familiar with Gideon’s account. Israel was being judged by God for idolatry. So God sent the Midianites into the promised land to oppress them. So how did Gideon live by faith?

1. Gideon worked righteousness by tearing down false idols.

God commanded Gideon to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and the wooden image next to it called an Asherah. And notice, this act of faith was very politically incorrect. Gideon was not being very respectful of other religions. But it was perfectly righteous. And while he was afraid, he still did it. He did it at night, but he still, in faith obeyed. And this leads into our second thing.

2. Gideon was made strong from weakness by faith.

Gideon started out very cowardly. He was afraid. But by faith, he became bold. When we think of Gideon, we remember his constant asking of God for a sign. This is a sign of his doubt. But throughout the account, he becomes bold and brave. He becomes strong. And in this we see the third thing.

3. Gideon became valiant in battle by faith.

By the end of the story Gideon is a valiant man who God uses to defeat Midian. God gives the victory to Gideon and his 300 men. And God does this by causing Midian to attack itself. Gideon and his men simply use torches and horns. But the part most people neglect to bring up is that after Midian is defeated, Gideon and his men pursue them. They go on the attack. And this is valiant. A formerly cowardly man becomes a brave and valiant man by faith. And because of this faith we see the fourth thing.

4. Gideon subdued and turned Midian to flight by faith.

Gideon was, by faith, enabled to subdue this invading people. He turned them flight and drove them out. This pagan nation was conquered and driven out all by faith.

While Gideon had his flaws he was still a man of faith who God used to save His people. He was flawed, but his faith was real. He began a coward, and ended as a valiant hero. And this is all due to faith.

Transition:

But we move now to Barak.

Barak: Judges 4-5.

Barak is likely a little less familiar to us. But Barak was a ruler in Israel during the time Deborah judged Israel. And if you read the account, Barak is actually judged by God for his cowardice. He begins the account with Deborah coming to him with a word from God telling him to drive out the foreigners. But Barak is afraid. He says he will only do it if Deborah goes with him. He is a coward who wants to hide behind a woman. This is not exactly Arthurian levels of bravery or chivalry. And Deborah, speaking as a prophetess, tells him that he will receive no glory for this battle.

But Barak does obey. And as he enters the battle we really do see him display bravery and valiance. Something changes in Barak. What changed? Well, it was faith. By faith he became brave and valiant.

By faith, Barak became strong, valiant, and put the foreigners to flight.

In Judges 4, Barak begins cowardly. But Judges 5 ends with a song. It is a beautiful war song declaring God’s giving of victory to Israel. It’s commonly called the song of Deborah. But notice what Judges 5:1 says. “1 Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day...” This song of faith is sung not just by Deborah, but by Barak as well. He begins a coward, but ends a bold and brave man of faith who gives all glory to God.

Barak was a flawed man, but he was a man of faith. And his faith covered even his flaws.

Transition:

Next, we come to Samson.

Samson: Judges 13-16.

Likely many of you know the story of the man who possessed superhuman strength. Samson was a Nazarite. This means that his parents swore him to God and he had to obey some special commands. He was not to cut his hair, touch alcohol or dead things, things like that. And because of this, God gave Samson incredible strength. And Samson was a man of war.

If you read the account you will see numerous times Samson turned entire armies to flight by himself. He slew an entire army of Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. And Samson did many of the things in this list.

He killed a lion. God spared him from the mouth of the lion by faith. He was hunted and often escaped the edge of the sword by faith. But I want to focus mainly on the end of his life. It is here that his faith is most clearly seen.

You see, Samson was a man who struggled with sin. He fell in love with a Philistine woman. He struggled with sexual sin. And this was his downfall. Delilah was ultimately his undoing. She pestered him to reveal the secret of his strength. She nagged and nagged him. And he gave a few lying answers. And with each answer he gave, she tried to use it against him. One of these time he told her that if she tied him up with new bowstrings, he would lose his strength. So what does she do? She goes and gets the philistine army. She ties him up and then calls them in to capture him. He lied, and still had his strength. He defeated them all.

Like I said, she did this several times. But for some reason, Samson still stayed with her. And what do you know, she came to him again with her doe eyes and began to nag him for the secret of his strength. And she really lays it on thick. Listen to Judges 16:15–17“15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.””

He final breaks down and tells her the truth. And what happens? She shaves his head. And this is the point where we wonder how Paul could call Samson a man of faith. He has abandoned his faith in God. He has betrayed his faith in God for Delilah. Samson sinned. He did. But something else happens. The Philistines come in and bind him. They blind him and imprison him. But we are given hope. Judges 16:22 “22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.”

You see, Samson’s temporary lapse into sin was not permanent. And out of weakness he was once again made strong. The Philistines decided to parade him at a party. They wanted they conquered hero to perform for them. But Samson did one last act of faith. He prayed and asked God to give him strength one last time in order to conquer these foreign invaders. And God heard his prayer. He placed himself between the pillars and began to push. And he collapsed the roof on the entire group.

By faith, Samson was made strong and defeated the foreign army.

This was done by faith. Samson was flawed man. He was sinful. But even so, he repented and he died in faith. His last act was an act of self sacrificial valiance. He died putting these foreigners to flight. As flawed as Samson was, he was still a man of faith.

Transition:

And speaking of flawed. We come to another flawed hero.

Jephthah: Judges 11-12:7.

Jephthah is a man who is known for one single and very sinful act. He was a judge who made a hasty vow to God. In the middle of a battle of another foreign people who had come into Israel, Jephthah vowed that if God would give him the victory, he would offer whatever came to meet him first when he returned home as a burnt offering. This was a very foolish vow. It was not a sheep or even a pet that came to great him. It was his daughter. And by all accounts she was killed. And this is horrifically tragic and evil. God forbids human sacrifice. Jephthah sinned greatly.

So how can he be in this list? Well, I personally believe his inclusion is a sign of his ultimate repentance. But beyond this, all of these men are horribly flawed. But they still did live by faith. And indeed, how many of us could say that we have not sinned greatly? Does this sin condemn us? No, we are forgiven in Christ and can still live by faith. Jephthah’s inclusion here is actually incredibly comforting. Even someone like Jephthah can be forgiven and go on to do great works for God by faith.

And Jephthah was a man who did great things by faith. He subdued the Amorites. He escaped the edge of the sword in battle. He was an unwanted child, but from this weakness he was made strong. He became valiant in battle. He put to flight the foreigners. And he did this all by faith. Yes, he sinned. But his faith is to be an encouragement to us.

Transition:

And that really is the point here. All of these men did these things by faith.

Argumentation:

And this teaches us something important.

By Faith, God Uses Flawed People.

We do not have time this morning to look at David or Samuel or the Prophets. But if you are familiar with their accounts, you know they too were all flawed. They were sinners. David committed adultery and murdered his lovers husband to cover the sin. Jephthah killed his daughter. Samson was sexually immoral. Barak was a coward. Gideon doubted. All of these men are flawed. But God uses flawed people.

And this should encourage us. We have a tendency to be unnecessarily harsh with the characters of Scripture. We read about Peter’s denial of Christ and something within us often thinks we wouldn’t have done that. But let’s be honest with ourselves. Who here has never been quiet when you should have said something in defence of Christ? Who here has never lusted? Who here has never doubted God’s promises? Who here has always been brave and valiant? None of us.

If we could project every sin you have committed on the projector here, who would volunteer? I wouldn’t. Would you? When we read lists like this, we often want to pull them apart and explain why these people could not possibly be men of faith. But beloved, they are here for a reason. They are listed precisely because they WERE men of faith. They were incredible giants of the faith.

In faith they subdued kingdoms. They waged righteous war. They enacted godly laws. They were saved from death by the sword. They drove out the invaders. They did all of this by faith. One of my favorite quotes from Saint Augustine is this, “O Lord, everything good in me is due to you. The rest is my fault.” We must learn to think like this. Every good that was in these men was due to God. And the same is true of us. Every good in us is because of God. Every flaw is our fault.

Rather than sit as skeptics, we should rejoice. God uses flawed people. This means He can use us. This means He can use you and me. This encourages me so much. Beloved, if we repent of our sin, and we live by faith, God can use us. He can forgive us. He can use us. So turn from your sin. Examine your own hearts. Repent and live by faith.

Transition:

But in closing, I want us really hammer home this truth.

By Faith, God Gives Victory.

True victory only comes by faith. When we feel defeated, have faith. When it looks like we are being overrun, have faith. Right now, I know things look bad. The church in our nation is a mess. And this is so discouraging. But have faith. Become bold for the truth in faith. By faith, God gives victory. We are under judgement. But never despair. This is not the first time the church has been a mess. G.K. Chesterton once said that the Christianity has died many times. But that is okay. We worship the God who knows the way out of the grave. Do not despair. Faith does truly bring victory.

As we look around we see the desperate state of the church. We also see the desperate state of our nation. We are truly a people under God’s judgement. But we must always hold onto hope. Through faith God can give us victory. I do not claim to know God’s plan. In His perfect sovereign plan, God may desire to crush our nation and the church of our land. We are guilty of so much idolatry and evil. Or God may desire to simply bring us to repentance and then remove the judgement. I do not know. But here is what I do know. We will have no true and lasting victory outside of faith. The people of God must obey God in faith. And then, we trust God to do as He pleases.

Conclusion:

Here is my prayer. May God give us godly rulers who live by faith like the godly saints of old. May He raise up a true Christian prince. May the people of God act in faith. May we and our rulers be godly, valiant and brave in the dark days we live in. May we rely on God to bring whatever victory He desires.

Visualization:

May we repent of our sin, trust always in the Lord, and seek to work righteousness.

Reiteration:

God can choose to give us victory through faith. He has done it so many times in history. So let us always trust the Lord. Let us work hard to see righteousness done, let us be valiant, but most of all, let us always trust in the Lord.

Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer:

Offering:

Offertory Prayer:

Benediction:

1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”