Endure by Faith: Facing the Impossible

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.

HEB11.

Recently students at the University of Manchester in England painted over the mural of a poem by Rudyard Kipling in the university’s newly refurbished students’ union (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jul/19/manchester-university-students-paint-over-rudyard-kipling-mural). They replaced it with the poem Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou.

An article about incident notes that in a statement on Facebook, Sara Khan, the union’s liberation and access officer, said students had not been consulted about the art that would decorate the union building.

“We, as an exec team, believe that Kipling stands for the opposite of liberation, empowerment and human rights – the things that we, as an SU, stand for,” she said.

One of my father’s favorite poems was the poem If, by Rudyard Kipling. I never actually asked him why this poem was such a favorite of his, but he had learned in school growing up in Trinidad. 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. Indeed, the last two lines of the poem are,

Kipling is the author of the poem The White Man’s Burden, which was written to encourage the US to assume colonial control of the Philippines. That, however, isn’t the poem that was put up in the new students’ center. The poem they painted over was another one Kipling was famous for, the poem If.

If was actually 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. Indeed, the last two lines of the poem are,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run -Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and, which is more, you’ll be a man my son!

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and, which is more, you’ll be a man my son!

Those two lines a worth talking about by themselves, “filling the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run.” But our text for today brings to my mind a different stanza from the poem. In the second stanza Kipling says,

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.

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. In other words, as Sho’ Baraka says, “You can be a dreamer, but don’t live in your bed.” 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 advise 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. We didn’t look at vv. 17-29, but he also 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. But there’s a big gap in this history lesson of faith between vv. 29 and 30. V. 29 is the crossing of the Red Sea.

Hebrews 11:29 ESV

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.

Then he skips the rest of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. He jumps all the way to the book of Joshua and the conquest of Joshua.

Hebrews 11:30 ESV

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

Then he skips the rest of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and

Deuteronomy. He jumps all the way to the book of Joshua and the conquest of Joshua. He’s about to start his examples of impossible success, but he skips the whole wilderness generation. Why? Because he’s already used them as a negative example in chs. 3-4. He’s already told them, those are the jokers you don’t want to be like. They’re examples of those who refused to live by faith.

He’s about to start his examples of impossible success, but he skips the whole wilderness generation. Why? Because he’s already used them as a negative example in chs. 3-4. He’s already told them, those are the jokers you don’t want to be like. They’re examples of those who refused to live by faith.

The Pastor is about to start his examples of impossible success, but he skips the whole wilderness generation. Why does he do that? Because he’s already used them as a negative example in chs. 3-4. He’s already told them, those are the jokers you don’t want to be like. They’re examples of those who refused to live by faith.

So he skips 40 years and beginning with the conquest that Joshua lead, he says in vv. 30-32…

Hebrews 11:30–32 ESV

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.

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. God does give you stuff. But in the context of the Pastor’s example, the impossible successes that God’s people received by faith were not our ideas of success. It wasn’t about making the cover of Fortune 500.

But let’s not get confused. God can give you stuff. God does give you stuff. But in the context of the Pastor’s example, the impossible successes that God’s people received by faith were not our ideas of success. It wasn’t about making the cover of Fortune 500.

Notice however, what they were doing. 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? Set your minds on things above…

Time would fail me to go deep into that one because there’s a second reason why these successes were impossible. It’s not just because these folks faced impossible odds. Did you notice any character issues in the folks the Pastor uses here? Everyone mentioned here faced impossible odds. Everyone mentioned also 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 (). Not only that, but he made a horrible vow and sacrificed his daughter (). 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,

of ink talking about sin. 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.

Hacking: "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 , 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 jacked 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’s no longer naming names, but he probably has people in mind like the prophet Jeremiah, who tradition says was stoned to death. Or Zechariah, who was stoned to death in . He’s thinking about Isaiah, who was sawn in two. But there are many more of whom he’s thinking because he speaks in plural terms. 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 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 the case that if you do everything right then you guarantee success and can avoid suffering. And the opposite is also true. It’s not that if your suffering it’s because your doing everything wrong.

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 your 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.

The film Freedom Riders is a documentary about the freedom rides of 1961 organized by CORE in order to challenge unjust segregation laws in the south. Both blacks and whites, men and women who participated in the rides were brutalized and badly beaten by mobs of angry white segregationists. Some suffered mocking. Some suffered imprisonment. The movement eventually got the attention of President Kennedy, and he sent journalist and aide, John Seigenthalor, as a representative of his office to try and make sure there was no more violence. Seigenthalor was interviewed in the documentary and talked about what happened when one of the buses rolled into Montgomery, Alabama. The mob first destroyed the equipment of the reporters then they attacked the riders.

I saw the documentary Freedom Riders this week. It’s a documentary about the freedom rides of 1961 organized by CORE in order to challenge unjust segregation laws in the south. Both blacks and whites, men and women who participated in the rides were brutalized and badly beaten by mobs of angry white segregationists. Some suffered mocking. Some suffered imprisonment. The movement eventually got the attention of President Kennedy, and he sent a representative, John Seigenthalor, from his office to try and make sure there was no more violence. He was interviewed in the documentary and talked about what happened when one of the buses rolled into Montgomery, Alabama. The mob first destroyed the equipment of reporters then they attacked the riders.

Jim Zwerg, a white rider, said that as he was being beaten he asked God to give him the strength to remain non-violent and to forgive his attackers. Seigenthalor said that his heart was in his throat. As the mob was beating the riders he described a skinny young man dancing in a boxing pose throwing punches at one of the black women riders. He said as she turned he could see the blood running from her nose and mouth. He said he grabbed her by the wrist to put her in his car. She put her hands on the door and stopped him from saving her. She said to him,

“Mr., I don’t want you to get hurt. I’m non-violent and I’m trained to take this. Please, don’t get hurt. We’ll be fine.”

When you see the picture of Jim Zwerg leaning against a wall, face bruised, blood flowing from his nose and mouth onto his suit, you ask, “how could he endure such suffering, and at the same time pray for his attackers?” When you hear the account of the woman who chose to be beaten rather than be saved, you say, “why would anyone do that?” There’s even a funny moment in documentary when another batch of riders get to Mississippi. The governor of MS decided that there would be no violence, but he decided that he was going to teach them a lesson and throw the riders into the state penitentiary. As they were being put into the vehicle, one of the riders, Rev. C. T. Vivian hadn’t been arrested. He said they were about to close the door of the paddy wagon, and he went up to the police captain, tapped him on the shoulder and said, “I’m with them.” He said the police chief turned his head away for a few seconds because he was smiling. He’d never seen anybody volunteer to be arrested. He had to compose himself and then put his stern face back on.

What’s wrong with these people? Are they crazy? In the eyes of many, yes, 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. With this kind of faith in the background the Pastor is going to say to the Hebrews in 12:4,

Hebrews 12:4 ESV

4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

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.

“In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” 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 Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter to the Hebrews 4. Further Examples—Those Who Endured through Faith, 11:32–40

By subjecting the faithful to abuse, floggings, imprisonment, and death, the ‘world’, that is, humanity in rebellion against God,280 judged them to be unworthy. But for Hebrews, the reverse is true: the world was unworthy of them.

O’Brien, “By subjecting the faithful to abuse, floggings, imprisonment, and death, the ‘world’, that is, humanity in rebellion against God, judged them to be unworthy. But the reverse is true: the world was unworthy of 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…

HEB11.

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 not just referring to the people in vv. 30-40. 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. What’s the promised that they didn’t receive? 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. There’s no mystery. 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. We were already told in 10:14 that by the single offering of himself on the cross, Jesus has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. It doesn’t get any better than that.

The life of faith in Christ is impossibly better because you can't improve upon perfect. But what does that mean? We’ve seen in the examples from this chapter that it doesn’t mean that I’m going to get everything right. I’m not always going to get straight A’s. I am going to offend people from time to time. To be made perfect means to share in Christ's perfection. He was and is perfect. To belong to him means to have a share in his perfection. 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.

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