Heb. 11:32-34

32 And [kai] what [tis] shall I [lego] more [eti] say [lego]? for [gar] the time [chronos] would fail [epileipo] me [me] to tell [diegeomai] of [peri] Gedeon [Gedeon], and [te] of Barak [Barak], and [kai] of Samson [Sampson], and [kai] of Jephthae [Iephthae]; of David [Dabid] also [kai], and [te] Samuel [Samouel], and [kai] of the prophets [prophetes]:

33 Who [hos] through [dia] faith [pistis] subdued [katagonizomai] kingdoms [basileia], wrought [ergazomai] righteousness [dikaiosune], obtained [epitugchano] promises [epaggelia], stopped [phrasso] the mouths [stoma] of lions [leon],

34 Quenched [sbennumi] the violence [dunamis] of fire [pur], escaped [pheugo] the edge [stoma] of the sword [machaira], out of [apo] weakness [astheneia] were made strong [endunamoo], waxed [ginomai] valiant [ischuros] in [en] fight [polemos], turned to flight [klino] the armies [parembole] of the aliens [allotrios]. KJV-Interlinear

32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. NASB

Reference is made to six men from the Old Testament, to prophets in general, and an inference to Daniel and the lions den, and to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and the quenching of the power of the fire into which they were thrown.

Of all of these people, and this is but a short list of examples of folks that are considered to be great men of God, none of them were perfect in any way.

Gideon was considered to be the least of the least of his people. He wasn t much of a believer or even a man of faith in the beginning. Yet, God chose him to lead an attack with only 300 men, against an army that numbered into the thousands. And more than that, his 300 men had only trumpets, torches and pitchers with which they conducted their attack.

Barak is generally unknown even by folks who read the Bible. His story occurs in Judg. 4-5. He is told to launch an attack against an army who outnumbers his own. This he does even though he refuses to attack unless Deborah, the Judge of that time, accompanies him. She does and he receives no credit for the attack.

Although he led the attack and was successful, he was not interested in getting credit, only in having the symbol of God, accompany him. He feared God more than his enemy. He relied on God more than he wanted his ego credited.

Samson was yet another leader of his time. Though he was self centered and immature, he never doubted the source of his great physical strength and the miraculous power that God gave him.

Jephthah was a foolish man. He boasted in his vows as though God would accept his vows as some sort of bargaining chip. God honored his faith, despite his foolishness. Jephthah traded away his only child for Gods help. That trade was unnecessary and could have been avoided, but even in his faith in Gods help, Jephthah was blinded to restrictions from his own invented beliefs.

David is probably one of the more known personalities. He was a brash young man, yet brave. He trusted in God yet he was not without his own sins. He had many wives, many mistresses, and he even got himself involved in murder. He did not get away with anything in life. God never authorizes sin or crime in anyway, but God does honor faith.

God does not ever allow a person to get away with the abuse of faith either. So do not think that you can have life both ways. You are not that smart. And only a fool might think that he is smart enough to get away with a little sin here and there.

Samuel was a prophet. He did not fight foreign enemies, but he did have his hands full with the people of his country. Often times our greater problems come from people who are closest to us. The reason for these problems are generally because we are not all on the same page when we look at life.

Married couples do not get along because they do not have the same plans for their lives. Families break apart because they all have different plans for themselves. The same problem exists in politics, in business, in social organizations.

Aren t we lucky that in Gods plan, all three members of the trinity have and live by the same identical plan. They came up with it in eternity past and they all signed off on the same plan, and they have all kept with that plan and will never depart from it.

The Trinity all agreed that the Father would be the ultimate authority, that the Son would execute that plan and be the means of access to it, and that the Spirit would sustain and reveal all that is. Any other plan (religion) would be rejected.

In life we will all have different personalities, different goals in life, different views in life, and certainly we will all have our failures, misunderstandings, and misconceptions in life. But regardless of our failures, God always honors one thing faith. And not just any faith, but the only legitimate faith which is constructed by the daily study and function of the Word of God.

The list of great people of the Bible is a long list. The list of great believers in human history is a long list. But they are very short when compared to the list of people who have failed in life because of their indifference toward God or doctrine, which is a huge, huge list.

You should consider on which list you want to be included the long list or the short list.

Now is the time to post a prayer.