Dr. Peter Van Kleeck, Sr., Providence Baptist Church 8/27/23 THE VICTORIES OF THE FAITHFUL

TITLE: THE VICTORIES OF THE FAITHFUL
TEXT: HEBREW 11:33-40
INTRODUCTION: This is OT history. OT history cannot be discussed without making faith in God the central focus of the narrative. God used men to accomplish great feats in time.

Verses 33-35a present of summary of ten things accomplished by trusting in the unfilled promises of God. These exploits were done by men who trusted God against the evil forces of this world and accomplished great things. Trusting God is where heroes are made, not trusting in anything else. God and you are a majority.

33Who through faith
1. subdued kingdoms –
a. especially to David, 2 Samuel 8:11-13.”. Which also king David did dedicate unto the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued; Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.
b. Thus, Joshua subdued the nations of Canaan; Gideon the Midianites; Jephtha the Ammonites; David the Philistines, Amalekites, Jebusites, Edomites, etc.

2. wrought righteousness -- Carried the laws of justice into execution, particularly on guilty nations. They executed the great purposes of God in punishing the wicked, and in cutting off his foes.

3. obtained promises, -- that is, they obtained as a result of their faith, promises of blessings on their posterity in future times.

4. stopped the mouths of lions –
a. As Samson, Judges 14:6, “And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.”;
b. David, 1 Samuel 17:34, “And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:”
c. and particularly Daniel; Daniel 6:7, “All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.”
d. . To be able to subdue and render harmless the king of the forest - the animal most dreaded in early times - was regarded as an eminent achievement.

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5. Quenched the violence of fire -- Quenched the violence of fire - As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did; Daniel 3:15-26.

6. escaped the edge of the sword –
a. `As Elijah did when he fled from Ahab, 1 Kings 19:3, “And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there”; as
b. Elijah did when he was delivered from the king of Syria, 2 Kings 6:16, “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.”
c. and as David did when he fled from Saul.

7. out of weakness were made strong -- Enabled to perform exploits beyond their natural strength, or raised up from a state of physical infirmity, and invigorated for conflict.
a. Such a case as that of Samson may be referred to, Judges 15:15, “And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith”; Judges 16:26-30.

b. or as that of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20:4-6, And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. who was restored from dangerous sickness by the immediate interposition of God;

8. waxed valiant in fight -- Became valiant. Like Joshua. Barak, David, etc. The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings supply instances of this in abundance.

9. turned to flight the armies of the aliens -- The foreigners - as the invading Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites, Assyrians, etc.

35a
10. Women received their dead raised to life again –
a. As in the case of the woman of Zarephath, whose child was restored to life by Elijah, 1 Kings 17:19-24;
b. and of the son of the Shunamite woman whose child was restored to life by Elisha; 2 Kings 4:18-37.