Sermon: Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy

As you go ahead and grab a copy of God's Word this morning, we're gonna turn open to the book of Hebrews as we continue our way through that book. We're finishing Hebrews chapter 11 this morning. So Hebrews chapter 11, if you're wanna use a few Bible, you can use a Bible right in front of you. It's on page 1008 in the Pew Bible this morning. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 32 through 40. As we open God's word together,

let's pray before we read and hear God's word and hear it preached.

And Father, we need to hear you so that we can see you. So we pray that you would open our ears this morning, that you would through your word and according to your word and by your spirit, that word would filter into our minds. We would grip it and it would journey down into our hearts. It would open the eyes of our hearts maybe for the first time that it might just open them wider to see you. And the great gift that you have given to us in Christ.

It's in His name we pray. Amen. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 32 through 40. This is the holy and errant sufficient word of God. And what more shall I say for time would fail me to tell of Gideon Barack Samson, Jeff Haw of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms and forced 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 and deserts and mountains and, and dens and caves of the earth. And all these though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. Since God has provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. So the grass withers and the flower fades, the word of God is forever. Thanks. Speak to God. Amen.

Again, just to remind you of the context, especially for those that haven't been with us, the writer of Hebrews is writing to Hebrew Christians and they have been facing some form of persecution and it appears that even more persecution is on the horizon for them. And, and so he is writing to strengthen them and to encourage them to continue to hold fast to the faith that they have claimed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Someone stopped me a couple of weeks ago and they said, pastor Jason, they said you were moving at quite a clip through the book of Hebrews. And then we got to Hebrews chapter 11, and it's just like you slow down. And I said, that's exactly right, because the writer of Hebrews slows down when he gets to Hebrews chapter 11, you'll notice that as we were going through Hebrews chapter 11, he started going through individuals.

And so he takes his time. He goes through Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham, who he especially slowed down for, and then Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Joshua and Rahab. You may remember we said at the very beginning of this series that many scholars, and I think this is probably right, believe that this was some kind of sermon that was given, uh, was considered sermonic. And so the preacher of Hebrews, he seems to have some concept of the fact

that he's testing his congregation by slowing down. And so he gets to this point and he says, for time would fail me to tell of, uh, remember an illustration I heard once of a father that was in the sun with his congregate with his son in the congregation. And the, the preacher was in the pulpit and he had on his wristwatch and he took off the wristwatch and he laid it on the corner of the pulpit and the son looked up at his father

and said, dad, what does that mean? And his father said, not a thing, son, not a thing. Uh, well, this, this preacher, the preacher of Hebrew seems to understand he's, he's taxing it. And so now he's, he's gonna speed up for time, would fail me to tell of, and he just begins to list the people. Now, he is not gonna go into the stories. He, he just lists them by name and then he skips names and he just mentions the experience.

And then he's not even mentioning the experience anymore. He's mentioning simply the outcome of the experiences. I wanna look at these verses this morning by breaking them down into three parts. The first part is found in verses 32 through 35 A. And that details faith is faith's deliverance, faith's deliverance. Second, we have verses 35 B through 30 A, which gives us faith, persevering. And then finally, verses 39 through 40, we

have this morning faith perfected. So first Faith's deliverance. We saw last week in the account as he was going through the story of Jericho, that as Joshua had faith and as Ray had faith, had faith, and the the city walls we saw tumble down. And he was pointing out to us the the power of faith because the object of faith is the God who has all sovereign power. So though our faith may be weak, the object of our faith is not weak.

And so that faith itself is not weak because there is a powerful God that stands behind it and that leads him to what he addresses. Then here at our very, the very beginning of our passage this morning, he, he doesn't have time to go into all of the details, but what he wants to show is that the Old Testament people, time and again by their faith, they were delivered. They were delivered over and over. And so he just begins listing people.

He doesn't tell the details of the stories because they're famous stories. He expects that his people would know the history here, rightfully so, he gives six of them. Examples of faith's deliverance. First is Gideon, who you'll remember had an army that was whittled down by God to 300 men. And it was those 300 men and Gideon that will stand against the Midianites and judges. Seven. The Midianites that we were told were as numerous

as the grains of sand on the seashore. And they defeat them by faith. By faith they were delivered. Yet Barack also in judges who defeated the great general Caesarea and his entire Canaanite chariot army by faith, they were delivered. Then he mentions Samson, not a great man of faith, a man of little faith and many problems, but a man who had faith and a great God. And by faith, Samson is used as a deliverer of God's people from the Philistines.

He then lives lists Jah Jah, who is best known for having cursed his daughter when she walked out of the house. And then she had to be offered as a sacrifice. But Jeff Thaw was a man of faith and he was used by God to deliver the people of God from the Amorites. And then he goes to David, the the Great King, the man after God's own heart. That was such a man of faith, a boy of faith. Even as all the men of Israel are hiding

and afraid, he goes out to fight Goliath as a man of faith. God will use David to deliver them from the hands of the Philistines and the Edomites and the Moabites and the Ammonites and the AILITEs delivered by faith. And then he goes to Samuel, Samuel, that great prophet and that great judge that that man who was always willing to speak the truth in faith and was often used by God to deliver the nation of Israel from themselves by faith.

Faith delivers it, delivers, it delivers. It delivers time and again is what he's trying to show you.

I think we hear these stories. I know it because I know my own heart. We hear these stories. We think these are, this is long time ago. And often it just kind of becomes in our minds, it becomes a kinda a fable. It becomes a, a kind of little, little story. It doesn't have much, much gravitas, much weight. But what the writer of Hebrews is doing is saying, look, the, these are not just mere fables, these are not just stories you tell your children.

These are the things of history. The men and the women of faith that I've just listed, they were people of flesh and blood and each thing that he has mentioned, each event, you have the nation of Israel, you had the people of God and they are facing this great enemy. Their backs are up against the wall and it appears as if they're going to be destroyed,

that they're destitute, that they're without hope in the world. Every single one of these real flesh and blood people, he's saying what happens each time the people of faith are delivered by the God who is the object of their faith.

He delivers them.

The right of Hebrews is calling to their remembrance. What God does for his people. He will deliver his people time. And again, it's simply incumbent upon us to look to him in faith following these six, he, he then simply says, and the prophets, all great people of faith though facing significant enemies, they continued to abide in God by faith. Now here's the question. Was there faith perfect? No, not in any way. Samson a great example. Just a man of little faith.

He had more hair than he had faith.

Were they perfect men, perfect women? No. As much as he has cataloged their faith here, he, he could have written volumes just on the sins of Samson and David.

Yet they were people of faith. And faith delivers even the worst of sinners and the weakest of men having mentioned various people being delivered by faith. In verse 32, he then in verse 33, he continues that idea. He, he moves beyond the mentioning of names and now he simply mentions the outcomes of being delivered by faith. And he, he does so in three groups of three. So first he says, faith conquered kingdoms that enforced justice, that obtained promises.

And we have seen in the names listed that faith delivered Israel. It delivered Israel from the Philistines and from the Amorites and from the Midianites and from the Canaanites and all of their I cousins, every single one of them. Through faith he says they enforced justice. Literally they established righteousness by faith. He says they obtained promises. We think of Abraham having received, obtained the promise of a son by faith of David obtaining the promise

that he would inherit the throne by faith.

And on week ago, all delivered by faith from not just enemies is this point. But, but they were delivered from all of their longings. They were delivered from all of their circumstances. They were delivered from all of their destitution. And what he is trying to pass press home to you and I and to his listeners here, is that our faith, it it is not feeble. It has the power of God behind it. It conquers, it is establishes righteousness In a wicked

world, that's what our faith does. It receives the very promises of God. A a world that is filled with trial and tribulation and temptations. What's the answer in such a world? And his answer is, it's faith in God. That's the answer. Faith in a God who overcomes all. And so that leads him to the second set of three in verses 33 and 34, stop the mouths of lions. Quench the power of fire. Escape the edge of the four sword.

Who can forget Daniel having gone into the lion's den and remaining by faith or his friends going into the fiery furnace and remaining by faith or of Elijah and Elisha facing the swords of kings by faith. He's saying, look, faith delivers and it delivers by safeguarding in the midst of trial they were kept.

Third set of three is in verse 34. They were made strong out of weakness. They became mighty in war. They put foreign armies to flight. And these could describe a number of Old Testament people. Faith. It was not Joshua struggling in his weakness and made strong in faith or one thinks the jeha factor. Think of Nehemiah, they became mighty and war. He says, put armies to flight that could be set of numerous. Abraham could be set of Joshua, it could be set of David.

He's saying, look, faith delivers. It delivers now by conquering faith, delivers by conquering faith, delivers by safeguarding. And now we see by strengthening,

never underestimate what a gift faith is in this hostile world. Never underestimate it.

And that's what Paul calls it in Ephesians two. He says, it is a gift. It iss just something you and I receive faith. The spirit comes into us and regenerates us and we are given that gift of faith. And he writes his law upon our minds and he writes it upon our hearts. And we are now people of faith to gift a gift. How do you survive in in a world that's filled with trials and tribulations and persecutions by faith? But one of the things about faith, though it is a gift

and it's a gift that you and I received it, it's now that it's ours. It's, it's a thing that's to be nourished. It's a thing that's to be encouraged that we are to grow in.

I wonder if that's how you think about your faith.

If you try to encourage it and grow in it. Are you praying regularly to that end? Do you read the word to that end to grow in faith? Do you saunter into this room on Sunday morning or do you prepare yourself before you come here because you want to grow in faith?

I wonder how much effort we actually put towards growing in faith.

I wonder if we put as much effort into growing into faith as we do, or physical fitness or eating right or or studies or putting in our time at the office or I wonder if we put as much time and effort or just effort to growing in our faith. I wonder if we do that. It's the great pursuit in this world of the Christian to want to grow in faith, to give glory to our savior, to help us to withstand in whatever day that we are in whatever is coming down the road.

And even to stand in the day that we are in

faith offers us so much in this world. It then kind of sums it up by pointing to the resurrection that Elijah and Elijah did for the widow of Zfa and for the Shunammite woman respectively. For each, they raise their dead sons. This is, he's saying this is other worldly power, this faith, it can set back the worst of things in this world, this faith.

How do you grow in faith? How do you do that?

One of the first things that comes to my mind is that passage in Mark nine where you remember that there is the the father of a son that is demon possessed and that that son will be thrown to the ground and he will be convulsing and he will foam at the mouth and he will at times even throw himself into fire or into water to drown himself.

And this father, he is absolutely desperate. He wants to be delivered from this. He is in anguish for his son and he will approach the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says to him, if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us take pity.

We want to be delivered from this. Take pity. Help us Jesus.

And Jesus' response is very interesting. He says, if you can,

anything is possible for those who believe.

And what I love is the response of the Father.

It's, it's a response, but it's more than a response. It's a kind of desperate prayer that he offers. He says to Jesus, I believe, but help me in my unbelief. I believe. But my faith is not what it should be, what I want it to be. Help me in my unbelief. That's a good prayer.

That's a good prayer to be praying.

That's at least a place to start. We want to grow in our faith and our zero for Christ. That takes some pursuit. It doesn't just happen. That's a good place to start. Just crying out in prayer. Help me in my unbelief. No matter where you are at in the faith this morning, every single one of us can pray that prayer

that leads to the second section 35 B through 38 faith's, perseverance, faith delivers. But it doesn't always grant what we desire. This side of heaven. And that has unsettled many over the years.

This is no small pastoral issue. I found over the years I have sat with four year olds and I have sat with 80 plus year olds, four year olds that have faith in Christ. 80 year olds that have had faith in Christ for 70 years and are seasoned saints. And it's almost the exact same question, just phrased a little differently. Have heard it countless times. I don't understand why he would allow this to happen or I prayed and he didn't stop this

or he didn't answer this.

I wanted to be delivered. And I have faith and I prayed and he didn't deliver me thought. Faith delivers.

If you and I were to stumble upon a house that was being built and there was maybe the foundation was laid and that was about it. And all over the front yard, there's, there's all of the wood and there are cement bags and are are all kinds of nails laying all over the place. You and I would look at that and we would say that is a complete and utter mess.

But the builder knows what that all is going to look like. He, he knows how all that fits together and how it is going to make this glorious home. That's gonna be the envy of all the neighborhood. You just can't see it. 'cause you have limited perspective. The builder sees the finished product.

We can't see it all. I can't see it all. You can't see it all.

But he does. And he is worthy of our faith.

Some of my greatest heroes in the world are in this congregation are people that have continued to clinging to Christ in faith though they just, oh, they've just been run over by the truck of life and it just feels like it's run over them and then it's backed back up and run over them again and growing over 'em. We're gonna back up again. And they keep cleaning to Christ in faith. And I've said to a number of them over the years,

something along these lines is I've said, I want you to understand this. That with everything that you have been through, a mere human would've given up by now, would've given up on Christ by now. But you keep clinging to Christ by faith. And to me that is the greatest sign of his continued grace in your life. He's keeping you. He's keeping you. Did he keep you from this hard providence? He did not. But he has kept you from the hardest of things.

The greatest destruction. He's kept you from abandoning him. Did he keep you from that destruction? Did he deliver you from that thing? No. But he has delivered you from the everlasting thing and you continue to clinging him. That's evidence of his grace in your life.

He's keeping you.

He's at work. He hasn't stopped working. The author of Hebrews is pointing that out, that some went through what is the absolutely unthinkable. And yet he says their faith persevered. Persevered because it's necessary for faith to persevere. So he says in 35 B, some were tortured and he means to death. They refused to be released. Why? Because they knew that that would require the abandoning of their faith. If they were going to be set free, they would have

to abandon their faith and then they would not rise to a better life.

Most likely what the author is referring to here is the Maccabean Revolt. Uh, because of the language that he uses here. The Maccabean revolt happened in the intertestamental time happened between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Jews at the time had rebelled against the Antiochus epiphanies. And he had come in and he swept through the land of Israel in the city of Jerusalem and did great devastation. And there were seven Maccabean brothers

that led this result, this revolt. And all seven of the brothers were taken and they were put one by one from oldest to youngest. They were put on a drum or on a, a large wheel. It's actually the word is the word that we get Tempe from Tempe drum. And it was because they were put on this large drum and they were stretched out as far as their body could possibly go. So it was like their skin was being stretched out and then they would be flailed and they were tortured

and each of the brothers was dismembered in front of the other brothers until he eventually died. And all because they would refuse to eat the flesh of pigs, which the law didn't allow. It gets to the youngest brother where he has seen this happen to all six of his brothers. He cries out to the king. He says, what are you waiting for? I will not obey the king's command, but I obey the command of the law that was given

to our ancestors through Moses. And the writer of second Maccabees concludes this. He says, so he died in his integrity, putting his whole trust in the Lord. His faith persevered better to obey God than men.

The writer goes on to refer to our brothers and sisters who have been mocked. He says, and flogged and put in chains and imprisonment. Some were stoned, some saw, and two in particular. He is probably speaking of Isaiah here 'cause that's Jewish tradition that Isaiah was saw and two killed with a sword.

It's easy for you and I to read all of those and think well, that those are yesteryear. Those are the things of yesterday that doesn't happen in our time. That's what it looked like to live for God. That's what it looked like to, to be a Christian in the world. And so I did a little bit of research for you this week because what we live in is odd. This is odd. It's odd in the history of the Christian Church. It's odd.

You and I are meant to be ready for persecution. Jesus, when he was going to the cross, he warned the disciples that he was going to the cross. And then after he, he's telling them, look, after I am gone, you too will be persecuted. If they hated me, they will hate you.

They hated our Lord and our saviors. Surely if we identify with him, they are going to hate us.

Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary has a institute that examines Christian persecution. And it estimates that in the last 2000 years, 70 million Christians have been put to death for their faith. Now here's what'll shock you. In the 20th century, half of those occurred

open doors estimates that 5,600 Christians were killed in 2021 for their faith. 6,000 were imprisoned. 5,000 churches were Christian institutions were burnt to the ground. In one year,

the Christian and the Christian faith has been and will be attacked in every generation. It just hasn't been very painful for generations in this country to identify with Christ. But you're not to be shocked by it. You're to be ready for it. And how are you ready for it? You continue to look to Christ in faith and grow in that face so that even when it gets hotter, you can stand in the faith. We continue to nurture it.