Courageous Faith

Announcement: Baptism Sunday is next week. 

Welcome: We finally close Hebrews today. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I am so excited to start a new series through another book next week. Does anyone want to know what book we will be in next Sunday?  Judges. Before we get there, though, we are talking about courageous faith today. 

Illustration: Are you tired this morning?  I don’t mean sleepy.  Are you weary, tired of choosing to do the right thing and seeing little to no difference? Tired of being the only one who won’t cut corners or compromise at work? Are you weary of leading your family, but they are not following? 

Introduction: John MacArthur wrote this about courageous faith: 

“the supreme mark of true faith is courage.”  

MacArthur went on to state that, 

“We do not have great faith by having great courage, we have great courage when we have great faith.”

John MacArthur, Hebrews.

Let’s look at Ephesians 3:12

Ephesians 3:12 ESV

in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Perhaps our discouragement or weariness stems from a stagnant faith, or from believing God needs to move to give us courage through our growing trust in Jesus. 

Here is where we are going today: 

Main Idea: A courageous faith doesn't need the best outcome now, because God has promised something better is coming. 

Let’s read the passage as we go and stop as the truths emerge. Hebrews 11:30

Hebrews 11:30 ESV

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

Transition: I want us to see, first, that — 

Point #1 - Courageous faith obeys even when it looks foolish.  

Explanation: The walls of Jericho were massive — archaeologists estimate fortifications in that region stood many feet thick and tall, built to withstand sieges for years, not days. Joshua's plan — march around the city once a day for six days, then seven times on the seventh, with no battering ram, no siege, no weapon drawn — must have looked absurd to the watching world, and maybe even to some of the Israelites themselves. But they trusted the plan, not because it made military sense, but because of where it came from. It was God's word. That was enough. 

Illustration: Have you ever had a moment where God's word seemed foolish to trust, but you obeyed anyway, simply because it was His? 

When Karen and I stepped out in faith to sell everything and move our family of six to Bible college, some people thought we'd lost our minds. A few tried to talk us out of it. What kept the discouragement from working was something my pastor told me when I went to him, genuinely unsure how I'd support my family while studying for ministry. He told me plainly: God was already supporting our family, and He'd keep doing it as we followed His will. That truth crushed a lie I'd been believing, strengthened my faith, and gave us the courage to go. 

Argument: What has God's word asked of you that feels foolish? Most of the time, that feeling of foolishness is actually a lie talking louder than the truth. I believed I sustained my family. That was a lie. The truth: God sustains my family and me. You may be living out a similar lie right now — one that feels sensible, even responsible, but isn't actually true.  

Transition: Let's keep reading. Hebrews 11:31 says,

Hebrews 11:31 ESV

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

The Canaanites were a wicked culture. It may seem strange that a Canaanite prostitute is equated with having courageous faith in the Hebrew God. But that's exactly the point —

Point #2 - Courageous faith stands against the culture around us.   

Explanation: Jericho was a wicked, doomed city, and everyone in it — Rahab included — had heard the same reports: the Red Sea parted, Sihon and Og defeated. Her own words to the spies tell us what that news did to the whole city: 

“our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man... for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath”  Joshua 2:10-11 

That fear wasn't unique to her — the entire city was terrified. But Rahab did something no one else in Jericho did with that same fear: she acted on it. She hid the spies, and staked her life on the God she'd only heard about secondhand.

And she didn't stop at her own life. Before she let the spies go, she made them swear an oath — not just for herself, but for her father, mother, brothers, sisters, 

“and all who belong to them”  Joshua 2:12-13  

Everyone else in Jericho held onto their own gods and their own walls, right up until both came down. Rahab let go of hers, held onto God instead, and pulled her whole family with her.  

Illustration:  I'll admit — I feel powerless to change the cultural pulls in this country. I can't undo what's taught in a classroom, rewrite what's trending, or reverse what an entire generation has been told to believe about truth, identity, and God. Most days, it feels like Jericho's walls are just too tall and too thick for one person to do anything about. 

But here's what I keep coming back to: Rahab couldn't change Jericho either. She didn't bring down those walls. She didn't convert her city. She didn't fix Canaanite culture. One woman, with no army and no platform, did the only thing actually in her power to do — she trusted God with what was in front of her: her own house, her own street, the people God had already put in her path. 

Argument: We're not going to dismantle the cultural pulls of this country this week. That was never the assignment — it wasn't even Rahab's assignment. Her courage didn't start with the whole city. It started with her own household. That's a word for every one of us, but dads, I want to speak to you directly. Rahab risked everything to save her father's house. We've been given something she had to fight for access to — we're already in the house. Our family's walk with Christ doesn't start with changing the culture out there. It starts with us leading in here. Take the lead to get your family to church. Pursue becoming the man of God your household actually needs. If Rahab, an outsider with no standing, could secure her whole family's future through one act of courageous faith, how much more can we, already inside the home God gave us?

Transition: Let’s continue reading Hebrews 11:32-34: 

Hebrews 11:32–34 ESV

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— 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 armies to flight.

The six men mentioned in this passage are an interesting group. They lead us to this truth: 

Point #3 - Courageous faith leads, flaws and all.   

Explanation: Every leader on this list had something painful connected to their leadership. 

Gideon needed multiple signs before he'd believe God, and hid in a winepress out of fear.  

Barak  refused to go to battle unless Deborah went with him.

Samson couldn't control his pursuit of women, and it ultimately cost him his life.  

Jephthah  made a reckless vow he never should have made, and paid a devastating price for keeping it.

David, called a man after God's own heart, committed adultery and murder. 

Samuel anointed and led Saul, who still rejected God and was rejected as king. And in his own home, Samuel's own sons — the ones he raised and appointed to lead after him — turned aside after dishonest gain and perverted justice. 

Illustration: I want to be transparent with you. The enemy attacks me constantly, and one of his favorite angles is this: you must not be leading well, because look who isn't following. Maybe that's a ministry that isn't growing the way you hoped. Maybe it's an employee who won't get on board no matter what you do. Or maybe — and this one cuts the deepest — it's a son or daughter you raised in church, prayed over, modeled Christ in front of, and they still haven't accepted Him. The enemy wants you to believe that's proof you failed as a leader, as a parent, as a man or woman of God. Galatians 6:9 says, 

Galatians 6:9 ESV

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Argument: Here's what strikes me about this list in Hebrews: God left the flaws out. Gideon's fear, Barak's hesitation, Samson's compromise, Jephthah's foolish vow, David's adultery and murder, Samuel's failure with his own sons — none of it is mentioned here. God counted every one of them in the Hall of Faith anyway. If He could use leaders with failures that serious, He can use me despite my doubts. He can use you despite yours.  

Jesus isn't putting your flaws and failures back in front of you. That's the enemy's work, not Jesus. We have to stop believing the lies and start claiming the promises like Galatians 6:9

Galatians 6:9 ESV

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Transition: Here is the last truth I want us to really sit with today: Hebrews 11:35-40

Hebrews 11:35–40 ESV

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 the 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. 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.

It takes real courage to come to grips with what this says.

Point #4 - Courageous faith lives without guaranteed outcomes.     

Explanation: This is a list of real people who faced real suffering with courageous faith — faith that stared into pain and said Bring it on. God commends them with one of the highest statements in all of Scripture: "of whom the world was not worthy." But notice what they didn't get. They weren't all delivered. Some weren't healed. Some weren't rescued from the sword or the saw. They suffered well — not because they were promised rescue, but because they knew something better was waiting on the other side. 

Illustration: IRevelation 2:10 gives us one of the clearest promises in Scripture about exactly this:

Revelation 2:10 ESV

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

This was written to a real church, facing a real threat — Smyrna, under pressure from Rome's imperial cult. Refusing to worship the emperor wasn't a private religious preference; it marked you as disloyal, even treasonous, and it cost people their freedom and their lives. This verse is a warning, a command, and a promise, all at once — and we don't get to take the promise without the warning. "Do not fear what you are about to suffer" assumes the suffering is coming. The command isn't to avoid it. It's to face it without fear. 

Argument: I want this truth to land the hardest of anything we've said today. Paul told Timothy in 3:14 plainly: 2 Timothy 3:12

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Notice: it doesn’t say might be, or some will be. It says all who desire it. And when the apostles were flogged for preaching Christ in Acts 5:41, Scripture doesn't say they endured it. It says they left:

Acts 5:41 ESV

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

No version of courageous faith comes with a guarantee we won't suffer for it. Jesus told us to count the cost before we ever started building. Courageous faith will cost you. That's not a bug in the plan — it's the plan. And it's exactly why God tests us: not to see if we'll fail, but to show us where we still need to grow.  

Transition: That's hard to hear. But remember where we started: a courageous faith doesn't need the best outcome now, because God has promised something better is coming. Verse 40 says it plainly — God has provided something better for us, so that none of these — not Gideon, not Rahab, not the martyrs, not us — would be made complete without each other. Their story isn't finished without yours.

As we bring this to a close, what is your next step toward a resilient, courageous faith? 

Next Steps: Salvation?  Baptism? Membership?  Live It Out? 

What has God's word asked of you that feels foolish? That feeling is often a lie talking louder than the truth.Courageous faith obeys even when it looks foolish.   

What do you need to do differently to lead your own household? We won't dismantle culture this week — but we can lead our own households. Dads: lead your family to church, pursue becoming the man of God they need.Courageous faith stands against the culture around us. 

Are you being tempted to take on the failures of others? Our faithfulness never guarantees someone else's obedience. If someone you've led or raised still walks away, that's not proof you failed.Courageous faith leads, flaws and all.    

Are you suffering well — believing something better is still coming? No version of courageous faith guarantees we won't suffer for it. The cost is the plan, not a failure of it — and something better is still coming.Courageous faith lives without guaranteed outcomes.