Hebrews 11: 30--40

An Olympic slogan says “Better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all.”

We have a view of winning and losing, but perspective can change that. Take that New York Marathon a number of years ago when one lady who was not supposed to even be walking, never mind running a marathon, limped across the line dead last amid the tumultuous cheers of the crowd, hours after the race had finished.

It is like that in some sense with these men and women of faith in our study, some performed mighty feats of faith, while others endured mighty defeats FOR faith.

Read 11:30-40

We see here the promise perfected.

1. Victors of faith 2. Victims of faith 3. Vindication of faith

In verses 30-35 lets see Victors of faith

v. 30 It was faith not force that overcame the city of Jericho I Joshua 6:20. We know the story of Joshua and the children of Israel marching once a day for 6 days and on the seventh day The walls fell down.

During that strange battle one lady, a lady of the evening in fact, was spared. She was spared because she believed in God and in the promises to Israel and she knew that her city was standing in the way of that promise’s fulfillment. As a result of that faith she hid the spies Joshua had sent and let them out after the search parties came and went.

Verse 32 moves on : She wasn’t the only example of faith. Time doesn’t permit to go into detail about Gideon who put huge armies to flight with only 300 men and trust in God .

Or Barak, who was a commander under Deborah the Prophetess who judged Israel in Judges 4. HE overcame the Canaanites 900 chariots NOT by might but the LORD delivered them into his hands. And Jael, a woman of Israel nailed the Canaanite leader Sisera in good shape, WHY? Because they believed what God had promised WOULD indeed happen.

And don’t forget Sampson, that sly old guy who played games with God and God’s law, but when all was said and done he FINALLY came to terms with faith. You may recall that his last act really brought down the house.

And Jeptha who vowed a rash vow to God, yet judged Israel 6 years and purged Israel of it’s enemies.

And David who unified Israel during the golden years because he believed in God’s future promises for Israel. And Samuel the greatest of the judges of Israel.

All great men and women of faith … not to mention the prophets.

Look at vv 33-36:

“Who through faith subdued Kingdoms.” Elijah and King Ahab for one. (relate)

Also when King Sennacharib of Assyria came to destroy Judah in II Chronicles 32 Isaiah the prophet prayed and cried to heaven and the Lord sent a mighty angel that CUT off the mighty men and leaders. The king had to turn tail and run shamefaced back to Assyria and in his own temple his own sons killed him.

Others worked righteousness by faith. Some obtained promises

Such as Elijah feeding a widow and her son, or calling from down from heaven.

Others stopped the mouths of lions (Daniel lions got lockjaw)

V 34 Quenched the violence of fire (Shadrach Meshach Abednego)

Escaped the sword. Some were puny but God made them strong warriors and turned the enemy to flight.

v. 35 Women received their dead back to life (Elijah)

These were mighty victories of faith. People who endured and did mighty deeds for God through faith.

I think that much of today’s Christianity would like to live there, claim that THAT is the result of all faith. That God always wants our physical success and welfare.

But in the next verses 35b-38 we are going to see some VICTIMS FOR FAITH. (My dad said to me a few weeks before he died: “Stephen, it is easy to pray thy will be done when it looks like a good outcome.”)

Some DIDN’T escape but were tortured. Acts Stephen was stoned to death rather than giving in to the demand to stop preaching. HE died, but gained greater reward in heaven.

V 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

Paul wrote in 2Co 11:23 -28 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

Some were stoned (Paul Stephen James) Many were persecuted beyond endurance, yet they endured.

V 38 is a pause, a parenthesis of honor, “They were persecuted by a world that was not worthy of them, so great was their faith that they gave up GAVE IT ALL UP for God’s glory. They were apparent VICTIMS for faith…BUT GOD KNOWS THE RESULTS and in verses 39-40 we see :

The ultimate vindication of Faith. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

A good report, a good testimony ( same word we translate ‘martyr‘) All of these people received a strong testimony, a witness of their faith but still did not receive the promise . The whole Kingdom hadn’t come yet when they died but their faith remained strong. But why HADN’T the promise come? Why hadn’t they received their resurrection bodies?

V 40 Because God’s time was not yet right, he had provided something better . God provided this in eternal council before the foundation of the earth. HE planned a way of salvation, planned complete access to God-BECAUSE OF US.

They didn’t receive the Kingdom before us because God had planned this whole church age, this age of GRACE- called “something better” The Church age is better than the Law age.

Remember? Better sacrifices, better priesthood, better high priest, yet even though this age is better than that one,, the age to come will be much more glorious. And GET THIS, God made Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all of those mighty ones WAIT FOR US so that together in Christ we could be all as one. (Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

… and we are united in faith with Abraham and the whole mighty entourage of faith.

So he says “Let us endure as well, let us be confident in God as well, even though we may endure hardship.

Peter puts it so: 1Pe 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

So you don’t like hardship, don’t understand trials… Be confident that GOD does and that he has a bigger and better future than this tiny existence here.

Exult with JOY that God cared so much for all so much that he planned this eternity for us who believe, and let us be confident in his promise as were our spiritual Fathers. Hang on, believe and be sure of God’s goodness even when the situation appears bleak. And this is the vindication of faith:

( Joh 14:1 =3 Let not your heart be troubled

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

I will return, I will return I will return….say it HE WILL RETURN.

What is your purpose?

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity..

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

7

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know

You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

God has a purpose and a plan, my dear ones, And it involves a great and wondrous forever.

Amen