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It is always with great joy that I come before you to minister the word to you, and we find ourselves once again in the providence of God, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 11. For those of you that haven't been with us, we go through these verses, verse by verse, in an effort to glean all that we possibly can from them. And so this morning, we come to verse 32 of Hebrews 11. Let me read the passage to you.

"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,

"who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

"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.

"Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection;

and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.

"They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskin, in goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, ill treated,

"(men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

"And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,

"because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect."

Here we have one of those great passover passages in Scripture, a passage we tend to pass over without looking at very closely. You've probably never heard a sermon preached on this particular text. After all, it doesn't contain some profound doctrinal statement. It is not filled with pithy declarations pertaining to Christ and to the gospel, to the resurrection, to the kingdom, to heaven, or things like that. It doesn't rise to the level of soaring rhetoric that you would see in the Psalter. Instead, it's just simply a straightforward, almost a staccato like mentioning of Bible characters, some of them obscure; and circumstances of various historical events, some that are good and some that are bad. But upon closer inspection, as we look at this text, we see that every character and every event illustrates faith, illustrates what God can do with ordinary, even flawed people for his glory. And this is what makes this section of God's holy and inspired, inerrant, infallible, authoritative and all-sufficient word, all the more exciting. And I might add, practical. And certainly, this contradicts the heresies that you hear so often from the word faith, prosperity preachers that would have us believe that if you just have enough faith and say the right things, God is going to make you healthy and wealthy and successful and so forth.

Let me give you the context. Remember, the recipients of this letter were Hebrew people that had come to saving faith in Christ, and some who were considering it, but were kind of straddling the fence. And those that had come to faith in Christ were being persecuted severely by their family and friends, so they needed encouragement. They needed to understand more fully what faith in Christ really looks like, and the blessings that can be a part of that. And to that end, each of us need to hear what this text has to say. And in a nutshell, this whole letter speaks of the superiority and the supremacy of Christ. It's an extended argument pertaining to the deity of Christ. It affirms him as the Messiah of Israel. We see how he is depicted as being superior over the angels, over Moses, over the priests. Indeed, he is our faithful high priest, the priest of a better covenant, the perfect and final sacrifice for sin.

But as the writer moves along in his epistle, he knows, under the inspiration of the Spirit, that the people need to do more than just understand who Christ is. They need to understand what faith looks like. They need to understand what it is to live by faith. And he has said at the beginning of the chapter that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." So he is encouraging them to take God at his Word. You will recall that the Apostle Paul said that the just shall live by faith, not that the just shall have faith. Obviously, you have to have it. You've got to do more than just possess it. You've got to live it, and that's what the just will do. And James tells us that faith without works is what it's dead. It's phony. It's counterfeit. It's fake. It cannot save, so here, the writer continues to give examples of what this looks like in the past; people that had great faith, and therefore what it can look like in their life and in our life. And he wants us to see what God can do in and through a person that fully trusts him, that is willing to get outside their comfort zone and do what God has asked them to do, even if it may not make sense to them, to take him at his word, even if there's no guarantee that the outcome may be what we wish.

And here we see more examples, therefore, of what I would call praiseworthy faith. And I've entitled my discourse to you "Praiseworthy Faith" for that reason. And therefore, I'd like to examine this under two very simple headings. Here we are reminded of the praiseworthy faith of those who, number one, attained great things for the glory of God, and secondly, suffered great things for the glory of God. And I might add that every believer is going to experience both ends of the spectrum, and sometimes we experience both ends at the same time; we experience great joy and great blessing, even in the midst of great suffering and great heartache. But we must remember that even when we experience victory this side of heaven, even the victory is short lived, and so too is the suffering. But in both cases, God is intimate. He is in it. He is in it with us, for us ultimately, for our ultimate good and his eternal glory.

Now, as we approach the text, may I remind you that he has been describing the courageous, the triumphant, faith of of Israel and of Joshua at Jericho and even of Rahab the harlot. And now he continues in verse 32 and he says, "Now 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." In other words, I don't have enough time or space to continue to describe all of the things that God has accomplished through people who have trusted in him; and he just gives six heroes of the faith, six examples of praiseworthy faith, men who, number one, achieved great things for the glory of God. Let's look at them briefly.

First of all, he mentions Gideon. You remember that story in Judges, chapter six. Gideon was beating out his wheat in a wine press in order to hide it from the barbaric Midianites, the feared enemies of Israel. And because he was doing this in a wine press, it tells us that, number one, he had very little wheat, and number two, he was filled with great fear, because normally you would do this on a threshing floor.

And then the Lord appears to him, and he says, "'The LORD is with you, oh mighty man of valor.'" I believe that is a phrase dripping with sarcasm. Gideon then says to him,

"'O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, "Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?" Now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."'

"The LORD looked at him and said, 'Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?'

"He said to him, 'O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house.'”

And so we what we see in that story is the Lord is about to use a cowardly man who has basically given up on God, as I like to say, because I've been there; he's got his thumb in his mouth and he's whining. He's kind of on the couch, wondering, what in the world is going on, Lord, where are you? Boy, this is just the type of person the Lord loves to overwhelm. And so as the story goes, he asks him to get out some meat and unleavened bread and douse it with broth, so it's completely sopped. And then the Lord reaches out with the tip of his staff, and the whole thing is incinerated. And so Gideon thinks, wow, this is the Lord. God is with me. So he says that he's seen the face of God, and he builds an altar. And then that night, it's interesting, the Lord tells him to go steal a couple of his father's bulls and use one of those bulls to tear down his father's altar to Baal. Obviously, his father was an idolater, and then also tear down the wooden idol that he had next to that altar to Asherah and then use the wood from that altar to sacrifice one of those bulls unto the Lord.

As you read the story, Gideon knows that this is not going to have a good ending, and being the coward that he is, the text says he took 10 men of his servants and did what the Lord told him to do, but because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. So as you read the story, we see that this absolutely infuriates his family, the Baal worshipers. And so the text says that they get all of the Midianites, they get all of the Amalekites, and it says and the people of the East to join together to try to find Gideon and the other Israelites that lived in that area to destroy them. So God used Gideon to poke these people in the eye, so to speak. And although God had promised Gideon that he would have the victory over them, Gideon's faith, o it was weak. And so you remember the story, he throws out a fleece of wool on the threshing floor, and he's going to test God. He wants some more confirmation. So he says, you know, God, if all of the ground around this fleece is dry in the morning, but the fleece is sopping wet, then I know that you really meant what you said. And of course, that is what happened. God was compassionate to him.

So Gideon goes and gathers an army of 32,000 Israelites. But he says, hey guys, listen, we're way outnumbered here. So if anybody's afraid, feel free to go home. Well, 22,000 of them went home. So now you're down to 10,000 Israelites. In fact, the army was so vast in Judges 7:12 it says, "the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley like locusts in abundance; and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance." So God, then tells Gideon, you know what, the 10,000 is still too many. Oh, really? Yeah, too many. And so he says, what I want you to do is, when you come to the watering hole, all of those that kneel down to drink, I want you to let them go, and those who just kind of reach over and scoop up the water with their hand, they can stay. Now, many people say that the ones that scooped up with their hand, they were more alert. The text doesn't say anything about that. In fact, as I get older, I realize that those were the guys that probably had the bad knees and the bad back that couldn't lean down to get the water. So the Lord is probably using the more decrepit of the crew to go into battle. So there's 300 of them left.

Well now the odds are just right, just the way the Lord wants it. And according to the Lord's plan, Gideon divided up the men into three groups and gave them some fascinating weapons, gave them trumpets, torches and some empty jars. Of course, this was utterly ridiculous in terms of a military strategy, but this is what the Lord commanded. And so they obeyed the Lord. Then they surrounded this camp - a massive camp - from above the valley, the text tells us; and at 10pm Gideon blew his trumpet, and they did likewise. They unveiled their torches that were inside the jars, and they shouted "'For the LORD and for Gideon.'" You kids remember that in your Sunday school class? And the enemy was so frightened they began to kill each other. They ran hither and yon, and they fled in the dark in absolute terror. And the text says that Gideon then called in reinforcements from three of the other tribes to pursue them, and then the end, Gideon himself killed the two enemy kings. And in eight, verse 21, we read that he "took the crescent," that is the moon ornaments, "that were on the necks of their camels." They were also worn on the necks of the kings.

I wanted to add that, as a simple footnote, not only was the crescent symbol - the moon, half moon, the sliver of moon - used in ancient Baal worship, it was also used as a symbol of virginity and became the emblem of Artemis, Who was the most venerated of the ancient Greek deities, as well as her Roman counterpart, Diana. And it's no surprise that it was then used also as a symbol in the veneration of Mary in Roman Catholicism. And today it, of course, is a symbol of Islam, and now it adorns the even the badge of Muslim chaplains in the United States military. Truly, as First John 5:19 says, "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one."

Now time won't allow me to go into this much detail with all of these characters, but I do want to give you a sense of what God can do in and through people of little faith; people of weak faith, flawed people, who are willing to step out and obey him. Men and women like this little coward named Gideon, who became a great warrior by the power of God simply because he trusted in him, even when it made no sense. Folks, isn't it amazing to see how God loves to prove himself powerful in these ways, so that he gets all of the glory. And this is the great message in Hebrews 11 to the reader. Trust and obey God. Take him at his word. Watch what he will do. He will accomplish the impossible.

I'm reminded of the passage in Daniel 11, and verse 32 it says, "The people who know their God will display strength and take action." We want to ask ourselves, does this describe me? Or am I, like so many people, I claim to know and love Christ, I affirm his omnipotence and his sovereignty, and yet I'm ruled by the fear of man. Some friend posts some wicked thing on Facebook, some unbiblical truth, maybe some vile picture, and I remain silent. I wring my hands, pace the floor, whine about how bad things are, but I don't trust God. Dear friends, may I remind you that God loves to do the extraordinary thing in and through those who are just ordinary people - like you, like me, like Gideon.

Well, what about the praiseworthy faith of of Barak in Judges four? I would say Barak, but that tends to raise up images that may not be too pleasing to us, given our culture. What about Barack? You remember that God spoke to a prophetess, in his day, a lady named Deborah, and she, according to the Lord's command, summoned Barak to raise up an army of 10,000 to conquer a Canaanite king whose name was Jabin. And Jabin had a commander whose name was Sisera. And the text says that Sisera "had 900 iron chariots and oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for 20 years." These are basically ISIS of that day, okay? That's how you need to think of this. And Barak said, okay, I'll go, but Deborah, I want you to go with me, because you somehow symbolize and represent God. "Okay," she says. I'll go, but according to verse nine, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, "for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Very interesting prophecy.

So they go into the battle, and the text says, "The LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword." And as we read the text, Sisera gets off of his chariot, and he flees by foot, and he finally comes to a tent, and this woman comes out to meet him, her name is Jael, and she offers him some shelter. He is absolutely exhausted, so he goes into her tent and she covers him with a rug. But she has ulterior motives. The text says that while asleep, she took a tent peg and a hammer and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground. We might say she had him pegged from the beginning, right? And she drove her point home. I'm sure she had a history of being victimized by the Midianites. Who knows what the history is, but hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn. By the way, that's not in the Bible, I don't think, but there are some texts that kind of allude to that.

So once again, we see God working through ordinary people and doing extraordinary things, flawed people, even cowardly people. But he was willing to trust God, to obey God, even in the face of overwhelming odds. Barak had praiseworthy faith and achieved great things for the glory of God.

Then he mentioned Samson. You remember Samson, great story. He's from the tribe of Dan way up in northern Israel; another judge that God raised up to rescue Israel from the Philistines. You read about this in Judges 13 through about chapter 16. Another flawed individual, like all of us. This poor guy was ruled by a sexual lust. He was self-centered and egotistical. He was naive, gullible, but he knew that God was the source of his strength. And ultimately, he loved the Lord, and he wanted to serve the Lord. And Scripture reveals all kinds of examples of amazing feats of strength. You remember, a lion comes out and attacks him and he rips him apart with his bare hands and he goes to the town of Ashkelon, and he kills 30 men. I love the story where he catches 300 foxes and he ties some kind of a torch device between their tails and turns them loose into the fields of the Philistines, so that they burn everything down, which was a devastating thing for people in those days.

And then the story of how he took the jawbone of a donkey and he killed 1000 men. And then another one of my favorites is he rips off the doors at Gaza, and the text says, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the mountain that is front of Hebron. Folks, that's 38 miles. 38 miles. I've been there. I've traced that, his actual route, and it's uphill all the way. And by the way, I think this is all the more magnificent, proving the power and just the glory of God, because even though the text doesn't say it, I would imagine Samson looked more like Barney Fife than Arnold Schwarzenegger. And because of his strength, because of his commitment to God based upon his Nazarite vow, remember, he took a Nazarite vow, and that was symbolized by his long hair, but God removed that strength because he had a love for a woman that exceeded his love for God. And eventually this Philistine seized him. They gouged out his eyes. Terrible thing. They bound him. And we read how the lords of the Philistines brought him into, essentially, their temple where they were worshiping Dagon. There were 3000 of their people there. They brought him in to make fun of him and to laugh and say, See, our God is greater than Yahweh, etc.

Well, you know this story, Samson called to the Lord and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, o God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." And God empowered him to lean against the pillars, and he brought the house down and killed 3000 Philistines. Though he was sinful, though he was flawed, God used him. Doesn't that give you hope for us? It does me.

What about Jephthah? This is a guy that I wouldn't have included in the list, but as I think about it, he's a very obscure character in the Old Testament. But obviously this was a man that trusted God in ways that we really can't imagine. Jephthah was a Gileadite from the tribe of Gilead, however, he was the son of a prostitute, but also a mighty warrior. You read about him, by the way, in Judges 11. And God raises him up to deliver Israel from the Ammonites, and he became, ultimately, the ruler of the entire trans Jordanian tribes in that area in that particular time. But he was flawed. He tried to negotiate with God, a fascinating story. He tried to manipulate God at some level, make sure that God would give him the victory. He was very much a victim of his culture. So he made a rash vow to the Lord, saying, "If you will give me the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's and I will offer it up for a burnt offering." This was a very rash vow in those days. However, it was common for the pagans, as well as some of the Israelites who had, you know, bought into that culture, been influenced by them to offer to even sacrifice their own family members - even a child - as a deadly serious expression of their commitment.

Now, certainly this was not something God commanded, not something that God condoned, but God did grant him the victory, and of course, out of his house when he came home, the very first thing coming out of his house was his only daughter playing the tambourine, celebrating her father's victory. And sadly, in an act that is abhorrent to God, he eventually made good on his vow, and he sacrificed his daughter, who, by the way, gave herself up willingly. And this was consistent with the bizarre culture of that day. But once again, we see how flawed individuals can be used by God when they trust in Him. And he was used in a in an amazing way.

And then, of course, the author mentions David. We all know the story of David and how God used him to defeat Goliath with a sling; a man of great courage and man who loved and trusted God. In fact, in Acts 13:22, we read that God called him," a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." And yet we also know this was a man who was flawed. We remember the adultery with Bathsheba, the murder of her husband. But the general pattern of his life was a man who trusted in God, a man of genuine faith and repentance and loving obedience.

Then he mentions Samuel. Samuel, of course, was Israel's last judge. A fearless prophet who really bridged the gap between the judges and the monarchy of Israel. A man who was constantly at war with his own people; constantly fighting them because of their extreme immorality and idolatry, and yet we read how no one could bring a charge against Samuel. He was a godly man, yet many of his own people hated him because of his faithful, courageous proclamation of the truth of the Word of God. So here was a guy that you might say didn't have any likes on his Facebook page, right? Nobody really liked him, yet he is here. He is in God's Hall of Faith.

Then he speaks of the prophets. These were, this would refer to many others beyond Samuel, who were willing to trust God, regardless of the cost. Notice verse 33, "who by faith, conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions." That, no doubt, is a reference to Daniel, who was, you will recall, the victim of prejudicial hatred amongst the bureaucrats there in the king's palace; they devised a law that they knew he would not obey. But you will recall how that, with unwavering faith, Daniel prayed three times a day, facing Jerusalem. God heard his prayer, and Daniel knew that the punishment for worshiping any other God than the king was to be thrown into a den of lions and be ripped apart and eaten. A horrific torture. But he was fearless in the face of that torture. Why? Because he trusted God to preserve him, either in life or in death, whichever God chooses to do. Amazing story. So he was thrown into that den of lions. And you recall the story how God shut their mouths and delivered his servant, Daniel.

The writer of Hebrews goes on and describes those who, by faith, verse 34, "quenched the power of fire." No doubt, this is speaking of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who would not bow down and worship the golden image of the king. You might recall that story. Nebuchadnezzar was absolutely furious that they wouldn't do this, and he was very, very enraged, and he threatened them, saying, in verse 15, "If you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. And what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?" Don't you love the way the writer builds it up, you know something's coming here, right? Verse 16, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king," I love this, "'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But even if He does not," isn't that great? "Even if he does not let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.'"

Well, you know the rest of the story. They were thrown into the fiery furnace. But not only did God choose to deliver them, he decided to join them in the fire. Isn't that great? What a picture of what God can do in the midst of the fire; somehow, they are enjoying sweet fellowship in the midst of the flames. Beloved., this is the great reward of faith, and this is what the writer is trying to communicate to the reader.

He goes on in verse 34 who, by faith, "escaped the edge of the sword." We certainly see this in the case of David. Remember running from Saul in First Samuel 23. "From weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight." Then he says verse 35, "women received back their dead by resurrection." You remember the widow of Zarephath's son that was raised by Elijah in First Kings 17. And then you have the Shunamite woman's son raised by Elisha, his counterpart in Second Kings four. Women who suffered greatly, but trusted God to do the miraculous. They submitted to the words of the prophets. The prophets trusted the Lord and look what happens.

By the way, I need to make a footnote here, if you will bear with me. We must understand that God does not always work this way today, in the same way. More often than not, God chooses to glorify himself in our suffering than in our deliverance this side of glory. Moreover, there's compelling evidence in Scripture, and in history, that God does not currently use men and women as human agents to perform miracles in the same way he used Moses and Elijah and the prophets and Jesus and the apostles. In fact, as we look at Scripture, we see that he only worked in that way during three primary and relatively short-lived seasons of redemptive history, and always in connection with revelatory activity. As we look at those three seasons, we see the first season was during the time of Moses and Joshua, and it was during that time that the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua, and other books intermittently, were added. So he's using these miracles to authenticate the message and the messenger; this new revelatory activity.

And then later on, we see another season during the age of Elijah and Elisha; that was the age of the Old Testament prophets following the reign of Solomon. And there we see the rest of the Old Testament is written. And then we see it once again in the season of Jesus and the apostles. And of course, that's when the New Testament was written. But apart from those three intervals, we only see isolated incidents of incidences of miracles recorded. And the purpose of miracles, of course in Scripture, was always to authenticate the messengers of new revelation and call attention to the new revelation. And nowhere in Scripture is there any indication that the miracles of the apostolic age were meant to continue, because revelation ceased at the completion of the canon. We read about that in various passages in Jude, certainly in the book of Revelation; Revelation 22 verse 18, verse 19.

Nor does the Bible ever exhort believers to seek any miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit. We just don't see that; to seek signs and wonders there. In fact, there are only five commands related to the believer and the Holy Spirit. We are to walk by the Spirit, we are told "do not grieve the Holy Spirit," "be filled with the Holy Spirit," "do not quench the Holy Spirit," and "pray in the Spirit."

Now, with that little aside, let's go back to our text in Hebrews 11. Again, all of these are illustrations that depict what God can do in and through those who take him at his word, those who trust Him, those who obey Him. So first, we see here the writer speaking of praiseworthy faith of those who attained great things for the glory of God. Now secondly, we move to those who suffered great things for the glory of God. Notice in verse 35 he says, "and others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection." The term "tortured" in the original language comes from a root word "tympanizō" and we get our word "timpani" from that. Remember timpani? You've seen it in the orchestra. It's a kettle drum, a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of a skin that's called a head that is stretched over basically a large brass kettle. Or maybe, I think it's a copper kettle. I'm pretty sure it's copper. And the reason for this etymology is because it refers to a hideous form of torture that was used in the ancient days where the victim would be stretched over a drum like object, and then they'd be beaten to death with sticks and clubs. And many scholars believe that this particular text is a reference to a well-known incident that is recorded in Jewish inner testamental writings about a mother and her seven sons who were martyred because they refused to bow the knee and remained faithful to God. One such scholar, Paul Ellingworth, says this, quote,

"All eight endured barbarous torture because they refused to disobey God's laws. One moving incident in the story occurred when the pagan king asked the mother to encourage the last of the seven sons to renounce his faith and eat swine's flesh. The mother, who had seen six other sons die, said to her son, 'Fear not this tormentor, but being worthy of thy brethren, take thy death that I may receive thee again in mercy with thy brethren.' The son refused to obey the king's command, and the king treated him with greater rage than all the other sons."

Folks, when we read of these things, sometimes it's hard for us to grasp them, because we live in in a culture where these things are so foreign, but these types of things happen even in our world today, and we have to ask the question, "Would I be willing to suffer for Christ in this kind of way, knowing that he could choose to deliver me from it, but knowing that if he doesn't, he will be with me in it and ultimately deliver me from it, even in my death?" Are we willing to have that kind of faith? Are you convinced of obtaining, as the writer says, "a better resurrection?" Does that motivate you in your Christian life? A number of our listeners in other parts of the world face this every single day. I hear from them from time to time, and folks one day we may face it as well.

Verse 36, "and others experience mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment." I think of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet; Micah experienced this. Hanani, remember he was the one that rebuked King Asa in Second Chronicles 16.

Verse 37, "they were stoned..." This, I believe, is an allusion to Zechariah, the son of Jehoidah, who was stoned to death under Joash because of his prophetic condemnation of Joash and the people, and because he is the only prophet in the Old Testament to have been stoned to death, at least that's recorded.

He says, "they were sawn in two..." Tradition tells us, and extra biblical literature tells us, that this is what happened to Isaiah, that they put him in a hollow log and they sawed him in two. "They were tempted." This speaks of how torturers would tempt people to renounce their faith in the midst of their tortures. "They were put to death with the sword." Remember the Prophet Uriah, he was killed by Jehoiakim with the sword; Jeremiah 26. "They went about in sheep skins and goat skins." Now this might be a reference to the attire of the prophets, because we are told in the Old Testament that they wore clothes like this. In fact, in Second Kings 18, they're described as hairy men. That might be referring to that, but it also might be a reference to those who are forced into the wilderness to flee for their life and they have no clothing to wear, so they have to wear animal skins. He says they were they were "destitute." The term means you're constantly lacking food and water, something we can't fathom, can we?

They were "destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, (men of whom the world was not worthy)." Dear friends the ungodly, inveterate persecutors of the saints do not deserve to even have them living in their midst. "Wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground." Amazing, isn't it? These are saints. These are children of the king of Kings, vanished from society, living like animals. Why? Because the world hates them. Because the world hates the one that they serve and the message that they preach from the one they serve. And folks we see this kind of hatred growing even in our in our country, and it's growing, frankly, in proportion to the metastasizing corruption of sin that we see in our culture that's eating away at every fiber of our civilization. But these people had faith in the reward to come, right? And that's what we have to keep in mind, they derive strength and consolation from the sure word of God that speaks of our hope in Christ, like that magnificent passage in Isaiah 43 beginning in verse two, where we read, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you." He says, "When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."

Verse 39, "And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised." And of course, this is a reference to the preeminent, excellent promise of the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Savior and King, the one of which the New Covenant speaks. Remember now the new covenant is coming, and part of it has come already in this particular passage. That's what these new believers are being encouraged to embrace. The new covenant, with its spiritual and eventually physical blessings. The new covenant that has basically replaced the old covenant. This is what the old prophets...this is what the people looked for. These dear saints looked for this. They didn't have what we have. We look back and see it today. They were looking forward to it and hoping for it. Remember what Peter says in First Peter 1:10, "As to this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time, the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating, as he predicted, the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow." But you see, all of the Old Testament saints live by faith on the promises to come. How much more should we live by faith being able to look back and see the glory of the cross and the glory of the resurrection.

Because of this, the writer of Hebrews, says in verse 40, "because God had provided something better for us" - in other words, those of us living under the blessings of the new covenant that has replaced the old - "so that, apart from us, they would not be made perfect." In other words, he's saying that it wouldn't be until Jesus would come and his atoning work on the cross would occur that they would be able to experience the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament. And so the Old Testament saints looked back, or I should say, look forward to the Savior that was to come. And the New Testament saints look back to a Savior who has come. It's an amazing thought. The Old Testament saints, under the Old Covenant, were waiting for what Christ would do and the New Testament saints, under the New Covenant, look back at what Christ has done. I marvel at the faith of the Old Testament saints. I marvel at it. They only had a promise, whereas we have history. We have a closed canon of Scripture whereby God has revealed himself to us through His word. What a motivating passage illustrating the praiseworthy faith of those who attained great things for the glory of God and suffered great things for the glory of God.

Well, let me close with a few practical considerations. Again, we must ask ourselves, do do I exhibit this kind of faith? Would God put me somewhere in this list? Am I devoted to God being willing to trust him and trust in his power to accomplish something unthinkable in my life for his glory, not for mine. Do I take God at his Word, or do I secretly doubt him? Do I find myself always wanting to gravitate towards my comfort zone and not ever wanting to get out of it. I never want to go out on a limb for Christ. After all, somebody might not like me. Do I play it safe? Do I live by sight rather than faith? Do I ever really dream big for the glory of God? Most people will say, Well, you know what, those types of things, it's just not really me. That's not, you know, the way God has wired me. I don't have those kind of gifts, frankly, I don't have time. I mean, I got my family, I got my job. I've got all of these things, so I really can't trust God to do something incredible in and through me.

In the late 1700s there was a man in England who was a simple cobbler raised in an obscure village, very ordinary man, but he was burdened by the Spirit of God to exercise his faith, to do something great for the glory of God, to trust in God to do something incredible in and through him. He had very little education, but as a young convert, he decided to borrow a Greek grammar, and he began to teach himself New Testament Greek. His life was hard. He made very, very little money at insufficient wages, and he got married, and his wife gave birth to a little girl, and that little girl, his little darling, died when she was two years old, but he persevered. He trusted God. He continued to study and by God's grace, he even learned Hebrew and Latin. His name was William Carey. In 1729, he organized a missionary society, and in its inaugural meeting, he preached a sermon where he said this, "Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God." And that became his motto and the motto of many others. And within a year, Carey and his family, which by that time included three boys, were on a ship headed for India, where he served and suffered for 41 years. 41 years, by the way, without a furlough. And although his mission could only account for 700 converts in a country of millions, by the end of his ministry, by God's grace, he was able to lay the foundation of Bible translations that have led to the conversion of millions. And furthermore, he became the inspiration of the 19th century world wide missionary movement. In fact, because of his praiseworthy faith, God used him to inspire men like Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor, David Livingston and others like that to mention a few.

Dear friends, my challenge to you, in light of all of this, is consistent with what the writer of Hebrews is telling his early listeners, expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God. Real practically, young people, trust God to help you earn and raise the money to go on a mission trip. We may have an opportunity to take you with me to Africa next year. We've got other things planned. I don't know, whatever it might be. Trust God to teach you, dear friends, the great truths of Scripture; to know how to apply it. We offer that through the Soul care ministry discipleship that we have here. Trust God to give you the boldness and the words to speak lovingly, but forthrightly, to friends and family. I use the example of Facebook. I mean some of the stuff that people put on there. I mean two plus two is five. We need to love them enough to say no, by God's grace and by his word, it's four, and here's what the Word of God says. Trust God for those kinds of things. Now mind you, trusting God may not always result in earthly blessing, right? We've seen that. He doesn't always heal the cancer, right? He doesn't always rescue his faithful servant from the executioner. Though we may desire a different outcome, God always knows what's best for our good and for his glory. Whether in victory or in defeat, God is always perfectly just. And he will always reward us infinitely more than we will ever, ever suffer. And for this reason, the apostle Paul said, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." So folks, ask God to help you develop this kind of praiseworthy faith, because it is the desire of your heart to attain and even suffer great things for His glory. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for these eternal truths that are so poignant there. They are so applicable to each of our hearts. Lord, I pray that we will not be those of little faith, but of great faith. Lord, by the power of your Spirit, I pray that you will bring conviction to each one of us today and the various realms of our life, wherever we need to exercise faith in ways that we haven't before, I pray that today will be a new day where we will trust in you to do the supernatural. So we commit it all to you. We thank you. We praise you in Jesus' name, Amen.