Please turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. We'll be reading verses 29 to the end of the chapter. If you're using the Pew Bibles, That is on page 948. Hebrews 11 verses 29 to the end of the chapter. Let's hear God's word together. By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith, Rahab, the prostitute, did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. And what more shall I say, for time will fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms and forced 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 armies 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 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 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. Let's pray. Father, as we would look to complete this faith chapter this morning, we do ask that you would be pleased to impact our hearts and souls with these examples, collectively and individually, that we would walk by faith in our lives and live out of the same faith according to your will for us in the path that is set before us, in the building of your church, in the spreading of the gospel, and in the enduring and persevering to the end until we are with you. in your glorious heavenly kingdom. We do ask, Father, that you would grant us your Holy Spirit as we look at this text so that we would benefit, Lord, greatly spiritually from these words. We ask that you administer them to our hearts and that by the Spirit you would work in each and every one of us here in this room and that you would raise those who are dead from the dead spiritually. so father please be gracious to us and meet with us and do a great and mighty work for your namesake and for the glory of christ and his kingdom and by your spirit amen continuing on through the author's checklist of the faithful all of whom are meant to present us with examples of a genuine faith that justifies. This morning we move on to consider the faith of Israel and Rahab. And it's important to understand that when we speak of the faith of Israel here, we're not to assume that every single individual Jewish person who came out of Egypt had a genuine saving faith. But in a general sense, we find a collective faith revealed by the people of God as they acted faithfully together in accordance with God's will at various points in their history. To be sure, some did not have saving faith, but some did, and those who did exemplified their faith in a collective way in the following examples that we will consider. And so continuing on, then we press ahead in our consideration of the author's Old Covenant checklist of the faithful beginning now with the people of God who came out of Egypt. Look at me at verse 29. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. And so here we find the faith of the people of God shown by the fact that they followed Moses through the middle of the Red Sea after it was parted for them. They had done something that was absolutely unheard of since the beginning of time. They had trekked through the middle of a sea with walls of water on each side, trusting that God would sustain both sides until they reached the other side of the sea. The fact that the sea closed over and drowned the Egyptians, who attempted to follow the Israelites through it, further revealed that the God of the Jews was the one who had miraculously performed this miracle. The same God who had sent the ten plagues against the Egyptians had here delivered the Israelites who had followed Moses through the Red Sea. And so to this end we find the faith of God's people here displayed. But then following this as well, the author reveals another testimony of a national faith as it were exhibited specifically by the second generation of Israelites who had under the leadership of Joshua finally crossed into the promised land to take their possession. Located just west of the Jordan River, there was Jericho, the first nation within the land which the Israelites were called to conquer and to overtake. However, the city was well fortified and it was surrounded by a large wall that would be very difficult to penetrate. And so God used this seemingly impossible situation to test and try the faith of the Israelites right at the outset of their conquest of the land. He would test them, he would try them, and he would prove them. They were to march around the city for seven days, not once, not twice, but seven times before God himself would then cause the wall of Jericho to come tumbling down. Now from a national standpoint, it would seem, or from a natural standpoint, it would seem insulting to make the people do this even once when the same God who had parted the Red Sea and sustained the Jews in the wilderness for 40 years, even by means of the manna from heaven and water from a rock that he could easily bring down the wall in a single moment. It almost seems insulting to make them go through this process of marching around the entire city for seven days. but God would test the faith and obedience of the people. And so our author here adds, by faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. Trusting in the Lord and leaning not on their own understanding, the Jews followed God's command through Joshua, encircling the entire city for seven days straight. Something that would have easily brought on the mockery of their enemies day after day as nothing profitable seemed to be happening each day as they marched around that city and then stopped and went back to their tents as it were. It seemed like nothing would happen. But finally when they completed their seventh circuit, seven days later where they marched several times around on that seventh day, God indeed brought the wall down and delivered the entire city of Jericho over to destruction with the exception of one person who was a prostitute and her family, which brings us then to our next example of the faith. Secondly, we have the example of Rahab. Rahab is an interesting one to find in this mix of the faithful. Notice in verse 31, by faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. And so here we're presented with one of the uniquest members among the author's Old Covenant checklist of the faithful. This woman Rahab, who was both a noted Gentile, Rahab was not a natural-born Jew, She's the only non-Jew, in fact, on this entire list, and also a former prostitute. So if a Gentile's not enough, she's a Gentile prostitute. Indeed, out of the entire city of Jericho, Rahab alone with her family was spared from the utter and complete destruction that fell upon the city of Jericho. Everyone else was put to death in accordance with the command of God. Everyone else in that city had to be put to death with the sword when the wall had come down. And why was Rahab spared? Why was she spared? Was it because she was more righteous than anyone else in the city? No, in fact, she was a prostitute. There were probably other people in that city who were more morally righteous than Rahab was to some extent. However, we're told here that she was spared because she exhibited a profound faith in the God of the Jews when the Jewish spies came into Jericho to spy out the city before taking it. When the rulers of Jericho were told that there were spies among them, Rahab hid the spies and kept them from being discovered from the authorities, and she in fact further helped them to escape. From the very outset, we're told that she welcomed the spies and she chose to honor the God of Israel and to revere him over and above the gods of her own people and over her people as well. And so God rewarded her faith by sparing her from the coming judgment and further allowing her, in fact, and her family to assimilate among the people of God. In fact, Rahab is even found among the genealogical heritage of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you look in his genealogy, you will find her there. And so we find precious additional examples of faith found amongst the people of God who trek through the midst of the Red Sea amongst the Jews who marched around Jericho and in Rehab who welcomed and hid the Jewish spies. So those are the three, two other examples, but two examples of the Israelites in a general sense. And then we move on then to verses 32 to 40 that I call, which I call the et cetera, the et cetera to the list that the author has given us. Having provided us with a checklist of faithful among the early church fathers, The author then continues on with an expanded et cetera, as it were. He barrels through a handful of familiar names and faithful actions so as to show that the list goes on and on, providing us with a list from which we can draw out many other examples of the faith. And we can divide this list into two general successful displays of faithful actions. There's two kinds of people or two kinds of actions that are revealed in this list. Sometimes individuals have done both kinds of actions, but there's two general kinds of actions that we note here. There are actions that involve the accomplishing of great feats for God by faith. And so by their faith, they accomplish great feats, great successes. They prosper in great ways by faith. But then secondly, there are actions that involve the willingness to suffer great things for God by faith. So you have the accomplishing of great feats and the willingness to suffer great things for God by faith. Well, beginning then with a non-exhaustive list of additional names, then the author states in verse 32, and what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David, and Samuel, and the prophets. And so again, here we have an expanded et cetera with the author listing a group of familiar names with the general inclusion of all the prophets and then he moves on to quickly describe ways in which individuals from among this list have exhibited a like justifying faith as described by the former examples that he had given. And again, we note that it is the quality again, right, of the faith that we are to ponder, which in turn makes its way out into innumerable types of actions. There are a lot of different actions that take place in Hebrews 11, but the key is to recognize that it's the same faith that produced those actions. That's what we're to consider, the same faith that led to these various kinds of actions. And so first, we consider this list of actions that involve accomplishing great feats. for God by faith. Notice verses 33 and 34. Who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, 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 armies to flight. And so these were the types of feats accomplished by such as were mentioned in the et cetera portion of our list. In some cases, we can actually think of specific examples and instances where specific individuals had accomplished these actions. We can identify in some of these cases, right, who is referred to in the examples that are given here. For example, we know that Gideon and David had conquered kingdoms as well as others, but we know that they've conquered kingdoms by faith. Several of the individuals listed here, in fact all of them to some extent, have obtained promises. The mouths of lions were stopped, we know, by Daniel, as he had faith in his God and went into the lion's den. So we can identify him as one of those prophets and et cetera. And in other cases, we might not be certain about who is being referenced. So sometimes when things are said, we're not exactly sure who's being referenced, but we know that it makes up that list, that et cetera list. And again, it's the point of the same faith. that produced these actions that the author is highlighting. And so the point is, this is a non-exhaustive list of the types of feats that faithful individuals had accomplished drawing out of their faith in God and his promises. With the natural odds very highly against them, people of faith had achieved profound victories as the hand of God had prospered them according to their faith. That's what we see here. A cursory read through the Old Testament will bring you, in fact, to witness such instances where the naturally impossible is achieved on such occasions. Gideon's example, for example, Gideon's defeat of a very large army of Midianites with a handful of reduced men. God reduced them down and down, even though they were fighting people as numerous as locusts and so on. God reduced them, but Gideon had conquered. Samson killing 1,000 Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey. And Daniel's three friends, being untouched and unharmed when thrown into a fiery furnace are just a few examples of the kinds of feats that were accomplished by these faithful men. Secondly, we find that there are actions that involve the willingness to suffer great things for God by faith. So some accomplish great things by faith. And then other examples are individuals who suffered great things for their faith. And so faith not only leads to the accomplishing of great feats, for the glory of God, but it also willingly suffers great pains and losses for the glory of God when it is called unto that kind of exercising of faith. Transitioning from positive victories to negative sufferings, the author begins by noting how some women, by faith, receive back their dead by way of resurrection. Such would include the widow's son, whom Elijah the prophet raised from the dead, and the Shunanite woman, whose son was raised up by Elisha. And then the author continues on. mentioning how the faith of some compelled them to receive and endure torture, unwilling to compromise and accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Again, like Abraham and Moses, they had their hearts and minds fixed on the eternal reward, and this kept them from clinging to this life when they were threatened for their unshakable faith in God. They would rather suffer, they would rather endure the torture, they'd rather receive the torture than compromise their faith. And others were mocked. and ridiculed with others being whipped and flogged and yet others were put in chains and imprisoned and still others were stoned to death with large stones or sawn in half while conscious and alive or killed with the sword. Many of the prophets, in particular, suffered great harm for their genuine faith in the gospel, a faith which compelled them to speak the truth while standing alone against kings and a host of ungodly opposition. On their own, they stood faithfully and suffered for it. Such individuals were considered the lowlifes of the world, society's rejects, who took the unpopular position of calling out the sins that inundated the nation. People like Jeremiah, who was thrown in a pit for many days, and others who suffered and were sawn in half and had suffered great persecutions and while they faithfully stood these prophets in the presence of many false prophets who lived very comfortably and who compromised who spoke words that were favorable to the king and lied about the truth but lived very comfortable while these individuals went about we're told in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. Can you imagine these men who were faithful, who would not compromise? When everybody who was compromising was living the good life, was blessed with wealth and riches, and had an ear with the king, and succeeded from this world's standpoint, the people who were faithful were out there day after day after day, living in wildernesses dressed in animal skins, living like animals for lengthy periods of time. For the sake of the gospel, they suffered. They often had to hide, living like animals, wandering around in the wild, incapable of enjoying the basic comforts and joys of life. From the standpoint of the world, these individuals wasted this life, so many years of suffering and being destitute, gave up everything in this world because they were unwilling to compromise in their faith. They were the world's losers who were seen as foolish for standing firm in their faith at the expense of all they could have enjoyed if they only compromised and tickled the ears of their enemies with soft words. with comforting words. They could have had the difference between living like an outcast and suffering hunger and suffering all kinds of destitution. They could have lived like people who were high, highly esteemed in the king's courts. this loss of a normal life with perpetual suffering they endured and indeed we're told that they embraced it. They refused to depart from it. They would not compromise because of their faith and many of these individuals died terrible lives. Go look at the life of John the Baptist and look at it purely from a secular, this world standpoint. The guy had a wasted life from the standpoint of this world. And he died for his wasted life. He never got out of jail when he was put in there by Herod, but he was beheaded at a feast. And his head was brought before the daughter of Herodias on behalf of her mother. But brethren, Notice how the author adds a very encouraging little phrase here that highlights how God views these rejects and outcasts of the world. It's inserted there by the author, and it really is precious. It's in the middle of the statement there. You see again, from a worldly, visible standpoint, From the standpoint of the senses, people like Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah and Jeremiah and John the Baptist were all low-life losers who, because of their faith, threw their lives away and never enjoyed the good life. From this side of the grave, those who have suffered such terrible hardships as being sawn in half imprisoned and living in caves are viewed as those who are most to be pitied and cursed. They are the mockery of drinking parties, as it were. But notice, the author leads us to see things from the standpoint of heaven when he adds this little phrase, of whom the world was not worthy. of whom the world was not worthy. You see, from the standpoint of God and the angelic beings and all of heaven's hosts, such people of faith are highly esteemed and precious. Indeed, they served a vital purpose in representing Christ in this dark and wicked world. And as the world rejected these individuals, It revealed, by way of its rejection, it revealed its own unworthiness, being wholly undeserving of the light that God had provided through such precious saints. It is always important, brethren, to remember that heaven's news headliners are vastly different from this world's headliners. Those most received in heaven are not earth's movie stars and athletes and singers and world leaders. God is not lucky to see somebody or to have somebody saved who's in a position of popularity. God is not lucky with any of that. He doesn't need any of that. Those most received in heaven, are men and women of faith, many of whom are hardly remembered in this world and who have laid down their very lives for the sake of the gospel, men and women of whom the world was not worthy. Highly revered in the standpoint of God, highly respected and will be honored in eternity with Christ. All of the John Does and the Carls and the people who are unknown, but are in Christ, are recognized as heaven's heroes, as it were. And so ends the author's checklist of the faithful. It's by no means meant to be an exhaustive list. That's why he says, time would fail me to mention this one and this one and this one and all the prophets, right? He's beating the horse here, but he wants us to get the point. But it's a sufficient list to serve as a template to help ensure that our faith can be identified with the same faith that produced such God-honoring, self-sacrificing actions. That's the point. This is what has been going over as the Hebrews are in jeopardy of leaving and walking away from Christ and going back to the ceremonial law and its observances. He's saying, this is what faith looks like. It perseveres. And again, brethren, these individuals on our list are not held up as unreachable superstars that we're merely to admire from afar. Rather, they are held up as examples who share the same faith that all of God's true followers and worshipers ought to have through all ages. In other words, if this chapter 11 were extended to the end of history, we should find our names here. In fact, our common identity with these who are mentioned on this list is most seen in what the author adds in verses 39 and 40. See, here's where he's showing a connection here, an assumed, guaranteed connection. Notice what he says in verse 39 and 40. As you behold, all these individuals who were faithful under such difficult circumstances and just clung to God and through feats and through suffering, they persevered. And all these, he says, 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. You see, there's a leveling here of all the faithful together, bringing us together so that we're not putting others above in that sense, but we're borrowing from their example. All of these old covenant examples, that's what he's digging from, old covenant examples, were commended through their faith. And as such, they were recognized as blessed by God throughout that entire period of history. They were recognized from the standpoint of heaven as being blessed. However, as honorable as they were. They yet had to anticipate and long for the fulfillment of God's ultimate promise, which would bring about their ultimate perfection and glorification. They still waited for something. As faithful as they were, they still looked forward and longed for something. And this promise, which now brings us full circle back into the primary purpose of this entire book, is what ultimately unites both old and new covenant believers such that both individuals are made perfect together. And what is the promise? It is the arrival of the Christ who would bring to fulfillment all of the old covenant shadows that these individuals were under, serving as the object of every believer's hope in both covenants, bringing about the perfection that those in the old covenant looking forward hoped for, and those in the new covenant looking back enter into with them. And so both join into all of the benefits of Christ together. And brethren, even now, the ultimate fulfillment of these benefits brought to us in Christ will only be enjoyed universally to the fullest extent when all of God's people are brought into the kingdom by the same faith and Christ returns to consummate His kingdom. There is something, it's not that there's a lack in the sense of desire or that the folks who have died already who are faithful are in some way miserable, no, but they're still not where they're going to be yet because they're waiting for everyone else to get to that place. When all of God's people together will find the ultimate fulfillment of these benefits brought to us in Christ are brought into the kingdom by the same faith. For it is only then that every single believer, old and new covenant, will come into the completed glorified state in a new glorified body as one pure and perfect bride for Christ. Brethren, consider this. Think about this for a moment. There is a specific moment when every single believer of all generations, all the new covenants, will experience at the same time their final transformation into a new glorified body and we will all be ushered together into our final heavenly state. Together, we will come into that state. What a profound day of explosive glory that will be. Our completion as the body and bride of Christ will not come about until every single one of God's elect has passed by faith from spiritual death into spiritual life. And so that will be a unique experience of profound joy that we will all enter into at the same time. What a day of rejoicing that will be. Nobody in that sense is getting to the end, the completed state, until we all enter it together. And that will be an amazing time and experience. The apostle Paul states it like this in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 50 to 58. He says, I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, right? Not everybody is going to die in the sense experience death, right? There's going to be people who are here when Christ returns and are still alive. We shall not all sleep, but we all shall be changed in a moment. in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, looking in anticipation to that day, My beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Knowing that we will come to that final destination where all will be raised together in the sense with the new glorified bodies. Right now, all those who are in Christ are disembodied, right? They don't have their final body. They're rejoicing, they're not miserable, they're rejoicing, but they're not complete. yet in the sense of what will take place at the final resurrection. Notice again in 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 13-18, Paul says this, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep. This is an encouragement for folks who have lost loved ones, who have gone home to be with the Lord, and we miss them, and it can be very depressing or discouraging. We long to be in their presence again. But notice, he says, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others, who have no hope, so we don't have a hopeless grief. We do have grief, but we don't have a hopeless grief. Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord, therefore, encourage one another with these words. We will see them again and we will recognize them again. If the Lord were to return right now, we would see our sister Debbie and we would meet her in the air and we'd meet them in the air and we would be joined together again. with great joy and those sorrows that we've experienced in this life, the grief of temporarily being separated from those who we love would be multiplied, removed with the joy that will come like a waterfall at that time. Well, brethren, let me leave you with a concluding thought here, as we seek to conclude now. There's just one thing I want to highlight again, by way of application, considering what we've gone over, especially in this last section, something I think is important for us to think about. I just want to note again, brethren, an important reality that has been especially brought to the foreground in this portion of Hebrews 11. This is absolutely critical for us to understand and to apply, and if we lose sight of it, we will find ourselves greatly discouraged at times. We will find ourselves discouraged. There will be times in your life when your faith will be manifested unto the attaining of great successes. that will happen. In other words, your persevering, uncompromising faith in Christ will lead to various forms of prosperity even in this life. God will do that at times. For example, your faith in the Lord may lead to the securing of a particular good job. It may lead to that. It may lead to a promotion. It may lead to finding a good spouse or resurrecting your once fallen marriage, failing marriage. building relationships that were once shattered, witnessing the salvation of loved ones. improving your health or overcoming a particular illness and a host of other very positive points of advancement and great encouragements and joys in your life. There will be times when we will experience those kinds of things as a result of our faith, as we trust God, he will bring those kinds of feats. But there will be times in your life as well where your faith will be manifested through the suffering and losses that you are willing to endure for it. In this sense, you may, because of your faith, lose a good job or get demoted. You may not find a godly spouse. You may see your marriage fall apart all the more. You may incur broken relationships. You may be betrayed by professing Christians. You may suffer persecution, ill health, or be incapacitated, or even die because of a severe illness and a host of other painful and sorrowful possibilities. Right, both are expressions of genuine faith. Both are the types of things that will come out of a genuine faith. And sometimes, some people may have more of one type of an expression than the other, right? Sometimes people tend to have more prosperity in certain ways than others, and sometimes people just seem to always have suffering. It's important to realize, this is what I'm saying here, that in both cases, great faith can and ought to be exhibited. The key is we need to be faithful in whatever providence God brings our way. And you don't want to look at other people's positive moments and your sorrowful moments and assume that you must have done something wrong since you are suffering rather than enjoying moments of temporal prosperity. Right? Isn't that the tempting? Well, this other brother here, man, it seemed to be doing great. Me, I did this. I lost my job. I got family members that are against me and all. It seems, you know, you begin to question, like, what's wrong with me? What am I doing? And you don't want to measure God's love for you or your level of spiritual growth by how many more feats you enjoy than sorrows. You don't wanna measure God's love based on any of that. Sometimes your faith will bring you favor with the king, and sometimes it will bring you his wrath. And we've seen that throughout history, haven't we, in the Old Testament. Sometimes you'll see those who are faithful to God and honor him before the king, and the king exalts them. Somebody like Daniel, right, he gets exalted. Nehemiah. But then you'll find other times, during the times especially of the divided kingdom where people are faithful for their faith and the king doesn't repent. Elijah or others where they're put to death in horrible ways. Is one better than the other? Did one have a better faith than the other? No. They were both faithful according to God's calling. The key. is to be faithful on whatever path God has placed before you. If God calls you to be thrust through with the sword, like the Apostle James, then you glorify God in that death and you cling to your faith. If he calls you to be freed miraculously from prison, when you're chained between two prisoners, at the day right after James is thrust through the sword, and Peter is free, then you go in your freedom and you continue on with the work that God has set before you. In both cases, the men were men of faith. One died a horrible death, the other continued on, later on died a horrible death, but the other continued on. Walk in the light. Acknowledging God in all your ways and he will direct your path. And know that your faithfulness through joy and sorrow, relief and hardship is what is more precious than silver and gold which perish. The key is to be faithful at all times. And not to measure how many of this or how many of that or how many waves of suffering have come. Just to be faithful because God has ordained a specific path for each and every one of us. And no one is better because they suffer less or they suffer more. The key is to be faithful where you are. And that's what God is taking into consideration. If you're not a Christian today, you must see in all of this that a life well spent is a life that is spent striving to be faithful to Christ. That's what defines a life well spent. Many people in scripture, many of the most godliest people in scripture did not enjoy even what most of us in this room have enjoyed in our lifetimes up to this point, or even half of what we've enjoyed, or maybe even less. Many people didn't enjoy what you have enjoyed, or even close to it, and have lived lives of utter sorrow and pain Be faithful to the Christian, if you're not a Christian. I would say you need to begin by seeing your need of God's free grace through Christ. You need to come to God to seek his forgiveness and his grace in Christ, to believe the gospel, and to see that a life that is worth living is a life that's worth living in faithfulness to Christ and the gospel, and not enjoying all the different benefits of this world that are around us. I just watched, I think my son's had a program on with this, I think you guys had it on with these two guys, a guy and his wife, I'm sorry. They traveled to 50 states, right? Was that you guys? They traveled to 50 states in one day, each time, in each state, one day in each state, to see if they could do it. And they did it. And they got to experience running in every state, right? And all the, every state, Hawaii, all the whole 50. And that was an accomplishment for them. And there's nothing wrong with that. But God is not, that's not going to weigh in the eternity. That's not gonna mean anything. That's just gonna pass as a memory. It's the investments that are done in Christ, unto the gospel, living out the gospel, proclaiming the gospel, following Christ, that will ultimately have eternal value. I'm not saying don't enjoy anything in life. But I am saying to live within a biblical worldview that continually seeks to glorify Christ in whatever setting you are in, whether it's a time of victory or a time of sorrow, whether it's a time of prosperity, right, or a time of loss, to live for the glory of God until we get to that final day where we will be glorified in Christ with new glorified bodies with the people of God. And that's what counts. May God give us the grace to see this list and to apply it, not coveting the actions, but ensuring that that faith is the faith that we have, that it's real and it's genuine and it's more than just what comes out of the mouth, but it's something that comes out of the heart and lives a life of faithfulness to God in Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this great list and example, and we know that we can continue on with examples, not only in Scripture, but throughout 2,000 years of church history. men and women who were burned at the stake, unwilling to compromise their faith, and others who succeeded and accomplished great things, building all kinds of orphanages with no natural means to do so other than what you provided at the moment. We just thank you, Father, for these examples, and we pray that you would help us to walk by faith. Lord, you have not called us to be these people. You've called us to live our lives Lord, with the same faith in accordance with whatever you have placed in our paths. And we pray that you would help us to do that unto the building of your church. Father, we know that that is your will to build your church and to see the church prosper and the kingdom of God expand. Help us to do that, Father. Lead us at all times to be faithful to you. And we pray that we would be in some way a lamp, a light and a lamp stand right here in this local community. that they would see genuine faith in us. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.