Complicated People Who Live by Faith – Hebrews 11: 32-40

Red Village Church Podcast

Audio Transcript

All right. Well, beautiful singing. So, if you met me, my name is Aaron, and I am the preaching pastor here. I’m glad you’re with us today. Before we get to work, I do want to thank Wes, Will, and Ben for opening up God’s Word for us the last few weeks, and for you as a congregation who have cared for me and my family, and I’m sure other families in the church, in light of, you know, some of the events that took place a few weeks back. And so, I really do thank you. And thank you to those guys for ministering the Word to us as a congregation, but in particular to me as well. So, thank you for that.

If you have a Bible with you, which I hope you do, please open up to the Book of Hebrews. Today, our text to study is going to come from Hebrews chapter 11. We’re going to be working through verses 32 through 40, which concludes the chapter. But for this time here, I’m just going to read verses 39 and 40. So, Hebrews 11:39 and 40. After I read these sacred words, I will pray, and then we will get to work through this passage.

So, if you want to follow along with me, starting in verse 39 of Hebrews 11, the Bible says, “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.”

Okay. That’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray?

Lord, thank you for this time. Thank you for putting us here together as a little church family to sing your praises, to fellowship with one another, and to hear from your Word. God, please help me to be a good communicator of your Word. Please protect me from error, protect me from stumbling, and help me to rightly divide the word of truth. I pray your spirit would be active in the hearts of the congregation. Please help them to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

So, a few times in our study, I’ve mentioned how much I really love and appreciate the Book of Hebrews. This book we’ve been working through for the last several months. I mentioned this previously. I’ve done so by saying I love Hebrews because it’s the great hermeneutic of how we are to read the Old Testament. The word “hermeneutic” basically means the study of interpretation.

As you read through the Book of Hebrews, it gives us the hermeneutic, the lens of interpretation, by which we are to properly read the Old Testament text. This is a hermeneutic by which we are to see the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, with the definitive word that God has spoken to us. So, throughout the Book of Hebrews, we have read how various figures, various characters, various structures, and various themes that are found throughout the Old Testament text, how they are all there in the end to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of all of Scripture, who is the one who is better and superior to all things.

I love and appreciate how the Book of Hebrews provides us with this Christ-centered hermeneutic. However, this Christ-centered hermeneutic is not the only reason why I love and appreciate this book. I also love and appreciate all of the words of encouragement and comfort that fill up Hebrews.

Now, as I say that, if you’ve been with us in our study, you know that Hebrews is also filled with some pretty strong warnings—warnings that come from walking away from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But as strong and as real as these warnings are, as heavy as they are, these warnings are meant to drive us to the encouragement and comfort that Christ alone provides. Meaning, these warnings are not there to just crush us in despair. Rather, these warnings are there for us to hear them in ways that drive us to the encouragement and comfort that Christ alone can give.

If you don’t mind, for a few moments, let me just share some of the encouragements and comforts I’ve so appreciated from the Book of Hebrews. It’s been actually really encouraging to me the last few weeks, so I’m just going to share some ones that we’ve already studied since we started Hebrews. So, Chapter 2:

“Just feel the hear the words of this encouragement and comfort: ‘Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.'”

Encouraging, right? Dropping down to Chapter 2:

“Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers, speaking of Jesus, in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

It’s encouraging.

Chapter 4:

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.”

Chapter 6:

“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it’s impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steady anchor of the soul, a hope that has gone into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.”

That’s comforting.

Chapter 7:

“The former high priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he, speaking of Jesus, holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Chapter 8, which is a quote from Jeremiah:

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful towards their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Give me a couple more. This is from Chapter 9:

“For Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he, the Lord Jesus Christ, has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ has been offered once to bear the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly awaiting for him.”

Let me give you just one more: Chapter 10.

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

So, even though Hebrews is filled with heavy warnings that come from walking away from Jesus Christ, mentioned, these warnings are there to primarily point us to Christ through these incredible promises, so we would find his encouragement, so we can find his comfort in a world that is often void of encouragement and comfort.

On that note, I do hope as we’ve worked through this letter the last several months, I do hope as a church we’re receiving the encouragement and comfort of the Lord Jesus Christ that fills this letter. But it’s not just the hermeneutic, as well as encouragement and comfort, why I love the Book of Hebrews; I also love this book because I love this section that we’ve been in the last several weeks as we’ve been working through Hebrews chapter 11, which is famously referred to as the Hall of Faith. This chapter details various characters who have gone before us who have lived by faith.

I love this section for a few reasons. I love this Hall of Faith because a good portion of this chapter is filled with inspiring characters—examples of those who have lived by faith in the face of great challenges and great difficulty, as God did some great things through them, through their faith. We live in a world where we love heroes, and a good portion of Hebrews 11 details great heroes—the “who’s who” of the Old Testament, right? Just giants in the faith who inspire us, who give us a great model, a great example to seek after, to follow after, and to try to emulate as we follow their aim and conduct in life.

Second, I love this section not just because of the inspiring characters who lived this great life of faith, but within that, there are characters listed in Hebrews 11 who are also part of the “who’s who” of the Old Testament, but they are actually pretty messy characters—characters with some pretty deep, pretty major flaws in their lives. Serious warts. They are not neat, clean heroes; rather, some listed are pretty complicated and have some pretty egregious sins and issues. Yet by faith, they were also used by God.

Just going to be a little vulnerable here. These complicated characters in Hebrews 11 give me hope. It gives me hope with my own complications, my own issues. If God could use complicated figures in Hebrews 11, I trust he can use me as well.

Third, I also love this section in Hebrews 11 not just because of inspiring heroes, not just because of complicated heroes, but also because Hebrews 11 speaks towards nameless characters—characters who have been lost to history, characters who also lived by faith and were used by the Lord. This also gives me hope. If God used nameless characters who are quickly lost and forgotten to history, likewise, God can use me as well. Even though I have no doubt that within two generations, whatever my last day is, whenever that day is numbered, within two generations, I’m sure I’ll be lost and forgotten as well.

This morning, as we gather together continuing our study, we’ll be looking at the second and third reasons why I just gave you for why I love this section, as we see some familiar names of some more famous Old Testament characters. The characters are pretty complicated, pretty messy. Even though they were complicated and messy, they were honored in this passage for their faith. Just this morning, we’re going to be looking at some nameless characters who were also used by the Lord in great ways for their faith, who, though forgotten by the world, are eternally known to the Lord—which we know in the end, that’s all that really matters: to know God, or to be better said, to be known by God.

Okay, so that’s a little bit longer introduction. If you want to look back with me at our text starting in verse 32, eventually we’re going to be working through verses 32 through 40. If you have a Bible open, please keep it open. I’m just going to walk right through it verse by verse.

So, verse 32 reads these words, saying, “And what more shall I say?” This little phrase here, “What more shall I say?” is the author giving his readers maybe a signal that he’s moving to a conclusion. We’re in this conclusion. We’re all to see he’s kind of quickly touching on a bunch of different examples of faith. And because he’s concluding, he’s not going to give details of these characters like he has in the past; he just mentions them by name. As he mentions these characters by name, he does so assuming that his readers—early Jewish Christians who received the Book of Hebrews—would know the stories of the faith of some of these characters that he’s about to mention, that these first readers would be able to connect some dots on their own.

In the text, what more shall I say? For time would fail me to mention a few more of those who are listed in the Old Testament in our text—characters like Gideon, Barak, Samson, Japheth, David, Samuel, and the prophets. I get the sense the author could just keep going, going, going with characters of faith for his readers to consider to be inspired by. But he recognizes that because of time, and because the main point of chapter 11 is driving us to—which I’ll talk about next week, the first few verses of chapter 12—the author stood, it would not be beneficial for him to continue to elaborate on these characters. So, he kind of just does a flyby of some more famous names for his readers to consider.

As mentioned, the author assumed the first readers would be able to connect the dots to the names and their stories of faith. But for our time here, I don’t want to necessarily assume that’s true of us here this morning. So, let me give you some quick details on some of the stories of the characters listed in verse 32, and let me try to do so in ways keeping the spirit of this text by doing this as a quick flyby so time would not fail me as I work through the rest of the sermon.

As I work through this quick flyby of these characters, I hope to do so in a way to help us see how complicated these figures were, where they did have great acts of faith, but they also had serious issues as well.

God’s first name is Gideon, so you may remember he’s found in the Book of Judges, where God used Gideon in a small little army to bring about a great victory, right? There’s a great act of faith in Gideon. However, in his story in Judges, Gideon is also kind of a mess. God would tell Gideon to do something, and Gideon would doubt and doubt and doubt the Lord. He’d doubt in ways where he’s basically trying to back out, to get out of what God had told him to do. Most famously, before the great military battle that God was leading Gideon into, remember he asked God for signs with a fleece, that he throw it on the ground? One time he asked for the fleece to be wet, the other time for it to be dry. It’s almost like what God told him wasn’t enough for Gideon. Gideon had serious issues with doubt.

By the way, on this note, sometimes this story is being used as an example of the positive. Like, when we’re unsure to do something, we’re told, “Keep throwing out your fleece and see how God responds.” In fact, I was even talking to someone this week—not from our church—they were talking about this story in a positive light, you know, throwing out your fleece. However, in the Book of Judges, I actually don’t think we should read the story of tossing out the fleece as a positive example, one we’re to emulate and follow.

As I mentioned, God gave Gideon clear instructions about what he was to do. Gideon acknowledged he understood the clear instructions. He just really struggled to trust God, to trust his good word. So, the story is not an example for us to follow, to be like Gideon. This is a story actually more meant to cause us to praise God for his grace and patience with Gideon, which we know is grace and patience that he gives us as we struggle to do what God clearly tells us.

So, even though in the text Gideon was commended for his faith, he wasn’t like this bright, brash, bold, courageous warrior just chomping at the bit to do a great task for God. No, he was timid, scared, uncertain—a kind of coward. In the end, even with all these complications, Gideon, moved by faith, was used by God to bring about military victory. Furthermore, just to continue to underscore how complicated Gideon was, even after this great military victory that God did through Gideon, through this act of faith, Gideon still was not as neat and clean as you would think he would be.

So, we read in the Book of Judges that after this great victory, the people of God wanted Gideon to be their king, which Gideon refused to do. He did so in ways that perhaps portrayed himself as having some real humility. He even said something like, “I won’t rule over you; only the Lord will rule over you.” However, if we keep reading the story of Gideon, we read that at the end of his life, he had a son, a son whom he named Abimelech. Do you know what that word means? “Ab” means father. “Melek” means king. My father the king. So, he’s clearly portraying himself as having some real false humility—not genuine. He’s a complicated figure, real warts.

But to say it again, God used him. Gideon moved by faith. The next character is a man named Barak, who also lived during the time of the judges. He lived during the time of the prophetess Deborah, when she was the judge. In the story of Barak, God also used him; his faith brought about a great military victory. However, before that victory, before this act of faith in Judges, Barak is also presented as a coward. He was such a coward that he actually lost some honor because of how cowardly he was. Complicated, not neat, not a clean hero.

The next figure is Samson, another character in Judges. This is maybe the most famous of all the characters in that Old Testament book. Like Gideon and Barak, he was also used by God by faith to bring a great military victory over the wicked Philistines, which you may remember Samson did by sacrificing himself in the pagan temple—a real great act of faith. However, if you read the story of Samson, before this last act of his life, he was basically a disaster. He was proud, arrogant, self-centered, and had rampant sexual sin. For much of his life, he was faithless, with some unique gifting and unique ability that the Lord gave him. I mean, really, his entire life before this final act was a tragedy. He’s a cautionary tale about how to waste one’s life. Yet here he is listed in the Hall of Faith.

Keep going. We see the name David. Okay, well, here we go. Finally, here’s a great character—a great hero through all Scripture tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart. David is one who is used by the Lord to write so many psalms that we just love and appreciate. He displayed great acts of faith and great acts of courage, perhaps most famously in the story of Goliath. In the scripture, David seems genuinely humble, genuinely patient, genuinely kind. Even still today, he’s viewed as the great king of Israel—so many great traits. In fact, you know, David is even the one promised by God that the Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come from his line.

And even David, the great king, the far-off grandfather of the Lord Jesus Christ, even he was so far from perfect. David also had some really bad sexual sins—so bad that it basically led him to kill a man, an honorable man named Uriah, who was the husband of the woman with whom David had an affair. Furthermore, David’s family was not great. He also probably would not have won any Father of the Year awards. I mean, he had a son who raped his half-sister, one of David’s daughters. And while David was angry about it, he did nothing about it. I mean, that’s awful. In addition, because David did nothing after that awful event, a civil war basically broke out with one of his sons, Absalom. And not like a metaphorical civil war, but a legit civil war where people died. There’s a lot of issues in David. In fact, at the end of his life, when David wanted to build a temple to the Lord, remember how the Lord permitted David from doing so? He said, “Too much blood on his hands.”

Even David, the great king, was such a complicated figure with some awful sins and ugly warts. Yet here he is listed in the Hall of Faith.

Finally, the last figure named in this text is also kind of complicated—Samuel. So, I don’t know, a couple years back, we went through 1st Samuel where we saw in many ways he’s like the ideal priest, right? The priest par excellence, one who spoke God’s word with deep, clear conviction. Yet there’s also Samuel, you may remember, who was in charge of discipling Saul, who proved to be a really awful king for much of his reign. So awful that God rejected him. In addition, Saul had two sons who were struck down by the Lord because of awful, sinful acts they committed.

Now, perhaps those issues of Saul and Samuel’s sons are not a reflection on Samuel, but it does cause us to wonder. He’s like 0 for 3 with those he was closest with, perhaps causing us to wonder if maybe his ministry and his parenting were not as neat and clean as we would want from a hero. Got to say it again—here he is listed in the Great Hall of Faith in this chapter.

Friends, take heart in this. These names—these complicated heroes who are not neat and clean—yet here they are honored by the Lord. Find comfort; take heart in that. The reality is, none of us are neat and clean. None of us have things figured out on this side of heaven. We all have warts. We all have sins. And if God can use these complicated sinners in the Old Testament who live by faith, friends, he can use us as well.

Let’s talk more at the end of this time here. But friends, find encouragement in this. Find hope in this. Not in ways that we’re like dismissing our sin, as if our sin and our issues don’t matter. We’re not trying to actively work through things. Like, do things matter? God calls us to be holy, like he is holy. But let’s just encourage you that as complicated as we are, somehow, by the grace of God, by the kindness of God, by the power of God, according to the plan of God, he still uses complicated sinners who live by faith for his purposes.

Okay, keep going to the text. We see after some specific names are listed, we see the author then lists a group: the prophets. So, not by name, just by their office—prophets. I won’t spend time working through the prophets, but if you study their lives, at least a number of them, we kind of see the same thing: complicated figures who had sin, who had doubts, who had struggles, who had insecurities. Even as prophets, they didn’t always respond to God’s word in ways that you think they would; yet by faith, they were also used by God to do great things, as they proclaimed his message to his people.

In fact, you keep looking at your text, we see in verse 33 some incredible and great ways God used all these different characters—whether they be people listed by name or just a group of prophets in the text—where some, through faith, conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, where some stopped the mouths of lions. I think that is referenced to the prophet Daniel, in the Lion’s Den. Remember that story?

Verse 34:

“By faith, some quenched the power of fire,” perhaps referring to Daniel’s three friends. If you remember that story, “By faith, some escaped the edge of the sword,” which could be a few different people, maybe even David himself. “By faith, some were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

Verse 35:

“By faith, women received back their dead by resurrection,” which I think is a reference to the prophet Elijah as well as the prophet Elisha.

So, keep saying it. No doubt complicated. Two incredibly complicated figures—some really dark stains of sin that they committed—yet by the grace of God, according to the plan of God, in line with the power, the kindness, and the goodness of God, by faith, these complicated sinners—these complicated figures—were used by God in great ways.

And keep saying it. Friends, please let that give you hope. Let that give you comfort. Despite all of our sin, despite all of our shortcomings, friends, God works through his people of faith.

Keep going. In the text, we see there’s a bit of a shift in the passage on a couple of fronts. So, keep going. First, we move on from a flyby of the “who’s who” of Old Testament characters who God used to do incredible acts, and now we get to a list of basically nameless characters.

As I do say that, I think in part verses 35 through 38 are talking about some of the prophets. But as we work through this, I think it’s also more than just prophets that verses 35 through 38 are talking to. I think verses 35 through 38 are also picking up as just normal, everyday people—average people—who lived by faith and were used by God.

Commentators I read seem to think that the section that we’re about to walk through is referring to different characters or different people who lived during the time of the Maccabees. You may remember that time. That’s what took place between the end of the Old Testament and the start of the New Testament, where God’s people—nameless people—suffered mightily for their faith. They were just normal people, just like you and me.

Second, the other shift that we see starting in verse 35 is how these nameless characters are used by God. Okay, so verses 33 to the start of 35 show great inspiring acts that God did through people of faith. But now verse 35 and following, we’ll see great suffering—great suffering because of faith in God.

I heard a preacher once say that verses 33 through 35 were acts like stopping the mouths of lions, stopping the sword. The verses that we’re about to work through just describe those who were like eaten by the lion or plunged by the sword. Both groups had faith, but for God’s purposes, according to God’s wisdom, he chose to use the acts of faith very differently.

Okay, back to our text. Middle of verse 35, this hard pivot I just described shows how God was using acts of faith. We read this:

“Because of faith, some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, in chains and imprisonment. Others were stoned,” to which, by the way, Jewish history suggests this is how Isaiah the prophet died. “They were killed with the sword because of their faith. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy. Because of their faith, they had to wander about in deserts and mountains, and they had to find shelter in dens and caves of the earth.”

You know, these nameless characters lived by faith and suffered mightily for it, even though they were the lowest of the low in terms of the world’s value. Just mentioned, the writer of Hebrews declared that because of their faith, the world was not worthy of them.

By the way, on that note, I think it gives some insight on what really matters in life. We live in this world where our worth is attached to some type of celebrity, maybe being broadly known, having some type of platform, some type of notoriety. And within that, we just gravitate towards others who maybe have celebrity, where if we feel like we attach ourselves to someone who’s important, like that’ll make us more important.

This passage here kind of reminds us that worth is not in notoriety; worth is in our faith. Even if that faith that we have is being put on display in small local settings where outside of those in a local setting, no one even knows who you are. The Lord knows.

As mentioned earlier, that’s all that matters. Verse 39 is there, no matter who has faith, no matter if they’re well-known or quickly forgotten, no matter if that faith is used by God to do great things, like stopping the mouths of lions, or having that faith used by God in ways that cause the lion to eat you or being plunged by the sword—all of these were commended by God through their faith.

Even though in the text, in this life, they did not receive what was promised to them—which is the great promise of Scripture, the promise of eternal life that is to come—a life dwelling with the Lord Jesus Christ in eternal bliss, peace, and happiness. It’s eternal bliss, peace, and happiness that will be full and complete at the end of time when the Lord brings all of his people of faith together into his heavenly kingdom; it will have no end, which is what verse 40 of our text tells us.

Where should we end today? Verse 39:

“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.”

And by the way, see the word “better” here. This is a real theme in Hebrews: following Christ is always better because he is always better; he’s always superior. In the text, since God has provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

Meaning, even though all who have died in faith are in eternal joy with Jesus—absent from the body, present with the Lord—that eternal joy is not complete. It will not be complete until all of God’s people of faith are finally fully together. That’s when it will be complete. When we’re not just with Jesus, but we are with all believers, all who have faith for all time. That’s when it will be complete.

There’s an old hymn that simply sings, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory.” That old hymn captures the sentiments of this last verse today. That’s when heaven will be complete—when all of God’s redeemed people will be together in joyful praise of Him.

Now, as I close this time here, let me do so by just giving a few thoughts from this passage—thoughts I hope will come to you by way of encouragement to give you hope.

So, first thought: friends, all of God’s people of faith, all are precious to Him. This is the truth that we see in this Christ-centered hermeneutic that Hebrews gives us. That is the truth. All the passages in Hebrews that speak to comfort are pointing us to that we’re precious through our Lord. And that’s what Hebrews 11, this great Hall of Faith, is also teaching us, which is actually the primary comfort that I personally find in this passage.

All of God’s people of faith, whether you’re one of the “who’s who” or you’re nameless, no matter how complicated you may be, all who have faith in Jesus Christ, you’re precious to Him. That’s a great hope. That’s a great comfort. God loves complicated sinners, warts and all.

Now, once again, this doesn’t give us an excuse to sin or stop striving to live lives that are pleasing to God. We don’t sin so that grace may abound. In fact, one of the great ways we put our faith on display is by putting away our sin, which we’re going to talk about more, Lord willing, next week as we get to the start of chapter 12.

But for us this morning, friends, take heart. God loves sinners. He recognizes and honors those who, by faith, come to him—from the greatest to the least, including all here today who, by faith, come to him through Jesus Christ to receive him. You are precious to Him.

The reason why you are precious—why he loves his people, as complicated as we are, why he loves us, why we’re precious, even if we’re nameless and feel very insignificant—friends, it’s actually not grounded in anything on who we are. Rather, it’s grounded in all of who he is—the union that we have with him, where by faith, Scripture is clear, we are fully clothed in the righteousness of Christ, where His righteousness is counted as our righteousness. So, in that, all the ways that God the Father loves God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that is true for his people of faith as well.

That’s the truth at the heart of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s why it’s such good news to us. Friends, God pours out his love on precious sinners, which he does through Jesus Christ. And what he did for us as Jesus Christ came for us—in ways that he lived a life that we could never live, one that was free from sin, from complication. The Lord Jesus Christ died the death that we deserve to die by dying on the cross in our place, which he did to take on the punishment of our sins.

It’s not like God is blind to our sins. In Jesus, our punishment was just taken from us by what he’s done for us so that we would be forgiven. So that through Christ, through His blood that was shed, we could be washed clean.

Friends, not only did the Lord Jesus Christ die in our place, but he also rose again from the dead on the third day to prove that he has all power and all authority—to prove that his promise is true, that all who by faith call upon his name will be counted as belonging to him, that you would be precious to Him.

Friends, that’s what this passage is pointing us to—this reality. Complicated sinners, nameless forgotten sinners, but through Jesus, precious to God. Friends, this reality is not just true for the characters in our text; this reality is true for all who have faith—all who believe, including all here today. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, you’re precious to the Lord. You were bought at a price. That’s how precious you are to God. He loves his complicated, sinful people. He loves us in a way that he cleans us up through the forgiveness of sin.

Second, all acts of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ— all acts of faith are used by the Lord, which, by the way, also indicates how precious we are to him, right? In his grace, his kindness, and his power, he uses our acts of faith, which brings so much comfort.

All acts of faith for Christ and for His glory are used by the Lord in ways that testify that he’s good—using in a way that he’s building his kingdom that will not end. In the text, some of the acts of faith that God used were, on one end, as I mentioned, we saw some pretty incredible things—how God used his people of faith: kingdoms conquered, justice enforced, promises obtained.

In this present life, mouths of hungry, ferocious lions stopped, fire quenched, escaping serious situations like the edge of a sword. Weak becoming strong, mighty becoming mighty in war, beating back forces of evil, even seeing people brought back from the dead—which literally happened a few times in Scripture, but I think more commonly metaphorically happens where we look at someone and say, “Man, they’re just as good as gone,” only for God to provide some type of unique intervention to save their life.

At times, friends, this is how God uses acts of faith—doing so in ways that are far more than you could ever ask or think. But other times, acts of faith, God uses in ways where our acts of faith are attached to things like torture or suffering—whether it be emotional or physical suffering that comes from mocking and flogging. At times, he uses our acts of faith to be put in prison, to be stoned. Sometimes, the acts of faith that God uses are in ways where his people are killed in grotesque ways, like being sawn in two or, more commonly, killed by things like the sword.

In the text, at times, because of acts of faith, God uses them and puts his people in far less than comfortable, ideal situations. They find themselves like homeless or wandering around in clothes of skins of sheep and goats—or on this end, the act of faith that God uses as people find themselves destitute, afflicted, mistreated.

Within the spectrum, both ends, how God often uses acts of faith, what we see in Scripture and really throughout history, is somewhere in between where God just uses our simple acts of faith—things like loving a friend who’s hurting, serving the church in a very behind-the-scenes, unnoticeable way, going into your prayer closet to pray to God in secret, being a faithful witness in one’s neighborhood.

So many of these other simple acts of faith. They’re only seen in small local settings. Friends, this is often how God is at work through his people of faith. Sure, they may not be grand themselves, but God uses acts of faith and he uses them to bring glory to himself and to build his kingdom.

Friend, take heart! Find encouragement! Whatever act of faith you might be doing for the glory of Jesus, however God might be using you, it matters. It really does. None of our acts of faith are wasted. Find hope, find encouragement, find comfort in that. Most of us here probably are not going to be used by the Lord in ways that are like, on one end of the spectrum, you know, these unique outliers, great powerful acts. Probably not going to be us.

Perhaps some of us here might be used on the other end of the spectrum, though, where our acts of faith might be attached to some real suffering—whatever that suffering might be. But the majority of us, our acts of faith that God will use are just going to be these simple, normal, routine acts of faith that will never be noticed outside of our little local setting here—that in themselves might seem insignificant. But can I say it again? Each act of faith—each act of faith—God uses; they all matter.

Friend, do not grow weary in whatever act of faith you’re doing. Rather, see and believe and trust what the text is telling us. In verse 39, God honors and commends his people of faith.

Last thing, third piece: all of this, friends, let us live by faith. Let us live by faith with whatever opportunity God sets before us, whether big or small. And let us do so in ways not like trying to earn love from God. Rather, may we live by faith in ways that we are actually being compelled by love—the love of God found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let that compel us as we live by faith—not by sight. As we live by faith, let us do so, knowing there is an incredible promise of eternal life that awaits us, knowing that God promises he will reward his people of faith with a far better reward than we could ever imagine in this life.

Friends, let us live by faith, and let us do so together, where even in this life, as we move towards being made perfect in the eternal life that awaits, even in this life, we’re not meant to do this alone. We’re not meant to do this apart from each other in a local setting. Rather, let us live by faith in ways where we are spurring each other on time and time again, doing so by pointing each other to the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might see him, that we might believe in him, that we might trust in him no matter what may come our way.

Which, by the way, this is in the end, this is what the entire chapter—chapter 11—is driving us to—not just to see the faith of complicated sinners, but to see where their faith was looking towards Jesus, the one who is crucified and is risen.

Revealed Church, may God give us the grace to live by faith in ways that we love and care for each other. May we do that well. May God also give us the grace to live by faith where we spur each other on to love and care for those around us as well—those who do not yet have faith. May we spur each other on in ways that we are proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus Christ all of our days to a world who desperately needs to hear about him. May we tell others about Jesus before time would fail us and we don’t have the opportunity to tell them. May we always point others to the true hero that by grace, more and more complicated sinners might join us in our faith in him.

Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you for Jesus. Lord, apart from Christ, we are just sinful people, nothing good on our own, no righteousness of our own. Lord, we thank you for your mercy, your grace, and your kindness. That as sinful as we are, through Jesus we are loved, that we are precious, that through Jesus we’re washed clean. Thank you that by faith the righteousness of Christ is counted as our righteousness.

And Lord, I do pray that you would help our little church family here to live by faith—to do acts of faith for your glory and our good. Lord, please spur us on. In particular, I pray you’d help us that you would spur us on to testify to your excellencies to the world around us. Lord, we pray that many, many would come to faith in Jesus. I pray this in his name, amen.

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