Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. And as we have already stated, it's good to be here with one another in our midweek service. That the Lord would feed us with His Word, that we might eat upon it, the taste of the Lord. and continue to be in prayer for Brother Bush. He'll be coming and speaking Sunday evening and then presenting the work in Guyana. Lord willing, I have yet to check to see if there's anything up in that screen holder. I hope there's a screen there still. He's got some slides or pictures he's going to have. He's got his computer and a projector and so he'll be able to show some pictures to go with the trip there in Guyana to help give it some context. So be in prayer for him above all for the message and then as well as he presents that. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 32. Our subject is Again, the sufferings of faith. And in verse 32 it says, And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, verse 33, who through faith And then skip down to verse 35, women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And we're going to look here in verse 35, that by faith, there were others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. As we continue our look at the subject of faith, we observe the great sufferings of faith. And it needs to be noted that, humanly speaking, and understand this, these sufferings could have been avoided if they would have only accepted the deliverance offered to them by their torturers. They were being tortured. And all they had to do was, I'm sure you've heard this, all they had to do was recant their testimony. All they had to do was not preach Christ and Him crucified. All they had to do was not declare, thus saith the Lord, or live in a particular certain fashion, and all would have went away. Brother Pew related to me a story some years ago, and when he related it to me, it was even some years before that, when he was over in Romania, and they had to travel to another place, and they came to a village, and they were there. And he was conversing with a native of that area, and she had asked, and he had inquired with her as of her spiritual state, And she'd asked him about what he believed and he described unto her what we believe as the Lord's people, as His church. And she said, you know, you might be interested that on the other end of town, up there upon that hill, some thousand plus years ago, The Qafari, which means the pure ones, and that was one of the names of our Anabaptist forefathers, the Qafari, several hundred were killed and burned right up there. And so here it was, some thousand years later, with what Brother Pew had told her what he believed, she had identified a thousand years ago the people that were burned on that hill that were tortured and refused to be delivered. And so we find here that again, and this is something down through the ages, this wasn't new. This isn't, you know, well this only happens in these countries where these different opposition of religion. No, it goes on all over the world. The world is full of a thing called hate. And it's a result of sin. And we look at this and we find that there were those who were tortured and they refused. They could have avoided all of this if they simply would have not walked by faith. These here, as we read, were not closet believers or closet Christians. They were not ones who were ashamed to speak of others concerning Christ. I've known, I've been around people and even ministers of God who say, I don't pray when I go out to eat because I don't want to make a show of it. I'm making a show of it if you're praying unto God and asking God to give Him thanks and blessing the food and providing for it and again, giving thanks for it. Now if you are making a show of it, then you need to quit making a show of it and do it the right way. And I know preachers say, well, you know, I go places and I work secularly and nobody there knows that I'm a preacher or I'm saved or anything. I don't like to mix that. Shame on them. Here, these were not those who were ashamed of their Savior. who were ashamed of Jesus Christ. These were those who were living for the Lord. They were not only Christians at church or in the temple. But this was their livelihood. I once was at a homeschool meeting and one fellow, he came up to me and he says, and what does our Lord and Savior have you doing in His kingdom? I thought, what a wonderful way to introduce yourself or to inquire with someone. What does God have you doing in His kingdom? And I began to ponder that statement and to really dwell on it because that's what we're here, that's what we're doing is serving the Lord in and through His church for the furtherance of the gospel and the furtherance of His kingdom. And these here were engaged in that actively and openly, and for it, they were tortured. So let's look at our, before we get into our text, turn over to Daniel chapter 12. Because again, as it speaks of their obtaining a better resurrection, we find here that the Scriptures bear this out. And again, the book of Hebrews is filled with what Brother Crowder brought out, as I understand it, regarding what Christ had done as far as His high priesthood. It was better when He was in Louisiana. He had a better priesthood. He offered a better sacrifice. Christ is better. He is superior. And here Paul is saying that through faith, by not accepting deliverance, they obtained a better resurrection. And in Daniel 12, and notice if you go to verse 3, "...and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." Here again we find a reference, and again, this is unto the resurrection. These are those who served God openly in the fact that they were turning others unto righteousness. that they were living unto the Lord. They were declaring God's Word. They were making disciples. And we understand that God makes disciples. But these were engaged in that. They were turning others unto righteousness. And the Bible says of their resurrection, it says that they will be as the stars forever and ever. The reality is that some folks just kind of go through life, don't they? They're not engaged in turning others to righteousness. They're not really involved in serving the Lord. Now I want you to understand and note here that these that were tortured, it's not my desire to be tortured. It wasn't their desire to be tortured. I don't think it's anybody's desire to be tortured. But it is our desire to be faithful unto God. So let's look at our text, if you would, in Hebrews 11 verse 35. We find here that this reference in Hebrews 11 verse 35 where it says, "...and others were tortured." Oh, this is such a contrast to what's previously listed, isn't it? I mean, go all the way back here. And we look here in verse 4 where it speaks of, "...by faith Abel..." You know, Abel wasn't tortured. He was immediately slain, wasn't he? Cain slew him. We find Enoch was translated. Noah came through the flood. I'm sure there were mockings and ridicules, but we don't ever read of him being tortured, do we? We find a little further with Abraham. We don't find where Abraham was tortured, do we? We look into, and you continue on down through the Scriptures, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph, Moses, We go a little further with Joshua, and then Rahab, and we come down here now to this group of the judges, and even of Samson, who was tortured in that they put his eyes out. And so the Scripture tells us in verse 35, and others were tortured. The reference here is that these here, with the same faith, toward the same truths and the same God, Yet these others had a different thing that happened to them. Boy! Comparatively, Abraham had it pretty easy, didn't he? Comparatively, we read here in verse 33, that there were those that subdued kingdoms, those that wrought righteousness, those that obtained promises, those that stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the arms of the aliens. There were those whose women received their dead raised to life again, but these here were tortured. They had the same faith and the same Word of God. They had the same faith and the same God, yet they were tortured. You say, how is that? Well, the Scriptures tell us in Romans 9, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay? Does not God have power to do with you and with me as He sees fit? Absolutely. Didn't he tell Simon Peter in John chapter 21, there in those verses when he told Simon Peter, when you get a little older, this is how you're going to die. You're going to be crucified. They're going to lead you where you would not. And he turned and he looked at John and he says, yeah, what about John? And Jesus said unto him, what business is it of yours? You follow Me. You say, I heard that before, and I know you all have heard it before. It's still true, isn't it? Here we find a group, and I mean, just go over 33 and 34 again of Hebrews 11. Look at all the things that were done. They subdued kingdoms. They stopped the mouths of lions. They quenched the violets of fire. But these were tortured. How come God didn't stop the torture and have lion's mouth stopped, and fire quenched, and clubs stopped, and all the racks, and the dungeons, and all the things that happened unto them, the horrible, horrible things written in that trail of blood, or Fox's Book of Morse? How come God didn't stop those things? How come they were tortured? Because it is the potter who has power over the clay. That's why. because He may do with His own as He sees fit. Are we resolved to that end? Or are we, like so many today, avoiding serving God so that we don't have to deal with mockings, ridicules, cruel things, tortures, people saying things about us? Are we avoiding things on the off chance that we might get tortured? When's the last time we've heard of someone actually being tortured for a stand for Christ here in this country? Been a while, hasn't it? You say, well, some guy shot up some church that had nothing really to do with the fact that they were God-fearing people. Not one thing. So, even if it was going on constantly, we should be emboldened by it. I mean, I'm sure you all have read or have heard of in the Trail of Blood how it talks about a road heading into Rome that had the head of an Anabaptist on every fence post. That's our heritage. That's why it's called the Trail of Blood. Because that's exactly what it is. And again, we're not advocating that we go out and seek to, you know, go be martyrs. But scriptures do advocate that we be faithful unto God. That we follow Him and we trust Him, and if it's His will for fire to be quenched, lions' mouths to be stopped, or for us to be tortured, then that is in His hands. Christ knew what was ahead of Him, and yet the Bible tells us that He set His face as a flint toward Jerusalem, which speaks of Him being resolved to do what God had given Him to do. Now all these others here, we find if you'll turn over to 2 Chronicles chapter 36. 2 Chronicles chapter 36. And notice, if you would, here in verse 15 and 16. Here we find, again, remember, the reference here is unto those individuals listed and the prophets. And in 2 Chronicles 36, we find in verse 15 that the Bible tells us about... 2 Chronicles is written after the book of Daniel. It is looking back at what happened during the times of the kings. You have 1st and 2nd Samuel, then you have 1st and 2nd Kings, and then you have all the prophets and things, and you have the book of Daniel and Ezekiel and all those, then you have 2nd Chronicles looking back at what took place. That's why the names are different because there was that Persian influence in the spelling of the Hebrew language. And here's what gets said. Again, this is written looking back. 1 and 2 Kings is looking at it and forward. And notice what the writer records here. It says, And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up at times and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place, but they mocked. Again, past tense. They mocked the messengers of God and despised His words and misused His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people until there was no remedy. They misused them. They maltreated them. I'm sure you've heard about different nursing homes and things and these people are being maltreated or malnourished. They don't have enough nourishment. They're not treated in a proper way. That's what was done to the prophets. It wasn't because they despised the prophets, it was because they despised God and His Word. And since they can't touch God, they will go after the messenger. And if it's God's will for it to be, then that's what God's will is. And you know, people charge God and say, well that's not fair. You know, how could God do such a thing? And again, as we've stated before, that is the wrong question. The correct question is, how can God save any of us? And the answer to that is by grace. See, that's the problem. When people say, well, how could God let anything like that happen? Or, how could God do this? They are asking that question from a sense of entitlement that they deserve the very best from God or anyone else. The only thing we deserve is God to punish us with everlasting destruction from Him and eternal hellfire. That's it. Because we have sinned against Him. And so when we look at things from that presence, and if God sees fit to allow or bring to pass that we are tortured, so be it. So be it. I didn't say it would be comfortable. I didn't say we would go through it laughing and smiling and all those things. Because I'm sure there was great physical pain. One of the early either apostles or Timothy, I forget which, one was boiled alive and he survived it. I think that was John. Might have been two, I can't remember. One guy, because he was out protesting a pagan festival, they clubbed him almost to death. And then, a few days later, he expired from internal bleeding. And I read that a few days and then shortly thereafter, I got an email from Brother Crack and there they were down in Mexico and they were protesting one of their pagan festivals. That was four or five years ago. Preaching the gospel at one of their festivals that they have to whatever. But you see here that the things that these went through is just repeating itself in our day. It's been that way. As the writer said, there is nothing new under the sun. We look in our text of Hebrews 11 and verse 35, the word tortured here, To some, and again, and I don't think that either one is more specific or more than the other, the idea is torture. But to some, the reference is here unto that the word torture is tympanum, and if you know or you've heard of the tympanis or the group of an orchestra, that's the drums. And the idea here is that they were clubbed or beaten with sticks. And also understand what these sticks were, and if you know anything about history, and I'm sure you've heard of, you know, the whole incident they had with the Boston Massacre some years ago where these redcoats shot some, basically they were just protesting. What these protesters had, and they were probably as far away as Horatio is to Hochner right now, and they had these big wooden clubs about this long, and what they were used for was making rope on ships. And you would twist the rope and you would braid it, and what they would do is they would take the stick and they would beat it down to make the rope tighter all the way through. And they were standing about as close as they were yelling at him and threatening him to beat him with these clubs. And somebody yelled fire and somebody shot somebody and that's how it started. It's not like they went out there with pencils or popsicle sticks. They were clubs. This is, again, they were tortured, they were beaten with this. It's not like they had drumsticks. Baseball bats. And this is what was being done because they would dare to live for He who saved them. They weren't taking, as our enemies were, and saying, come here, you have to come to this church, and you have to believe what we say, and you have to do things this way. No! They were simply out telling what God said, and living it. You know, the church of Rome said, you either convert, or you're going to convert by the sword. You're either going to come freely, willingly, which is not freely and willingly, Or we're going to, you're going to do it by the sword. We're going to kill you if you don't. This is what was done. They were tortured. Or the reference may be unto that they were stretched as a skin over a barrel like a drum. Either one of those two things may be accurate according to the translators and according to the commentators. I tend to go with the beating with the club. But I wouldn't be dogmatic about it. Because the emphasis is they were tortured. They were tortured. And the amazing thing isn't that they were tortured. The amazing thing is that they refused to accept not being tortured. All they had to do was say, everything I just said, I was just kidding. It's not really true. And it was stopped. And they might have killed him, just killed him right then, or they might have just let him live just as they were in a horrible, horrible prison. But the Bible says in Hebrews 11.35, and others were tortured not accepting deliverance. The amplified text is, others were tortured to death with clubs, refusing to accept release, offered on the terms of denying their faith that they might be resurrected to a better life. As the apostles said in Acts 5 and verse 29, we ought to obey God rather than men. when they faced their persecutions. That was their response. We ought to obey God rather than men. That ought to be our decree even when we are not in the face of torture and persecutions, that we ought to obey God rather than men, including the individual in the mirror. I have to obey God rather than the fellow looking at me in the mirror when I'm looking in the mirror. I have to submit to the Lord as opposed to that man. As we have heard and read in Daniel 6, Daniel knew there was a decree that if you pray unto any other god than the god of Darius, or pray and ask anything other than to Darius, this is what's going to happen to you. You know what he did? He didn't just go out in the open public forum and pray publicly and open. He continued in the same manner that he had done before. He didn't make a show of it. He just did like he had always been doing. And the same thing with the three Hebrew children. When Nebuchadnezzar made a statue, they had been worshipping God all along. And when they were brought before Nebuchadnezzar, he said, don't you know when you hear the sound of these musical instruments, you're supposed to bow down and worship this image I made? And you recall what they said? He says, we ain't going to do it. You can do whatever you want to us, we ain't going to do it. And we believe our God can deliver, He is able to deliver us from this fire, and even if He doesn't, we're still not going to worship your idol. They had resolve, didn't they? We're coming to a day when we're going to need that kind of resolve. They knew what was ahead of them, and they would not recant. And even when the fire, or in the den of lions, there was no, hey, let us out of here. And yeah, the fire was quenched, and yeah, the mouth of lions were stopped, but there were times when the mouth of lions were not stopped, and the fire was not quenched, because we've read of it here in Hebrews 11 and verse 35 and 36, and guess what? They still did not accept deliverance. And they didn't do it by faith. Not because they had a higher pain tolerance. Not because, you know, they were some super saint. but because they trusted in the Lord. Look over in Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. And notice if you go to verse 38. Jesus is speaking here and He says, Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, and that sounds like hard generation, doesn't it? Of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. Turn over to Matthew 10 and verse 33. Matthew 10 and verse 33. Verse 32 and 33. Again, the Lord Jesus speaking and He says, Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven. And right before that, and again, notice that word in verse 32. Whosoever therefore. Again, what does the word therefore mean? Based on what I previously said. So Christ is referring us back to what He's already said. So just go back a few verses. And look if you want in verse 28. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him, that is the Lord, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Or not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. You know what Christ is saying to His disciples, to His people? He's telling us that the Father cares more about you than two sparrows. And yet one of them cannot fall to the ground without Him. It doesn't say without Him knowing about it. It says without Him, meaning without Him as the cause of it. So if you come under some trial or testing that is of a torturous nature, God is fully well aware of it. And the hairs of your head are all numbered. And He's not talking about how many you have at one time or another. No. Every hair has its own number. Do you understand the care that He has for us? And so if this befalls, He says, don't fear them that can destroy the body, but fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. And He says, for encouragement further, if you confess Me before men, I'll confess you before My Father. But if you're ashamed of Me, how can we be ashamed of Him? How can we be ashamed of Christ? How is that even possible? How is it that we can talk and confess just about anything and everything, but when it comes to Christ and His cause and who He is and salvation, that tongue just seems to clamber and cling to the roof of our mouths, doesn't it? And we become as those who are stupid, are unable to speak. I believe the worst time in Simon Peter's life was when he denied the Lord. Remember what happened when he did it as Christ had told him he was going to? He went out wet bitterly, didn't he? Now he repented. He was restored. And he went and did. He went and strengthened the brethren as he should have. But these here would not accept deliverance. Some may say, you know, I've never been tortured or even something remotely, and I haven't either, of that nature. You know, we don't have to. Satan doesn't have to torture us. Because we've sold out for far less than accepting deliverance. I mean, there's some people that'll sell out for a $5.99 all-you-can-eat lobster and shrimp dinner at a casino. Oh, it won't hurt my testimony going to the casino. Sure it will. Yeah, but they got all-you-can-eat lobster. Well, Satan just bought you for an all-you-can-eat plate of lobster. Have a good day. For six bucks. He didn't have to torture you. For a six dollar plate, that's all it costed him. Isn't it something? It's an amazing thing how cheap we are for Satan to lure us away. He speaks of a better resurrection. Turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 3. they might obtain a better resurrection. Now again, them not denying the Lord did not cause them to merit a better resurrection. It's that they might meet with a better resurrection. Now we need to understand here that the reference unto this is, I believe it has a primary meaning, but I want to look at this in the light of this that is used figuratively. That they would not accept deliverance, meaning they would not accept the torturers ceasing the torturing and the torturers delivering them from the torture. I said absolutely not. But I want you to notice here in 2 Timothy 3 that, because again, whenever you're delivered from death, that's a resurrection. When God saved you, that's a resurrection. If He delivers you from torture, that's a resurrection. One day there's going to be that resurrection that we typically are referring to. when our bodies will be changed like unto the glorious image of Christ. But 2 Timothy 3 and verse 10, it says, "...but thou hast fully known..." Notice, again, notice Paul writing to Timothy, he says, "...you fully know my doctrine or my teaching, my manner of life, my purpose, my faith, my longsuffering, my love, my patience." Mine doesn't have the word my in front of all those, but that's what Paul is saying. He says, Timothy, you know these things. You know what? Timothy wasn't the only one who knew those things. Because Paul lived openly his life before all. He was not a silent Christian. He was not a quiet Christian. He went everywhere preaching the Gospel. And in the next verse it says, But thou hast fully known my persecutions. afflictions which came unto me in Antioch, and Iconium, and Lystra, what persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me." He delivered me. I didn't have to recant and say that my testimony or what I was preaching and teaching wasn't true because the Lord delivered me out of them. They'll say, you don't know if the Lord is going to deliver you out of them or not. No, and you don't know that He won't. You don't know what's going to happen five seconds from now, let alone what God will do at the end of torturing, do we? Job didn't know that at the end of it all, his latter end would be blessed in his beginning. And when everything befell Joseph, Joseph didn't know that he was going to arise to the second place in all of Egypt, and that while they meant it for evil, God meant it for good, that much people would be saved alive. We don't know. What Paul says here, and then in the next verse, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall, not might, shall suffer persecution. Well, what a statement. You kind of ask yourself, have I suffered persecution? Because Paul, the Holy Spirit, gave these words to Paul. He says, if I live godly, I will suffer persecution. If I haven't suffered persecution, maybe then I'll turn a light bulb on that says I'm not living godly. Maybe some things in my life need to change. But as you read those words and turn over, if you would, back to Acts chapter 14, just for a moment. These are all in the book of Acts. All the places. Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. They're all right here in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 14. And let's read, if you would, beginning at verse 5. He says, and when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews with their rulers to use them despitefully and to stone them, they were aware of it and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia, and unto the region that lieth round about, and there they preached the gospel. Now skip down if you would to verse 19. And there came thither, that is, at Lystra, certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium. who persuaded the people and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. And I know they stoned him, I know this isn't the clubs, the specific context of it, but I want to show you here, that's a torturing thing that took place. And they drew him out of the city and they left him for dead, they supposed that he was dead. Now notice what Paul did. In verse 20, and he went back to Antioch and he quit preaching. That's not what happened, was it? Verse 20, Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, that is to Derbe, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch. Paul didn't say, I'm never going there again. No, He went to Derbe and preached the gospel. Then He turned around and went back. And in verse 22, "...confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God." He didn't accept deliverance, did He? And when God did deliver Him physically from it, He was as wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove. He said, okay, I'll go over to Derbe and preach. And then he came back. He kind of let things cool down, didn't he? And all of this was done that they might obtain a better resurrection. Now another resurrection is the resurrection of the saints. The consideration of the better resurrection is of great use in strengthening our faith under sufferings. When we consider the end of a thing, we are so more often willing to endure things. And you think about this for just a moment. Childbearing was so atrocious to as many people as you've heard it, then there would only be one child with every family, wouldn't there? But remember what Christ said? Or what it said of Christ in Hebrews 12.2, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame. He knew what Calvary was going to be like, but for the joy of giving unto me, birthing me again, and giving me eternal life, He endured that, that I might be saved. Just like many women know. Man, I've already had one kid. I knew what that was like, but I'm willing to have another one because of the joy of having that child. You see, it's the end which is the joy, isn't it? It's the resurrection that we look forward to that gives strength to endure everything up to it. That's what obtaining a better resurrection is in reference unto. They were willing to endure that torturing because of the resurrection unto life, which was at the end. A better resurrection where they would hear their name confessed before the Father by the Son, Jesus Christ, because they did not deny Him. A better resurrection at the end of that life, because at the end of the judgment seat, they would hear, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. depart from me, ye worker of iniquity, for I never knew you. Or, depart from me, that it will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let me take your talent and give it unto somebody who actually served me." It was a better resurrection. They already had the resurrection unto life, but it was better because they were going to appear before God with something of faithfulness to present unto Him. We sing a hymn sometimes, must I go and empty hand it? I hope I don't show up empty handed. And I hope I don't show up with the talent he gave me. But I hope I put it to usury and have something more than what I had to start with. All for his honor and glory. I don't want to be ashamed when I sing. I want to present glory and honor due unto him. And these here had that because they would not recant even though they were tortured. We find very similar things with Job in our studies. He was being tortured by Satan and he wouldn't deny the Lord.