Hebrews chapter 11. We've been working our way through the book of Hebrews and specifically this chapter, the Hall of Faith, we've called it for some time now. In her last study together, we saw the walls of Jericho come down by faith. And we saw the Canaanite prostitute Rahab and her family saved by faith. Not only that, but she became part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. And we said her life, her testimony, her faith is a resounding example of this is what faith can do. In this chapter, we've seen Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Moses accomplish incredible things through the exercise of their faith. We've actually examined, re-examined the definition of faith as is given in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse one, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Awesome verse. Then we looked at the scope of faith, for lack of a better term. Hebrews 11 says that without this kind of faith, this active operational faith, it's impossible to please God. That's because this faith originates from Him and it's directed toward Him. It's activated because of Him and for Him. In our Wednesday night Bible Basics class, we noted Peter's appraisal of our faith. In 2 Peter 1, verse 1, he says this, Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours, our faith, your faith, is of equal standing with anybody's we read about throughout the pages of scripture. Because he goes on to say, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. We saw in Romans chapter 12 in verse 3 that our faith, your faith, is measured out for you, that it's a gift. So, before we really go on in our study and close out chapter 11 this morning, Lord willing, I want to just pause and take a look at what happens to us when we exercise our faith, put it into practice. Four things here very quickly. Number one, we focus on God's word not man's wisdom. We focus on God's Word, not man's wisdom. God's Word is the driving force behind all the choices in our life. It is an unwavering standard compared to every other standard. And I am so, so glad for that. So we focus on God's Word, not man's wisdom. Secondly, we focus on God's approval, not the approval of the world around us. Society without God. Their standards, their mores are constantly shifting. I could take time and bore you to death and just tell you about some of the changes I've seen in my lifetime. Unbelievable things that as a teenager thinking down the road I never could have predicted or believed that some of these things would be not only accepted but regularly practiced. God's approval is what we seek, not man's approval. Third thing, we focus on future rewards, not temporary satisfaction. We focus on future rewards. We've talked about several in this chapter who are looking for a city whose maker and builder is God. And that's what we're looking for. And we've talked about our heavenly home. read from Revelation chapters 21 and 22, and talked about how much we long for that. Finally, with all those things in place, then God uses us to accomplish what we could never do otherwise. God uses us to accomplish what we could never do otherwise. And as I was preparing for today, I was thinking about the original recipients of this letter to the Hebrews. Early on in the study, we've talked about what it cost them to believe in Jesus Christ. At that point in time, there were still eyewitnesses, those who had walked with Christ, those who had seen the crucifixion, those who had seen the resurrected body, who had watched him ascend into heaven. Thousands upon thousands were coming to Christ. But now time had passed. Judaizers were taking hold again. There was a temptation to return to the system and the structure they knew, to not meet together as a church anymore. And that caused me to think about what a blessing and pleasure it is to have you here. to be meeting, and I include those of you joining us via live stream and also on YouTube and sermon audio. It is a testimony to Christ's power to our faith to keep meeting, especially during this last year, during this pandemic, when many, many churches closed. I ran across some interesting information this week that I wanna just share with you. This is from the Legal Alert, which is a publication of the Christian Law Association. And it's entitled Church Attendance Down During COVID. So they say, first of all, the boomers, baby boomer generation, that's those of us born between 1946 and 1964, 40% of them stayed at the same church, 26% stopped attending, 11% switched churches. Next was Gen X. That's everybody born from 1965 to 1980. 31% stayed at the same church. 35% stopped attending. 17% switched churches. Next is the millennials. 30% stayed at the same church. Did you notice how that percentage is dropping? 50% stopped attending, 8% switched churches. This pandemic has revealed the faith or lack of it in many people, and that's why when I say, I'm glad you're here, or I'm glad you're joining us, I really mean it. This is a testimony to our church doing what we talked about in the last chapter of Hebrews, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. This is Christ's church. When we meet, when we come together, we're here to glorify him, to worship him, to honor him. That's why we do that. This is the exercise of our faith in action. So, we've arrived at the part of Hebrews chapter 11 here where the author says, in effect, you know, I could go on and on and on, implying that if you don't have enough evidence by now, or if you don't believe what you've been given, more won't help you. no more evidence really is needed than what's provided. In fact, that's what he says in the first part of Hebrews chapter 11 verse 32, and what more shall I say? Just to prove that he could go on and on, he does. In fact, let's just read the rest of the chapter. Let's pick it up in verse 32 and read through it. And it is, or will be by the end, a very convicting reading, by the way. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, and David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign enemies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even change in imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with a sword. They went about in skin of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated. I love this next statement. "...of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised." Here's where it gets convicting. "...since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect or complete. Did you see how he transitioned from them to us? To those of us who live in these days, the church age, where we have the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our midst when we come together and meet, where we have the complete revelation of Jesus Christ, the whole book, all the prophets, all the testimonies, all the examples of faith, we have right here, right now. We have been so, so blessed. What's our response? What can we learn from these imperfect champions of faith that we've talked about? The ones that are named and the ones that are not named. What effect should their lives and testimonies have on our own faith journey? Because all of these examples that we've seen and their intended impact for us will come down to one word at the end of this talk, this study today, and I'll share it with you then. But all of this, all of this information, examples, testimonies we've processed is gonna come down to one word. And as we close out our study in this chapter, I wanna just share with you five components of faith that present themselves in this text that sort of rise to the surface, at least for me. The first is the embodiment of our faith. The embodiment of our faith. We must always realize that the faith we're talking about here is faith in Jesus Christ. You remember that, right? All of this is about Jesus Christ. We're never asked to have some sort of a blind faith whereby we conjure up something based on an antiquated book, as the world sometimes alleges of believers. We've talked in our study throughout this book, but specifically in this chapter, about Jesus Christ. In fact, his pre-incarnate ministry. with Abel and Enoch, how they knew him, how these others knew about Jesus Christ. It's talked about, they were looking forward to his fulfillment, to this coming Messiah. We've talked about his present ministry, seated in heaven, interceding for us. The one who's gone to prepare a place for us, it says in John 14, one through three. We've talked about the fact that Jesus Christ is the creator, the creative agent. We talked about it in this chapter. We've talked about the fact that he is prophecy fulfilled, incredible prophecy, supernatural prophecy fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We've talked about his resurrection from the dead, about how he defeated Satan and death and sin by doing that. That's gargantuan proof. We don't need any more than that. So these examples we're given of these imperfect people trusting a perfect God are for our encouragement. And all of this means that we look forward to reward that's promised us in heaven and reunions with our loved ones that have gone on before. And these people we read about throughout the pages of scripture that someday we'll have the privilege to meet, but also renewal. We're gonna have new heavens, a new earth, new home. It is so awesome to be a believer in Jesus Christ. That's the embodiment of our faith. It isn't faith in faith. It isn't even faith in the people that we see, that we read about, that we've been studying. And I wanted to differentiate that this morning because so many people have so many different ideas of faith. And we've talked about that through this study, but I wanted to bring the focus right back where it belongs to Jesus Christ. If you'll remember the way this letter to the Hebrews begins in Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 3, it says this, long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he's spoken to us spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the world. He, that's Jesus, is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. How could you get a more superlative definition than that? A greater statement than that. He's the creator. He sustains the world by his word. He's the radiance of God's glory, the exact impact. And remember what we've said all along through this journey. Faith is only as good as the object of that faith. That's why so many people who have shaky faith, who put their faith in religion, or their own wisdom, or their own good works, or people like, let's just pick a few, Confucius, Confucian. We could list a number of people. The object of faith doesn't pass muster. Jesus Christ is the only one who's given this kind of majesty, this kind of authority. So the embodiment of our faith is in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Number two, the enactment of our faith, the actual exercise of it, putting it into practice, also rises to the surface throughout this study in Hebrews chapter 11. This kind of faith shouldn't be a factor in our lives. It ought to be the factor in our lives. If Jesus Christ is who he says he is, and we've placed our faith and trust in him, That ought to govern our lives, right? For two basic reasons. Number one, because as we've seen with these imperfect examples, it's just a matter of listening to God's word and surrendering to God's will. Doing what we know pleases Him. That's all these people did. We've talked numerous times about how throughout this chapter, time and time again, it says by faith, by faith, by faith they did these things. So it comes down to our daily walk. It comes down to our work, what we do for the Lord. It comes down to our worship. And it comes down to our witness. And so many try to just sort of complicate things in all of this. It's just a matter of trusting Jesus Christ and following Him. Because the second reason we consider here, why this should govern our lives, what else is there? What's left? I mean, when you really think about it, all that's left is man's wisdom. People that are quoted down through the ages, and some that are alive today, but all that's left is man's wisdom, and when you need it most, that's just not good enough. So the embodiment of our faith is Jesus Christ. The enactment of it, the exercise of it comes out in our walk and in our work and in our worship and in our witness. Just doing what pleases Him in every situation, in every choice. Thirdly, the enablement of our faith. I know this sounds simplistic and I know I've said it before, but it's just incredible that God would use us. Isn't it? Isn't it? It's just incredible that God would use us, but that's what He wants to do. He wants to use us in our faith to bring glory to Him. I mean, we look through the pages of Scripture and we see how God used the faith of the disciples. We see countless people throughout the pages of Scripture, as I said earlier, some named and some unnamed, including those in our text for today. And they accomplished way more than they ever could have imagined. We just look at those named in our text today. And our mind goes back to these scriptural examples as I'm sure the original recipients did as well. We look at Gideon who was a frightened farmer. He was threshing wheat in a wine press because he was afraid the enemies might see him. Then the angel of the Lord appears to him and calls him, are you ready for this? Mighty warrior. This frightened farmer, a mighty warrior. But you know what? God said, I want you to raise an army and go fight the Midianites. And he did it. He raised an army of 32,000 people, and then God, as if to just sort of test his faith a little bit more, cut that number down to 300. 300! But here he is, listed in the Hall of Faith. Barak, from Judges 4 and 5, Gideon's in Judges 6 and 7, if you want to follow up and read about that. Barak defeated Sisera and his powerful army, which included 900 chariots. But he refused to even go into battle unless Deborah the prophetess was with him. Samson we know about, Judges 13 through 16. He wasn't a godly person by anybody's standards. But in the end, he was willing to admit that he was wrong and willing to give his life to defeat God's enemies. He's listed here. Jephthah from Judges 11 through 12 was a son of a prostitute who trusted God and became a mighty warrior and then made a really, really stupid promise illustrating that even godly people acting in faith can take stupid pills and do dumb things, right? And then Samuel Samuel. You can read about him, and I hope you do, in 1 and 2 Samuel. God used him in so many different ways. He was a completely different kind of warrior. An amazing person that was asked by God to stand up to his own people. The only godly influence in that whole nation. And then at the end of his life, after all those faithful years of service, they rejected him. And God said to him, don't worry about it Samuel, they're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me. And then, it goes on in verse 32 to make reference to the prophets. I mean, he doesn't even have to go into detail here. These original recipients would have had an incredible knowledge of all of this. But you know, Jesus Jesus did go into detail in his denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23 verses 34 through 36. Jesus said this, I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, some of whom you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, watch this, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. We don't even know the details behind all these prophets. We have what's written in the Old Testament and oral tradition, that sort of thing. I'm so glad for their faithfulness, aren't you? I'm glad for everybody who stood faithful in the light and circumstances of extreme difficulty. And that leads me to the next one. We have the embodiment of our faith, the enactment of our faith, and the enablement of our faith that God will use us in ways we may not ever understand or may never see. In fact, I have some examples written down that I would share with you right now, but it's too personal. I don't think I'd get through it. So we come to number four, the endurance of our faith. the endurance of our faith. My point here, just being faithful doesn't guarantee miraculous deliverance, does it? From our problems, from our heartaches, from our challenges. In fact, one commentator said sometimes it takes more faith to endure than it does to escape. Look at verses 33 and following again. Actually, just skip down to verse 35. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, and that word indicates that it was a continual, ongoing thing. I think the original root word meant beating of a drum. refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with a sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. All these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. They endured. faithfully, right to the end. The life lesson here, we get so focused on results, don't we? We get so focused on results, we have no idea what God wants to accomplish through us. We look at some of the heroes in scripture. We look at the Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 12, he said, there was a messenger of Satan given to torment me. And I pleaded with God three times to take it away, and God said, I'm gonna paraphrase here, okay? Shut up, Paul. I want that there to display my strength through your weakness, so shut up and get the job done. Elisha. who was given a double portion of Elijah's power and influence. Elijah, his predecessor, his mentor, got taken to heaven, didn't die. Guess what happened to Elisha? He got sick and died. Sometimes we endure. We don't know what God wants to accomplish through our life or death. Remember, and this is important to remember, God commended them for their faith, not what they accomplished. Okay? God commended them for their faith, not what they accomplished. We may not see the fruit of our faith in our lifetime. And again, I could tell you about people who didn't see that fruit in me. Someday I'm going to thank them. Finally, number five, the elevation of our faith. The elevation of our faith, what God sees in us, and what he will do in and through us. As I said, I love what it says in the first part of verse 38, of whom the world was not worthy. There's some sort of a principle of reciprocity here. In other words, just as these people didn't deserve the sufferings they endured, The world was not worthy of the glory they represented. And it still isn't. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 17 and 18, verses we've shared before in this study, verses I go to often, For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. And Peter, also somebody who knew all about suffering, Peter said in 1 Peter chapter five, verses 10 and 11, After you've suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you to him be the dominion forever and ever, amen. That's good enough for me, isn't it you? The elevation of our faith. We said in our last study, it doesn't go unnoticed to God. It doesn't fall through the cracks. He sees our faithfulness, and he will reward it. So, here, as we close out chapter 11, we see the embodiment of our faith. It's in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Nothing else, nowhere else. We see the enactment of our faith, the exercising of it, the putting it into practice, and the enablement of our faith. God taking it and using it for his glory, doing more with it than we would ever know or imagine. And the endurance of our faith. Not seeing the results we wanna see, but trusting God for those results. Remembering, as I said, that God commended these people for their faith, not what they accomplished. And finally, the elevation of our faith. Knowing that God has provided something much, much better for us. When our faith becomes what is seen, our faith becomes sight. So, as I said, in a practical sense, at the end of all of this, chapter 11, this chapter of the hall of faith that we've talked about, it all comes down to one word. And that one word is the first word of chapter 12, therefore. What are you gonna do with all this? What's it really mean to you? All of this has just been given to us in incredible detail as we've studied these people's lives and what God did through them, but it wasn't given to us just for some sort of a history lesson. so that we can check the box saying, yep, know about that, yep, know that Bible story, yep, yep, yep. It comes down to therefore. What's next? What does it mean for you and me? And that's where we'll pick it up next time in our next study and see the perfect example of faith. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, you've been so good to us. We, this generation, this age, have been given more than any other. We have your completed word. We have all of these examples. We have the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our midst. We have these great and precious promises. Lord, help us to walk worthy of what we've been given. Help us to display our faith in our walk and in our work and in our worship and in our witness. Help us, Lord, to shine brightly for you. All of this we pray in the perfect holy name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.