Sermon # 74 Hebrews
Notes
Title: The
Faith of the Judges
Text: Hebrews 11:32
Subject: The Works of Faith
Date: Tuesday Evening –
Tape # W-81b
Introduction:
(Hebrews 11:32) "And what
shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell
of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of
David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:"
This chapter begins with a definition of faith. It
is, without question, both the shortest and the best definition of faith ever
written.
(Hebrews
11:1) "Now faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
The entire chapter, following verse 1, is devoted to
giving us examples and illustrations that prove the truthfulness of that
definition. Therefore, when Paul got to the last section of the chapter, the
last group of examples, he begins verse 32 by telling us that nothing more is
needed to prove his inspired definition. By all that we have seen, it is
evident that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.” That is why he opens verse 32 with a question, implying
that the answer is obvious. – “What shall I say more?”
Then, he says, “Time would fail me,” if I
were to give you all the examples that might be given from Holy Scripture that
illustrate my point. -- “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.” It would be redundant to continue. Further
examples are not needed. Then, he rattles off more examples, as if to put an
exclamation point to what he had just written.
(Hebrews 11:32) "And what
shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell
of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of
David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:"
These examples of faith are all taken from the
period of the Judges. Seven things stand out as obvious lessons we ought to lay to heart.
1. God does not see things the
way we see them.
We judge only by outward appearance; and judging by
outward appearance we always judge wrong. Had any of us been writing this
chapter, we would probably have omitted Gideon, Barak ,
Samson, and Jephthah. We would have included, instead, Deborah, Caleb, Hannah,
and Asaph. That is because we can only look upon and judge things by outward
appearance. – “The Lord
looketh on the heart!”
2. It is not our faith that
gives us acceptance with God and wins his approval, but Christ, the Object of
our faith.
My faith did not save me. Christ did! Faith did
redeem me, justify me, put away my sin, or forgive me. Christ did!
It is the weakness of these men, the weakness of
their faith, particularly of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, that gets our
attention when we read about them in the Scriptures. Yet, they are honored of
God just as fully as Abraham, Moses, and David, because they all stood before
God “accepted in the Beloved!”
3. God’s choice of any, God’s
election, has nothing to do with what he sees in us! – It is altogether a
matter of grace, pure, free, sovereign grace!
·
Gideon was a poor man, from a poor family.
·
Barak was a weak, timid man, who would not act except by the counsel of
a woman.
·
Jephthah was a bastard (cursed, unfit, legally banned), a man who had
to bear the shame of his mother’s debauchery all his life, a man who spent his
days in utter vanity, until God called him by his grace.
·
Samson was a spoiled brat, and acted like a spoiled brat right through
his adulthood.
·
David was the weakest and most insignificant of Jesse’s sons.
·
Of the six named in this verse, only Samuel seems to have been a man of
obvious usefulness and of commendable character from his youth. David was as
well; but he did not appear to be outwardly.
(1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that
are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: 31 That,
according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
4. Faith in Christ does not
prohibit anyone from honest employment in any field of service to God and men.
A. W. Pink wrote, “Five
of the six men named in our text were judges who ruled over
5. That which distinguishes
God’s elect from other people is God’s grace alone.
(1 Corinthians 4:7) "For who maketh thee
to differ from another? and what
hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou
didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"
We do not view these men and their deeds
right until we view them in the light of what is revealed in this chapter. The
Book of Judges gives us the historical narrative of their lives and deeds.
Hebrews 11 gives us the light to see that which set them apart from others.
Others have vanquished lions, put armies
to flight, and subdued kingdoms. But yet their deeds were motivated and
performed by base, sensual things. The exploits of Gideon and Barak, Samson and
David, were things performed by faith, for the glory of God, and for the
benefit of his people. That which is honored here is not the mere names of men,
but the work of God in and through men.
·
Their faith was the gift of God.
·
Their righteousness was the righteousness of another.
·
Their strength was the strength of Christ, made perfect in their
weakness.
(1 Corinthians 4:7)
"For who maketh thee to differ from another?
and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as
if thou hadst not received it?"
·
Election!
·
Redemption!
·
Calling!
·
Preservation!
·
Grace!
6. God’s people in this world,
are still sinners in constant need of mercy, grace, and forgiveness. – But, blessed be God, our
failures do not change God’s goodness!
One common trait of Holy Scripture, which
sets this Book apart from the compositions of mere men
is this. – The Holy Spirit faithfully records the failures, weaknesses, and
sins of the most prominent examples of faith, without so much as a hint of an
excuse for their faults.
These men believed God; but their faith
was far from perfect. They believed God; but they had much instability. They
trusted Christ; but they were terribly unbelieving at times. They were godly
men; but they had much sin in their lives.
Their faith, like ours, was mixed with
fear, at war with unbelief, weakened by lust and carnal reasonings. They were
men of like passions with us. The best of men are only men at best. There is
much for us to learn from these examples of faith.
·
Our only hope of salvation is free
grace.
·
Our only acceptance with God is the
blood and righteousness of Christ.
·
Our perseverance in faith is the
result of God’s perseverance in grace. Because he changes not, we are not
consumed!
·
Though there is much about us which
breaks our hearts, humbles us with shame, and makes us constantly aware of our
utter insufficiency for anything good, our total unworthiness even to call upon
the name of God in prayer, we have no cause for despair, if we trust Christ.
(Psalms 32:1-2) "Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and
in whose spirit there is no guile."
(Romans 4:8) "Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."
(Romans 8:1) "There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit."
(Romans 8:33-34) "Who shall
lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."
(Romans 11:29) "For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance."
(1 John 1:9) "If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness."
(1 John 2:1-2) "My little
children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin
not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our
sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world."
7. Grace
shines brightest when things appear darkest.
–
God never leaves himself without a
witness. In every age and circumstance, in every place and situation, when the
Lord God intends to perform his works of grace he has just the right man
prepared by his own grace to perform his work.
One thing
was common to all these men. Each one lived
and served the cause of Christ in a day of great spiritual darkness and evil.
The times in which they lived are described at length in the book of Judges.
Following the deaths of Moses and
Yet even in
those days God did not leave himself without a witness. In the
midst of great darkness, these six men stood in their day as bright, shining
lights. In the midst of terrible idolatry, they stood as beacons of truth. In
the midst of utter apostasy, they stood as walls and pillars of steadfast faith
in and love for the God f all grace, whose grace they had proved!
·
Just the Day for These Men!
·
Just the Men for That Day!
Now, watch this.
– In this text (Heb.
This inspired
description of faith could not have been complete if Paul had not given us
these examples from
You see,
God is not limited by our circumstances! Grace
is not constrained by our constraints. The Word of God is not bound by our
bondage Faith is not weakened by unfavorable circumstances, but thrives in
such!
These
things are written for our encouragement (
Application:
In this apostate generation, we have reason, as much and more, as Gideon,
Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel, to believe God, rejoice in his
goodness, and give thanks to his holy name!
(2 Thessalonians 2) "Now we
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not
soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by
letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man
deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come
a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that
is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told
you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be
revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work:
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness. 13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our
gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore,
brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught,
whether by word, or our epistle. 16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and
stablish you in every good word and work."
Amen.