Well, we continue our sermon series in Hebrews, and we are. still in chapter 11, making our way through it line upon line and precept upon precept. Chapter 11, which is often called the the Hall of Faith. And it's filled with a number of individuals from the Old Testament scriptures who are called by by people in our day, the heroes of faith. And those are Two good designations.
The heroes of faith that are highlighted in the hall of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. And first, there is an enumeration of 11 different individuals. with a description of some exploit which they accomplished by faith. And then after That which takes up more than half, maybe close to two-thirds of the chapter. We come to verse 32, and we find that the inspired author of Hebrews.
lump six more names into one verse. And those He does not give a description of because he's getting to the end of his List of people. But he wants us to know that there are a lot more that he could name. But he has chosen not to do so. And then after giving that list of Six final names.
He gives us. Ten exploits of a general nature That we don't know, he doesn't tell us. I should put it that way. He doesn't tell us. which exploits apply to which person, but He leaves that for us to do.
We can take those different exploits and we can assign them to the proper person by our study of the Old Testament scriptures, And then following that list of wonderful exploits accomplished by faith, he gives a long list of trials and sufferings and tribulations, some of the greatest kind, and he says that too is endured by faith. Exploits are achieved by faith. Trials are endured by faith. And one is just as pleasing to God as the other. And sometimes we honor God most.
by our attitudes and Persevering faith in times of trials, even more than our faith calling down some great achievement. by the power of heaven. But altogether, Those things make up the symphony of faith that fills chapter eleven. And so it helps us to understand what faith is. The purpose of the book of Hebrews is to urge Initially, the Hebrew Christians wavering in their faith not to turn back, not to falter, not to fail to persevere in their faith.
But of course beyond them it also speaks to us in the same way. And in doing that, it brings us to this hall of faith and gives us illustration after illustration after illustration of those who honored God by their faith. And it is saying, go thou. and do likewise. And so, in this chapter, we learn maybe better than any other place in the Bible what faith is and.
What it does.
Now, today I want to do two things. First of all, Give you an analytical view of where we are in chapter 11 and where we're going. And then, secondly, an applicational view of a smaller portion of verse. 33. First of all, an analytical view.
Verse 32 says, Verse, I'm in the wrong place now. Verse 32 says. And what more? Shall I say? What more shall I say?
That's an analytical question. The author of Hebrews is saying here, this Shows you that the point has been sufficiently illustrated. I've started clear back with Abel, nearly all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And I have showed you person by person by person by person illustrations of those who accomplish great things by faith. I don't think I need to do this any more.
What more shall I say? I have said a lot. I have said enough. I could say a lot more. But I won't.
I think it's best to move on. Why?
Well, because more examples are not needed and Number two, because time is running out. And that brings us to our second observation. not only an instructive question, but a common situation. What more shall I say for The time. would fail me.
The time would fail me. Time is a Limited Commodity. We may not think of it as a commodity, but we talk about it that way. Time is a limited commodity and it needs to be utilized wisely. We talk about I spent Time.
doing this. I spent Time. doing that. I'm trying to decide if I ought to spend the time. to do the other.
As if time were money. To be spent. But I think that's the point: that we are to understand time is a commodity, it is a valuable commodity, it is a precious commodity, it ought to be carefully planned, it ought to be wisely spent. And for that reason, the author of Hebrews at this point says, now I could go on and on and on and on and on with additional examples of faith, and no doubt that would be profitable, but there are other things that are also profitable, and I've got to plan my time. I've got to restrict my time spent on one thing so that I don't run out of time for another thing.
That's a good practical reminder, isn't it? A common situation. But third, we see in this verse an abundant reservoir. If time is running out.
So that he is not going to give us additional examples. He nevertheless wants us to understand he could give a lot of them. There's an abundant reservoir of. Heroes of faith. And what more shall I say?
The time would fail me to tell of. Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, David, and Samuel, and the prophets. An almost inexhaustible list. Six more names. listed without any description of what they did, at least Not attached.
definitively to any one particular person. And then the general term profits, not the names of any individuals, but a large nameless category, which tells us that. The examples of those who have demonstrated God-honoring faith is almost inexhaustible. But Time is running out. We've got other things, so we must move on.
And so, beyond the abundant reservoir, we have a catalog of accomplishments, and that's the ten. items that I mentioned earlier. That are not assigned to any one particular person, but we can do that, and we will do that. Who, verse 33? Who through faith Number one, subdued kingdoms.
Number two, worked righteousness. Number three, obtained promises and so forth. Stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire. Escaped the edge of the sword.
Out of weakness were made strong. All the way down to the first part of verse 35. Women receive their dead raised to life again. Ten Amazing Accomplishments by Faith. That were Achieved by Some of these people who have been named.
and some that are not even named, just The nameless Profits. But following this catalog of accomplishments, we have a catalogue of sufferings, and this is the part. that some people Forget or ignore. But the middle part of verse 35, others. were tortured.
not accepting deliverance. that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others Had Trial of mockings and scourgings. Yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned.
They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute. Afflicted.
Tormented. There are some Christians who would love to be able to do the things in the first list. but are very loath to give themselves to the kinds of things named in the second list. But both are a part. Of God's plan for our lives.
Both are an opportunity to demonstrate God-honoring faith. Both Can bring honor to God. If we achieve great things by faith, God is honored. If we endure great afflictions by faith, God is also honored. We need to understand that.
A catalogue of sufferings. What faith can endure, as well as what faith earlier can achieve. And then there are two more things in this chapter: a declaration of divine approval, verse 39. All these Having obtained A good testimony through faith. All of them named.
and all of them alluded to. And all of them who achieved great Accomplishments, and all of them who suffered great afflictions, all of them, all of these. obtained a good Testimony through faith. And then finally, the chapter closes. This is an analytical view.
Finally, the chapter closes by a reminder Of delayed appropriation in some cases. In other words, sometimes we do things by faith, that is, because God has revealed something in His Word and we believe it and we act accordingly, but sometimes the reception of that is delayed, in some cases, a long, long time. They did not receive the promise we read in the last part of verse 39. God having provided something better for us. that they should not be made perfect Apart from the from us.
And we'll get to that in due season, but he's talking now. about the new covenant. And the greater blessings That comes with the coming of Christ. And all of these Old Testament people of faith who were looking for that, they didn't receive that in their lifetime, did they? But that doesn't mean they won't receive it.
They will. In time, But the time In their case, Turns into Thousands of years. That's the way it is sometimes. We have to understand that. All right, that's an analytical view.
Now let's take what I've called an applicational view. That is practical application of what we find. In our text today, in verse Verses 32 and 33.
So the Analytical view. An overview of this chapter. The applicational view is looking specifically at the first three items in this list of 10 things. that begin in verse 33. who through faith Subdued kingdoms.
That's number one. Who through faith worked righteousness says. That's number two. Who through faith, number three, obtained promises. And we will go on.
There are ten altogether. and time would fail me to tell a ten.
So I will restrict myself to three. And we'll look at those more closely this morning. And we will learn by these three items. First of all, that faith can overcome formidable enemies. We'll see more about that in a moment.
Number two, faith can perform righteousness in an evil world. And number three, faith. can obtain promises from God. Let's look at these. Faith can overcome Formidable.
More formidable, you take your pick on uh pronunciation. Faith can overcome Formidable. Enemies. Who? Through Faith subdued kingdoms.
Who? Is this? Who subdued kingdoms through faith?
Well, at least Those people in the list in verse 32. Time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel. And we could add the prophets who, through faith, subdued kingdoms. That's who. Did it.
And what did they do? They subdued kingdoms or conquered kingdoms.
Well, let's think about this briefly. Gideon. You remember Gideon? Takes us back quite a while, back to October or even September when we dealt with Gideon. But surely you remember enough about.
the account of Gideon to remember That the Midianites were like a horde that came in upon the Israelites in such great number, it was impossible to know how many thousands there were. Tens and tens and tens and tens of thousands of Midianites with their animals, their camels, they came in, they ravaged the land. And they did that year after year after year. And the Israelites seemed to be helpless to do anything about it. In fact, they were helpless to do anything about it.
apart from the power of God. And finally, when the people of God Decided that it was time to pray to God about it. Oh, how foolish we are at times. Enduring these afflictions. Unnecessarily because In our pride, we fail to ask God for help.
And so they gone went on for a number of years just taking their licking without Being able to do anything about it and being unwilling to turn to God for help. And finally, they turn to God for help, and God appoints Gideon to be the one to lead them to victory. And you remember the story? Gideon starts out with Well, I think thirty some thousand men. And God says, too many.
And he narrows them down to 10,000. He basically says, anybody who'd rather go home than fight, go home.
Now he has 10,000 left.
Well, if 33,000 was a lot fewer than the Midianites, 10,000 is a whole lot fewer than the Midianites. And then God said, incredibly Too many. What? Don't you see how many Midianites there are, God? Of course I do.
I'm Almighty God. I know exactly how many there are. And you've got too many. And your army.
So take them down to the brook, and those who. Who drink in one way, you will eliminate, and those who drink in another way, who seem to be more mindful of a. of a watchful eye. You will take them as your army. And when that was done, he had 300 left.
And God said, now that's about the right number. How many Midianites? Who knows? 40, 50, 60,000. How many Israelites?
Mmm, 300. And Gideon won the victory. How? By faith.
Well, how does faith apply here? How does that work? Faith, what is faith? Remember, believing the revelation of God and acting accordingly. God told him what to do, and Gideon believed him.
Mm. Mm, a little slow there at times. Fleece number one, fleece number two, you remember. He didn't jump on the word of God with both feet immediately, but he came to place his faith in the word of God. God said, If we'll do this, we will succeed.
He followed the instructions. He surrounded the Midianite army with his 300 men, all of them equipped in such a way that when they broke their pitchers and held up their lanterns and blew the trumpet, the Midians thought that each one of those 300 men represented a company of men, maybe each one. represented the thousand men. And they were panicked. And they Jumped on each other and they got out of there and left all their goods behind.
And there was Gideon with his 300 men who had conquered a whole kingdom of a huge army, and they had not killed one soldier, they had not lifted one sword. What did they do? They believed God and acted according to his word. And they subdued a neighboring threatening kingdom and they lived at peace. For many, many.
years after that. And we can go through this whole list and remind us of things like that. Bayrak. defeated the Canaanites with a small army. And you remember how that happened?
There was a... A rain, a flood that came at a time of year that it normally doesn't rain in Israel. And the opposing army that had all these chariots with the iron. wheels that Seemed like a formidable army, an unconquerable army. Because not only of their size, but also their equipment, but they got all bogged down in the mud.
And they were defeated. And Barak and his inferior army defeated that larger, better-equipped army. How? By faith, believing God, obeying His Word, doing what He told them to do. They acted according to his word.
Sometimes faith says, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
Sometimes faith says, do this, and I will use that that you do. to achieve the victory. And so Bayrak had a great victory. He conquered. A kingdom.
Samson. Remember old Samson. That's an interesting story. He actually began. The conquering of the Philistines that had been dominant over Israel for many, many years.
But the amazing thing about Samson, who killed thousands of Philistines and ended his life by killing three thousand at one time, when he pushed the the pillars of the temple apart and the temple came crashing down, How did he do this? How many men were in his army? None. He did all that alone.
Well, not really alone. He did it with God. One man With God. is a majority. Doesn't matter how many Philistines there are.
One man plus God is the majority. In fact, as we know, Even zero men with God. God's always the majority. But one man with God is the majority. And Samson subdued a kingdom by faith.
He believed God and acted accordingly. And on we go. Jephthah defeated the Ammonites with an inferior army. David defeated Philistines again and again and again in amazing ways. And when he became king, he defeated all of the surrounding kingdoms and extended the land of Israel all the way from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
Get a map, check it out. The kingdom of Israel became huge because David, by faith in the word of God, believing God and doing what he said, David conquered, I couldn't tell you how many kingdoms around him. Samuel even did. You say Samuel wasn't a. Warrior, Samuel wasn't a king, yes, but read about it.
In um Samuel's life and 1 Samuel. There was a time when the Philistines came up against the Israelites and they cried out to God for help. And Samuel went to God and prayed to him. And God said, Send out the army and they will win. And again, God acted, he sent a huge storm, and it Crushed the enemy in some way so that they fled, defeated, and Samuel.
who never even left the tabernacle. defeated a kingdom. By faith.
And got it. Always by faith. Always by believing the revelation of God and acting accordingly. Not by human ability. not by large numbers.
But only by God's wisdom and power, as God revealed what he wanted them to do, and they believed what God said, and they acted according to his word. They trusted God to give victory in a variety of ways. And whenever they believed what God said and did what he instructed them to do, they enjoyed a great victory. That's a good example of faith. Yohu Hebrews, are you paying attention to this?
Yohu Beaconites, are you paying attention to this? These are examples of faith for us today. And how does this apply to us?
Well, what is your enemy? Remember, faith can overcome formidable. enemies. What is your enemy? What or who?
What circumstance or what people? Would be an enemy to you, that would be opposing you in what you are trying to accomplish, particularly maybe opposing you in your trying to develop a a God-honoring walk. but you are having trouble doing it. And I'm here to tell you that that enemy can be conquered. You don't have to live with that enemy forever and ever.
Amen. I don't. No, you can conquer that enemy. but not by human tactics. Not by the ways that the world uses to oppose their enemies.
But by the wisdom and power of God, by believing the word of God by faith, In other words, by believing relevant Scripture. God doesn't speak to us directly today through visions and dreams and other means of communication like he did in Bible days before the Bible was completed. But he gave us a Bible, 66 books, and it's filled with... the word of God and promises from God. But we have to study it to know what applies to our situation and what time.
Everything in the Bible doesn't apply to me. I remember as a boy singing a Chorus that I later, as I got a little older and thought about it, said, I don't believe that's true. Did any of you ever sing, Every promise in the book is mine, Every chapter, every verse, every line, All the blessings of his love divine, Every promise in the book is mine.
Well The promise that God gave to Moses and Joshua that they would conquer the land of Canaan. That certainly is not directly mine. I think that's a good idea. God isn't promising that I can conquer the land of Canaan.
So, we have to, what I'm saying is, we have to study the Bible to know what is relevant. To our situation. But there's plenty of his revelation, plenty of promises that are relevant to our situation, that are spoken to us. And so we must go to God's word and discern what He has said that applies to us as we are facing this formidable enemy. And we must act in accordance with God's word as it is given to us in Scripture, and we must rely upon God alone for the victory.
Such as This person is really bothering me in rather significant ways. And Jesus said, If your enemy smites you on one cheek, Turn the other also. No, no, no, no, that's not going to work. There's a revelation from God that applies to your situation. Are you going to believe it and act accordingly?
Or are you going to refuse to do it and say, I've got to do it my way? I've got to get back at them. I've got to do them the same way they do unto me. I've got to do them one better. That's the only way I can have victory.
Then you won't have victory. But if you'll find the relevant passage in God's word that applies to your situation and believe it and obey it, then you can see God achieve the victory according to his wisdom and power.
Now, what do you want? Perpetual defeat as you try it in your own strength and wisdom? Or? conquering a formidable enemy in the power and wisdom of God. The way to do it is by faith, believing The promises of God.
and acting accordingly. You've got an enemy that is troubling you greatly. And the Bible says if your enemy Hunger, feed him. If he's thirsty, Give him drink. No, no, no, that's not going to work.
Why not?
Well, because it just won't work.
Okay. Go on and defeat. Or? Obey the Lord. Treat your enemy.
Kindly. lovingly. Generously. And trust God. And God, in His wisdom and way, will give you victory over a formidable enemy.
Enemy. That's how it works. Bathe your need in persistent prayer. And wait patiently upon God because. Faith Know.
Overcome formidable Enemies. Hmm, that's pretty helpful. What else?
Well, number two, faith can perform righteously in an evil world. Again, verse 33: who through faith subdued kingdoms? But number two, who through faith worked. Righteousness is. But what does that mean?
What did they do? According to this text, they worked righteousnesses. What does that mean?
Well, it evidently means they upheld righteousness in public places. They maintained justice in public affairs. They restored public confidence. In God, that's what it means to work righteousness. in this world.
And who did this?
Well, out of the list of six that we have before us, three jump to mind as I review the list. What was the first thing that Gideon did before he defeated the Midianites with his army of 300 men? He tore down the altar of Baal. That his father had built. How did he do that?
By faith, because God told him to and he believed it and did it. It wasn't easy, but he knew that God was telling him to do it, and he believed that if he did it, God would honor that. And God did. God changed the heart of his father so that when the people of the city Called upon his father to chasten his son because he tore down their beloved altar of false worship. His father said, Let Baal defend himself.
It had a righteous impact upon his father. It changed his father's thinking, it strengthened his father's faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob instead of the false God of Baal. That's an example. He worked Righteousness by taking a stand for righteousness in a public place. And God honored that.
Or how about David? who stood for righteousness throughout his life. both before and after becoming king, To the extent that we read in 2 Samuel 8.15, So David reigned over all Israel, and David administered judgment and justice to all his people. There are a good many kings. We read about starting out administering Righteousness and justice to the nation, but then they change and start.
accepting bribes, And leading people in a sinful direction. But David is especially honored by God because all his life he worked righteousness. All his life he stood for righteousness.
Now that doesn't mean perfectly. He fell a time or two. one time particularly grievously. And then came to repent bitterly of that terrible sin, which was not just a sin against Bathsheba and Uriah, it was a sin against God. And what was this great sin against God?
You say, well, he broke the seventh commandment and the other, the commandment about thou shalt do no murder. That's true. But the great sin of David was he did not uphold righteousness before the whole kingdom. Just the opposite. He gave an example of unrighteousness to the whole kingdom.
That. tore him up more than anything. Most of the kings who did something like that just brushed shit off, so what? But David Stood. For righteousness.
What shall we say? 99% of the time. It had a great impact. upon his people. During the reign of David, you don't read of it any idol idolatry, any Baal worship, any altars to false gods being Built.
How did that? happened. Faith. In God in taking a public stand of righteousness and God honoring that. David did that, Samuel did that.
With his righteous life as a righteous judge. When Samuel came to the end of his His reign, his appointment as judge over Israel. And the people had demanded a king, and Samuel acquiesced to that, and he gave them the king that they demanded. But then he gave a farewell address. And he started out by saying, now, tell me.
Who's um Whose donkey have I stolen? Who's um From whom have I received a bribe? What have I done that is Unjust, unrighteous, unethical. And the answer was Nothing. You have been righteous.
You have upheld Public Righteousness. That made Samuel a remarkable figure. in the history of Israel. And that showed that faith can perform righteousness in an evil world, in a world when everything is pulling us away from righteousness and toward evil, in a world where everything is telling us you've got to compromise a little. Nobody can live their whole life according to the Bible, but by faith you can, and by faith you should, and by faith you must if you are going to please God.
And you can. By faith.
They worked Righteousness. How does this apply to us?
Well, in a lot of ways... But we should learn not to sin in order to defeat sin. That's such a great temptation. They did this. Yeah, was wrong.
But I'll do this.
Well, I know that's not wrong too, but it's not wrong, really, because I'm just doing what they did. That's not wrong. Righteousness. We must not sin. in order to try to defeat sin.
We must act righteously no matter what others may do. We must not condone unrighteousness in public officials. No matter who they are. or what cause they espouse, or what political party they belong to. Yoohoo.
We don't condone Unrighteousness. We uphold Righteousness. We've got a standard that's higher than Any earthly standard, any earthly Goal, any earthly desire. We've got a higher standard. It's the Word of God.
That directs. What is right and wrong. That informs what is right and wrong. And that directs us to do what is right. And two.
Avoid that which is wrong. And furthermore, righteous behavior is a rebuke to those around us. We'll be hated for it. If we live righteously, just doing right will cause some people to hate you, Jesus. Told us that, don't be surprised.
He told us that ahead of time. But righteous behavior is a rebuke to those around you, but it's also an example to those around you. And you have no way of knowing how extensive that influence may be. But righteous behavior encourages righteous behavior, just as unrighteous behavior encourages more unrighteous behavior. That's why unrighteous behavior on the part of public officials is so detrimental because that's a well-known example that influences a whole nation to think that doing wrong is all right.
It's not. It's not. We're really good at justifying our own sins, and we can be pretty good at justifying the sins of. Popular public figures that we We like so we can justify their sins too. Wrong.
That's not upholding righteousness by faith. Righteous behavior encourages more righteous behavior. I think a wonderful example of that was Charlie Kirk. In the wisdom of God, he's been taken off the scene. But I am amazed at the boldness of that man in his open.
Testimony. for Christ and for Christian truth. And he didn't care who's who's Liked it or who didn't like it. He was open and bold in his proclamation of truth. It cost him his life, but he upheld righteousness and he heard God's, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
And faith. Faith can enable us to work righteousness. in an evil world. What else?
Faith can obtain promises from God. Verse 33, who through faith subdued kingdoms? Worked righteousnesses. Obtained promises.
Well, there's a wide open field. We could talk about all kinds of promises. Who did this? The same list of people did that. What did they do?
They obtained promises. They were informed of promises given by God, and they enjoyed the benefits of those promises in their lives. How did they do it? By faith.
They believed. The Word of God enacted accordingly. How does this apply to us?
Same way. I'll take one example. I could offer Scores of examples. Time would fail me to tell of all of the examples that I could give you. of how this applies to us.
I'll take one example. Finances. Faith enables us to obtain the promises of God. What does God's word promise in regard to our finances?
Well, the Bible has the law of harvest. Those who sow sparingly shall reap also sparingly. Those who sow bountifully shall reap also bountifully. That's about giving. Look at the context.
Is that what the Bible says? Yes. Do you believe it? Yeah. Do you demonstrate that you believe it?
Would would my And I don't want to examine your checkbook, but would an examination of your checkbook or however it is you give, online giving, whatever. Would that demonstrate that you really believe that promise of God? One reason I choose this one is because it applies to everybody. Everybody is in a world that requires finances. And this is such a biggie.
And it is so... And so instructive of where we are in our walk with God. God's word says, He who sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly in your giving. He who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully in God's giving to you. The Bible says in another place, Seek five.
First, the kingdom of God and all these things. Food. Close. Shelter shall be added unto you. What's the priority?
God first. That's the word of God, that's the revelation of God. And if we obey that, God says, I will give you what you need. Is that what the Bible says? Yeah.
Do you believe it? I hope so. Do you act accordingly? Let me see your checkbook. It's a real promise, and others I could take up as well.
It's a promise of God. It's true. It applies to me.
Now, am I going to have the faith to believe it? That's the question. Will I act accordingly? Will I give generously by faith, trusting God to supply what is needed? Or will I say, I would if I could, but I can't, I can't afford it.
But wait a minute, that's not faith. Faith believes God. Faith acts according to the Word of God.
Now, there is a caution here. Because there is this promise that if we give generously, we will reap. Financially. That will be a reward for our believing and acting upon that promise. But here's the caution: it all.
Boils down to motive. And as we know, the health and wealth gospelers take that promise and they. Just re-emphasize it a little bit so that it doesn't sound like they're. preaching contrary to the Bible, but in a sense they are because they are encouraging people to give in order to get rich, and that's the wrong motive. We are to give the way the Bible tells us to give in order to honor God.
Because his word says so. And if indeed his promises prove to be true, we'll say, well, what do you know? What an unexpected blessing. I just gave because the Bible tells me to give. God loves a cheerful, a generous giver.
I believe that. I did that to honor God. God's honored with that. And look what God did in return. What do you know?
You see, that's all the difference in the world. Between that and saying Well that Guy on television said if I'd send him a hundred dollars, I'd get a thousand in return. And I want a thousand dollars. Yes, I want a thousand dollars. I want to get rich.
So I'm going to send that to him. Sucker, sucker, sucker. You're the sucker, and for him, I say, liar, liar, pants on fire. But if your motive is to honor God. Because honoring God, you honor God when you obey Him.
You honor God when you believe Him. You honor God when you do what His Word tells you to do. And if your motive is to do that, You probably won't be able to receive the blessing you get in return. Jesus described it as being. Heaped up, pressed down, and running over shall men give into your bosom.
If you learn to give according to faith. And so, faith can overcome formidable enemies. Do you believe that? Amen. Faith can perform righteously in an evil world.
Do you believe that? Amen. Faith can obtain promises from God. Any promise that is a promise of God that applies to me, faith can obtain that from God. Do you believe that?
Amen. Do you desire to do exploits like this? Do you think it's possible? Do you believe God? Have you believed the gospel?
Have you recognized that you are a sinner deserving of hell and that unless you embrace Christ and Christ alone for salvation, you'll go into eternal condemnation? That's where it begins. Believe the gospel and then believe. The Word of God for Daily Living. We need courageous men and women of faith.
who live what they say they believe. I don't think there are very many of them. But what might God do? What might God do? He only needs.
He doesn't need any, and he can take one and still be a majority. But what might God be pleased to do in America if there were a mighty army of professing Christians who actually believed the word of God and acted according to what it says? I can't speak for the others, but I can speak for myself. May God make me a person like that, and I can appeal to you. May God make us a church like that.
Shall we pray? Father, thank you for your word. Help us, O Lord. We are weak. Help us, make us strong.
By your almighty power, we pray. Amen. Okay. Okay.
