Joseph Prince - The Secret to Robust Faith
Now, I’m going to tell you something. I read the Bible and I ask questions that people don’t ask. That’s how I get my messages. I like to ask questions that some people don’t even bother. I ask them, «How about this verse? There must be an explanation,» then they go on, but for me I need to find out the answer. For example, I’m going to share this part here, very important that you understand, and if I have time I want to share with you why Gideon comes before Barak and Samson comes before Jephthah, okay? It’s all in this message, okay? So for the next three hours for our Bible study, we’re going to study these, amen? You want your faith to be strong and robust? Okay, watch this, this is very interesting.
I was reading this one day in Judges chapter 1 verse 19, and it says this, «The Lord was with Judah». How many like the Lord to be with you, right? But what I can’t understand was what follows. It says, «And they, Judah, drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron». So, when I read this one day, I asked myself what? I mean, if the Lord, if Jehovah, if the Lord is with his people, what about chariots of iron? They might as well be made of tissue paper, am I right? I mean, we have seen time and time again, Goliath clad in armor, in brass, knocked down by a single stone of a boy who had faith in God. Amen?
So, what is this? «They could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland because they had chariots of iron». Now, same chapter, chapter 1, let’s go to the beginning, see what happened. «Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, 'Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?' And the Lord said, 'Judah shall go up.'» In all your challenges, the first thing that must go up to God is always praise, because Judah means praise, all right? For everything that happens in life, you get stuck in a traffic jam, you say praise the Lord anyway. Something good, you say praise the Lord. Something bad happens, praise the Lord anyway, amen?
First thing that goes up is praise. Yehuda means praise. So, who will go up first? Praise, Judah, and the Lord says, «Judah shall go up». «Indeed,» watch this, watch this, «I have delivered the land into,» whose hand? «His hand,» singular, that’s important for you, okay? I’m giving you the revelation right now straightaway, all right? Whose hand did God deliver the enemies to, the Canaanites? Judah’s hand, there are 12 tribes but it was in the Judah’s hand. Look at the next verse though, verse 3. «So Judah said to Simeon his brother,» mmm, «Come up with me to my allotted territory that we may fight against the Canaanites, and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory,» so Simeon went with him.
Now, God never said bring Simeon along. God says, «I’ve delivered them into your hand,» but he limited the Holy One of Israel. Because we all want support of the flesh, we all want, you know, we want people around us. Even though the Lord called you, but you want someone else to come. That happened to Moses as well, the weakness of faith. We can see that when God first called him it was actually God calling him to speak to Pharaoh, but then, time and time again, he said I cannot speak, I cannot speak, and God got angry. God said, «Who made man’s mouth»? And then finally God says, «Take Aaron your brother, he’ll be your spokesman». That wasn’t God’s best. God wanted him to be the spokesman.
So, many a times, you know, when God calls you he will equip you, so who cares if they had chariots of iron or not, right? But he called for his brother to help him, okay? You fight for me and I’ll fight with you, and Simeon went with him. «Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites». So, in the beginning there was deliverance, there was victory, victory, victory, and they finally, drop down to verse 19, you see this happen, they cannot drive out because of chariot is of iron. In other words, when you limit God, your victory is limited. It will always show up. Where you don’t trust God, it will show up, amen?
Now, we’re not saying don’t use means. For example, if you pray, what I’m saying is talk to the Lord. Ask counsel from God before you ask counsel from man. Ask God first before you ask the opinion of anyone, no matter how godly the person is, because man can make mistakes, and your life is too precious for man’s mistakes. It’s not saying don’t ask for advice, but ask the Lord first. Pray to the Lord first, amen? So, that’s what I’m talking about, and even if you are believing God for a child, it doesn’t mean you cannot go for IVF, you cannot, who says that? Who told you you cannot? You can, but go to the Lord first, amen? Ask the Lord. If the Lord tells you this is the way he wants you to go, maybe it’s to humble us in some ways or I do not know, but God has his ways, but always go to the Lord first. It’s not a shame to do IVF, amen. Are you all with me so far?
So, that’s what limited Judah. Now, let’s do another case. We’re coming to the Hebrews, all right, but first let’s look at the guy called Barak. His name is lightning, Barak. Okay, so here we go. In Judges 4, «And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron». Now, see, chariots of iron again, right? So, let’s see what happened. «And for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time». So, at that time Deborah was a prophetess and she was judging Israel.
Isn’t it amazing we have women prophetess, and some people say that women cannot speak in the church. They misinterpret what Paul is saying, amen? If a woman is a prophetess, she needs to speak, okay? And she’s not a single woman, she has a husband, her husband is Lapidoth, okay? So, what happened was this, she appointed a man to fight. She’s a prophetess, she appointed a man. Of course, the Lord spoke to her, and drop down, and she’s talking to the man, his name is Barak. And she said to Barak, «'Against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army». You all know Sisera? He got nailed, right? His head got nailed.
All right, what happened was that he was… okay, let me tell you a story real quick. You know, he was running away from Israel and his armies were all scattered because God gave them the victory. He ran into a tent, he told a woman can I just hide, not hide, but she knew who he was and she allowed him to lie down there for a while and she gave him some milk but he was hiding there. And you know what milk do to you, right? It makes you sleepy in the daytime, right? Even at night, a glass of milk. So, he fell asleep. When he fell asleep, this woman, her name is Jael, she took a hammer and a stick and she put it on his forehead and she slammed him. He was nailed. Fixed, he was fixed, all right? And he was a commander of King Jabin’s army who had all these hundreds of chariots of iron, amen?
So, that’s the story. That happened later on, but in the beginning, actually what happened was this. This Sisera who got nailed with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon, «And I will deliver him into your hand». Who is the your? Barak, God wanted Barak to destroy Sisera, but what did Barak say? Barak looked at the prophetess and said, «If you will go with me, then I will go, but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go». So, the prophetess said, «So she said, 'I will surely go with you, nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking. For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.'»
Was that God’s purpose? Was that God’s plan? No, go back again. All right, what did God say? I will deliver him, Sisera, into your hand, but because he says unless you go with me I will not go, you limit the Holy One of Israel. God says then there will be no credit for you. The credit will go to a woman whose name is Jael. Are you with me so far? Now we come to the question that I left you all hanging weeks ago. Hebrews, the famous hall of faith, and we have this question asked in Hebrews. «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, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions».
Now, I was reading this one day and then I knew that there’s no insignificant details in the Bible. You know, Jesus quoted the Bible based on one word, and the Pharisees never answered, «You’re quoting based on just one single word,» as if the Bible is not inspired. They knew the Bible, the Pharisees, every word is inspired. Jesus argued that God is a God of not just the dead, God of the living, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He says I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He argued from the am, I am, elohi, elohenu. I am, present tense. I’m still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in arguing about the resurrection, and the Pharisees never said you’re arguing based on one word.
So, when I read the Bible and I see Gideon and Barak, wait a minute, chronologically speaking, who came first? Barak came before Gideon. All this in the Book of Judges, okay? Then Samson and Jephthah, wait a minute, Jephthah came before Samson. Samson is towards the end of Judges. In fact, he was the last judge. Officially, it was Samuel the last judge, but Samson was the last judge. Just like the time of the kings, it ended with Nebuchadnezzar coming in and the last king, his eyes were gouged out. The last judge of all the judges, his eyes were gouged out. In Christendom, the last church, the professing the people, not the true church, Philadelphia, but the last one, Laodicea, Jesus says you are blind.
So, in everything that man does, whether it’s through prophets, whether it’s through kings, whether it’s through priests, whether it’s through Christendom, it always fails if we forget the Lord is number one, central in our life. So, here we go. Samson came after Jephthah, but yet his name is mentioned first. What about David and Samuel? Who came first? Samuel anointed the boy David, right? If not, there’s no prophet to anoint him. So, David came after Samuel, yet David came first here. What’s the reason? I wanna venture a guess. I told you about Barak compared to Gideon, Gideon and Barak. Real quick, Gideon and Barak both had faith, or else their names won’t be here, but it’s not about time, it’s not about this.
When God puts a name first, it’s usually God’s priority. It means God favors that first. It is actually not based on time, it’s based on the quality of faith. It’s based on the excellency of faith. It’s a greater faith. As I showed you just now, Barak compared to Gideon, Barak’s faith was if you’ll go with me, then I’ll go with you, whereas for Gideon, his eyes was on the Lord. You know, he did put out the fleece, but obviously with God, God allowed it because he was looking to the Lord, whereas Barak was looking to the woman. Are you with me so far? It’s not about chronology, it’s about the quality. It’s about the excellency of faith. What about Samson and Jephthah?
You know, today I hear people preach against Samson a lot and all that, but let me tell you this, carnal as he is, he reminds us of all of us, but he had faith in God. His name is mentioned in the hall of faith. He made it to heaven, yes, of course, amen? And Samson and Jephthah, what about Samson? What did Samson do? What did Jephthah do? Samson, for example, here’s a story where he says, «He found a new jawbone of an ass, put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, 'With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of a donkey have I slain a thousand men.' And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called the place Ramath-Lehi, which means the exaltation of the jawbone».
All right, drop down, «And he was sore athirst and called on the Lord». He was sore athirst, means he was thirsty. Who did he call on? The Lord, he called on the Lord and said, «Thou hast given this great deliverance,» he gave God the glory. Say what you want about Samson, he knew where his deliverance came from. You have brought this great deliverance, «'Given this deliverance into the hand of your servant, now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? ' But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout. And when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived, wherefore he called the name thereof En-Hakkore». En is fountain, hakkore is the caller, the fountain of the one who called.
Okay, which is now in Israel, and one of these days I pray that you go to Samson’s house and the place where he was buried, it’s all there. And there’s no monuments by the way, only the place that is buried, there’s a Jewish tomb, but I’m telling you, it’s exciting. We were there this March, right? And, oh, let me tell you this, this is not based on law. If it was based on law, Samson failed the moment he picked up… go back again. When he picked up the jawbone, go back, go back, verses before, yeah. «He found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand».
Can you see that? He touched a dead carcass. He’s not supposed to. Nazarite vow, he’s not supposed to touch any dead body, and yet God brought the victory for him, because in a way he functioned like the Syrophoenician woman. It wasn’t time for the Gentiles but she reached out into the future. Faith would transcend time and space, amen? But he was not… effectively here he’s not under law, but he was under grace. He was functioning in faith in the Lord. He was looking to the Lord. Are you with me so far?
So, why was he put above Jephthah? Jephthah came first. Who is Jephthah? The Bible says he was the son of a harlot. He was called back. He was at first rejected by his brothers, rejected by his community, then later on they called him back when the enemies came because he was a warrior, but look at what he did. Samson called on the Lord, but Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, «'If you will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.'»
He made a vow to the Lord. When you don’t have a relationship with God, you will do a barter system. God, if you do this for me, then I’ll do this for you. It shows a weakness of faith. It shows inferiority. Are you listening, people? You don’t barter. Like, I was preaching a few months ago on «The Lord of the Vineyard,» the parable, right? The one that received the most favor for the least effort, right, put in a full day’s wage, was the one that trusted the landowner, whereas the one that bargained, and we bargain.
You know, that shows we are legalistic. Legalistic people bargain. Lord, if you do this for me, I’ll do that for you. If you do this for me, I’ll do that for you. That should not be, people. In our walk with God, he is our Father, you are his son, amen, and Jesus is your High Priest. He is the Good Shepherd. We have a relationship of love. Instead, we feel like God will not move unless I tell him, Lord, if you do this, I will do that. I vow to you. All vows are under the law. Believers don’t vow today, okay? Are you with me so far?
Okay, so you can see it. By the way, it’s a very sad story. You know who came up to see him first? He thought it was an animal, right? It was his daughter. He said whatever comes out I will offer as a burnt offering. Now, he did not kill her because God doesn’t want a human burnt offering, all right? The Bible says she bewailed her virginity. In other words, for the rest of her life, she gave her life up, all right, never married, okay? You can read the story, Jephthah’s story. So, nonetheless we don’t have time to go back to Hebrews 11 to see about David and Samuel.
Just to let you know, if you read 1 Samuel 8, we have the only mystic that I can see of of prophet Samuel, which was actually, he put his sons, 1 Samuel 8, «He put his sons as judges over Israel, but his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, perverted justice». And even though, you know, David loved his sons, David never placed his sons in position. It was his son Absalom that usurped the authority, all right?
So, there’s a faith quality. God forbid I should say anything untoward okay, or amiss about this wonderful prophet, Samuel. He has a story to learn. I mean, his character is amazing, but in terms of faith, David had faith that God really puts his approval on, amen? Are you with me so far? And then, go back to Hebrews 11, the last one is the prophets, you see? The prophets put last. If you look at all the names here, all six of them are ordinary people except for David, king. All of them are ordinary people, what is that saying? And God put prophets last. You would have thought the prophets, like Pastor Henry, Pastor Lawrence, all would be named first, right? But God put prophets last, why? God is saying ordinary people can walk in the excellency of faith, amen?