February 2021 – jeffersonvann

THE PEOPLE WHO DID NOT RECEIVE

Hebrews 11:13-16; 35b-40 CSB

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

“Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.”

Our study of the heroes of faith concludes this morning, and we have saved the best for last. This is indeed a fine list of heroes, but it is a little different that all the other lists. All of the other heroes we looked at had names – famous names. But today’s list does not name a soul. Last week’s list was a who’s who of people who got to see God intervene in their lives with miracles of deliverance. But today’s list features no names, and boasts of no miracles.

After the apostle Thomas looked at the scar on Jesus’ side, he said to Jesus “My Lord and My God.” Then Jesus told Thomas “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:28-29).

Our Lord promises a special blessing for those who choose to trust him even if they don’t see miracles and have lots of victory stories. Those are the kind of people the author of Hebrews lists in today’s text.

These people are heroes of faith even though the world did not notice (38-39).

Their names are not written in this text, in fact many of them don’t even show up in the historical records. The author of Hebrews merely calls them “other people”, “others” and “they.”

God knows their names. They were “approved through their faith” (38). We are going to meet these special people at the marriage feast of the Lamb. They will have a special place in that celebration. For many of them, it will be their first celebration ever.

Let us not think that these people were second class citizens in Christ’s coming kingdom. No, God approved them through their faith. They saw the invisible God like Moses did. The fact that they were never rescued from the avenging angel by blood on their doorposts does not make them losers. The fact that they never passed through the parted waters did not make them losers. They were winners who ran the race well. They just have not yet crossed the finish line.

The world did not value these people, but their heavenly Father did. The very hairs on their heads were all numbered. They were more valuable than the sparrows. The author of Hebrews says “the world was not worthy of them” (38).

These people are heroes of faith because they stayed faithful when others gave up (35b-37).

• They stayed faithful to God when the world ridiculed them for believing.
• They stayed faithful when they were taken from their homes, and forced to wander about homeless and destitute.
• They stayed faithful when they were imprisoned because of their obedience to God.
• They stayed faithful when they were afflicted, mistreated, scourged and tortured without relief or release.
• They stayed faithful even when their faith led to their death – by the sword, by stoning, or even by being sawn in two.

Our Lord told us that putting our faith in him might possibly lead to our deaths. He said:

“”Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:34-39 NASB).

We learned from Rahab that faith involves risk. Rahab risked losing her life in order to preserve her life, and that of her family. Her life was on the line, and that line was a thin, red rope.

These heroes of faith will be rewarded at the resurrection (35, 40)

For today’s heroes, that red rope was the resurrection. They lost their lives for Christ’s sake. They did so, “not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection” (35).

The apostle Paul wrote that “if Christ has not been raised … then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (1 Corinthians 15:17-18 NIV). If there is no resurrection promised for us “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

These heroes of faith risked their lives for God, trusting that there would be another life in which their faith would be rewarded. They are still waiting for that reward. Jesus says “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me” (Revelation 22:12). The reward he has for us is a permanent life. Martyred missionary Jim Elliot knew about that reward. That was why he could say “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

What these heroes lost was the temporary lives that they could not keep anyway. We all have an appointment with death, and we are going to keep it. But what these heroes gained is a permanent life in the world to come with no pain, no sorrow, no wandering, no suffering, and no more death – ever.

And the best part – the thing that makes that good news for them and also good news for us – is that “God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us” (40).!

Jesus once told a story about a landowner who had a crop to harvest. He went out early and hired some workers, and promised them good wages. But he hired some more workers the third hour, more on the ninth hour, and even more on the eleventh hour. When it came time for him to pay his workers, they all got the same wages. He didn’t cheat anybody. He just decided to be generous and give them all the same reward.

When I think about these heroes of faith that we looked at today, I think it really isn’t fair. They were so much stronger in their faith than I have been. They were tested with so many more trials than I have been. They had to be faithful under the most extreme of circumstances. And I wonder what they will think of me. I feel like an eleventh hour worker. I didn’t suffer like they did. My faith has not been tested like theirs were. But the good news of the gospel is that our generous master is going to welcome them – and me – and you into his eternal joy.

Let us look again at verses 13-16:

In the end, the people who “did not receive” will receive – and so will we.

The author of Hebrews explains how we should apply his “heroes of faith” passage in the first two verses of chapter 12:

• “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It is commonly taught that the cloud of witnesses is all these dead saints whose spirits are in heaven. They are said to be witnesses of what we do down here on earth.

But that is not what the author of Hebrews is saying. A witness is someone who testifies to something. The cloud of witnesses is the biblical testimony of all these heroes of faith.

What the author of Hebrews is saying is that we should follow their footsteps and run the race with endurance like they did. Jesus is the one we are following to victory. He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Jesus perfectly demonstrated how to live by faith whether you receive or do not receive. One day he was starving in the desert, the next day he was feeding the 5000. One day he was raising the dead, the next day he was dying on a cross. But every day he was living by faith.

LORD, make us people of faith. Make us runners who keep our eyes of Jesus, and run the race with endurance like he did.

THE PEOPLE WHO RECEIVED

Hebrews 11:32-35a (CSB)

“And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead, raised to life again.”

We have been taking a good look at the heroes of faith that the author of Hebrews mentions in chapter 11 of his epistle. We have discovered that there are lots of people who have lived by faith. We have also discovered that there have been lots of ways of showing that faith.

As he concludes his chapter on faith heroes, the author of Hebrews talks about two different categories of people of faith. Today we are going to look at the first category. These are the people who received. In other words, they found some measure of victory by trusting God. He came through for them.

The people who have experienced victory by faith are diverse (32).

He says that “time is too short” for him to list all the winners he wants to list.

• He had listed Abel, who had only one shot at a life of faith, so he took it.
• He had listed Enoch, who walked with God when everyone else was walking away from him.
• He had listed Noah, who built a boat at God’s command and that boat saved him and his family.
• He had listed Abraham, who learned to trust and obey even the commands that didn’t make sense.
• He had listed Sarah, who learned that her limits are not God’s limits.
• He had listed Isaac, Jacob and Joseph whose faith in God went further than the limits of their own lives. They trusted God to be at work in their future.
• He had listed Moses, who saw the invisible God at work, and that enabled him to receive miracles at his hand, and to lead the Israelites in following his will.
• He had listed Rahab, who risked everything for her new-found faith in the God of the Jews.
• Now he lists Gideon, a coward who at first did not even trust God – he put him to the test. But God proved himself to Gideon, and he became a mighty warrior, and led Israel for 40 years.
• He lists Barak, a commander of armies, who had to put aside his own pride and seek the help of Deborah the prophet. He was both courageous and wise.
• He lists Samson, who failed God many times in his life, but knew that God would not fail him.
• He lists Jephthah, who was chased away from his family and lost his inheritance. But when war came, the elders came for him and he became a deliverer of his people.
• He lists David, of course, the shepherd boy who became the mightiest king of Israel, turning the nation into a superpower.
• He lists Samuel, a mother’s answer to prayer, and just the kind of man the nation needed to transition from the period of judges to that of the kings.
• Finally, he lists the prophets, who spoke the word of God to the people of God, even when they would not listen.

Now, if you are looking for a common denominator in this list, you will find very few. That is the point. Faith manifests itself in a million different ways in a million different people. Faith is a gift of God and he tailor makes each gift for each recipient. We don’t get our faith off the rack.

This tells me that we should not expect one another to be too similar. We have problems with this in today’s church. That is sometimes the cause of great divisiveness. When we want other believers to look like us, talk like us, pray like us, and worship like us.

History tells us that often the most effective and productive in the kingdom of God have been people who did not conform to everybody’s expectations.

Jesus’ disciples had that problem as well. John admitted this to Jesus. He told him that that they had seen someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and they tried to stop him. But Jesus told them not to stop these people because the ones who are not against us are for us (Luke 9:49-50).

Nature shows us that our God has created a world of amazing diversity. He has built diversity in the kingdom of God as well.

The ways of experiencing victory by faith are also diverse (32).

• Patriarchs experienced victory by faith and thus “obtained promises” even when it seemed impossible in the flesh.

• Warriors experienced victory by faith and thus “conquered kingdoms”, “became mighty in battle” and “put foreign armies to flight. This should be no surprise to us. After all, one of God’s titles is Yahveh Tsva’ot – the LORD of Armies.

• God’s people under the oppression of foreign rulers experienced victory by faith and thus “administered justice” and “gained strength in weakness.”

• God’s people being persecuted for their faith experienced victory and so “shut the mouths of lions” and “quenched the raging of fire” and “escaped the edge of the sword.”

• There are even a few examples of those who experienced victory by faith when they “received their dead, raised to life again.”

Yet all of these victories were temporary. Even those who were resurrected eventually died again. Why? The author of Hebrews tells us that even these heroes of faith “all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth” (11:13).

So, even this amazing number of heroes of faith only received a temporary deposit, guaranteeing a greater victory yet to come. The author of Hebrews calls that greater victory “a better resurrection” (11:35b).

The apostle Paul was looking forward to that ultimate victory.

“More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.” (Philippians 3:8-11 CSB).

Today’s text is an encouragement for all of us. We live in defeat so much that we need reminders from God’s word that victory is possible. We need to stay strong in faith and pray strong in faith. Our God is able. He was faithful to many in the past. He is just as faithful today.

THE MAN WHO SAW THE INVISIBLE

Hebrews 11:23-29

“By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin. For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward. By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible. By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites. By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned.”

We have been mining the verses of Hebrews 11 looking for nuggets of gold about faith. Our study has not disappointed us. In fact, we have been pulling out ore by the cart-loads. We have learned that those ancient saints we read about in the Old Testament lived by faith. They were justified by faith. They were rescued by faith. They were successful because they learned to trust God, and when they had an opportunity to demonstrate their faith, they took their shot.

Each of these heroes of faith lived up to the definition of faith provided in this chapter. We read in verse 1 that faith is “the proof of what is not seen.” A man or woman of faith sees something that the unbeliever does not see. The something is there, it just cannot be seen by the unaided eye.

Science tells us that there are lots of things that really matter in this world which cannot be seen by the unaided eye. Education, medicine, law enforcement and industry have adopted devices that help us see things too small for our eyes to register, or not visible for other reasons. Consequently, we have more justification now than ever in history to believe what the author of Hebrews tells us about creation. He tells us that “what is seen was made from things that are not visible” (11:3). You would think that our generation would have lots more people of faith since we are all taught to trust in things we cannot see. Sadly, the devil has taught us to ignore that fact, but in every generation there are heroes of faith who grasp it.

Today we are going to look at one of those heroes. We will examine the life of a man who saw the invisible. His name was Moses. His story is told in the first five books of the Bible, which are attributed to him as their primary author. Hebrews summarized Moses story in today’s text, and identifies him as “one who sees him who is invisible” (27).

Moses learned from his parents to trust the God who is invisible (23).

Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Moses, and his story of living by faith began with them. Before Moses could make any decisions for himself, they decided by faith to protect him.

Folks, we need to be parents like that. Our children and grandchildren will face dangerous things in this life, and they will be unaware of the danger. So, we need to step in and be brave enough to shield them from the danger that they do not see.

You know the story. You’ve seen the movies, and I hope you’ve read the book. Moses “was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.” In other words, they were moved to act by two things: their love for their child, and their loyalty to someone higher in rank than the king. They saw two things. They saw a beautiful child who needed to be protected, and they saw an invisible almighty God who they needed to obey.

Jesus told his disciples “do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:4-5). Amram and Jochebed’s fear of God was stronger than their fear of Pharaoh’s sword.

Because they trusted God to protect their son, he enabled them to teach their son about that trust. So, Moses’ first lesson in seeing the invisible came from those two faithful parents.

Moses lived his life trusting the God who is invisible (24-27).

Next, the author of Hebrews summarizes the life of Moses by highlighting six decisions that he made because he trusted the God who is invisible.

First, Moses decided who his real mother was. The text tells us that when Moses had grown up, he “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (24). He understood that to identify as an Egyptian would be high treason against his king in the sky.

Secondly, Moses decided to endure temporary hardship instead of giving in to temptation. He “chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin” (25). He could see beyond the temporary to the permanent. He could have lived as an Egyptian and enjoyed a comfortable temporary life. But he saw the God who is invisible and sided with him and his people.

Thirdly, Moses decided where his treasure was. He “considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward” (26).

I should point out that the author of Hebrews is not slipping us a fast one by inserting the name of Christ in his story of Moses. The earlier chapters of Hebrews makes the point that all of biblical history points to the person and work of Christ.

• In chapter 1, Christ is God’s Son who was with God in the beginning creating the world (1:2).

• In chapter 2, Christ is the captain of our salvation, made perfect through sufferings (2:10).

• In chapter 3, Christ is the apostle and high priest of our profession (3:1).

• In chapter 4, Christ is the great high priest who has passed into the heavens (4:14).

• In chapter 6, Christ has entered the holiest place as our forerunner (6:20).

• In chapter 9, Christ the mediator of a new covenant with a promise of an eternal inheritance (9:15).

Moses had been taught by his parents that the Christ was going to come in the future. Moses decided to be loyal to the future Christ rather than the present Pharaoh.

Jesus told a parable about a treasure a man found in a field. He sold all his possessions to gain that field, so he would have that treasure. Moses faced the same decision. So do we.

Fourthly. Moses decided where his reward was coming from. He could have looked all around himself and focused on enjoying life now in the palaces of Egypt. Instead “he was looking ahead to the reward” (26). He saw an invisible God with a greater reward that what he could experience in Egypt.

Fifthly, Moses decided what he did not need. He “left Egypt behind” (27) because he realized that although life in Egypt was tempting, he could not be in two places at once. He could not please the king without angering the invisible God. So, he chose to anger the king by pleasing God. Of all things, he did not need God’s wrath, so he had to exodus.

Finally, Moses decided to stay true to his faith. He “persevered as one who sees him who is invisible” (27). You see, the life of faith is not just a single choice. It is a million choices where we stay true to our faith commitment. Moses is a hero of the faith because he persevered. We come into the safety of God’s house by faith. We lock the doors and stay inside that house by perseverance.

Moses led the Israelites to trust the God who is invisible (28-29).

Next, the author of Hebrews highlights two incidents in the life of Moses where he led the Israelites to deliverance from death.

He says that by faith Moses “instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites” (28). Inside their homes, the Israelites were enjoying the Passover. Outside was the angel of death. He stayed outside their homes because of the sprinkling of the blood on the doorposts. The Egyptians did not trust in this invisible God, so they did not paint their doors. The death angel came and the eldest child of each family died.
The Israelites followed Moses and “crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned” (29). What made the difference that day? It wasn’t the Israelite’s confidence or self-determination. Those soldiers were just as confident and determined when they rode their chariots into the path of the parted sea. It was the invisible God who made the difference that day.

These two incidents highlight the role of leadership as the passing on of faith in the invisible God. Our heavenly Father wants us to not only believe in him, but also to lead others to follow him. Moses is a wonderful example of a man of faith who did that.

So, some questions as we reflect on the life story of this hero of faith:

• Do you see the invisible God?
• Do you make choices in this life based on his existence and authority?
• Are you leading others to walk by faith in the invisible God of the Bible?

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