A Word for Today | Hebrews 11:32-40
The visitors center at Gettysburg presents a circular panorama within which an observer may stand to view the entire drama of the great battle. The writer of Hebrews has done something similar in Hebrews 11. Here we have viewed the heroes of faith, seeing what faith brings and can do. As he wraps up his panorama with names like Gideon, David, Samuel, and Daniel, the writer concludes: “And all these [were] commended through their faith” (Heb. 11:39).
I would urge four great lessons from Hebrews 11. The first is that what matters is not the circumstances in which we find ourselves but our faith in God. Faith does not guarantee comfort in this world. Verses 35-38 state that some “were tortured,” others “suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains.” “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword,” while others lived in caves. So what did faith get them? Hebrews 11:16 answers: “God is not ashamed to be called their God.”
Second, faith suffices while we wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled. Many blessings come to the Christian in this life, yet the great point of this chapter is the one found in verse 39: “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised.” It is not here but in glory that we will be fit to receive what God has for us: “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). Thus we are encouraged in our faith, knowing that beyond the cross there awaits a crown. While we wait, faith suffices for the man or woman of God, for faith perceives and makes real the things that are yet unseen.
Third, Hebrews 11 makes clear that times of trial especially demand faith. This letter was written to those tempted to fall back because of persecution. But it is only those who stand firm in faith, even in hardship, who are joined to this honor-roll of salvation. Indeed, trials are designed to test and try our faith; burning away the dross so that what is left is pure and glorious to God. Jonathan Edwards rightly comments: “The divine excellency of real Christianity is never exhibited with such advantage as when under the greatest trials; then it is that true faith appears much more precious than gold.”[1]
For this reason, we conclude Hebrews 11 on a final note: it is only through faith that we are saved. Look back over this list of names, and those associated with these descriptions, and think of the great variety there is among them. Some were Jews, others were not. Some were rich and others were poor. Some were men, others women; some were loved, some were hated; some were successful, some were failures. What, then, is it that puts their names on this blessed list of God’s beloved? It is only one thing: faith. Someday we will look back and see how insignificant are so many things that we think so important now – our clothes, cars, houses, reputations – and realize that it is by faith alone that we gain Christ, the forgiveness of sin, and life everlasting. As John wrote: “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 Jn. 5:4).
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Phillips
[1] Jonathan Edwards: The Religious Affections, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1961) 21-22.