Faith’s Feats

Let’s turn once again in our Bibles to Hebrews 11 as we work our way through the final verses of this chapter.  Hebrews 11.  We’re looking tonight at verses 29 through 40.  Hebrews 11, verses 29 through 40.  As we read these words, remember that this is God’s holy inspired and inerrant Word. 

“By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.  By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

“And what more shall I say?  For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.  Women received back their dead by resurrection.  Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword.  They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

“And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”

Let’s pray together. 

Father, as we consider tonight the heroes of faith that are found in these last verses of Hebrews 11, we pray that we would be encouraged, inspired, by the faith that they live by.  Great heroes of faith that stand as examples to us but also even more than that, point us to Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.  So as we look at them, may we see Him.  We pray these things in Jesus’ name.  Amen.   

Well, dear friends in the Lord Jesus Christ, over the last couple of weeks you no doubt have witnessed many heroes.  Olympic heroes – Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Cole Hocker, and we could go on and on with a list.  Not every hero, of course, is well-known like these heroes that we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks.

Let me introduce you to another hero.  This is the hero that, he didn’t win, back that up, this is a hero that participated in the marathon in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.  His name is John Stephen Akhwari.  He was from Tanzania.  He was running in the marathon and 19 kilometers into the 42 kilometer race, Akhwari had a very bad fall.  He wounded his knee, his leg was bleeding badly.  Seemingly his knee was dislocated.  Medical staff urged him to withdraw from the race but he kept on going.  He walked.  He limped slowly as the race went on.  Akhwari finished last out of the 57 runners who were part of the race, well over an hour behind the winner.  When he finished the sun had set, there were only a few thousand people left in the stadium.  Eighteen other runners had dropped out.  When he was asked later why he kept running, this was his answer.  He said, “My country did not send me 10,000 miles just to start the race, but they sent me to finish the race.”

You know, essentially no one knows or remembers, we know, but no one remembers who won the marathon in the 1968 Olympics.  But we do remember who finished last because he was a man who persevered in spite of trials, in spite of afflictions, who kept on going.

People of God, I would say to you tonight that that’s what faith does.  Faith perseveres.  Faith does not shrink back.  Faith keeps going and faith keeps its eyes ahead upon Christ.  We’ve studied many great heroes of the faith – Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses.  Heroes that are well-known.  Heroes that are found in every children’s Bible.  Every child knows about those heroes that I just mentioned.  

But tonight we wrap up with Hebrews 11, a few more named heroes, but a bunch of unnamed ones.  Great heroes and lesser-known heroes.  Yet all of them persevering, all of the trusting, all of them living by faith.

In our text tonight I see four things that faith does.  This is the outline of the sermon.  Four things that faith does.

First of all, by faith some trusted against all odds.  This is verses 29 through 31.  Three heroic events stretching from the Exodus to the conquest of the land of Canaan.

The first, this the story of the Red Sea.  We read it tonight form our bulletins.  When God took Israel out of Egypt, He literally brought them to a dead end.  The Red Sea is in front of them, Pharaoh and his army, 600 chariots, were behind them.  No place for God’s people to go.  In fact, when God’s people saw what was happening, they complained to Moses.  They said to him, “Did you take us out here in the wilderness just to die?  Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt?  We could have died there.  Why did you take us out here only to be slaughtered by Pharaoh and his armies?”

The Lord said something remarkable to Moses.  He said, “Moses, I want you to stretch out your hand and stretch out your staff over the waters of the sea and the waters will part.” 

People of God, that doesn’t make any sense.  First of all, to have waters part doesn’t make any sense.  Secondly, to stretch out your hand over the water and the waters will part makes even less sense.  But by faith, that’s exactly what Moses did.  He trusted God’s promise that the Lord would work salvation for them, that the Lord would fight for them.  The Lord said, “I will fight for you.  All you need to do is to be silent.”  And he stretched out his arm and he stretched out the staff and the waters parted and God’s people marched through the sea on dry ground. 

When Pharaoh tried to the same, our text puts it very vividly, when they attempted to do the same, the very same thing that Israel was doing, they drowned.  The waters came crashing down upon them.  By faith, God’s people acted and they were spared.

You move on to the city of Jericho.  The walls of Jericho.  An equally remarkable story.  Jericho is the first city that Israel encountered in the Promised Land, one of the oldest cities every built.  A strong city.  It had a spring of water which meant that Jericho could hold out against a siege for days and for weeks.  Its walls, archeologists estimate, were somewhere around 12 feet high, 6 feet thick.  Beyond the walls was a moat 27 feet wide, 9 feet deep.  This seemed like an impenetrable city.  And then the Lord again asked Israel to do a remarkable thing – I want you to March around the city for seven days.  The first six days march around the city once each day.  On the seventh day you’re to march around the city seven times.  When you hear the trumpet, given an extended blast, raise a shout, and the walls of the city will come tumbling down.

How long do you think one of our generals would last if he said to the Army, just go march around the city, raise a shout and the walls will collapse.  Don’t you think you ought to scale the walls of the city?  Shouldn’t you attack the gates of the city?  And the Lord says, “That’s not how this is going to happen.” 

God’s people trusted His promises.  The Lord had said to Israel, “I will give you every place where you set your feet.  Even Jericho.”  They trusted God’s presence because out before them as they marched around the city was the ark of the covenant.  The Lord was there.  He was leading the way and they believed.  Their eyes were set on the power of God more than the size of the walls and they marched around the city and the walls came a tumbling down.

Then finally we have the account of Rahab in this trio here, 29 to 31.  She lives on the wall of Jericho.  She had heard of the people of Israel, how God had given them victories in the wilderness.  The news had spread before Israel, so Israel’s marching their way through the wilderness and the news is going out before them and it reaches Jericho and Rahab hears about the wonders that God has been doing on behalf of His people.  She says to the spies who came, “I know that your God is God.”  So when they arrived, she hid them and helped them to escape from the city.  She sided with the enemies of her own people instead of her own city because she wanted to be on the Lord’s side and her faith was extraordinary.  She was a Gentile.  Verse 31 reminds us she’s a prostitute.  Yet she trusted in the God of Israel.

Her life is a reminder to us that your past doesn’t have to define you and it won’t determine the end of your life if you trust in God.  Whatever your life’s been like, you put your trust in Him and there’s hope and there’s life.

Three examples of people who were spared by faith, believing in spite of what their eyes told them, God and His Word were greater than what they could see.  What God was asking them to do did not make any sense at all and yet by faith they took God at His Word and they acted.

Second lesson that we learn here is that by faith some succeeded.  So by faith some acted in spite of what made sense.  Secondly, by faith, some succeeded.  This is verses 32 to 35, the very first part of verse 35.  We have here faith’s victories.  This section of Hebrews 11 is something like the podium of faith.  These are the gold medal stories.  Faith’s victory, the triumphs of faith.

You see how the form changes here.  Verse 32, we don’t have this verse starting by faith, but we have the writer of Hebrews saying what more shall I say, for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and so on.  The writer of Hebrews says I’m running out of time.  By the way, this is a good lesson for preachers.  Right?  What more should I say?  I’m running out of time.  Can’t say everything that you want to say.

But these descriptions, he doesn’t go individual by individual as he has previously in the chapter because these descriptions could be connected to many examples of faith.  He gives us, though, some judges here – Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah. 

Gideon defeated the Midianites.  Remember?  He started with 32,000 soldiers and the Lord said that’s way too many.  I mean, when you’re going into war, the more soldiers the better.  Right?  But the Lord says, no, that’s way too many.  Finally the number of 32,000 is whittled down to 300 men.  God says I want you to trust Me.  I want you to know that victory comes through Me.  I want you to act and step forward by faith.  And the Midianites are defeated. 

Barak, Samson, Jephthah, all of them delivered God’s people against enemies who opposed God’s promise of Israel inheriting the Promised Land.  There are all these various peoples in the land and God raises up Barak and Samson and Jephthah and others to defeat these enemies so that God’s people can enter into the promise that He has made to them.

By the way, all of these judges, deeply flawed leaders.  Great sinners.  Read their stories sometime in the book of Judges.  You’ll almost be appalled at the lives of some of these men and it shows us again that God by His grace uses broken and sinful people who trust Him.

Then you have here David.  We know about his stories.  Samuel, the prophets.  Then you have all these descriptions of what happened by faith.  Through faith they conquered kingdoms. 

Think about David defeating Goliath and driving the Philistines out of the land.  They administered justice.  Think about the ministry of Samuel the prophet judge.  They obtained promises.  Israel gains, for example, the Promised Land and Abraham receives a son even in his old age because of God’s promise to him.  They stopped the mouths of lions.  Think about men like Samson and David and, of course, think about Daniel, boys and girls, thrown into the lions’ den and the mouths of lions were shut up.  They trusted God and God delivered him in a mighty way.  They quenched the power of fire.

Can’t help, of course, but think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abdnego thrown into the fiery furnace and God saves them powerfully.  They escape the edge of the sword.  Elijah escaping from Queen Jezebel.  They were made strong in weakness.

Think back last week to Hezekiah’s healing going from being near death to having 15 years added to his life.  They became mighty in war.  They put foreign armies to flight.  Women received back their dead by resurrection.  Elijah raising the son of the widow of Zarephath and Elisha and his ministry to the Shunammite woman.

We could go on and on with examples.

Here’s the point, people of God, that by faith these heroes were at the receiving end of great acts of deliverance and help from God.  By faith they stepped out boldly.  By faith they did things that from a human perspective seem crazy.  They did mighty things and God rewarded their faith.  

It’s important to say that when great things happen by faith, it’s always by grace because it is God at work.  These are the mighty acts of God in response to the great faith of these saints of old.  Faith acts as it leans upon God’s power, God’s promises, God’s presence.  These are meant to encourage us to take God at His promises and to live boldly by faith.

I think about one of my nieces who was living in a marriage where her husband had been unfaithful to her.  She could have divorced him, she could have left him.  She had five children.  Day after day and time after time, she kept saying, “I’m just going to rest in the hands of the Lord.”  She remained faithful.  She just kept trusting God, kept trusting God, kept trusting God.  Sinned against, kept trusting God.  And the Lord created beauty out of her brokenness.  She has a restored marriage today.  She is living by faith.

This is not to speak about somebody else’s marriage and what you ought to do.  Various circumstances.  But this is a woman who said, “I’m going to lean upon the Lord, I’m just going to let the Lord take care of me.”  

I think about another young man at my last church who was a new believer and I was discipling him and we were talking one day about tithing.  I said, “You know, there’s a place in the Bible in the book of Malachi that says you can test the Lord.  Bring in your tithe and the Lord says see if I won’t throw open the floodgates of heaven.”  He’d never tithed before.  I said, “Well, you know, maybe just start with 3% of your income or 4% or something like that.  Start small and you’re going to work your way up.”  But I said, “Here’s one place in the Scriptures, maybe the only place in the Scriptures, where the Lord says test Me.”  I said, “Take Him at His word.  See what the Lord will do.”

That guy came back to me three weeks later and he said, “You won’t believe it, Pastor Tom.  I got a raise.”  I said, “Well, it doesn’t always work that way.”  But he was a young man who said this is what God has said, this is what I’m going to do, I’m going to act out in faith.  And the Lord responded in great ways.

By faith some succeeded. 

By faith others suffered.  Third group.  Verses 35 to 38.  The costly side of faith, the side where victory isn’t always seen.  These examples are important to us lest we think that there’s always going to be something marvelous that happens in our life when we live by faith.  These folks in this list remind us that sufferings don’t come necessarily because faith is absent.  No, all of these folks in this third list, they’re acting by faith, too.  The theology that says if you just believe you can have your best life now is utterly unbiblical as you look at these examples.

The determining factor, whether we escape or suffer, is not whether we have faith.  It is God in His sovereign will.  So what do we read here?  Well, others, there were women who received back their dead by resurrection, but verse 35 there were others who were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise to a better life.

Think about martyrs who are willing to die so that they might gain the resurrection to come, being willing to die for Christ because there’s a better resurrection than any kind that could experience here, that’s a resurrection at the last day.

The example here is of the prophets.  Nearly all the disciples of Christ died martyrs.  Think about the Apostle Paul, think about Jim Elliot, think about Graham Staines.  We could go on and on with the list.  They lived by faith.  Some were mocked, flogged, put in chains, imprisoned.  Joseph, Jeremiah.  Some were stoned.  The prophet Zechariah.  Some were sawn in two.  Tradition has it that the prophet Isaiah was cut in half.  That’s how he died.  Some were killed by the sword.  Some went about in skins of sheep and goats and destitute, afflicted, mistreated, wandering about in deserts, mountains, caves, holes in the ground, homeless, naked, economically persecuted.  The readers of the book of Hebrews.  You go back in chapter 10, verse 33, they were publicly exposed to reproach and affliction.  They joyfully accepted the plundering of their property, the readers of this book.

Verse 38 tells us that the world is not worthy of these faith heroes.  They did not belong.  They didn’t fit in this world.  Their hearts and the eyes of faith were set on a different world, different values, different loves, a different God.  The world isn’t fit to be called their home.  These heroes tower above an unbelieving world.  They suffered by faith, trusting God.

I remember hearing some years ago of a Chinese pastor, persecuted for his faith, imprisoned.  He was told that he must stop preaching.  He wouldn’t.  He was tortured, beaten, finally sent to a prison camp where his job was to clean human sewage out of the pit toilets.  He would clean those toilets standing in shoulder deep human waste.  After he was released, somebody asked him how he endured.  He said God blessed him there because he was left alone.  Even the prison guards didn’t want to be around him because of the awful smell so he could be on his own.  He said I was able to be with the Lord and sing.  He said this is what I sang.  He said I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses and He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.

I doubt any of us will ever suffer that way.  But we can expect to suffer for Christ.  No servant is above the Master.  If He suffered, we’ll suffer.  Friends, let our suffering be done in faith.

Then finally by faith, not just some, but all, must seek, must look to Christ.  This is verses 39 and 40.  We have here first of all faith’s testimony.  Verse 39 says that all these, all these heroes.  So go back to five weeks our time in Hebrews 11, all of these heroes were commended through their faith.  It’s a reminder to us of things that have already been said in this chapter.  Verse 2, by faith the people of old, we read, received their commendation.  Verse 4, God commended the faith of Abel.  Verse 5, Enoch was commended as having pleased God. 

Then we come to the summary statement at the end of the chapter, especially right after these descriptions of those who suffered by faith.  You see, the world may think we are fools.  The world might estimate that we are lunatics or trouble-makers for following God, for following Christ, for trusting His promises, but we are reminded here that we are commended.  Who are we commended by?  Who are these saints of old commended by?  They’re commended by none other than God.  All of these, though commended through their faith by God.  God is the One who takes the witness stand.  God is the One who testifies on behalf of the people of faith.  God stands up and says, “These are My people.”  What a testimony that God gives.

It’s a great reminder to us as we close out this chapter of faith, whose testimony is more important to you?  Whose testimony do you want to hear?  Is it the world’s testimony about you, what the world has to say about you, or is it God’s testimony?  Is it friends?  Is it coworkers?  Is it your neighbors?  Is it family members and all that they would speak about your life?  Or on the final day is it God’s?

That’s what we want, isn’t it?  The only commendation that counts is the Lord’s.  And to hear Him say one day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  You lived by faith, trusting Me.  Boldly acting upon your faith.”

All of that leads to faith’s climax.  These are the final words of the chapter.  It’s interesting.  Though commended through their faith, they did not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us that apart from us they should not be made perfect.  Though commended, these Old Testament saints did not receive what was promised.  In other words, they were still looking for something.  It literally actually says they did not receive the promise, singular.

What the writer of Hebrews is trying to tell us is that there’s an ultimate, over-arching, grand promise that all of the promises of this chapter wrap into.  The Old Testament saints received promises, they received the promise of a land, they received a promise of a son, but they did not receive the promise.  They were still looking.

What was that promise?  The promise is none other than the fullness of salvation and redemption in a Messiah as we know the Lord Jesus Christ.  That’s why the writer of Hebrews says there’s something better that God provided for us.  There is a privilege that we have that the Old Testament saints did not have.  They kept looking.  They were anticipating, they kept looking forward to a Messiah to come.  They were leaning upon all the promises of God.  They were seeing the sacrifices, the ceremonies, thinking about things like the Passover and saying, “When’s the Lamb going to come?”  All of these things that kept pointing them ahead.

There’s something better provided for us and that is the Lord Jesus Christ because we don’t have to look ahead, we can look behind.  They looked ahead in anticipation, we are able to look behind in fulfillment.  That’s why the writer of Hebrews ends saying God has provided something better for us that apart from us they should not be made perfect.  In other words, not apart from us but with us together as we are looking to Christ, they in anticipation, and we in fulfillment, are made perfect in Him.

Together, people of faith from both sides of the cross are able to enter the holy heavenly holy place through Christ.  You see then that Jesus is the climax to this whole chapter.  Jesus is the object of this chapter.  Jesus is the center of this whole chapter.  If we are privileged enough to go into chapter 12, keep studying, of course we’re reminded that He is the author or founder and perfecter of our faith.

Every hero of faith pointing to the ultimate hero, the Lord Jesus Christ.  That, you see, is where our eyes need to be looking.  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, it is the conviction of things not seen.  Our eyes, people of God, are upon the promises of God and upon Jesus Christ Himself.  The hope of His coming, the hope of life with Him forever one day.  Isn’t that enough?  It’s more than enough, isn’t it?  To help us to walk by faith, to say, “God, I’m going to risk it all, God, I’m going to lay down my life, God, I’m willing to have no friends, God, I’m willing to tithe of all that you’ve given me and more, because I trust You, I trust You, I trust You, for You have given me everything in Christ Jesus.”    

The way this chapter began, actually the previous chapter ended setting this chapter up, chapter 10 verse 39, “We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed but we are those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

You see, that’s the choice before us tonight.  Either shrink back or you trust.  Either, “Whoa, I can’t do that” or you step forward and say, “Lord, I believe.” 

May we be people of faith.

Let’s pray together.  Father in heaven, we thank You again for all the heroes of this chapter, for those here at the end who did great things by faith, who suffered great things by faith, and yet all looked toward the promise.  Those in the Old Testament not receiving it, those of us in the New Testament being heirs of it looking back, but all of us together only being made perfect in Christ Jesus.  So we thank You for Him.  May we be people who live boldly by faith, trusting You.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.