with you this morning. I invite you to open and turn with me again to the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews, again, chapter 11, though perhaps with some good tidings this, Lord willing, will be our final sermon in Hebrews chapter 11. We'll be looking this morning at verses 39 and 40. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 39 and 40. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 39 and 40. Please hear the word of our God today. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Thus far, the reading of the Lord's Word, may he bless it. Please join me once again in prayer. O gracious and merciful Lord, how thankful we are that you've not told the children of Jacob to seek you in vain, that indeed you have revealed yourself in the glories of Jesus and the glories of eternal life to us in order that we might by faith grope after them, that we might come into union through faith with Jesus Christ, that we might have the gates of splendor open to us. We pray that as we once again come and look for this final week at Hebrews chapter 11, that you would grant us the faith and the grace that we need to hear and to perceive what it is that the Spirit has to say to the churches. We pray, Lord, that you would build this up and that you would help us to endure this pilgrimage journey by faith in order that we might lay hold of the promise that is ours in Christ. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. The Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians chapter 3 verse 1 tells the Philippians that it is no burden for me to write to you again the same things. As we come to consider this morning verses 39 and 40, we have to have this mentality of Paul. Now, in a very broad sense, almost all of preaching is simply reminding God's people of what they ought to, should, and perhaps already do know. But as we come more specifically to these two verses this morning, you'll see that what we have in verses 39 and 40 is virtually a reminder. There's almost nothing new that's communicated to us here in these verses. The only new thing that we actually have is the last half of verse 40. But this morning, it is no burden for me to preach, and Lord willing, it's no burden for you to hear again some of the same things and the same themes that we have heard as we have worked our way for these last three months through Hebrews chapter 11. I do want to say at the outset here that these two verses, though short, They are greatly debated and there are several interpretations that we can say are flat out wrong and that we disagree with. But there are also several interpretations of this verse that are held by very esteemed and very godly and very reformed theologians. My aim this morning is not to walk you through these different interpretations. I am very heavily persuaded in one interpretation over another. But this isn't going to be a hill that I would stand or die on, and I do so in some trembling knowing that my interpretation disagrees with the likes of John Calvin, John Owen, Sinclair Ferguson, and men that I hold in very high regard. As we come to look at these two verses, I simply want to put forth for your consideration three points. We want to first look at the promise. We want to second look at the pattern. And thirdly, we want to look at the perfection. The promise, the pattern, and the perfection. The first point here is to deal with the promise as we have read often of it throughout Hebrews chapter 11. And if you needed to whittle down the main idea of verses 39 and 40, the main idea revolves around the promise. And it's found here in these words that, "...and all these did not receive what was promised." It's the main idea, if you will, of these two verses, that all these did not receive what was promised. Now we say that this is repetition because if you can remember with me back seven or eight weeks ago, as we looked at verse 13, that what is written here in verse 39 is very similar to what the writer said back in verse 13, where he wrote that these all died in faith, not having received the things promised. So there is a very close parallel here between All these did not receive what was promised, and verse 13, that all these died in faith, not having received what was promised. But I would note that there is at least a distinction that is made here, that the writer isn't simply regurgitating what he said in verse 13. Because you remember that as we looked at verse 13, as we came to these all, that that reference referred back to Abel and to Enoch and to Noah and to Abraham. And the writer back in verse 13 says that these characters, these people didn't receive what was promised. Well, as we come to verse 39 and we read, and all these, the writer has done is he has expanded all these. He's not simply referring to Enoch or to Noah or to Abraham, but he is referring to all of these Old Testament characters. He is referring not only to Abel, but all the way extending even to the prophets themselves. He's saying that all of these Old Testament saints, did not receive what was promised. This helps us. We're about to explain what was promised. This reminds us that the promise that Hebrews is talking about, that it isn't the land of Canaan, neither is it the kingdom of Israel, That ultimately this isn't what the promise to these saints were, but that there was something else that God had promised to them. And from a theological perspective, this is absolutely devastating to those people who would seek to divorce the Old Testament from the New Testament. Those people who perhaps think that God promised Old Testament Israel this set of promises, but He's promised the New Testament Church these promises, and there isn't much overlap between what God has promised. What the writer of Hebrews is showing us here in verse 13, is that the land of Canaan was not the ultimate promise, that the kingdom of Israel was not the ultimate promise, that everything that these saints received was not ultimately the promise. God has one promise for all of his people throughout all of history. So what is it that's promised here? What is it that they didn't receive? There are very good commentators. We think that here in verse 39, as we read that they did not receive what was promised, that they say that this promise refers to the incarnation of Christ. That is, that God had promised, as he did in the Garden of Eden, that the seed of the woman would rise up and that it would crush the head of the serpent. David was promised that he would have an everlasting heir to sit upon the throne of Israel, and there are some good, solid, reformed, Bible-believing gospel preaching commentators who say that what they didn't receive that was promised here was the incarnation of Christ. No, I don't agree with that. And I don't think that that's what the writer is appealing to here when he says that they didn't receive what was promised. Because chapter 11, rather than trying to divide Old Testament saints from New Testament saints, is seeking to build unity between us. And you remember, maybe you don't remember, that as chapter 10 closed in verse 36, that the writer of Hebrews said to this young and fledgling church who lived after the incarnation of Christ, for you have need to endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. See, what these Old Testament saints did not receive, the promise that they did not receive, it wasn't Christ's incarnation, but it was the consummation of glory. It was the day in which All of creation is renewed and restored and comes into its glorified state. It's the complete and the final fulfillment of all of God's promises to us that He has made to us in Christ. And this is what we argued for back in verse 13. But the writer of Hebrews here in verse 39 wants us to learn this lesson again. that is rich and as bountiful and as glorious as God's promises are. In this life we only begin to experience these promises. We only begin to see that God is fulfilling it. What we said back in verse 13 and what we will say again is that God's promises are primarily fulfilled in the future. That is that God's promises are not primarily meant to be fulfilled in this life or in this world or in my experience as I live here and make my pilgrimage of faith. God's promises and the fulfillment of them are primarily reserved for a future time. And the writer of Hebrews wants to remind us that all of these Old Testament saints never received what was promised. And neither do we. Never in this life will we receive the fulfillment of God's promises. Well, why is that? Why is that? Well, as we argued back in verse 13, it's not because God is mean. And it's not because God isn't powerful enough to fulfill His promises. And it's not like God is inhibited from fulfilling these or that He gets some sort of sadistic joy in dangling the promises before us and teasing us with it and saying, just kidding, I'm not really going to fulfill them here. but he doesn't fulfill his promises to us in this life as we've already noted. Because his promises are so great and they are so glorious and they are so delightful that it will require nothing less than heaven itself and all of eternity to fulfill what we have in Christ. Now this can weigh on our minds, can it? Remember that the Apostle Peter, in encouraging the church, reminded them that the Lord is not slack to fulfill His promises, as some count slowness. But He is long-suffering towards you, willing that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God's promises are so great and they're so glorious that they require nothing but heaven itself and eternity to fulfill them to us. As we look out at the world and perhaps even at the church, Maybe I'm misdiagnosing things here, but you see so many Christians, perhaps even ourselves, who fail to be so heavenly-minded, who fail to be so otherworldly, because we grow too satisfied with what this world can give us and what we experience here in this world. The writer of Hebrews is reminding us here is that these promises that await a future fulfillment, they are not simply icing on the cake of what we've already received in Christ. Perhaps the way that we could look at it is what we receive presently in Christ. That's the icing on the cake. But that we await a future fulfillment, we await a place, we await an eternity where God will fulfill his promises to us. And how this ought to drive us, friends, to meditate on heaven and to meditate on the fulfillment of everything that God gives to us in Jesus. They're beyond number. They're beyond comprehension. The first thing that we note here in verses 39 and 40 is the promise. That all of these Old Testament saints, for everything they experienced, and even all the graces that they received, still awaited the future fulfillment of the promise of God, even as we do. But our second point this morning is not only the promise, but it's also the pattern. You note here in the first half of verse 39 that the writer gives us a bit of a concession. He says that, and all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. We could picture this perhaps with a question. We might want to argue with God and say, OK, if I'm not going to receive the promises in this life, then what's the point of this life? What's the point of being a Christian? If I have to wait till then before I receive and see the fulfillment of all the promises that you've given to me, then why do you make me live now? Why can't you just immediately translate me up into glory where I can experience the fulfillment of these promises? What is the point of this life? What's the point of all these difficulties that I have to endure? What are the point of all these trials that you heap up on my back, God? What's the point of all these crises of faith and all of these sufferings and all these prosperities? What's the point of my life? And the writer of Hebrews tells us here that the point of our life is that we would learn to live by or that we would learn to live through faith. And that's why these Old Testament saints are put before us, to be reminded that in this life we must live by faith. We often have a very deficient view of what faith is. You can walk up to somebody and you might ask them, you know, do you have faith? They might look at you and they'll respond, well, yeah, of course I have faith. There's things in this life that I can't explain. I don't know how they happen. I just have to have faith that it's going to happen or these things have panned out the way that they do. It's very good for prideful humans like us to admit that there are things that we can't understand in life. But faith is more than a general belief in what can't be explained. I walk up to another person, say, do you have faith? And they might look at you and say, sure, I think that God exists. How can you not believe that God exists? Look at creation. Of course I have faith. Well, again, while that's a good thing to believe, it's a good thing to believe that God exists. Saving biblical faith is far more than just knowledge and professing that God exists. You might even ask somebody else, do you have faith? Do you have faith in Christ? And they say, well, yeah. I remember when I was 10 years old in Sunday school class, I accepted Jesus into my heart and I prayed this prayer. I said, yeah, of course I have faith. It's good to pray to Jesus and it's good to come to Him even at a young age, but faith is far more than just a past commitment or signing your name on some decision card. We often have a deficient view of faith. The writer of Hebrews has been going through these verses here. He shows us that faith isn't a substance that we put into our spiritual bank accounts. Faith isn't chiefly a noun and something that I come to possess. Faith isn't like a card that I carry around in my wallet so if somebody says, do you have faith, I can whip it out and say right here I've got my get out of jail for free card. What Hebrews 11 has taught us over and over and over again is that faith is primarily a lifestyle. That faith is a living without seeing. That faith is a lifestyle of living without receiving the fulfillment of the promises of God, that faith is a lifestyle of living by hope in everything that will be when we shall be glorified with Christ. Now we began Hebrews chapter 11 in early January, right at the start of the new year. And as we've marched through this chapter, we've seen how it is that faith has responded to all of these different situations. And even in the last four months, we know that there are some of you who in the course of the last four months have experienced more suffering than you ever thought imaginable. Your world has been absolutely ripped in two. And that there are others of you who, even in the course of the last four months, you have forged your way through some of the darkest valleys of life. And others of you who have faced all sorts of different crises of faith, and you have found yourself even calling out, God, are you even real? Do you even exist? Because I can't square what I'm experiencing with what I read in your words. And some of you have seen loved ones die. And perhaps some of you have even tasted and faced your own mortality as perhaps you've been diagnosed with incurable cancer. Indeed, there are others of us who've experienced great joys. who've experienced new grandkids or new children, who've gotten engaged or married, those who have known immense blessings and prosperities even in the last four months. We also know that there are some of you who will leave this morning, and either tomorrow or next week, you're gonna experience a whole bunch of difficult things. and trials that you're not ready for. Some of you will leave and you'll experience wonderful and happy things throughout the course of this year. The point of Hebrews 11 is that it asks again and again and again, in these times, where do you stand? Do you stand on the sands of this world or do you stand on the bedrock of God's promises? Are you living a lifestyle of faith? It's what Hebrews wants us to see in this chapter is that faith is our response to the situations that God puts us in. That faith is a continual believing in the promises and the blessings that are ours in Christ. that despite the pain or the pleasure of my present experience, that to live by faith is to live in the hope of the future fulfillment of these promises of God. And that's what these Old Testament saints patterned for us. They had a life of faith. They hoped in these promises regardless of what came their way, regardless of what situations they faced. And what we read here in verse 39 is that all these, though they didn't receive the fulfillment of the promises of God, that they were commended through faith. They were commended by God, that they received the approbation of God, that God is pleased when He sees His people possess their souls in patience, waiting for the future fulfillment of these promises. They received the praise and the commendation of God. And it's the pattern that we are called to follow. And make no mistake, friends, that those who live by faith will receive no commendation from the world. They will think of you as crazy. They will think, don't you understand that this life is about getting as much stuff as you possibly can. That this life is about being as happy as you can possibly be. In a world that tells us that we need to live our lives in the reality of the now and the present. And the world isn't going to look at you and they're not going to commend you. They're going to say that you're unworthy, that you deserve to be scorned and mocked and ridiculed and perhaps even killed. as some of these Old Testament saints were, they're going to consider you to be the off-scourging of the world. But from God's point of view, living like this is commendable. And we read in verse 38 that it is these people who live by faith, that it is they of whom the world is not worthy. That it is they who have won the praise and the commendation of God Himself. You see, the life of faith is how we live in the present by the hope of the future fulfillment of the promises of God. And we ask this morning, friends, how are you living? Now our third point this morning comes from the last half, well it comes from all of verse 40, but the New Thought specifically from the last half of verse 40, and bear with me as we work through this. We read in verse 40, since God has provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. Looking at verse 40, there are two dominant interpretations, even amongst the Reformed, and they're both biblical and they're both sound. The first interpretation here that as we read in verse 40 that God has provided something better for us, they read this as a comparison or as a contrast. We could simply say it this way, that one interpretation is that many have looked at this and they have said, look at how these Old Testament saints lived by faith in the promises of God, that they lived in a time before Christ had come and died on the cross and the fullness of God's revelation and salvation was exhibited forth. Look at how they lived. how faithful they were, and now you, dear Christian, who live on this side of the cross, and you've received far more than these Old Testament saints ever dreamed imaginable that they had ever experienced or known. You live on this side of the cross, and so, dear friends, how much more ought you to be faithful? That's one interpretation that people walk away with here in verse 40 as a comparison or a contrast that if they had this small revelation and you have this great revelation and they were so faithful, you ought to be even more faithful. And there is a place for speaking about that, but I don't think that that's what verse 40 means. My apologies to John Calvin and Matthew Henry and John Owen. The second interpretation, which I think is more accurate, is that this isn't a comparison, it's not a contrast, it's actually solidarity, what the writer of Hebrews is doing as he's bringing Old Testament saints and New Testament saints together. And he's saying that something better that God has prepared for us, it's the exact same thing that we read of in verse 16, that Abraham looked for a better country. And it's the same thing that we read of those who were tortured in verse 35, that they endured their torture in order that they might rise again to a better life. What has God provided for us that is better? It's not chiefly Christ's incarnation, but it's chiefly heaven. And it's the glories of what heaven will bring us. That was the ultimate hope of these Old Testament saints and it's our ultimate hope as well. So that these first century Christians who are living on this side of the cross, they had heard the prophecies that indeed The seed of the woman would come and he would crush the head of the serpent and indeed one would come upon whose shoulders were the government that there is one who would come that would make satisfaction and die for the sins of his people and now they're living on this side of the cross and perhaps scratching their head and saying, is this all there is? And the writer of Hebrews says, no. Lift up your eyes and see that there's something far more glorious that what Christ has done in his life and his death is but the beginning. of something that shall never end for all of eternity, that what you have seen in His life and His death is but the fringes of what God has promised to us. I think that's what the writer of Hebrews is saying in the first half of verse 40. Now that influences the way that we understand this very perplexing statement in the last half of verse 40, where the writer says that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. I think the sense of the last half of verse 40, if we could summarize it, would be this, that the Old Testament saints need something from us in order that they could be made perfect. It is that currently, and bear with me here as we flesh this out, currently, that is today, these Old Testament saints and indeed all those who have died in faith, though they're in heaven right now, they have not yet been made perfect. Before that happens, they need something from us. As I look at verse 40, the last half here, I see at least two questions that need to be answered. And the first one is, well, what does made perfect mean? If you're telling me that Old Testament saints who have died in faith and are now in heaven, and the saints who have gone before in faith, that they're in heaven, if you're telling me that heaven isn't perfection, then what is? You see, sometimes we work with this idea that when we die, we're immediately translated into the perfection of blessedness and of glory. And it's not a hundred percent true. Why is that? Our catechism reminds us, what do believers receive at death? And the catechism says, at death, our souls do immediately pass into glory, but our bodies remain in the grave. So these souls of these people who have died before in faith, their souls are glorified, but their bodies, as of now, remain in the grave. And as the catechism goes on in question and answer 38, well, what is it that believers receive at the resurrection? And the answer is that at the resurrection, The bodies of believers will be raised and they will be united again with their souls. And our catechism says that at that day they will be made perfectly blessed and the full enjoying of God forever. But until that day of resurrection, the Old Testament saints and those who have died are still waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise. They are still waiting to be made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God together in body and in soul. And the writer of Hebrews tells us that before that happens, before that day of resurrection, happens and they are made perfect, that they need something from us. So the second question that I see arising out of the last half of verse 40, well, what do they need from us? Because this is a very peculiar way to put it, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. Because as a Christian, what we would expect to read here is that apart from Jesus, they're not going to be made perfect. Isn't Jesus everything? Doesn't Jesus give us everything that we need to be perfected? Isn't He our Creator and our Redeemer? Isn't He the author and the finisher of our faith? Isn't He the one who justifies us and sanctifies us and glorifies us? Everything that Christ is for us, He is for these Old Testament saints. So what in the world do we have to contribute or to give to these Old Testament saints before they can be made perfect? It's a perplexing question. I spent hours meditating on this this week. I think the answer lies in this. What the Old Testament saints are waiting for is not something that we have to give or to contribute. That is, they're not waiting for the what. What do we have to give them? But the answer rests in this. Who are we? Because by faith, we as well are God's people and we are Christ's brothers and we are the Father's children. And because we are His people, these Old Testament saints and those who have gone before, they wait for us. They need us to finish our race of faith so that together we can be made perfect. The race, if you will, that the writer of Hebrews is speaking here. is not the type of sporting event where you have individuals competing against other individuals, and at the moment that individual crosses the finish line, they're ushered up to the stage and presented this great and grand trophy and told, well done, you've won, you've come in first place. What the writer of Hebrews is envisioning here is not an individual sporting event, but he's thinking of a team relay race. because in a team relay race when the person before you has finished their course and they have endured and they have passed that baton on to you, they now perhaps in this long race make their way back up into the grandstands and they stand there and they watch you as you run your leg of the journey and indeed if Christ doesn't return first there is coming a day when we will take the baton and we will pass it on to another generation we will take our seat up in the grandstand and we will watch as generations after us continue to run this race so that when this race is over it is not necessarily individuals who are being crowned but it is the entire team it is the entire family of faith that comes forth and they are crowned all at once in glory and majesty and dominion. And this is the testimony that we have of the Bible and this is the hope of Christianity that there is coming a coronation day and it is the day of the resurrection. Sometimes as Christians we can speak as though death were our ultimate entrance into the glorious and perfection of blessing. We can think that when I finally reach death, then shall I be perfected. And the Bible says it's not quite true. That we still await the last day. That we still await the consummation. that even the saints who have gone before await that day when the last trumpet shall sound and the Son of Man shall come in His glory. And He shall raise the dead first, and even those who are still alive will be caught up with Him in the clouds to be with Him. And in that day when our souls will be reunited with our bodies, and we will be ushered forth into everlasting and never-ending glory, now being made perfectly blessed in body and in soul, to enjoy God forever. In other words, what the writer of Hebrews is doing here in the last half of verse 40, is he is putting before us the great hope of not just heaven, but he is putting before us the great hope of the end of history for all of God's people. That day of final resurrection. That day of final consummation. And what a happy and joyous day that will be. When the church militant at long last becomes the church triumphant. And when the rolls of Christ's elect are finally rolled up and they are finished, and we take our place beside our Savior and our Redeemer to reign in glory world without end. And when every believer comes to see the fulfillment of Job's prayer in Job 19, that yet in my flesh I shall see God whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold Him and not another. And in that day when the martyrs cry of how long is finally quieted. What a glorious day it is going to be. Samuel Rutherford, my favorite Puritan, who wrote so eloquently and wonderfully of the love of Christ, a little known fact is that he's buried over there in Scotland. And another Puritan by the name of Thomas Hallibrook, when he died, he said, I want to be buried on top of Samuel Rutherford. And when people said, well, why is it, Thomas, that you want to be buried on top of Rutherford? Hallie Brooks' response was, because I want to be the first person to see Rutherford when he sees the Savior with his own eyes. And what a joy it's going to be in that day when Abraham shall at long last see in his flesh his Savior, and when David shall finally awake body and soul in that blessed estate, and indeed when all those who have come to Christ in faith shall see him with their own eyes. When Christ shall come with the myriads of his people, too numerous to count, like the sands on the seashore. when he shall finally at long last present his church with great joy before his father. And that day when we shall be ushered into the perfect blessedness, and we too shall receive the victor's crown. This is the day, friends, that even the just souls of those who've gone before await for. It's no wonder that Peter says, set your hope fully on the grace that is to be revealed to you at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what we have seen here in chapter 11 is that the writer of Hebrews has opened in verse 3 with the dawn of creation. It was by faith that the worlds were made. And he comes here in verse 40 and he closes with the dawn of eternity. The day when our bodies and souls shall at long last be perfectly blessed to the full enjoying of God forever. And it's in that day that we shall finally have the full fulfillment of all of God's promises to us in Christ. And it is in that day at long last that our faith shall be No more. These Old Testament saints have run their leg of the race. And now the baton has been passed to us. And until that day, we have a need to endure. We have a need to run. To live by faith in the hope of the future fulfillment. of all that God has promised to us in Jesus Christ. Amen. Please join me in prayer. O gracious and merciful Lord, indeed how kind you have been to promise us things beyond number in Christ. And with what joy we set our face and our hope to that great and glorious and gladdening day. when indeed even our bodies shall be raised from the grave and reunited with our souls, and at long last we shall behold him whom our soul loves. Give us the faith that we need to endure. Give us the faith of Abraham and David, of Moses, of Samson, of Abel and of Enoch. This faith that makes us to be people of whom the world is not worthy. And may we by faith win the promise of our endurance. eternal life. And we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.