Sermon #79 Hebrews Notes

Title: Faith Enduring

Text: Hebrews 11:35-36

Readings: Bobbie Estes & Rex Bartley

Subject: Suffering for Faith

Date: Tuesday Evening – April 2, 2002

Tape # W-94b

Introduction:

The title of my message tonight is “Faith Enduring.” Our text will be Hebrews 11:35-36. In this 11^th chapter of Hebrews the Holy Spirit is encouraging us to perseverance. In doing so, he has shown us numerous examples of faith in Christ. He has given us examples of devotion, sacrifice, consecration, and triumph. Here he gives us examples of faith enduring great trials and hardships for the glory of Christ.

Proposition: The Holy Spirit’s object here is to us that true faith must and shall be tried and proved by divine providence, tried and proved by enduring hardship, by suffering with Christ and for Christ.—All the evils here enumerated were brought upon these saints of old solely and entirely because of their faith in Christ.

(Hebrews 11:35-36) "Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment."

Faith’s Portion

It has ever been the portion of faith, the portion of God’ people in this world to be derided, reproached, insulted, and abused for their faith in Christ.

(1 Peter 4:12) "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:"

(1 Corinthians 10:13) "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

(Philippians 1:29) "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;"

(Galatians 4:29) "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now."

(2 Chronicles 36:16) "But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy."

(Lamentations 3:14) "I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day."

Our Lord declared, “He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” Faith, true, God given faith must endure and will endure the trials and sorrows that inevitably accompany it. To all who believe, our Savior’s promise is…

(2 Timothy 2:12) "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:"

(Revelation 3:5) "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."

(Revelation 3:12) "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."

(Revelation 3:21) "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

Count the Cost

It is a criminal thing for any preacher to call men and women to faith in Christ without warning them in advance of the cost involved in following Christ. The fact is, “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). The Lord Jesus tells us plainly that we should, before we make any profession of faith in him, set down first and count the cost (Luke 14:28).

Our Savior dealt with this matter openly and plainly. He expressly told all who came after him that following him, being his disciples, faith in him meant daily taking up their cross and following him. Things have not changed. If we would follow Christ, if we would be his disciples, if we live by faith in him, we must daily take up our cross and follow him. The path of faith is sure to take us through waters of adversity, rivers of woe, and the fiery furnace of great sorrow. The Son of God himself endured these things. All the saints of ages past have endured them, and so must we.

The Strength

But how can men and women be expected to endure tribulation with patience, hardness with meekness, and persecution with unwavering loyalty? Where is such strength to be found?

The strength of faith is not in us. The strength of faith is not in faith. The strength of faith is Christ, the Giver. Faith is a gift of grace that draws strength from its Source. Drawing strength from God, faith in Christ draws down from heaven grace to help in time of need. Faith in Christ gives believing sinners steadfastness of purpose, noble courage, and tranquility of mind in the midst of great adversity. As A. W. Pink put it, “Faith makes the righteous as bold as a lion, refusing to recant though horrible tortures and a martyr’s death be the only alternative.”

Yes, we are weak, weaker than water. Yes, faith often falters. Yes, believers fail oft and fall oft. But though the righteous man falls seven times a day, the Lord raises him up. And faith (divinely given and divinely sustained) will rise to the ocassion, saying with Christ, “the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11). Faith, God given faith, will endure all things and will endure to the end.—Let’s look at the examples[1] before us in our text (Heb. 11:35-36).

I. “Women received their dead raised to life again” (verse 35).

The historical reference to this is probably found in 1 Kings 17:22-24 and 2 Kings 4:35-37.

(1 Kings 17:22-24) "And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth."

(2 Kings 4:35-37) "Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. 37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out."

Our Lord tells us plainly “with God all things are possible.” As the Lord our God raised those two boys from the dead and restored them to their mothers by the word of his prophets Elijah and Elisha, so he is able to raise our sons and daughters from the dead by the word of his grace today.

· Bring your children to the Savior, like Jarius brought his daughter, like the Canaanite woman brought her daughter, like the man brought his demon possessed son. – “My child is grievously vexed with a devil!”

· Bring your children to God’s prophet to hear God’s Word.

· Pray for God’s blessing upon the Word preached.

There is another application of this to us. You and I, as we look to Christ have our languishing graces renewed to life, through faith. Thereby we "Strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die" (Rev. 3:2)! This is God’s Word to his languishing people, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. 5:14)! Still, we know, all too well, that our languishing souls will never take the initiative (Song 5:2). Faith responds to grace. It does not cause it!

· “Draw us, and we will run after thee.”

· “Turn us, and we shall be turned!”

II. "And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance" (verse 35).

Paul, who wrote these words, was once a persecutor and tormenter of God’s saints (Acts 8:3, 9:1). After God saved him, he endured the cruelties he once inflicted upon others (2 Cor. 11:24-27). And he chose to do so, taking up his cross, following Christ (Acts 20:22-24).

(Acts 20:22-24) "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."

“Tortured”

The word "tortured" here means "racked." Those Old Testament believers were put on the persecutor’s rack. Their bodies were stretched until their joints were ripped apart. That horrid method of torture a favorite of the papists during the times of Rome’s open persecution of God’s saints. By such means the representatives of the pope tried to force believers to recant and deny their faith in Christ. By this fearful form of suffering the graces of God’s people were tested and tried. But with believers the rack was impotent! Read on…

"Not accepting deliverance."

Deliverance was offered, but only at the price of apostasy. Two alternatives were set before them: deny Christ, or endure the rack; surrender of the gospel, or be tortured by devils in human form.

History tells us that believers were not only offered freedom from torture and death, but often were promised great rewards and promotions, if they would but recant. They steadfastly refused.

Thus, the real test was this.—Which did these believers esteem more highly the present comfort of their bodies or the eternal interests of their souls? Remember they were people of like passion with us. Their bodies were just as tender and sensitive to pain as ours. But their faith in Christ and hope of a better resurrection made them faithful unto death.

We face the same trial today, only without the rack. Multitudes lose their souls eternally for the temporary gratification of their bodies. Which do you esteem the more highly your body or your soul? Which do I esteem more highly? Our actions supply the answer. Which receives the more thought, care and attention? Which is "denied," and which is pampered?

“Not accepting deliverance.”— They had "bought the Truth," at the price of turning their backs on the world, the world’s religion, families and friends, bringing down upon themselves the scorn and hatred of all. They refused to "sell the Truth" (Pro. 23:23) earthly ease or even life itself.

“That they might

obtain a better resurrection”

“Not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.” Here is the basis of their resolve. These tortured saints were offered a "resurrection" if they would deny Christ. They were offered a "resurrection" from reproach to honor, from poverty to riches, from pain to ease and pleasure, from death to life.—It was a "resurrection" from the physical torture which threatened them (Heb. 11:19). But their hearts were occupied with something far, far better than being raised up to earthly comfort, earthly honor, and temporal reprieve from death. They anticipated that morning without clouds, when their bodies would be raised in glory, made like Christ’s, and taken to be with Him forever. It was this blessed hope that supported their souls in the face of extreme peril and sustained them in torment.

III. "And others had trial of mockings, and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonments" (verse 36).

No stone was left unturned in the persecutor’s merciless efforts to destroy the faith of God’s saints. Let us, when we are reproached for Christ’s sake and ridiculed because of the gospel of the grace of God, remember these steadfast pilgrims of old. We have not yet resisted anything!

The sneers of men, the unkind words of puny mortals are nothing, compared to what others have endured. Even the bonds of breaking hearts and the imprisonments of souls crushed in adversity and bodies decaying with age are far less than our brethren before us have endured. More than that, the things we are here called upon by our God to endure for Christ’s sake, are nothing compared to…

· The Lord of Glory has suffered for us! – Trial of Mockery! – Bonds! – Imprisonment! – Scourging!

· The glory that awaits us!

(Matthew 5:10-12) "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

(1 Peter 2:21-24) "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

Turn with me, if you will, to 1 Peter. Let me give you this word from God. It ought to be sufficient to sustain and strengthen us in the midst of any trial we are called upon in God’s wise and good providence to endure for Christ’s sake.

(1 Peter 1:2-9) "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."

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[1] "It may also be observed that the apostle takes most of these instances, if not all of them, from the time of the persecution of the church under Antiochus, the king of Syria, in the days of the Maccabees. And we may consider concerning this reason: 1. That it was after the closing of the canon of the Scripture, or putting of the last hand unto writings by Divine inspiration under the O. T. Wherefore, as the apostle represented these things from the notoriety of fact then fresh in memory, and it may be, some books then written of those things, like the books of the Maccabees, yet remaining: yet as they are delivered out unto the church by him, they proceeded from Divine inspiration. 2. That in those days wherein these things fell out, there was no extraordinary prophet in the church. Prophecy, as the Jews confess, ceased under the second temple. And this makes it evident that the rule of the Word, and the ordinary ministry of the church, is sufficient to maintain believers in their duty against all oppositions whatever. 3. That this last persecution of the church under the O.T. by Antiochus, was typical of the last persecution of the Christian church under antichrist; as is evident to all that compare Daniel 8:10-14, 23-25; 11:36-39 with that of the Revelation in sundry places. And indeed the martyrologies of those who have suffered under the Roman antichrist, are a better exposition of this context than any that can be given in words" (John Owen).