Have you ever heard the phrase, “And they lived happily ever after”? Probably most people think this phrase originated from Walt Disney but actually the while the phrase was used, often it was not actually put into song by Disney until its 10th anniversary of Disney in 2017.
The phrase actually originated in the 14th century by an Italian writer named Giovanni Boccaccio when he wrote these words: “...so they lived lovingly, and happily ever after” in regards to a married couple.
Since then this phase has been used over and over until it is often defined as one of the top 8 “worn out” idioms of all time. (Liberty Hub)
Yet, it continues to be used because we all love happy endings. We love it when people live “Happily ever after.”
Transition:
As we read Hebrews 11 we get a little bit of a “happily ever after” feel until we reach the final few verses. After all, while we might have some surprising characters like Rahab, Samson, and David who made some colossal mistakes; their redemption and victories inspire and ignite our faith.
In verse 32 listen the drum of victory join the rhythm of our heartbeat of faith as we are reminded of the triumph of the many people of faith as we read:
“And what shall I say? For time will fail men if I tell of Gideon and Samuel, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who in faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection.....”
Then suddenly, something happens, it’s like a bad note is struck as we read: “and others were tortured... “ and this does not quit.
In verse 36 we read: “And others experienced mocking’s and scourging’s, yes also in chains and imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted and put to death with the sword, they went about in sheep skins, in goatskins, being afflicted, being destitute, afflicted, and ill-treated....”
We stop and think, what just happened to the victory song? What happened to the proverbial shout of “freedom!” What happened to the Biblical Braveheart’s? What happened Patriarchal Patriots? What happened to God’s victorious Generals? That’s how we want Hebrews 11 to close.
But it doesn’t.
The final words of Hebrews 11 are confusing and create an inward struggle. They generate two words: “What? And Why?” Have you ever done that?
There are going to be times in life when you are trusting God and things do not make sense in our mind, but still stands strong in our heart. There will be times when things seem to be going in the wrong direction-- but you know God is leading the way.
What gives us an unshakable faith?
Transitional Sentence: We have unshakable faith because:
I. We Look Around And Remember Where We Are
Vs. 32-36- “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah of David and Samuel and the prophets....”
Explanation:
When your faith is tested it is easy to become disoriented. It is easy to forget where you are at. The Bible tells us that we are presently living on a battlefield.
The Bible says: “Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil stalks about seeking who he may devour.”
Someone once said: “You are living on a battleground, not a playground. “
It is interesting that the writer of Hebrews begins finalizing this chapter by mentioning 6 men who were great warriors. He mentions, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel.
Do you remember these guys? The 6 great warriors:
a) He mentions Gideon- He was the guy that put together an army of 32,000 and God cut his army down to 300 to route and destroy the Midianite army of 135,000. Gideons were outfitter with only trumpets and pitchers with torches inside. Yet, the Lord God Almighty was their power and strength. (Judges 7)
b) He mentions Barak- He was called by God to go with march alongside a prophetess named Deborah to go to battle against a warlord named Sisera who commanded a chariot army of Canaanites. Not only did they overcome him but a woman named Jael, hammered a tent peg into his head. (Judges 4)
You know what he thought when that happened? He thought: “Nothing has ever entered my mind like that before.” ?
c) He mentions Samson- He was the judge who made mistakes but ultimately was used to bring down the Philistine temple of Dagon and wiped out the Philistine leadership. (Judges 16)
Archeologists have uncovered some of the ruins from that temple and have proven that the temple collapsed violently. Here’s a picture of the ruins which stands as one of the top ten discoveries that relates to the book of Judges.
d) He mentions Jephthah- He was the guy that was the illegitimate child of a prostitute in
eastern in eastern Syria who was called by God to lead God’s people against the Ammonites and won. (Judges 11-12)
e) He mentions Samuel and David- Samuel was the last judge of Israel and was a prophet,
seer, warrior and leader who fought the spiritual battles against idolatry and immorality, whole He also was the one who anointed David as King who ultimately was the one who
heroically killed Goliath and delivered God’s people from the hand of the Philistines.
I personally believe the writer of Hebrews notes these “named” warriors from the Book of Judges in the Old Testament to remind us that that we living on this side of the New Testament are in a battle as well and it is real.
Ephesians 6:12 says: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places. Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth...”
Sometimes we can get battle weary and we think: “How do I get off this crazy ride?”
Illustration: The spinning barrel ride
When I was a kid once a year the county fair would take place and I will never forget “the old barrel ride.”
We would get in that barrel with 20 or so people and it would start spinning and after a minute or two you would spin and the bottom would drop out, the floor would move down, and your feet would be left dangling.
What started out fun, now became a nightmare because I lost my security and stability.
Application:
Hebrews 11 is written to people like you and me that like stability and security and each one of these people stayed strong and faced the struggles and battles of life with one thing; faith in God.
Why should I trust God? It’s because He is rock solid. So like them; hang on. There’s a battle going on but in every case of those guys mentioned, God won the battle for them.
Do you know what Samuel said? In I Samuel 17:47 he said: “The battle is the Lords.”
Some of you today need to give your battles to the Lord and quit fighting like you can win it. Listen: The battle is the Lords. Do you know what God’s Word tells us?
Zechariah 4:6 says: “The word of the Lord came to Zerubbabel: Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.”
Exodus 14:14 says: “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
2 Corinthians 10:4 says: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
James 4:7 says: “Submit yourself to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Our only victory comes from the Victory who won the ultimate victory by coming up out of that grave.
If he beat death, he can beat the devil in your life. Trust Him! That’s why God mentions these warriors!
Transitional Sentence: We have unshakable faith because we:
II. Look Up and Reframe Who We Are
vs. 37-40- “ 7 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented 38 (people of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, on mountains, and sheltering in caves and holes in the ground.
39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive [e]what was promised, 40 because God had ]provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
Explanation:
When we hit rock bottom we often begin to question who we are and how God feels about us. Yet, when we place our faith in Jesus; we become children of God.
Being a child of God is the greatest blessing in life because it not only provides (as Jesus said) “life more abundant” but also “eternal life.”
You enemy wants you to allow difficult circumstances to make you forget who you are.
Illustration: Shug Jordan and Mike Collins
Mike Collins was a linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and a graduate of Auburn University. After he graduated and went on for his pro career his college coach; Shug Jordan came to Mike and said: “Mike I would like for you to help me recruit some college players for my college time. I would like for you to use some of your spare time to make some connections for me as a recruiter.”
Mike was excited about this opportunity, he loved Auburn and signed on for duty. Immediately he asked Shug: “What kind of player do you want me to recruit? Shug Jordan said, well, Mike, it's like this. He says, you know, there's some players, if you knock them down, they won't get back up. And Mike said, well, coach, you don't want me to recruit anybody like that, do you? And he said, no, sir, I do not.
And Mike said, well, what do you want? He said, well, you know, there's other players, if you knock them down, they get up. And if you knock them down again, they won't get up. He said, you don't want me to recruit anybody like that, do you?
He said, no, sir. And then Shug Jordan said, Mike, he said, there are some players, you knock them down and they get up. You knock them down and they get up. You knock them down and they get up. No matter how many times you knock them down, they get up. Mike was fairly out of his chair with excitement. He said, and that's the kind of player you want me to recruit, right? And Shug Jordan said, no. Mike, what I want you to do is find the guy who's knocking all those players down and recruit him!
Explanation:
Everyone wants to be that guy that has ability to knock everyone else down right? We always want to be the strongest, wisest, most “blessed”, and most able person who never seems to struggle or suffer.
Yet, God reframes what faith looks like in the following verses. He begins with the phrase, “and others...” vs. 36a
Following this he unveils one of the greatest reasons of why we need faith; we need faith to endure.
In verses 35-38 God talks about afflictions that are long-term. Some of these afflictions even last a life time and are inescapable.
Look at the three descriptions of how God’s people were tortured:
a) Some were tortured physically- (tumpanizo)- We get our word “tympani” from the word “tortured”. It described a particular type of torture where victims were stretched over a large kettle-drum type instrument and beaten with clubs to the point of death. In verse 36 he uses a similar picture when he mentions “scourging.”
b) Some were tortured emotionally- The word “mocking” (empaigmon) the word means: “verbal abuse.” Jeremiah was an example of this. He was emotionally abused to the level that he became known as “the weeping prophet.” Tradition tells us that he was mocked in Egypt and then stoned to death as people jeered and rejected his message.
c) Some were tortured influentially- They were “imprisoned” (phulake)- The word means: “to keep guard, to watch, to be enclosed, confined, or exiled.” The purpose for imprisonment was to stop someone’s influence. One writer describes it this way: “ Imprisonment was a cul-de-sac to try to block paths of further investigation.
Illustration: Patmos and Corinth
Recently, I went to Greece to the Island of Patmos where John was John was exiled. That Island was like a prison for John. The ancient theologian Tertullian reported that prior to his exile he was taken and placed in a boiling hot kettle of oil, but miraculously was unscathed so they sent him to Patmos to keep anyone else of inquiring of him about Jesus.
While he was in prison, Jesus had a post resurrection appearance and gave him the Book of Revelation. Here’s a picture of me preaching Revelation 1 in the precise location where John received it from Jesus. I stood there and realized, no one can stop our living Christ; you can exile His servants but you can’t stop our Savior and His salvation.
Likewise, I went Corinth where Paul was strapped to this exact pillar and beaten for preaching the gospel and attempting to stop God’s Word from going forth but despite the persecution physically, by faith, no one could stop Jesus who lived in Paul’s life because out of the 27 books of the New Testament; Paul wrote 13 of them, and perhaps 14-- the one in question is the Book of Hebrews!
Application:
What is interesting is, when Paul spoke to the Corinthians he said: “I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.”2 Corinthians 7:4
How could that be? Do you overflow with joy in all your affliction? You can when you reframe your life to see God in it
Let me share with you three reasons why we can have joy when our faith is strong but our circumstances include suffering:
Three reasons why we can have joy when our faith in strong but our circumstances include suffering:
a) We are assured that God is with us- When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace they said confidently, “Our God whom we sever is able the deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us from your hand, O King, but if he does not , we still are not going to serve your gods or worship your golden image...”(Daniel 3:17) Miraculously, they did not burn but what they found was even greater, God showed up!
The Bible says: “When the king looked in, he saw four men standing in the fire and said, The fourth is like the Son of God.”
b) We are assured that our suffering has a purpose- Sometimes God’s ways are mysterious, but that does not mean that they are meaningless. There is a contrast in verse 35 that says: “Some women received back their dead by resurrection, and others were tortured...”
The ancients used to make light and fun out of our faith. Many sealed their faith with the life and blood of martyrs.
Warren Weirsbe said: “You had better not try to get your theology from circumstances because if you do, you will come to the conclusion that God does not love you.”
The point being: God is a sovereign God and if you are His child, as a Father, He is not only with you; but He is Lord over you and everything that happens in your life.
c) We are assured that our salvation is authentic- Your enemy wants you to doubt your
salvation because of circumstances; yet God uses difficult circumstances to drive home the truth that your faith is real.
The Bible tells us that real faith perseveres. It stays the course, it keeps the faith. It hangs in there. It doesn’t drop out because It proves it is real.
Look at verse 39-40. It says: “And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God has provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should be made perfect. “
In the Book of Hebrews, there were many who were tempted to leave the faith. To abandon their belief.
John had the same thing in his age as he wrote: “They went out from us, but they went out from us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they were not of us.” I John 2:19
Do you want to know if you are a child of God or not? It is proven by the fact that nothing can remove you from the family. Your faith is from God and therefore you are supernaturally kept by God come what may.
One writer said it this way: “They struggled , suffered, and counted on salvation. They believed God and counted on him, their faith persevered. It outlasted this age, and now shines and will continue to shine in the ages to come.”
Why does God allow our faith to be tested? To prove it and give assurance to all that it is real.
Conclusion: Michigan snowplow
When my family lived in Michigan, I remember traveling one night with my family and a blinding snow storm moved in and I could barely see the road in front of me.
The winds were howling and pushing our car almost off the road and I became quite afraid, wondering if we could get home.
As I prayed, suddenly a huge orange snow plow turned onto the road in front of me and I thanked God, knowing that the driver of the truck not only knew where he was going but had the power to push the snow off the road and with huge lights, had the perspective I did not have.
Amazingly enough, that truck continued on and literally I was able to follow it all the way home.
Yet, I followed it because I was completely confident that it could get me home.
If you know Jesus, you are on a journey. You never know where that journey will take you but I am certain we all are on a journey with highs, lows, curves, and straight a-ways. But, if you will follow Jesus, I promise you, He will get you home.
Today, will you choose to follow Him by faith? If you do, home is just ahead.
