Faith of the Flawed and Afflicted
Pastor Chad A. Miller
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 17:39
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· 55 viewsQuick Survey of some unlikely Old Testament people commended for their faith reveal people who are flawed, had significant failures, suffered greatly, and marginalized from society. It’s a great insight into God’s great mercy in redemption, and His great grace in using broken people to accomplish his work.
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REFLECTION TEXT:
16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
SERMON TEXT:
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
INTRO & TRANSITION
? Have you ever felt like you were TOO FLAWED to be someone of great faith? Like there were too many skeletons in your closet…OR (Andre Crouch) reflections of the past seem to face you every day?
? Maybe you’re in constant pain? Constant financial turmoil - not of your own doing? Maybe you have been seriously afflicted in some way during this current crisis we are in…maybe you have been overtaken in significant adversity? Your current state of affairs is causing you to doubt whether or not the LORD can entrust some assignment to you.
If you have ever wondered if you’re TOO AFFLICTED? Maybe even disqualified to serve God in any way because of your lack of perfection…? I’ve come to encourage you today from God’s Word.
When we look at these heroes of the faith that we have covered to date, the list seems a bit daunting doesn’t it?
Abel’s excellent sacrifice of worship
Enoch’s walk with God
Noah building an ark
Abraham headed toward the land of promise
Sarah conceiving in her old age
Abraham offering up Isaac
Isaac’s blessing of faith on his sons’ families
Jacob’s encounter with God and then humility with Esau
Joseph’s integrity before false accusations
Moses’ spared life being identified, set apart and ultimately saving others with his faith-fueled obedience.
Israel at the Red Sea; Joshua at the walls of Jericho, Rahab opening her eyes to the true God in a pagan land…what faith?
You say, that’s not me! Guess what…you’re right!
You are not Abel. Abel is Abel.
You are not Noah. Noah is Noah.
You are not Moses, or Joshua, or David, or Solomon…you are you! And the God of this Bible knows everything about you. He knows every thought you’ve ever had, every deed you’ve ever done, every word you’ve ever said…AND HE LOVES YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE AND HAS MADE A WAY FOR YOU LIVE FOR HIS GLORY AND PURPOSE! He has done this through the gift of His dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sent into this world to be born of a virgin that He might be sinless, that He might be born under the law, to keep the very law that you and I break day after day, after day. The perfect, sinless, Son of God has completely met all the requirements of God’s law, and is ready to give His righteousness to us that we would have a perfect standing before God. Jesus went to calvary’s cross; there He would hang, bleed and die. And in that death the sins of everyone in the whole world who would believe in Him were transferred to Him. And HE who knew no sin God made to be sin..for us...that we might become the righteousness of God.
The worst about me laid upon Him, the best about Him now to be laid upon me as He shed His blood upon that cross.
This is the reality to all who believe! You can be you…but made new! Fulfilling the very purpose and chief end of your life - bringing glory and honor to this incredible God and Savior…the only true and living God! Will you trust Him today?
You may feel like these list of larger-than-life heroes are out of reach. But what about where the preacher/writer of Hebrews takes us today?
Let’s look at our list from the text.
FAITH OF THE FLAWED
FAITH OF THE FLAWED
LOOK AT THE TEXT
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
Gideon:
Like Moses, Gideon strove to evade God’s call to courageous leadership (Judg. 6:11–40; cf. Exodus 3–4). He demanded signs from God and Israel to sin when he made an ephod.
Barak:
Barak timidly refused to take up arms without the support of the judge-prophet Deborah (Judg. 4:6–8).
Samson:
Samson was an embarrassment to his holy status as a Nazirite, using his extraordinary strength more often to satisfy his own sensual lust and rage than in submission to his God (Judg. 14:1–4, 8–9, 19–20; 15:1–8; 16:1–17). He was promiscuous and broke his covenant with God on multiple occasions.
Jepthah:
Jephthah rashly vowed away his daughter’s life in exchange for victory in battle, and then even more wickedly kept his vow, contrary to God’s law (Judg. 11:29–40; cf. Ex. 13:15; Deut. 12:29–31; 18:10).
David:
David waged war in the name of the Lord (1 Sam. 17:45) but later shamed the Lord’s name through adultery and murder, bringing rape and bloodshed into his own family and civil war to Israel (2 Samuel 11–18).
Samuel:
Samuel apparently replicated the paternal negligence of the priest who had raised him, so that his sons turned out as badly as Eli’s (1 Sam. 2:12–17, 22–36; 8:1–4).
In spite of all this...the writer/preacher does not remember them for their flaws. He commends them for their faith. Though they sinned, their lives were ultimately marked by their faith in God, which the author highlights in the next two verses:
LOOK AT THE TEXT
33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
They failed yet accomplished each of these feats by faith, so they still serve as examples of remarkable trust in God.
FLAWED? Yes.
TOO FLAWED FOR FAITH? No!
Our preacher to the Hebrews calls us to listen to God as he testifies on behalf of patriarchs, politicians, prophets, and prostitutes who had fluctuating faith and questionable morality but who continued to trust God to be faithful to his promises.
If they could act in faith and see God work, so could the sermon-letter’s first hearers, some of whom had “drooping hands” and “weak knees” (Heb. 12:12–13)— so can we in our trials and frailty.
FAITH OF THE AFFLICTED
FAITH OF THE AFFLICTED
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
The author is not calling us to die like they did, but he is calling us to trust in the Lord like they did—even if that means suffering a death like theirs.
Justin Martyr, an early church father, echoed this same kind of faith. When beholding the very place where he and his congregation would be martyred, Justin said, “Remember brothers and sisters, they can kill us, but they can’t hurt us.”
This is the kind of devotion that marked these Old Testament saints, and it’s the kind of devotion we should display in our own lives. We are of THE FAITH…THIS FAITH…THIS HERITAGE…this is our family line and backstory!
Let me refer you to Voice of the Martyrs’ site: Persecution.com. It would do all of us well to read one Martyr’s story per week to stiffen our spines, strengthen our resolve, and soften of hearts for our brothers and sisters around the globe who have counted it all joy as they endure their suffering for the sake of Christ.
READ THE TEXT
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
What does this mean?
Hebrews–Revelation Comment
Some tasted partial and provisional fulfillments of God’s promise, but on the whole they “did not receive what was promised,” for the “something better” that God provided for us is the new and better covenant, inaugurated on better promises by the blood of Jesus (8:6–12; 9:13–15). By his blood both they who pre-hoped in the Messiah (Eph. 1:12) and we who hear him speaking salvation “in these last days” (Heb. 1:1–2; 2:3–4) are together perfected, cleansed, and qualified to draw near to God.
AFFLICTED? Yes.
TOO AFFLICTED FOR ACTS OF FAITH? No.
Dennis Johnson summarizes it this way:
Both their testimony to God’s faithfulness and his testimony to their faith challenge our self-centered and frivolous conceptions of faith, calling us instead to lifelong endurance, with our eyes fixed steadfastly on Jesus and our hearts resolved to follow him to the end, by the grace he supplies.
Are you too flawed? Too Afflicted for God?
No friend.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Jesus’ claim:
17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
The rest of this passage is for those who have been to Jesus for the cleansing flow - washed in the blood of the lamb!
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
(v1) I boast not of works nor tell of good deeds
For naught have I done to merit His grace
All glory and praise shall rest upon Him
So willing to die in my place
(v2) My trophies and crowns, my robe stained with sin
Was all that I had to lay at His feet
Unworthy to eat from the table of life
'Til love made provision for me
(chorus) So I will glory in the cross, in the cross
Lest His suffering all be in vain
And I will weep no more for the cross that He bore
I will glory in the cross