Endure by Faith: Facing the Impossible (short version)

Introduction

Hebrews 11:30–40 ESV

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 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— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 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. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

If, by Rudyard Kipling was one of my father’s favorite poems. I never actually asked him why this poem was such a favorite of his, but he had learned in school growing up in Trinidad, when that country was still a British colony.

If is a poem written from the perspective of father to a son. The father is giving his son some wise words of advice about growing into manhood.

Our text for today brings to my mind the second stanza from the poem.

If you can dream and not make dreams your master. If you can think and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truths you’ve spoken, twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, and stoop and build ‘em up with worn out tools.

The father is saying to the son, you’ve got to get up and do something. It’s cool to dream but dreams can’t be your master. It’s cool to think, but thoughts can’t be your aim. And the second line is the reality check.

When you get up and do something you’re going to meet with both triumph and disaster. His advice is, you’ve got to treat those two impostors just the same. Don’t get too high on the triumphs or too low when disaster hits. He’s saying, “Son, if you’re going to become a man you’ve got to have the right perspective on both success and suffering.”

That’s a picture that the Pastor paints for us as he concludes this chapter on faith. He’s been giving them a history lesson on what it looks like for Christians to endure or persevere through life by faith. Faith endures by seeing the unseen. Faith endures by obeying God’s word. Faith endures by holding tightly to God’s promises. Now he says faith is able to endure well through both triumph and disaster. He shows us here examples of God’s people who by faith experienced impossible success and those who experienced impossible suffering.

The Pastor instructs us on how to have the right perspective on both success and suffering. The perspective is this. The life of faith in Christ involves both. Dad might not like me modifying Kipling’s poem…

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and understand that God is still the same,” then you’re enduring by faith.

So, in Facing the Impossible, we’re going to talk about Impossible Success (vv. 30-35a), Impossible Suffering (vv. 35b-38), and Impossibly Better (vv. 39-40).

Impossible Success

In his history lesson on faith the Pastor has moved from the early chapters of Genesis, through the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. He moves on to Moses and the Exodus and the display of God’s power to deliver his people as he parted the Red Sea for Israel to cross. Then he jumps all the way to Joshua’s conquest, the book of Judges, and throught the prophets in vv. 30-32,

Hebrews 11:30–32 ESV

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 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—

Everyone mentioned here faced impossible odds. Jericho was a city that was fortified by walls. There was no way that Israel was going to conquer Jericho unless the walls were breached. But it was impossible for them to do. Rahab was a Gentile and a prostitute who lived in Jericho. How was she going to escape being killed when the city went up in flames? If she welcomes the Israelite spies she puts her own life in danger. Gideon goes out to battle the Midianites. He starts with an army of 32,000 men. God has him reduce the army to 300 men. In the movie 300, all those dudes died, but Gideon’s 300 were successful. Barak defeated the Canaanites. Sampson, blinded and imprisoned defeated the Philistines. David escaped Saul’s sword to become the king of Israel. Samuel, the last of the judges and the first of the regular prophets powerfully interceded for Israel at Mitzpah and God broke the stronghold the Philistines had on Israel.

All these people succeeded in impossible situations by faith, the Pastor says. The walls of Jericho fell. Rahab lived. Gideon, Barak, Sampson, Jepthah, David, Samuel conquered. He describes the successes in vv. 33-35a as conquering kingdoms, enforcing justice, obtaining promises, stopping lion's mouths, quenching fire, escaping the edge of the sword, being made strong in weakness, becoming mighty in war, putting foreign armies to flight. It all took place by faith. It all took place by faith in the God who specializes in doing the impossible. Impossible success is possible by faith because, as Jesus says in

Mark 10:27 ESV

27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

And when we talk about God’s ability to do the impossible, we shouldn’t get confused. God can give you stuff. But the impossible successes that God’s people received by faith were not about material gain.

Notice that the point of commendation was their trust in the Lord's faithfulness to his promises. These promises were centered around God's commitment to save his people. It was a trust that God would deliver his people out of impossible situations. So, the impossible success is with respect to the things of God. These successes had a material and physical outcome. There was indeed benefit and blessing in the here and now. But they were not just physical victories. The victories were spiritual victories. God's purposes were fulfilled. He advanced his kingdom through these victories. They took place in the here and now, but they were successes that made heaven rejoice. That’s the question. Are the victories we’re seeking victories that will make heaven rejoice, or simply make me happy?

And we need to realize that everyone mentioned here faced impossible odds, and had questionable character issues. Israel conquered Jericho, but they were a stiff-necked people. Rahab was a prostitute. Gideon was scaredy-cat. He didn't want the call to save Israel. Jepthah was the son of a prostitute (Jg 11:1). Not only that, but he made a horrible vow and sacrificed his daughter (Jg 11:31). Sampson was ruled by his lust for women. No one's character was without blemish, not even David and Samuel. Couldn’t the Pastor have chosen some better examples for the Hebrews?

If we think that the Pastor is saying that God is cool with their poor choices we miss the point. He's already devoted a lot of ink talking about sin in this letter. Here’s the point. I can’t put it any better than John Calvin did when he said,

There was none of them whose faith did not falter … Thus in all the saints, something reprehensible is ever to be found; yet faith, though halting and imperfect, is still approved by God. There is, therefore, no reason why the faults we labour under should break us down, or dishearten us, provided we by faith go on in the race of our calling.

If we were honest with ourselves, we would marvel at the fact that we experience any success at all. The character flaws of the people mentioned in these verses are not unique to them. We might look at them and shake our head, but Calvin is right. In every saint there is always to be found something reprehensible. The success seems impossible not just because of their situation, but because of their character. When you look at the character flaws you say, "these people don't deserve to be successful." They are unlikely candidates.

Opening Up Hebrews Forward in Faith (11:32–40)

The God who could use a man like Samson is a God of great patience, a reminder that this is not the record of great people who deserve a medal, but of ordinary people made extraordinary by grace.

By including people with great faults and character flaws in the hall of faith, the Pastor is showing the Hebrews that God has always, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:27-28, chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; he has always chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God never commends sin. What he does in people who live by faith in Jesus Christ is do the impossible while he’s changing you from the inside out.

Impossible Suffering

The fact that God can and does use messed up people, who live by faith in Jesus Christ, to do extraordinary things should get us fired up. That’s exciting. But if the first point gets us fired up, the second point makes us frightened. The same God who blesses his people with impossible success also strengthens his people to endure impossible suffering. The Pastor makes a transition in v. 35 from success to suffering. He says in vv. 35b-38…

Hebrews 11:35–38 ESV

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Some who lived by faith experienced success while others who lived by faith experienced suffering. All we really want to experience is success and victory, but the fact of the matter is that God gives some people the strength to suffer rather than to conquer. Some, he said in v. 34, escaped the edge of the sword, became mighty in war and put foreign armies to flight. Others, he says in v. 37 were killed with the sword. The life of faith in Jesus Christ involves both impossible success and often impossible suffering. And we don’t always get the choice of which one comes our way. We saw the character issues of the people he calls out in vv. 31-32. So it’s not the case that if you do everything right as a Christian then you guarantee success and can avoid suffering. And the opposite is also true. It’s not that if you’re suffering as a Christian it’s because you’re doing everything wrong.

The more important question is, “are we living by faith?” Because God may send success or suffering my way and either case it’s for his glory and, as hard as it may seem, for my own good. Part of his purposes is to grow my sense of trust in him. If I endure impossible suffering and come out of it with my faith intact it’s only because God strengthened me.

We can live with such anxiety when things are going well...

We see the contrast between success and suffering in v. 35.

Hebrews 11:35 ESV

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

In the eyes of many, to endure impossible suffering by faith is crazy. But these were people who refused to accept release, and were willing even to suffer death because they understood that in Christ they had a better resurrection that physical death could never take away.

Don’t look at these people of faith who were destitute and poor, who were oppressed and mistreated and think that something was wrong with them.

The life of faith in Jesus Christ involves rejecting worldliness. It involves rejecting sin and ungodliness, both in individuals and institutions. When you reject the world, the world often wants to eject you.

Impossibly Better

The God who gives impossible success is the same God who enables impossible suffering. In victory we are reminded of being united to Jesus Christ in his victory over the world. In suffering we are reminded of our union with Jesus Christ in his sufferings that led to his resurrection. That’s the point. As the Pastor wraps up the chapter he concludes by letting us know that God’s plan is impossibly better than anything we could come up with. Whether you are currently enjoying success or enduring suffering, if your faith is in Jesus Christ, it is impossible to be in any better situation spiritually speaking.

Why? Because through Jesus Christ, God makes people perfect. Look at how he ends the chapter…

Hebrews 11:39–40 ESV

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

When he says “all these” he’s talking about everyone in the whole chapter, all the “people of old,” Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc. None of them received what was promised. They didn’t obtain the promised eternal inheritance. Jesus hadn’t come yet, so Abraham died still, v. 10, looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. They were still looking, v. 16, for the better country, the heavenly one. Why did God allow them to die without receiving the promise? Because, the Pastor says, God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

God, in his grace, reserved the perfection that he planned for his people in Jesus Christ until we could share it with them. God didn’t have one plan for Old Testament believers and another plan for us. It’s the same plan. They looked forward to his coming, but it’s better for us because can look back and know that Jesus did come. We don’t have to wonder about whether or not God is actually going to save. They had faith even though they only had a tiny spark of light about God’s Messiah. For us it’s better because all excuses are taken away. Jesus shines brightly as the Savior of the world. In other words, any excuse we can come up with not to put our faith in Jesus Christ is taken away.

The life of faith in Christ is impossibly better because you can't improve upon perfect. We’ve seen in the examples from this chapter that it doesn’t mean that I’m going to get everything right. To be made perfect means to share in Christ's perfection. He was and is perfect. So, in Christ it's impossible to be in a better spiritual condition. That’s why the Pastor can say that for the Christian, your heart is sprinkled clean from an evil conscience (10:22). That’s why we’re told over and over again in this letter to draw near to God. That’s why he can say in Christ we have a better hope (7:19). In Christ we have a better covenant (7:22). In Christ we have better promises (8:6). He’s a better sacrifice (9:23). In him we have a better possession (10:34), a better city (11:16) a better life (11:30). Over and over again…

When you really grasp the fact that in Jesus God’s plan is better, God makes us perfectly able meet with impossible success and not become arrogant, and he makes us perfectly able to endure impossible suffering and not be crushed.